Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters, by Richard Rumelt
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Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters, by Richard Rumelt
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Developing and implementing a strategy is the central task of a leader, whether the CEO at a Fortune 100 company, an entrepreneur, a church pastor, the head of a school, or a government official. Richard Rumelt argues that the heart of a good strategy is insight―into the true nature of the situation, into the hidden power in a situation, and into an appropriate response. He shows you how insight can be cultivated with a wide variety of tools for guiding your own thinking.
Good Strategy/Bad Strategy integrates fascinating examples from business, nonprofit, and military affairs to bring its original ideas to life: From Apple to General Motors, from the two Iraq wars to Afghanistan, from a small local market to Wal-Mart, from the Getty Trust to the Los Angeles Unified School District, from Global Crossing to the 2007-08 financial crisis, and many more. The abundance of business-ready insights offered by Rumelt stem from his decades of digging beyond the superficial to address hard questions with honesty and integrity.
Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters, by Richard Rumelt - Amazon Sales Rank: #233992 in Books
- Published on: 2015-09-22
- Released on: 2015-09-22
- Formats: Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 6.75" h x .50" w x 5.25" l,
- Running time: 12 Hours
- Binding: MP3 CD
Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters, by Richard Rumelt Amazon.com Review Clears out the mumbo jumbo and muddled thinking underlying too many strategies and provides a clear way to create and implement a powerful action-oriented strategy for the real world Developing and implementing a strategy is the central task of a leader, whether the CEO at a Fortune 100 company, an entrepreneur, a church pastor, the head of a school, or a government official. Richard Rumelt shows that there has been a growing and unfortunate tendency to equate Mom-and-apple-pie values, fluffy packages of buzzwords, motivational slogans, and financial goals with “strategy.” He debunks these elements of “bad strategy” and awakens an understanding of the power of a “good strategy.” 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 will have the greatest effect in challenges as varied as putting a man on the moon, fighting a war, launching a new product, responding to changing market dynamics, starting a charter school, or setting up a government program. Rumelt’snine sources of power—ranging from using leverage to effectively focusing on growth—are eye-opening yet pragmatic tools that can be put to work on Monday morning.Surprisingly, a good strategy is often unexpected because most organizations don’t have one. Instead, they have “visions,” mistake financial goals for strategy,and pursue a “dog’s dinner” of conflicting policies and actions.Rumelt argues that the heart of a good strategy is insight—into the true nature of the situation, into the hidden power in a situation, and into an appropriate response. He shows you how insight can be cultivated with a wide variety of tools for guiding yourown thinking.Good Strategy/Bad Strategy uses fascinating examples from business, nonprofit, and military affairs to bring its original and pragmatic ideas to life. The detailed examples range from Apple to General Motors, from the two Iraq wars to Afghanistan, from a small local market to Wal-Mart, from Nvidia to Silicon Graphics, from the Getty Trust to the Los Angeles Unified School District, from Cisco Systems to Paccar, and from Global Crossing to the 2007–08 financial crisis.Reflecting an astonishing grasp and integration of economics, finance, technology, history, and the brilliance and foibles of the human character, Good Strategy/Bad Strategy stems from Rumelt’s decades of digging beyond the superficial to address hard questions with honesty and integrity. Amazon Exclusive: Walter Kiechel Reviews Good Strategy Bad Strategy Walter Kiechel is the author of The Lords of Strategy. Until January 2003, Kiechel served as editorial director of HBP and senior vice president in charge of its publishing division, with responsibility for the Harvard Business Review; HBS Press, the company's book-publishing arm; the newsletter unit (which he helped start in 1996) as well as HBP’s video, reprints, and conference businesses
Considering the source, this is a shocking book. For over 40 years Richard Rumelt has made distinguished contributions to the field of strategy, in his theorizing, teaching, and consulting. Now comes the deponent to tell us that what purports to be strategy at most organizations, not just companies but not-for-profits and governments as well, hardly merits the name. Instead it represents what he calls "bad strategy"--a list of blue-sky goals, perhaps, or a fluff-and-buzzword infected "vision" everybody is supposed to share.
Refreshing stuff this, seeing the corporate emperor revealed not in his imagined suit of armor but rather in something resembling a diaphanous clown suit. Rumelt drives the point home with a simple explanation for why most organizations can't do "good strategy": the real McCoy requires making choices, feeding a few promising beasties while goring the oxen of others at the management table.
But the jeremiad, fun as it is--and it is fun, Rumelt has a good time punching holes in the afflatus of bad strategy--isn't my favorite part of the book. That would be the second section, with the slightly daunting title "Sources of Power." To be useful to a practitioner, a book on strategy needs not only a straightforward framework but also a certain craftiness, a set of ideas that prompt the reader to think "What a neat idea" or "How clever of them." Rumelt has the clear, elegant framework in what he calls the "kernel"--a diagnosis explaining the nature of the challenge, a guiding policy for dealing with it, coherent actions for carrying out the policy.
In "Sources of Power," though, he goes deeper than the merely crafty to identify potential levers of for strategic advantage--proximate objectives, design, and focus, among others--that transcend the purely economic. Repeatedly he demonstrates how to think down through the apparent challenge, with questions and then questions of those questions, to get at what can be the bedrock of a good strategy.
In a final section on thinking like a strategist, we get a sense of what a delight it must be to sit in Rumelt's classroom, or with him on a consulting assignment, as he leads us through the best kind of Socratic dialogue to appreciate the kinds of blinders or mass psychology that can pose the final barriers to our forging clear-eyed strategy.
If you want to make strategy, or be an informed part of the ever-evolving conversation around the subject, you will need to read this book. My bet is that you'll enjoy the experience. --Walter Kiechel
Review “Refreshing . . . clear . . . elegant. . . . If you want to make strategy, you will need . . . this book.” —Walter Kiechel, author of The Lords of Strategy“Valuable . . . illuminating . . . meticulously sourced.” —Inc“Narrator Sean Runnette’s refreshing, clear reading further strengthens the extensively researched material from this distinguished business thinker.” —Library Journal [starred review]
About the Author Richard P. Rumelt was profiled in The Economist as one of twenty-five living persons who have had the most influence on management concepts and corporate practice. He holds a chair at the UCLA Anderson School of Management and is a consultant to small and large firms, as well as to organizations in the educational and not-for-profit worlds.
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88 of 95 people found the following review helpful. Excellent Perspectives - By Loyd Eskildson Rumelt's 'Good Strategy Bad Strategy' provides an excellent framework for understanding the difference between good and bad strategies. The material benefits greatly by his inclusion of good and bad strategy examples. Rumelt begins by pointing out that developing and implementing a strategy is the central task of a leader. Strategy, however, does not equate to buzzwords, values, slogans, or financial goals. Good strategy applies power where it will do the greatest good. Most organizations don't have a strategy, let alone a good one.Good strategy almost always looks simple and obvious, and is built around one or two critical issues. Bad strategy tends to skip over problems. Strategy is about how an organization will move forward. The purpose of Rumelt's book is to clarify the differences between good and bad strategy, and help readers create good strategy. A good strategy is coherent; most organizations pursue multiple objectives that are unconnected with each other, or even conflict with each other. One way to begin is by identifying the leading competitor and asking how that company became that leader, then segueing into how one's own company could also become a leader. (My preference is more direct - ask significant/target customers for advice on how one could substantially increase business volume with them.)Steve Jobs' turnaround of Apple in 1996 began by shrinking the firm to a scale and scope appropriate for the niche producer it was at the time (4% of the total market). Jobs got Microsoft to invest $150 million in Apple and develop new Microsoft Office software for Apple to deflect Gates' worries over antitrust prosecution. Jobs also cut the number of desktop models from 15 to 1 (too confusing), the number of portable and handhelds to one, cut out all printers and other peripherals, cut development engineers and software development, cut distributors and 5 of its 6 national retailers (part of the rationale for too many models), moved manufacturing to Taiwan, began selling direct via a Web site, and waited for 'the next big thing.' Two years later came the iPod, then online music, and later the iPhone. (Actually, except for the waiting for 'the next big thing,' the previous list consists of 'actions,' not strategy.)WalMart provides another good strategy example. It contravened the conventional wisdom that a full-line discount store needs a population base of at least 100,000 and replaced it with a network of 150 stores/distribution center that used bar codes, JIT delivery, cross-docking, bringing vendors' shipments into the centers on back-hauls, paying low wages, satellite-based IT and shared data with vendors, and management providing fast follow-up, shared learning, and a more centralized structure (eg. purchasing). Meanwhile, KMart sat and let WalMart run largely unopposed in its rural areas - Rumelt states that when a firm runs away with a market it usually is partly due to competitors sleeping. Blockbuster's sleeping while Netflix developed is another example.International Harvester was once the 4th largest U.S. corporation. It's '79 'Corporate Strategic Plan' provides an example of poor strategy. The 'plan' was to increase market share, cut costs, and build revenue and profits. The plan, however, ignored its inefficient production caused by union rules and adverse labor relations - something not curable by simply buying new equipment. Administrative overheads were improved, but a 6-month strike got no concessions for IH and the company collapsed.Rumelt makes the point that under-performance is a result - the true challenges (areas to focus on) are the reasons for the under-performance. (Otherwise one is left with Deming's criticized 'management by exhortation.')Continuing, Rumelt states that the most common pathways to bad strategy are: 1)the belief that all you need to succeed is a positive attitude, 2)a filling in the blanks approach vision, mission, values, strategies, 3)leaders unwilling to make choices among competing parties - often due to internal political conflict involving status gains and losses.Charismatic leadership has nothing in common with good strategy. Jack Welch - "If you don't have a competitive advantage, don't compete." (Get out of the business.)Peter Senge's 'shared vision' explanation for Ford and Apple's success is nonsense - reality is their successes were due to the special genius of a very few.Three steps to strategy. 1)Diagnosis defines/explains the challenge. 2)Guiding policy is the overall approach to over come the identified obstacles - such policy is especially good if it draws upon sources of competitive advantage. 3)Coherent actions are steps that work together to accomplish the guiding policy.Rumelt then uses education to illustrate, though has difficulty doing so. He begins by stating (correctly) that cultural and socio-economic differences are the primary determinants of pupil achievement. He then incorrectly states that these are not useful policy determinants - reality is that American students would do much better emulating their Asian peers. Given that incorrect premise Rumelt then postulates that since evidence shows school performance is positively associated with decentralization, it should be the focus of policy because it can be changed - regardless of whether organization structure explains most variation in school performance. That's nonsense - standing the Pareto Principle on its head.Continuing, Gerstner came to a flounder IBM when microprocessors were replacing big-iron, IBM was providing end-to-end computing solutions, and new vendors were fragmented (chips, memory, hard disks, software, operating systems). The thinking when Gerstner entered was that IBM should be split up. Instead, Gerstner returned to providing integrated solutions - this time around customer solutions rather than IBM mainframe hardware platforms. Another example - Wells Fargo has pursued a strategy of large breadth/scope, allowing cross-selling. (Also Citicorp.) Selecting the appropriate customer segment to focus on (eg. busy professionals, or students) is an important strategy component (Drucker's emphasis on 'What businesses are you NOT in?') guiding subsequent decisions with coherence (eg. 'yes' to a 2nd checkout line at the busy 5 P.M. hour, 'yes' to more parking, 'yes' to quality almost ready-to-eat foods instead of snacks, 'no' to late hours.)Ford in 2000 found itself torn between a policy of 'scale economies' and brand premiums (acquisition of Volvo, Jaguar). It attempted consistency through designing Volvo and Jaguar to use a shared frame - satisfying nobody.No firm has strength in all areas. Likely conflict - evolving from a fast new-product development firm to one with low mass-production costs. Growth through acquisition usually involves paying too much (25% premium, plus fees). Vertical integration creates mismatches of scale economies and is more easily accomplished via contract.Bottom-Line: Rumelt's 'Good Strategy Bad Strategy' provides a good overview of the topic, aided by examples. However, it would be stronger yet with less verbiage and more focused discussion on the strengths/weaknesses of popular generic strategies - eg. economies of scale and scope (eg. G.M. suffered from too many similar car lines and models), M&A, vertical integration, price wars - especially with assymetric warfare, and the importance of a sustainable competitive advantage.
61 of 66 people found the following review helpful. good framework but actionable summary a little limited By david I got hooked picking this book up in the airport. Really punchy start showing how most companies dont get past the Vision and Mission and actually tackle what strategy really is. Using some big name brand examples and personal anecdotes Richards explains his framework for really crafing a strategy 1. diagnosis of the issue 2 a chosen policy/pathway to deal with the issue that may include making hard decisions 3 analysis turned into reality by a coherent set of actions.I thought the book then lost its way a little, with the middle of the book having some very long examples that often didnt explicity demonstrate the application of the new framework but instead showed that much of Michael Porters tools for analysing 'competitive advantage' still hold true which is good news!The last couple of chapters on 'putting it together' and 'keeping your head' lacked a strond sense of summary to me and I didnt come away with a strong memory the framework, or any handy new 'tool kit' or set 'heurisitics' for making sure that I would be doing Good rather than Bad strategy. The framework was there, but it was up in the front chapters and it really only all came together for me when I compiled my main highlighted sections and margin notes into a 1-page summary (that I then write into the front cover page so I can refresh and review my work books quickly) . I reckon the book structure could have benefitted from the old 3 part framework of "tell 'em what your gonna tell 'em, tell 'em, tell 'em what ya told 'em" = Introduction, Main Body, Conclusionworth a read for someone involved in business strategy simply to get all the anecdotes and experience that Richard has amassed but you might need to work a little harder than necessary to consolidate the 'take home messages from the book'
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful. A wealth of practical wisdom By DonSlive I am not a strategy specialist. I run a small business and am currently co-chair of a study task force appointed to deal with issues facing our local (UMC) church. Over the years I have looked at a number of books about business planning and strategy and have found interesting things but have always felt that they were written for someone who had to "sound smart" in some meeting or presentation.I was visiting my brother's house and started reading his copy of Good Strategy/Bad Strategy one evening. I stayed up until 3 a.m. to finish it. There is a wealth of practical wisdom here that is presented without jargon and with a nice garnish of wit.At first I assumed the "bad strategy" concept would apply to big companies and that I could breeze through it. But, as I got ahold of the argument, I began to see bad strategy all around me. It's there in state government, in the school system, in town planning, at a park where I am a trustee, and, of course, in Washington D.C. This idea has been a real eye-opener to me and I hope that it reaches a wide audience. The benefit is not just to strategy experts, but to ordinary people who need a way of understanding what is right and wrong with the institutions around them.Even more than the "bad strategy" idea, I found the author's approach invigorating and empowering. Dr. Rumelt doesn't tell you what to do to make a good strategy. Instead, he says that it is the product of insight. In addition, he tells us that a strategy can't be "proven" to be correct. It is simply a good guess ("hypothesis") about what will work. (I sort-of always knew this, but couldn't articulate it in the face of so much expert blather about the best way to plan.) But, he then explains ways of thinking that help generate insight. A strategy is the solution to a problem, he says, so work very hard on defining and understanding the problem. Your insights about strategy will grow with your understanding of the challenge being faced. A strategy is not just about the future, he tells us, which means that we need to set a proximate objective, one that we can focus on getting done now. The proximate objective should be a task, not some performance goal. A good strategy, he explains, concentrates energy where it will have the most effect.Good Strategy/Bad Strategy has had an immediate effect on our parish study group. I saw that we were building what the book terms a "dog's dinner" strategy and that we needed to focus on a critical "proximate objective." Dr. Rumelt, gives examples, but wisely doesn't tell you much about what your objective should be. Instead, he suggests that the group seek to discover the one thing, the one task, that is doable and which, when accomplished, would make the most difference. No fancy charts or diagrams, just a big WOW!
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Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters, by Richard Rumelt
