The Strategy Book: How to think and act strategically to deliver outstanding results

This is the textbook for my capstone business class, and it's full of information that I have learned throughout earning my business degree. If you're in school for business there is a lot of information you would have already learned, with some new insights that can help you translate that information into a broader context. If you're not a student, it is full of great information about how to strategize and plan in your business.

A very useful resource to have at hand, The Strategy Book by Dr. Max McKeown is an engaging and readable framework for strategists who desire to reflect on the nature of strategy and improve one's strategic judgement.In the early parts of the book, Dr.McKeown takes up the big questions of strategy - What is it? Where did it come from? How has strategic thinking evolved from ancient time to today’s modern corporate world? In reflecting on the varied perspectives and thoughts about strategy, McKeown presents how a strategist can further strengthen the link between their intentions and their desired outcomes. One way he does this is by challenging the reader to ask what he considers "questions of analysis” (relating to quantifiable data) and "questions of creativity” (relating to the human process of intention and innovation). He emphasizes that, in practice, a balanced approach to applying these perspectives is the most successful approach - in a proportion that is a matter of individual preference as well as situational variables.He wraps this introductory section by pointing out how critical it is for a successful strategist to be agile and not tied to any single approach or method. This is an excellent “bridge” to the balance of the book, which begins with a series of useful practices at the individual strategist level. With that in place as a foundation, the book expands its scope to focus on the external environment: strategic choice at the enterprise level towards sustainable competitive advantage. Part 5 is a practical look at the process of bringing strategy to life in the real world - a process which is very much social and emergent. Consequently, McKeown focuses on modeling strategy and how to best create a set of strategic disciplines within the organization.The Strategy Toolkit section - Part 6 in the edition I have - is what really separates this book. It alone is worth the price of the book! By presenting an accessible overview of the critical strategy tools from the leading thinkers in the space, Dr.McKeown offers his readers a practical glimpse into the most important academic thinking about creating desired outcomes. This gives readers basic familiarity with a broad set of strategic concepts and an excellent "jump-off point" for further in-depth research and analysis by the reader into the individual works referenced.For instance, in my career, as it relates to strategy, the leading thinkers I have been most influenced by include Ralph D. Stacey (who - over the course of his many critically important books on strategy as a complex/adaptive/socially-emergent process of human interaction - directly challenges most of the rest of the material featured in strategy books such as this one!) and Stephen Cummings and David Wilson (who, particularly in their excellent book 'Images of Strategy’, make the case that “being strategic" is primarily a matter of orchestrating an ongoing process of orientation, animation, integration, and adaptation).Both of these - and dozens more - are included and briefly introduced here by Dr. McKeown.Throughout The Strategy Book, Max McKewon offers checklists and other tools to enable the reader to quickly dive in and out of the book without losing context. He covers the broad and highly complex topic of strategy and strategy-making with a light touch, thereby making it accessible and readable. Ultimately, that is what makes this a successful text - that it will be read and put into use!Highly recommend.

Great book -- great ideas, great tools. Good summary at the end of each section. The only downside for me was that the author seemed to repeat the same ideas over and over -- I usually appreciate that but it was a bit much.

the book is a brilliant guide on challenges and tasks that any person who is responsible for strategy in any company usually faces. I would sincerely recommend it to top managers (in fact I had already recommended to my peers) and middle managers. Particularly in marketing, because I am a marketer myself and I very often I see that people in my profession spend too many efforts, time and resources on execution of things that do not add a lot of value to a business. In our reality, it is very good to stop and think from time to time if one's actions would deliver any tangible results. So everyone needs to "think before you plan".And as you said that "strategy is ... about how people attain desirable ends with available means". If one is doing such thing like running a strategic session, this book can be a very useful help.

I think the authors tried to be creative in presenting the chapters but made them more complicated (context, challenges, success, strategist’s measure of success.... And so on). That's just too much.Also, the book lacks some details in the examples and stories. It felt like the authors knew about a particular story but felt lazy to research more details, so they settled for a general summary about an example.

This Second Edition of The Strategy Book, continues the great work of the first presenting tremendously useful frameworks in an understandable and concise way. The examples from the real world have been strengthened but aren't long winded. Out of many strategy books I read during my MBA I found the toolbox section of this book the most useful. I've used it at work and actually ended up giving my copy of the old edition to a coworker who really found it helpful. I'd highly recommend this book not just to MBA students, but to those in business who want to rethink how they approach their strategies.This book is not meant to be an all encompassing textbook on strategy. It is meant to be a good high level introduction and handy desk reference guide for those who have studied this material elsewhere. For those who want to dive deeper into any of he topics the references are quite handy. For the price, you really get a lot of strategic bang for your buck.

The best strategy book I've ever read, to be honest. This book by Dr Max McKeown challenges us as to what do we know about strategy and explains what a creative strategy does for us. It's not enough to create effective winning strategies but we also need to think and act strategically. More importantly, Dr. Mckeown shows us how we can engage people with strategy and how we avoid pitfalls, problems, and screw-ups. Highly recommended.

It shows a lot of strategy tools which you could choose towards challenging or developing your most suitable in order to create your own strategy way

Great

"Strategy is about moving from where you are to where you want to be. Smart strategy is the shortest route to desirable ends with available means."Max McKeownStrategy, historically a Greek military term (see below), is now used very loosely to describe any plan of action to achieve a long term aim (see here).Origins of the term strategy (Google)In The Strategy Book, Max provides clarity on the term strategy, and through the six chapters, he provides tools, tips and techniques to allow you to evaluate where you are and where you want to be, and how to get there.Part 1 helps you think more strategically so that you can shape your future, rather than being shaped by it. Great guidance in this chapter is to consider before you plan. Otherwise, you will get the right answer to the wrong problem.Part 2 gets more granular and equips you with tools to help you think like a strategist, for example by knowing when to take risks, balancing planning and reacting, and knowing when you should move from your current (and probably comfy) position.Part 3 focuses on strategy creation. By working your company competes on cost leadership, differentiation or niche you can then compare yourself to your competitors and start forming the building blocks of your new strategy.Part 4 allows you to take the understanding created in Part 3 and turn it into a competitive advantage. You are more likely to be successful if you pursue a strategy of innovation, differentiation and avoiding competition.Part 5 provides the guidance you need to turn your strategy into reality. By creating processes (not overly bureaucratic) you can ensure that you keep revisiting your strategy and keep up the momentum.Part 6 list useful frameworks and tools to help you diagnose, align and implement your strategy. In this chapter there is a compelling list of the most useful and well know frameworks, such as SWOT, Porter's five forces and BCG's growth share matrix, of the less well know but no less useful De Wit and Meyer's strategy tensions and Burgelmand Groves; strategy bet model. The simplest and most powerful of these is the fundamental strategy questions:Where are we?Where do we want to go?What changes have to be made?How should these changes be made?How shall we measure progress?'The Innovation Book' this is a fantastic book for all those who lead others and want to lead their teams to success. Read this book if you want the tools to make a great strategy.

Disclaimer - I was gifted a copy of this book - but I think I owe the author Max Mckeown the cover price and more. I have been running my business for years and it still gave me new light on how I can think about the future. The phrase 'There is an important difference between creating strategy documents and creating a strategy that gets you where you want to be' was especially illuminating. Thinking is different to planning! Yes, I knew that already, but the author frames and re-frames this point, showing how to use core business tools like SWOT analysis for strategic ends. He shows clearly how strategy is about understanding how to shape events to take you forward. He is very good on practical application and simple, engaging case study examples. An 'easy' read - in that it is well written. A 'slow read' - in that you want to think and reflect on how the content applies to you. Excellent.

Nice summary of the current trends in strategy consulting. I would like to see a bit more push away from the 'strategy-as-position' dictum of 70's/80's and towards more modern strategy practices. The author does discern the pros/cons of each approach/tool though and gives a clear view on when each style is appropriate.

Have just finished The Strategy Book and found it an excellently designed, well thought out, perfectly written book that has helped shape, inform and sharpen my strategic thinking. The insights and examples offered have been invaluable. Cannot recommend enough.