This book is known as a classics on strategic planning and the role of strategy in business. It speaks from the point of view of leadership over Procter & Gamble’s (P&G) numerous businesses. The company identified its organization to be weak in understanding strategy, and it sought to inculcate strategic thinking into its leadership. Although this book references a few other corporations, it consists largely of case studies around how P&G succeeded using strategy.
The authors divide strategy into two central questions: Where to play, and how to win? The first question is often overlooked in meeting rooms. Deciding what consumers to target can provide a make-or-break decision concerning whether a product will succeed. The authors then break down these two central questions into sub-questions with cases to illustrate insights.
The book tries to identify general principles based on P&G’s experiences. One author was the CEO, and the other was a paid consultant to the company. Both were intimately involved in P&G’s refashioned approach to the market and in its numerous successes and occasional failures. The book’s main weakness lies in its magnified focus on and access to P&G. I would like to have heard a critical analysis of other ventures’ strategic plans, especially in my fields of healthcare and technology. That is probably too much to want from one treatment.
This book portrays a relentless focus on “winning.” In the field of healthcare technology, this verbiage can repel and appear difficult. My workplace does not talk about “wins” as much (though we occasionally talk so); we more often use language of fulfilling “goals.” Still, I remained able to abstract the point, but the authors’ bias towards a game-centered view of the world, with winners and losers, was apparent throughout.
This book’s audience consists of business folk, especially at more leadership levels. It’s reputed to be one of the best looks on strategy in the literature. I can see why. Although a scientist, I found its wording fairly accessible although I found it voyaged into jargon occasionally. Someone need not be an expert to learn from this book.
Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works
By A.G. Lafley & Roger L. Martin
Narrated by L.J. Ganser
Copyright (c) 2013
Audible Studios
Length: 7:09
Genre: Business
Sponsored link to www.amazon.com