The Strategy Book

About the author

Author's acknowledgements

Publisher's acknowledgements

Introduction

What is strategy?

Part 1 Your strategic self

Shaping the future

Thinking before you plan

Becoming a strategic thinker

Selling your strategy

Part 2 Thinking like a strategist

Reacting is as important as planning

Taking risks (jumping your uncertainty gaps)

Looking over your shoulder

Knowing where grass (really) is greener

Part 3 Creating your strategy

Seeing the big picture?

Finding position, intention and direction

Looking for advantages

Making strategic decisions and choices

Adapting to your competitive environment

Part 4 Winning with strategy

Winning strategy games

Creating new markets

Getting ahead of your strategic group

Growing your business (again and again)

Going global without going broke

Knowing what you can do best

Part 5 Making your strategy work

Managing your strategy process

Meetings for strategic minds

Managing change, making strategy work

Understanding what can go wrong

Saving your company from failure

Part 6 The Strategy Book tool kit

The basic (powerful) strategy questions

SWOT analysis

Porter’s 5 forces of competition

Porter’s generic strategies

Burgelman’s strategy dynamics model

Porter’s value chain

Core competencies and resource-based view

Nonaka and Takeuchi’s knowledge spiral

McKinsey’s 7-S framework

Scenario planning

Ansoff’s growth grid

BCG’s product portfolio matrix

Kim and Mauborgne’s blue ocean

Greiner's growth (and crisis) model

Treacy and Wiersema’s value disciplines

Cummings and Wilson: orientation and animation

Lewin’s force field analysis

Kotter’s eight phases of change

Kaplan and Norton’s balanced scorecard

Hrebiniak’s model of strategy execution

Hammer and Champy’s business process design

Michaud and Thoenig’s strategic orientation

Burgelman and Grove’s strategy bet model

Argyris’s double and single loop learning

Mintzberg’s deliberate and emergent

Johnson’s white space model

Prahalad’s bottom of the pyramid

Stacey’s strategy from complexity

Final words

Further reading

Index

Max Mckeown is an author, consultant and popular speaker in the strategy field. He shares cutting edge research with clients in the real world of major corporations. Max has a PhD and MBA with a speciality in strategy and strategic change. His clients sit across multiple sectors including: Microsoft, Virgin, Sun International, 2012 Olympics, Toyota and TopShop. He is the author of several books including E-Customer, Why They Don’t Buy, Unshrink and The Truth about Innovation.

www.maxmckeown.com

Expert Reviews

“Does exactly what it says on the tin – and does it brilliantly. This book will become a well- thumbed favourite.”

Emma Leech, Director of Marketing - The University of Nottingham

“You can pick it up, read a section, apply what you have learnt and then go back to read some more.”

Sue Toon, Direct of Management Alchemy

“Recommended…contains a vast array of strategic experience, which is pertinent at any level of management.”

Laura Dziaszyk, Director of Corporate Signpost

"The Strategy Book is a must read for anybody interested in systematically exploring strategy in their organization. It is very readable, jargon-free and of enormous practical significance for planning and implementing strategy."
Prof. Cary L Cooper, CBE, Distinguished Professor of Organizational Psychology and Health at Lancaster University Management School

"My God, a strategy book that actually makes sense? Imagine that... Most strategy books are either exercises in waffling and vague generalities, or mind-numbingly boring laundry lists of could-a, would-a, should-a. Max Mckeown's take on strategy is neither, and as an antidote he has given us The Strategy Book, where no-nonsense pragmatism meets imagination and adaptive flexibility. This book reads the way a good strategic plan should – guidance but not dogma, to the point but with an eye open to alternative possibilities. It just might be the cheapest form of strategic insurance ever created."

Professor Alf Rehn, author of Dangerous Ideas, internationally active speaker and consultant

"The Strategy Book is superb. Quite frankly, it's the best, most relevant book I've read since Porter's early tomes. The author has a wonderful way of encapsulating strategic thinking from almost every angle. Max Mckeown is the next Michael Porter."

John Hall, President, Freedom Health LLC

"Max has a gift to reverse engineer complexity in a way that leaders can truly navigate how to lead their business, their people and their lives with both clarity and confidence. I would say Max is a preeminent map maker of our times."

Jennifer Sertl, President Agility3R and co-author Strategy Leadership & the Soul

‘It’s unusual for a management book to encourage readers to ask uncomfortable questions about their own products, leading to uncomfortable answers, and then to stimulate the inspiration and imagination to address those issues effectively. Max explains a range of perspectives and tools with admirable clarity. However, we don’t lose sight of the underlying challenges and risks in strategy development and implementation. This is a book that disturbs and demystifies in a creatively helpful way.’

Professor David A. Buchanan, Author of Organizational Behaviour, Cranfield University

“Max de-clutters corporate speak and opens up strategy to everyone. His no nonsense approach to corporate strategy will teach you to look at your business like never before. In person, his insight is scalpel sharp and this book is a masterclass in improving your strategic thinking. You will learn to ask the big questions that need to be asked to get the core of strategic success.”

Steve Fortune, Global Leadership Development at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals

‘I love this book. Max Mckeown has the gift of making complex ideas accessible as well as enjoyable. One of the biggest challenges facing organisations today is making strategy come alive – especially with respect to innovation. Max demystifies the strategy process, bringing it to life with great examples. He challenges the reader to really think- as well as have the guts to take action. With its rich array of strategy tools, this book will help any reader bridge the ‘theory-practice gap’ to produce results which really matter.’

Professor Linda Holbeche, Author of The High Performance Organisation, Centre for Leadership Innovation, University of Bedfordshire

"This book fills a gap in the strategy literature between toolkits, frameworks, implementation and the individual. Max Mckeown provides not only an array of fine examples from a wide range of organizations, but also challenges the reader by presenting strategy as both an everyday performance and as a down to earth art. It is a book which will appeal to practitioners and students alike and it provides a richness and a challenge to the often stultified frameworks which have come to characterise strategy".

Professor David Wilson, Author of Strategy: Analysis & Practice, Department of Sociology, University of Warwick

"Having worked with Max on innovation I had high expectations for The Strategy Book. In short - worth the wait, this is a great and truly helpful book which I fully expect to reference back to for years to come. Max has the ability to articulate clearly the challenges most organisations face in shaping their futures - and with consummate swagger, mixed with real life, powerful examples - guides you through strategic thinking relevant to not only today, but you and the job you do."

Geir Holmer, ex-Virgin Media , Independent Consultant

"After thoroughly enjoying (and benefiting greatly from) The Truth About Innovation, I was anxiously awaiting Max's next winner...and I think it's here! The Strategy Book totally demystifies 'strategy' for us non-MBA-types struggling to keep pace with the growing demands on our creativity and ability to lead from the front everyday...I look forward to this book hitting the shelves as I will be investing in a few copies for my team - material that we will refer to as a working guide to the strategic and planning process...and beyond! Another brilliant one from Max!!!"

Rahim Dawood, Manager, Systems and Technology

"This book is highly recommended reading and also a useful tool for military thinkers. It has a very good structure making it easy to embrace the powerful ideas inside.”

Harri Ohra-aho, Brigadier General of the Finnish Defence Forces

" If you want to become a better strategic thinker, read Max’s new book. Succinct and to-the-point, he captures the essence of strategy. With a passion and style all of his own, he connects insights from leading strategy gurus to successful practices in leading companies.”

Simon Collinson, Professor of Strategy, Henley Business School

"Max has his very own style of talking strategy - crossing all corporate and conventional boundaries. McKeown continues to walk the talk as a restless contributor for unconventional ideas. Follow the grandmaster of Innovation into new dimensions of strategy for the 21st century. A great book that’s also fun to read."
Jan-Henrik Andersson, Operations Director Metro AG

“I have not read every publication on strategy and now I don’t have to worry about that challenge anymore because I have just finished “The Strategy Book” and I feel confident that I will never find a better book on the subject. Let me get a little thesaurus-giddy for a moment – superb, excellent, splendid, authoritative, sure-footed, impressive, thorough, accessible, essential, etc, etc. I think you get the picture….Max McKeown has taken every aspect of strategy, maintained the seriousness of the subject, deconstructed it’s complexities and rebuilt his findings in a practical, no-nonsense way that makes his book unstuffy and easy to read. It is that rare thing, an academic book that informs and entertains in a universally appealing way….. As you plan and chart your way through life and career, “The Strategy Book” will always be a very good friend to you”.

Retail Confidential Blog

Customer Reviews

Your opinions count

Be the first to review this product. Write your review now.