The Strategy Book

Engaging your Team, Creating a strategy process, Running a strategy meeting, Understanding your competition, Combining Strategy and Tactics, Using strategy tools effectively, Leading strategy that works

The Strategy Book focuses on how you can create powerful strategies to deliver success in a competitive world. It answers the following questions:

• What do we know about strategy?
• What can strategy do for you?
• How can you effectively use strategy tools?
• How can you engage people with strategy?
• How do you avoid pitfalls, problems, and screw-ups?

Using the science of strategy The Strategy Book will help you tackle the really important challenges you face both in developing strategies and putting them into action. Its aim is to give you best ideas wrapped up in a usable, enjoyable package.

• Introduction
• What is strategy?
• Part 1: Your strategic self
• Shaping the future
• Thinking before you plan
• Becoming a strategic thinker
• Selling your strategy
• Part 2: Thinking like a strategist
• Reacting is as important as planning
• Taking risks (jumping your uncertainty gaps)
• Looking over your shoulder
• Knowing where grass (really) is greener
• Part 3: Creating your strategy
• Seeing the big picture?
• Finding position, intention and direction
• Looking for advantages
• Making strategic decisions and choices
• Adapting to your competitive environment
• Part 4: Winning with strategy
• Winning strategy games
• Creating new markets
• Getting ahead of your strategic group
• Growing your business (again and again)
• Going global without going broke
• Knowing what you can do best
• Part 5: Making your strategy work
• Managing your strategy process
• Meetings for strategic minds
• Managing change, making strategy work
• Understanding what can go wrong
• Saving your company from failure
• Part 6:The Strategy Book tool kit
• The basic (powerful) strategy questions
• SWOT analysis
• Porters 5 forces of competition
• Porters generic strategies
• Burgelmans strategy dynamics model
• Porters value chain
• Core competencies and resource-based view
• Nonaka and Takeuchis knowledge spiral
• McKinseys 7-S framework
• Scenario planning
• Ansoffs growth grid
• BCGs product portfolio matrix
• Kim and Mauborgnes blue ocean
• Greiner's growth (and crisis) model
• Treacy and Wiersemas value disciplines
• Cummings and Wilson: orientation and animation
• Lewins force field analysis
• Kotters eight phases of change
• Kaplan and Nortons balanced scorecard
• Hrebiniaks model of strategy execution
• Hammer and Champys business process design
• Michaud and Thoenigs strategic orientation
• Burgelman and Groves strategy bet model
• Argyriss double and single loop learning
• Mintzbergs deliberate and emergent
• Johnson's white space model
• Prahalad's bottom of the pyramid
• Stacey's strategy from complexity
• Final words

Engaging your Team, Creating a strategy process, Running a strategy meeting, Understanding your competition, Combining Strategy and Tactics, Using strategy tools effectively, Leading strategy that works

This seems at first glance to be yet another strategy tool-box book, but when you really read it, you will discover that it is a lot more ambitious than that. The author in fact tries to create a framework around which you could use the tools. In parts, he succeeds, but sometimes it feels a little too thin and lacking any practicality.

It is a decent read, but there are a lot more books out there that will make a bigger impact on you.