Stein has a very broad background spanning management consulting, research and political campaigning. He has officers training in the armed forces, speaks Russian, German, English, Norwegian and (some) Spanish. My Ph.D. in economics looked at innovations in the offshore oil industry (deepwater technology out of Norway).
He finds this broad background helpful in assisting companies with complex problems that do not necessarily fit into a distinct pattern, solvable with known tools and a set of activities. Framing problems and solutions, choosing a good path among many possible options, such skillsets are frequently called “strategy”. I take particular pleasure in strategies for establishing and building businesses.