The Strategy Book (McKeown, 2012)

The Strategy Book (McKeown, 2012)

Thinking strategically is what separates managers and leaders. Learn the fundamentals about how to create winning strategy and lead your team to deliver it. From understanding what strategy can do for you, through to creating a strategy and engaging others with strategy, this book offers practical guidance and expert tips. It is peppered with punchy, memorable examples from real leaders winning (and losing) with real world strategies.

It can be read as a whole or you can dip into the easy-to-read, bite-size sections as and when you need to deal with a particular issue. The structure has been specially designed to make sections quick and easy to use - you’ll find yourself referring back to them again and again.

p.2 Strategy is about shaping the future.

p.10 Strategy is about outthinking your competition.

p.15 Becoming a strategic thinker is about opening your mind to possibilities. It's about seeing the bigger picture.

p.20 Selling is often the forgotten part of the strategy process - the part that convinces people that the strategy is a credible and worthwhile way of shaping the future.

p.25 To think like a strategist is to see possibilities that can be shaped into situations that are desirable... Skilled strategists accept that the world is complex and still figure out what to do now to shape events.

p.27 Successful strategy is often about reacting to events... the smart strategist allows strategy to be shaped by events.

p.32 All decisions are about the future. Since the future is uncertain, all your decisions will have an uncertain outcome.

p.85 Strategy is about getting to where you'd like to be, or at least making the most of where you are... you could use strategy to win by creating value.