Occam's razor (i)

"2. The virus of encyclopedism in definitions should be
recognized and resisted. There is a role and a place for
illustrative detail, but that role and place is not in a
definition. Social science is content to tolerate excep-
tions to its theories—it is satisfied with explanations
covering most cases, not each and every one. In the
definition of strategic concepts, more detail inevitably
promotes less clarity and therefore less understanding.
William of Occam should be regarded as the patron
saint of wordsmithing for strategic conceptualization.

3. Ideas matter: Concepts for theory have practical
consequences. The way in which we behave strategi-
cally is not dictated strictly by the way in which we
conceptualize its challenges and intellectually order
our possible responses, but our concepts educate our
perception and interpretation of events, and they find
expression in the doctrine that shapes our behavior.52
Of course, strategic behavior should be adaptable to
unanticipated events, but frequently it is not. Strategic
and military culture can and does change, but at any
one time it is going to help mold action now in ways
organized doctrinally in the light shed by authorita-
tive strategy concepts." (p.46).

 
Gray, C. S. (2012). CATEGORICAL CONFUSION?: THE STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS OF RECOGNIZING CHALLENGES EITHER AS IRREGULAR OR TRADITIONAL. Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep11257