Good Strategy Bad Strategy

Strategy is one of the most abused and confusing terms in the world of business.

This book explains clearly the essence of strategy and why it is so important for every organization to get it right.

It will be an eye-opener for the vast majority of people and organizations who typically do something completely different (hint: bad strategy) when they think they are designing a good strategy.  

I have known Richard Rumelt for decades and served for seven years with him on the faculty at UCLA. He is the deepest thinker about strategy I know. Dick took over 30 years to write his first book for practitioners rather than academics, but it was certainly worth the wait. He explains how a good strategy is a specific and coherent response to, and approach for, overcoming the obstacles to progress. A good strategy works by harnessing and applying power where it has the greatest effect. A bad strategy uses vague values, buzzwords, slogans, and unlikely goals. A good strategy… show more.

There are thousands of strategy books, from personal success strategies to business strategies to financial strategy. This is one of the best I’ve read so far. It’s insightful, colorful, to the point, and paints a very vivid picture of what it takes to develop a good strategy, a concept that is not too easy to define. Precisely what is strategy? This book demonstrates that it is the skilled approach and the ability to move resources and people to achieve an objective. While the book uses many business examples, I think the lessons can be deducted for any industry if you… show more.

The insights help readers understand how to develop effective strategies. The author explains the difference between strategies, tactics, goals, and platitudes. This understanding makes all the difference in strategy development (and achievement)! It has allowed me to help many clients develop strategies that are meaningful, but can actually be implemented and produce results.