Good Strategy/Bad Strategy

The Difference and Why It Matters

By: Richard Rumelt

Narrated by: Sean Runnette

Good Strategy/Bad Strategy clarifies the muddled thinking underlying too many strategies and provides a clear way to create and implement a powerful action-oriented strategy for the real world.

Developing and implementing a strategy is the central task of a leader. A good strategy is a specific and coherent response to - and approach for - overcoming the obstacles to progress. A good strategy works by harnessing and applying power where it will have the greatest effect. Yet, Rumelt shows that there has been a growing and unfortunate tendency to equate Mom-and-apple-pie values, fluffy packages of buzzwords, motivational slogans, and financial goals with “strategy”.

In Good Strategy/Bad Strategy, he debunks these elements of “bad strategy” and awakens an understanding of the power of a “good strategy”. He introduces nine sources of power - ranging from using leverage to effectively focusing on growth - that are eye-opening yet pragmatic tools that can easily be put to work on Monday morning and uses fascinating examples from business, nonprofit, and military affairs to bring its original and pragmatic ideas to life. The detailed examples range from Apple to General Motors, from the two Iraq wars to Afghanistan, from a small local market to Wal-Mart, from Nvidia to Silicon Graphics, from the Getty Trust to the Los Angeles Unified School District, from Cisco Systems to Paccar, and from Global Crossing to the 2007-08 financial crisis.

Reflecting an astonishing grasp and integration of economics, finance, technology, history, and the brilliance and foibles of the human character, Good Strategy/Bad Strategy stems from Rumelt’s decades of digging beyond the superficial to address hard questions with honesty and integrity.

©2011 Richard Rumelt (P)2019 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Represents the latest thinking in strategy and is peppered with many current real world examples. Good Strategy/Bad Strategy has much to offer and has every chance of becoming a business classic.” (Management Today)

“Brilliant...a milestone in both the theory and practice of strategy... Vivid examples from the contemporary business world and global history that clearly show how to recognize the good, reject the bad, and make good strategy a living force in your organization.” (John Stopford, chairman, TLP International, professor emeritus, London Business School)

“Penetrating insights provide new and powerful ways for leaders to tackle the obstacles they face. The concepts of "the kernel" and "the proximate objective" are blockbusters. This is the new must-have book for everyone who leads an organization in business, government, or in-between.” (Robert A. Eckert, chairman and CEO of Mattel)

Best book on strategy

This has been by far the best book on strategy I have ever read The author has gone to great lengths to not just tell us what the best strategy is out but also how to detect bad strategies with a lot of great examples. I look very much forward to using this data in our business.

key deep systematic thinking w focus strategy

key deep systematic thinking w focus strategy. great not just for business leaders but people looking to lead in their own lives.

Good book for a novice

I always wonder about and often scoff at “strategy”, because of all the bad strategy we see and hear. I’ve never taken business classes or been in business school - if you’re like me, you’d find this pretty interesting.

Excellent book. Excellent examples.

The author is clearly an authentic and gave examples of his own learning. He is effective in challenging the reader/listener to change.

Fannnnnntastic

Eye- (and mind-)opening view into the pervasiveness of bad strategy, how to spot it, and how to distinguish your firm through solid, good strategy. Highly recommend to any businessperson or aspiring leader.

A must-read on strategy

I recommend this book to all strategists/ consultants and to leaders. It offers a clear understanding on what strategy is, a structure to follow through and lots of examples from the business world to learn from.

Truly enlightening

This was a truly enlightening book. It changed my outlook on strategic planning and I’m excited to implement it. This should be a required reading for anyone in product management.

Great book, potentially missing editor

My summary of good and bad strategy:

Took me awhile to write this and I was trying to understand why. I liked most of what was written, and yet I felt it wasn’t what it was supposed to be - and I think I know why.

The book is a collection of great insights, thoughts, stories and examples, but its rhythm is wrong - it jumps from basic problem framing to solution to more issues and challenges to other concepts. Also, I think the definition of strategy is lacking: I often like to think about strategy and tactics differently, and the book basically calls everything strategy (and maybe adds policy on top of it).

That said, I loved what was actually written if I take chapter by chapter and paragraph by paragraph. The main takeaways for me:

* loved how he’s not shy showing what and when things were done wrong. Finally someone points to the evil of fluffy messaging and empty yet long presentations!
* as written above - the importance of taking one thing and doing it.
* loved the chapter about doubting your own first choice and coming up with more options. In my team I always asked people to come with 3 good solutions, never one.

All in all - I would recommend this book to my friends :)

Great book by one of the strategy gurus

I’m no CEO, so I can’t judge how practical is the advice, but from educational perspective the book is very accessible yet theoretically rich. Too rich for listening at 2.5 speed actually , but that’s obviously not the book’s fault

One of the very best of its kind

If you want to know what strategy actually looks like, this is the book. Gets pretty granular in part 2, reflecting, perhaps the author's academic background. But it remains engaging throughout. It is interesting, thought-provoking, and has genuine utility. Like most writings that focus on first principles, it has aged remarkably well.