Great Reads on Strategy
MILITARY STRATEGY CLASSICS
Sun Tsu, “The Art of War”
Karl von Klausewitz, “On War”
B.H. Liddell Hart, “Strategy”
John Boyd, “A Discourse on Winning and Losing”
BUSINESS STRATEGY CLASSICS
David Aaker, “Developing Business Strategies”
Jim Collins, “Good to Great”
Gary Hamel, “Competing for the Future”
Bruce Henderson, “The Logic of Business Strategy”
Henry Mintzberg, “The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning”
Michael Porter, “Competitive Strategy”
STRATEGY FOR DOING SOMETHING NEW
Clay Christensen, “The Innovator’s Dilemma”
Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne, “Blue Ocean Strategy”
Ian MacMillan and Rita McGrath “Discovery Driven Growth”
Alvin Roth, “Who Gets What and Why”
STRATEGY FOR BUILDING ON SOMETHING YOU ALREADY DO WELL
Richard D’Aveni, “Strategic Supremacy”
Rob Lachenauer and George Stalk, “Hardball: Are You Playing to Play or Playing to Win”
Cynthia Montgomery, “The Strategist”
Chris Zook, “Profit from the Core”
STRATEGY FOR SEIZING OPPORTUNITIES
Steven Blank, “The Four Steps to the Epiphany”
Michael Mankins and Richard Steel, “Decide and Deliver”
David Yoffie and Michael Cusomano, “Judo Strategy”
Infographic Transcript
Title: ON BUSINESS STRATEGY: THE ULTIMATE INFOGRAPHIC
What is Strategy?
From the Greek: στρατηγία strat?gia: “Command” “Generalship” “The Art of the General”
“Strategy provides a clear roadmap, consisting of a set of guiding principles or rules that defines the actions people in the business should take (and not take) and the things they should prioritize (and not prioritize) to achieve desired goals.” — Michael Watkins
“Strategy is the deliberate orchestration of organizational capabilities, resources, and actions that are undertaken to achieve desired ends” – Joe Scherrer
The Benefits of Strategy
Broadens and deepens understanding of the competitive environment
Allows space to formulate solutions to the challenges the organization faces
Captures the company’s future direction, strategy, and business model
Creates clarity, focus and direction of time, energy, money, and resources
Builds consensus within the leadership team and the organization on the future of the business
Establishes a clear “point B” and identifies the “why” and the “what” needed to get there
Provide a base from which progress can be measured
Increases productivity from increased efficiency and effectiveness
Drives organizational vitality and growth
Business that implement a strategy are 12% more profitable
Why Strategies Fail
Less than 10% of strategies are effectively executed
Of 26,000 start-up failures, 2/3 had no strategy
Failure to understand the competitive environment
Lack of input and collaboration when creating the strategy
Poor alignment (skill sets, capacity, resources, capital, time)
No top leadership or employee commitment
Inadequate communication of the strategy to all stakeholders
Poor implementation
Lack of follow-up
Attention wanders to other “shiny objects”
You Don’t Have One!
Strategy IS NOT Tactics
“Tactics is the art of using troops in battle. Strategy is the art of using battles to win the war” – Prussian General Carl von Clauswitz
STRATEGY
Why and What
Broad Scope
Core orchestrating effort
Roadmap to Point B
Long time horizon
Big Picture
Future-Oriented
Focus on Events
TACTICS
How
Narrow Scope
Day-to-day Actions
Vehicle Driven to Point B
Short time horizon
Close-Up
Near-Future or Present Oriented
Focus on Tasks
How to Develop a Strategy
Ask Five Key Questions:
- Who are we?
- Where are we?
- Where do we want to go?
- How do we get there?
- Are we getting there?
Follow a Process:
- Assess the competitive environment
- Diagnose opportunities and challenges
- Develop of Options
- Select of Options
- Align, Resource, and Communicate the Strategy
- Implement
- Feedback/Course Correction
Use Proven Tools and Methods Such As:
– SWOT Analysis: Evaluates an organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
– Five Forces: Framework to analyze threats, bargaining power, and industry rivalries
– Balanced scorecard: Reporting tool to track the implementation of a strategy
– PEST analysis: Framework to analyze political, economic, social, and technological factors facing the organization
– Business model canvas: Template to document and align a firm’s value proposition, infrastructure, customers, and finances
– Critical Success Factors: Method to identify areas of activity that ensure strategic results for the organization
– Scenario Analysis: Create scenarios to challenge assumptions about the future in light of your strategy
– Bowman’s Strategy Clock: Models strategic positioning based on price and perceived value
– Kay’s Distinctive Capabilities Framework: Models ways to create added value or achieve competitive advantage
Key Characteristics of a Solid Business Strategy
- Incorporates a deep understanding of the organization’s strengths and areas to develop going forward
- Addresses the competitive environment and solves problems in the marketplace
- Results in a sustainable competitive advantage
- Communicates a clear picture of where the organization is going and the major actions required to get there
- Builds in flexibility based on changes in the competitive environment
Awesome Quotes on Strategy
“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.” – Sun Tzu
“The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.” – Michael Porter
“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” – Winston Churchill
“What business strategy is all about-what distinguishes it from all other kinds of business planning-is, in a word, competitive advantage. Without competitors there would be no need for strategy, for the sole purpose of strategic planning is to enable the company to gain, as efficiently as possible, a sustainable edge over its competitors.” – Kenichi Ohmae
“In real life, strategy is actually very straightforward. You pick a general direction and implement like hell.” – Jack Welch
“Strategy is a pattern in a stream of decisions.” – Henry Mintzberg
“Good tactics can save even the worst strategy. Bad tactics will destroy even the best strategy.” – General George S. Patton Jr.
“What’s the use of running if you are not on the right road?” – German proverb