In order to formalize patterns I utilized everything from linguistics to holography. I didn't just elicit peoples' strategies since when I started out there weren't any strategies, yet. I invented them.
Strategies are a model.
A strategy is just that, a strategy. I think it is important for people to make a distinction between a model and a technique. The techniques generated from these models are techniques, nothing more. It is a strategy. A model is a formal representation of behavior that allows prediction.