Playing to Win
Are you just having fun, or are you trying to win? Strategy is not complex. But it's hard. It's difficult because it requires people and organizations to make concrete decisions about their future—something that most businesses do not do.
Now, two of today's most prominent business thinkers go to the heart of strategy, explaining what it is, how to think about it, why you need it, and how to implement it. And they utilize one of the most successful corporate turnarounds of the last century, which they co-created, to demonstrate their thesis.
In just ten years, A.G. Lafley, former CEO of Procter & Gamble, and strategic adviser Roger Martin doubled P&G's sales, quadrupled its profits, and increased its market value by more than $100 billion. Playing to Win shows how leaders in organizations of all sizes can guide everyday actions with larger strategic goals built around the clear, essential elements that determine business success—where to play and how to win—drawn from their years of experience at P&G and the Rotman School of Management, where Martin is dean.
The end outcome is a winning strategy. Lafley and Martin have developed a set of five critical strategic options that, when addressed holistically, will put you ahead of your competitors. They are as follows:
- What is your winning goal?
- Where will you be playing?
- How will you triumph?
- What capabilities do you need to be successful?
- What management systems are required to back up your decisions?
The examples of how P&G won repeatedly by using this process to legendary brands like Olay, Bounty, Gillette, Swiffer, and Febreze demonstrate how deciding on a strategic approach—and then making the correct choices to support it—makes the difference between just playing the game and actually winning.
Author: A.G. Lafley and Roger L. Martin
Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/Playing-Win-Strategy-Really-Works/dp/142218739X
