p.191 These companies employ what we call a strategic principle, a memorable and actionable phrase
that distills a company's corporate strategy into its unique essence and communicates it throughout the organization.
p.192 over the past two years, we have come to appreciate the strategic principle's power - its
ability to help companies maintain strategic focus while fostering the flexibility among employees that permits innovation
and a rapid response to opportunities.
p.193 The beauty of having a corporate strategic principle - a company should have
only one - is that everyone in an organization, the executives in the front office as well as people in the operating
units, can knowingly work toward the same strategic objective without being rigid about how they do so.
p.194 A strategic principle drives a company's strategy... A
strategic principle is action oriented: it enables people to do something now... A strategic principle enables
them to act quickly by giving them explicit guidance to make strategically consistent choices.
p.196 A strategic principle, as the distillation of a company's strategy, should
guide a company's allocation of scarce resources... in order to build a sustainable competitive advantage. It
should tell a company what to do and, just as important, what not to do.
p.197 In the past, a strategic principle was nice to have but was hardly required, unless
a company found itself in a trying business situation.
p.205 test the [strategic] principle for its ability to promote and guide action. In particular,
assess whether it exhibits the three attributes of an effective strategic principle. Will it force tradeoffs? Will
it serve as a test for the wisdom of a particular business move, especially one that might promote short-term profits
at the expense of long-term strategy? Does it set boundaries within which people will nonetheless be free to experiment?
p.207 At least as important as a mission statement is something that promulgates a company's strategy -
that is, a strategic principle.
