Book Review 2024.16: Good Strategy Bad Strategy Richard Rumelt, 298 pages, Paperback, 2011 -December 2, 2024
Strategy as a concept always interested me, for I believe that if we have to accomplish anything ambitious beyond our existing abilities and available resources, we need to do something unique or different that leverages what we have to help us achieve our goals, which is my definition of the word strategy. I picked up this book after seeing very good reviews and to say the least I am not disappointed and completed reading it in less than ten days.
For me the highlight of this book is separation of strategy from planning, or goals and targets setting or defining a Vision and Mission for a team or organization that is often mistaken for strategy but is required to execute any strategy. Another insight is that strategy is not essential for every organization, or is required every time as part of the planning process, but to be judiciously used when there is flux in the industry or environment or while chasing an ambitious goal.
A key learning from this book is the identification of filters that separate good strategy from bad strategy. Focusing on goals, and targets however ambitious they may be without identifying the means of achieving them, or using management jargons like superior service, better products or customer delight without quantifying them are examples of bad strategy.
A key feature of this book as the name suggests is that it provides examples of both good and bad strategies to help the reader distinguish between the two. Most of the examples given are from the US geography covering business and government, especially the defence department and American schooling system that makes the book less appealing to readers who may not be familiar with the US economy.
I believe this book is among the top ten books on business strategy and is a must read for anyone interested in business strategy or in leadership positions in any business enterprise. By helping separate strategy from long term planning and target/goal setting, the reader will be benefitted from knowing if they need a strategy to achieve their goals or better planning and execution will do the job.
Happy Reading as we seek to set and achieve ambitious goals.
