Strategy Books: Worthy mentions...
The next couple of books are not necessarily 'strategy' books as such, but certainly worth noting and will definitely help you get better framing particularly when you're trying to hit the reset button...
Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action. By Simon Sinek
Key concept: There are leaders and there are those who lead. Start With Why is about a naturally occurring pattern, a way of thinking, acting and communicating that gives some leaders the ability to inspire those around them. The more organizations and people who learn to also start with WHY, the more people there will be who wake up feeling fulfilled by the work they do.
The book goes on to disect this concept in a way that can help you shift your thinking from focusing so much on WHAT you do, and more on the WHY.
Why you should read it: The book itself is a fairly short read and will definetly inspire you into looking at your strategy from a different lens. If you've been struggling with your Vision Statement, then this is a MUST read.
Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable
Key concept: Creating your very own purple cow, is about being remarkable around your marketing, so that you can stand out from the crowded market place and no longer be like the compatition around you.
This not simply about creating marketing that stands out though. The marketing IS the product! - it is built right into the product. Sounds a little far fetched? Don't worry - Seth walks you right through the concept with some amazing ideas and real examples!
Why you should read it: If you are tired of swimming in a red sea (check out the Blue Ocean book), then this is a great read. It will certainly help you view your approach to the market with a different lens that will hopefully refresh your marketing and help you lead the pack.
Strategy Books: Across the Board – Where Should Strategy Begin?
“Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.” – Japanese Prover
A must read for CEO’s and Board of Director Members
After serving on four different Boards and presenting over 50 times at Board of Director meetings, you begin to see a pattern. Here are my Top 10 Questions when evaluating a Board of Directors.
- What is the board’s purpose?
- Is the board independent or a rubber-stamp committee?
- Does the board have a good working relationship?
- Do the board members “show-up” without preparation?
- Why does the same director ask the same question every time?
- Do board members ask rhetorical question or is it with the intent of gaining knowledge?
- Is diversification of the organization going to make it stronger or weaker?
- Is the board strategic or not?
- If the board is strategic, does the board understand the cause and effect of strategic initiatives?
- Are these seats intended to be comfortable or uncomfortable?
I recently had the privilege to chat with Mark Pfister, author of Across the Board, The Modern Architecture Behind An Effective Board of Directors. Mark is a “Board Macro-Influencer”, a certified Board Director and advises public, private and nonprofit Boards in efficient and effective operations. Mark also speaks on tours, consults on effective board leadership, strategic global initiatives and has established the Board as a Service model (BaaS). Here are 5 Key Characteristics that every board should review based on the highlights from Across the Board:
- Be Primarily Strategic – 90% versus 10% Tactical
- Keep the Organization on Track to the Core Values, Vision and Mission
- Foster a Clear and Viable Company Strategic Roadmap
- Leverage Knowledge from the Board to further the Organization
- Highly Engaged Board Members
Be Primarily Strategic
Every board should be strategic and rarely be tactical. If I received a nickel for every time a board went down a rabbit trail about tactical matters, such as, should we include significant others at the next annual retreat…The board’s purpose is to focus on the key strategic matters of the organization and follow the principal rule “noses in, fingers out.” A critical role of the board is to continue to evaluate the Strategic Initiatives and whether they are still relevant.
Keep the Organization on Track to the Core Values, Vision and Mission
Here at Cascade Strategy, we love this principle. Whenever an organization moves outside of its core values, problems occur throughout the organization because of the mis-alignment. The challenge is showing how the Current Strategic Initiatives are still aligned with its key tenets and every board of directors should see how management and the board are on track.
Foster a Clear and Viable Company Strategic Road map
Mark describes this differently than most. From Across the Board, “The beauty of a road map is in its simplicity – the high-level steps required to a) drive the strategy b) live the values c) support the vision and reach the vision.” They should have clear checkpoints or milestones with timelines associated with them. The road map should cascade down throughout the organization.
Leverage Knowledge and Relationships to Further the Organization
A healthy organization will leverage from the strengths of the experienced board members to support key Strategic Initiatives. To effectively complete this goal, the Board should be very deliberate about adding members who fit the values of the organization, they are humble, yet great teachers who will help the organization and management team excel. Board committees can be an excellent way to foster these relationships with clear guidelines on support and coaching – remembering the principle – “noses in, fingers out.”
Highly Engaged Board Members
The CEO or Chairmen of the Board should bring on board members for more than an approval vote. However, I did not realize Mark’s expectation of a board member and I have rarely been able to meet those obligations working full-time. The National Association of Corporate Directors states that the average time commitment for a board member is 245 hours. Mark believes when you add up all the hours – you realize it is more than you think. This is a great guideline to determine how many boards that you should serve on.
Great organizations are supported by a focused and engaged Board of Directors. Consider these guidelines as you move forward with strategic discussions with your board.
Until next time, Be Strategic with your Reading…and Your Actions!
Strategy Books: Best of the Rest!
“Strategy is about making choices, trade-offs; it’s about deliberately choosing to be different.” – Michael Porter
To make the Best of the Rest Strategy Books, these are the remaining 4 books that appeared in our Top 9 research from Five Books Every Strategist Should Read. To complete this list, I read 3 more books to make a proper evaluation and added one more that appeared in the list twice. Consequently, these next 3 books revealed new concepts that will be applied in our future strategy development.
Another interesting fact about why these strategy books are the best of the rest versus the first group, none of these books have their own specific Wikipedia page. Although, several of the author’s concepts and ideas are still abundant in Wikipedia.
Drum roll, please…
#5 – The Art of Strategy: A Game Theorist’s Guide to Success in Business and Life by Avinash K. Dixit and Barry J. Nalebuff
Number of Times on the Rankings: 3
Other Rankings:
Andrew St. George of the Financial Times said this was “My Book of the Year” in 1991.
The Strategy Books Key Story:
This book provides real life examples to game theory, not just the mathematics behind every principle. As they say, “Game theory means rigorous strategic thinking.” They share what steps we should anticipate in a variety of examples from Yacht racing, to game shows and politics. My favorite part of the book is how they discuss – it is time to go to the gym to work out your brain. Not recommended for the audiobook, as you need to read this one to see and compare the various examples.
Best Strategic Insight:
The Nash Equilibrium. This concept devises a way to develop a solution when two or more people are not cooperating. I recently had a discussion with an expert who developed a mathematical model to identify the real root cause to support a business to grow. One of the biggest challenges of strategic development is identifying the levers that have a positive or negative impact to the outcomes. Often strategic initiatives lack the corresponding key performance indicators to truly make a difference which leads teams wasting valuable time, energy, and resources.
Why you should read it:
Being able to anticipate someone’s next move is very powerful. Therefore, learning some of the basic theories to the more complex can help us become better leaders and managers. Yet, one should be careful that it is still a “game” and never predicts the future with 100% certainty.
#4 –Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries by Industries and Competitors – Michael E. Porter
Number of Times on the Rankings: 4
Other Rankings:
This book has 16 printings in English and translated into 19 languages and this was originally published in 1980. Michael Porter has been awarded the Bishop William Lawrence University Professor, the highest recognition to a Harvard faculty member. This is one of 18 books that he has published. Most noteworthy, Porter has been recognized by many as the “Father of Strategy”.
The Strategy Books Key Story:
Porter outlines the five forces for competitive strategy in this book and as such, it has become a principle that is regularly taught throughout business schools for the past 40 years. He argues that the key to survival is to find significant advantage in at least one of the five forces.
Best Strategic Insight:
The five forces of competitive strategy are:
- Entry of competitors
- Threat of substitutes
- Bargaining power of buyers
- Bargaining power of suppliers
- Rivalry among the existing players
Why you should read it:
At a minimum, this will put you on an equal footing with anyone who has completed a business strategy course with Porter’s teachings. The principles are valuable to evaluate your own company versus your competition.
#3 – Playing to Win – How Strategy Really Works by A.G. Lafley and Roger L. Martin
Number of Times on the Rankings: 5 (2nd highest)
Other Rankings:
The Economic Times listed this as one of 20 books by the most influential thinkers in business in 2015. The Washington Post included this in the 2013 books every leader should read. Recently, Drew Houston, Dropbox CEO included this as one of his 4 favorite books to be a successful leader.
The Strategy Books Key Story:
This is the story of former CEO A.G. Lafley leading Proctor & Gamble back to prominence. Fellow author, Roger L Martin is strategic consultant who helps guide the CEO and management to identify the best methods to become relevant in a highly competitive global market. During his tenure, Lafley helped double sales, quadruple profits and increase market value by over $100 billion.
Best Strategic Insight:
P&G is one of the most complex organizations and it ranked #34 in the Fortune 500. Their teams helped identify five choices that define strategy.
- A Winning Perspective. This requires a focus on customers and consumers while keeping in mind the competitive landscape.
- Where to Play. They leverage Porter’s strategic insights to focus on areas where they can be successfully, such as geographies, verticals, competition, product categories and distribution channels.
- How to Win – Identify the best win to differentiate yourself from the competition – in the eyes of the customer. Are you a cost leader? A differentiator? Choose win and go forward.
- Core Competencies – Leverage existing strengths and identify new opportunities to develop to exploit a market – while keeping in mind where to play and how to win.
- Managing Strategy – Strategy is to define what are the exact goals that will help the company complete its objectives. Clear measurements and consistent communication help keep teams focused on what matters.
Why you should read it:
If you can understand how to turnaround a Fortune 50 company, we can take these same principles to any organization. The most common challenge to this assumption, certainly we are complex and different. I agree. However, few can argue that it is more complex and challenging than P&G’s ability to turn into a winning organization.
#2 – The 4 Disciplines of Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals by Sean Covey, Chris McChesney, and Jim Huling.
Number of Times on the Rankings: 2
Other Rankings:
The Franklin Covey Group lead by the authors have worked with more than 13,000 teams and 200,000 people in hundreds of organizations with private and public companies, education, and governments throughout the world. They commissioned studies to evaluate real gaps in performance management and they did not write this book until they had completed over 1,500 implementations.
The Strategy Books Key Story:
The Franklin Covey Group has been a leader in personal accountability systems for years. Sean Covey has led the next steps in developing corporate accountability for executing strategy. After 1,500 implementations, they refined the process and called it 4DX or The Four Disciplines of Execution.
Best Strategic Insight:
The 4DX process includes the following elements:
- Discipline 1: Focus on the Wildly Important. Provide your best effort to those few goals that will make a difference.
- Discipline 2: Identify and act on the Leading Indicators or Measures. With effective leading tracking, the lagging measures will improve.
- Discipline 3: Create a clear scoreboard so everyone knows quickly and easily if they are winning the game.
- Discipline 4: Develop a pattern of accountability. Have consistent sessions to assure the goals are moving towards completing the Wildly Important Goals.
Why you should read it:
This is the best “how to” book on writing goals and getting them done. The 4DX process is simple which enables it to be successful with your leadership and teams. Read it, apply it, because as we know a great strategy is worthless if we do not execute on it.
#1 – Good Strategy Bad Strategy – The difference and why it matters. By Richard P. Rumelt.
Number of Times on the Rankings: 4
Other Rankings:
Richard Rumelt was ranked #20 on the Thinkers50 List in 2011. The book was also shortlisted on the Financial Times Best Seller List in 2011. John Kay, a British leading economist said that this is “the first book on strategy that I have found difficult to put down.”
The Strategy Books Key Story:
Professor Richard Rumelt shares his 50 years of compelling strategic consulting and academic research to compile a very good read in Good Strategy Bad Strategy. As with most stories, we tend to learn the most from the mistakes – what we should NOT do. His experiences provide us wonderful insight and a few laughs, certainly you get the experience that you are having a fireside chat with someone who has spent nearly his entire life on the theory and practice application of strategy.
Best Strategic Insight:
There are many examples of strategic insights, here are my two favorite Good and Bad insights on strategy development:
Good
- Clear coordinated steps and goals that cascade and support the successful completion of the strategy.
- A clear root cause analysis of the problems with a supportable approach to creating new opportunities to solve the problems.
Bad
- Designing a metric or Key Performance Indicator without a strategy to support it.
- Establishing “Fluff” in your vision, strategies or goals that are meaningless. For example, “We are going to be the leading…blah, blah, blah…in our industry.” (Full disclosure – nearly every company that I have worked for had this and I supported the statement – oops!)
Why you should read it:
This is solid wisdom from an expert in Strategic Planning. The combination of real-life examples plus articulated theories will help challenge you to write better strategies. You must think, because using the same fluff approach of the status quo is not a strategy. His personal commentary and projections about the future (which has mostly past) are quite entertaining. Enjoy the read.
Next month, I will pull out one of my personal favorites, The Goal and discuss how this one concept can be a breakthrough for your strategic planning or lack of strategic planning.
Until next time, be Strategic with your Reading.
Strategy Books: Best of the Best!
“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” – Benjamin Franklin
Our co-founder at Cascade Strategy, Tom, asked me to share my thoughts on the best Strategy Books EVER written. That can be an overwhelming thought considering how many strategic books have been written. Then to evaluate whether they are strategic and if they are any good. Next, I must deal with the other problem – I HAVE NOT read every strategic book EVER written. Despite my current quest to read 100 books in 12 months (#raceto100books), it still barely scratches the surface.
To tackle this project, I have done what a strategist and an accountant would do. First of all, I examined the history of what other people think. Matter of fact, I reviewed 10 OTHER Top Strategic Book Review Lists including the Best Selling Strategic Books based on Amazon data. I listed all the books from the 10 different lists and sorted them based on appearing on the lists and their respective rankings on the list. The 10 lists had over 80 unique books.
To make the list of Strategy Books: Essential Strategic Reading, they had to have been listed at least 3 times AND I had to have read it before.
- Of the 80+ books, only 17 appeared twice on the lists.
- Only 9 appeared 3 times
- I did not read 3 of the 9
Drum roll please…
#5 – The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail by Clayton M. Christensen
Number of Times in the Rankings: 3
Other Rankings:
Named one of 100 Leadership and Success Books to Read in a Lifetime by Amazon Editors. The Economist names it as one of the six most important books ever written, and it received the Global Business Book of the Year in 1997.
The Strategy Books Key Story:
Harvard professor Clayton M. Christensen explains why successful companies fail to see disruptive technologies impacting their market and why they ultimately fall from glory because of the changes. The innovator’s dilemma has two key parts.
- Value Innovation is an S-Curve: The initial curve is costly due to product creation and iteration; the second curve or middle curve reaps the most profit and the final curve or end of product life cycle value decreases as competition increases and product reaches saturation.
- Incumbent sized deals: As a company and its customers grow, sales expectations increase for the company. New product innovation become a smaller percentage of the total business and less of a focus as the company grows. Existing customers do not show interest in the new products.
Best Strategic Insight:
As a business continues to grow, the company will move down the S-Curve with diminishing profits and customers who do not express interest to adopt something new. To break this natural trend, companies and management have to be vigilant to address the following challenges:
- Create a new technology or product with a new or “right” set of customers.
- Use a smaller group to create, sell and distribute the product which is isolated from the core business.
- Fail early and often to find the right solution.
Why you should read it:
Managers who lead an organization to the top of any specific market generally believe they “know” how to be successful. This bias (or blindness) doesn’t enable them to see the potential risk of new technologies impacting their market and even worse – they most likely will not know how to navigate the new market conditions until it is too late. More importantly…it just may save your company. This often requires outside consulting to help a company see what they can’t see.
#4 – How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Number of Times in the Rankings: 3
Other Rankings:
In 2011, it was #19 on Time Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential books.
The Strategy Books Key Story:
In the 1930’s, Dale Carnegie was a successful sales person and he eventually built another business teaching a 14-week course on how to work with people. One of the attendees worked at Simon & Shuster and he convinced Carnegie to make it into a book. He outlines the 12 things that the book will do for you including:
- Change your outlook to be more positive (written during the Depression.)
- Increase your influence, your prestige, and your ability to get things done.
- Improve your selling and leadership skills.
Best Strategic Insight:
Carnegie outlines three key techniques to working with people. They are contrary to the way most of us live.
- Don’t criticize, condemn, or complain.
- Give honest and sincere appreciation.
- Arouse in the other person a desire or an “eager want.”
Why you should read it:
Machines are gaining power, but it is people who still rule the world. This book will teach you lessons on how to work with the rest of us in a variety of different situations and it has stood the test of time. More importantly, applying the concepts will also make you a happier person.
#3 – The Art of War by Sun Tzu
Number of Times on the Rankings: 3
Other Rankings:
After 2,500 years, the Art of War is one of the most influential strategic books in East Asian warfare and the #1 Best Seller in History of Education.
The Strategy Books Key Story:
Sun Tzu, translated into Master Sun, was an ancient military strategic leader from China during the late 6th century BC from the continuous wars of seven Kingdoms/States. The most famous story is when the King of Wu ordered Sun Tzu to train a harem of 180 concubines into soldiers. Sun Tzu ordered the King’s two favorite concubines as officers. His first command was met with laughter and he reiterated that it was at the command of the General. He then ordered a second command and received the same response. As a result of the insubordination, Sun Tzu had both concubines executed. He chose two new concubines as officers and every order and command was maneuvered with perfection from that point forward.
Best Strategic Insight:
Although the key story is graphic and shocking, this book goes far beyond military strategies. Sun Tzu highlights the many important lessons of working with people including the use of diplomacy. Three of my favorite Sun Tzu quotes and comparisons from the Six Principles of Sun Tzu & the Art of Business:
- Avoid your competitor’s strength and attack their weakness.
- “Any army may be likened to water, for just as flowing water avoids the heights and hastens to the lowlands, so an army avoids and strikes weakness.”
- Use speed and preparation to swiftly overcome the competition.
- “To rely on rustics and not prepare is the greatest of crimes; to be prepared beforehand for any contingency is the greatest of any virtues.”
- Develop your character as a leader to maximize the potential of your employees.
- “When one treats people with benevolence, justice and righteousness, and reposes confidence in them, the army will be united in mind and all will be happy to serve their leaders.”
Why you should read it:
Because Tony Soprano said he was reading it on the Sopranos in 2001? Despite the pop culture, the above quote spiked the volume of copies ordered for this book written over 2,500 years ago. The Art of War remains influential and its first English copy was completed in 1910. The book continues to be a dominant theory in East Asian culture and more recently in western culture. Many modern strategic theories are rooted in these original writings and it has been influential to military leaders Mao, Ho Chi Minh and Colin Powell.
#2 – Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne
Number of Times in the Rankings: 7
Other Rankings:
Named bestseller by Wall Street Journal and Business Week. Even more, Fast Company Leadership put the book to it’s Hall of Fame. The China Research Institute named it as one of the 40 most influential books.
The Strategy Books Key Story:
Based on research of 150 strategic decisions ranging over 100 years and 30 industries, this is one of the deepest reflections upon what makes companies work – and what doesn’t. The blue and red ocean are outstanding analogies. In a deeply competitive environment, organizations must battle and scrape for every dollar of profit. All the blood, sweat and tears is represented in this red ocean environment. Blue oceans are organizations taking strategic decisions to sail free from the competition into their own successful environment with higher profits and less competition.
Best Strategic Insight:
Blue Ocean strategy creates a framework to differentiate themselves in the marketplace.
- Raise: Identify product, pricing, and service standards within an industry.
- Eliminate: Reduce any unnecessary costs and/or create a new market segment.
- Reduce: If the part or process cannot be eliminated; what can be done to reduce the costs or outsource.
- Create: Continue to create new products and services to differentiate compared to the competition.
Why you should read it:
By all accounts, this was the most referenced strategic book, in 7 of the 10 rankings. The book provides great examples of how Cirque du Soleil, Southwest Airlines, and Dyson vacuums created blue oceans in a previously considered red ocean environment. Since the writing in 2005, the following companies are examples of blue ocean strategies including Pitney Bowes, Tata Motors, and Starbucks.
📚 Recommended reading: Blue Ocean vs. Red Ocean Strategy (Overview with Examples)
#1 – Good to Great by Jim Collins
Number of Times on the Rankings: 3
Other Rankings:
Several members of Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council said it was the best management book they’ve read. Consequently, this sold over 5 million copies outpacing Blue Ocean Strategy.
The Strategy Books Key Story:
This is the compassionate result of a 5-year study of 1,435 good companies spanning 40 years. Only 11 companies made the list for being considered great. To make the list, each company had to beat the general stock market by at least 3 times over a period of 15 years. After researching the 11 companies, they selected comparison companies to understand the differences of what they did to become great versus everyone else who didn’t. For the period of study, they identified that the findings were nearly mathematically impossible to refute.
Best Strategic Insight:
Jim Collins did have a bias, and that was that he did NOT want this to be a book about leadership. He wanted to show the empirical findings on how these businesses used specific strategies to meet this ranking for only 0.77% of the population. And the team found many awesome findings such as:
- Identifying the proper method for change management, aka the Flywheel Effect.
- Getting the right people on the bus (company) and in the right seats.
- Use of the Hedgehog Concept.
- Stop doing things that are against your strategy.
Yet, they also found that every Good to Great company had a Level 5 Leader. The right type of leadership mattered.
Why you should read it: This is my favorite business book and I think you will find it as well. Read it and listen to it on audible so you can hear Jim Collins passion for the research, surprise findings, and amazing insights. Becoming great isn’t easy; but there is a proven formula to get it done.
Next month, I will reveal the Best of the Rest Strategy Books. This Top 10 will include my personal reading/ranking of the three that I did not read and my favorites from the rest of the list.
Until next time, be Strategic with your Reading.
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