The Strategist: Be the Leader Your Business Needs

by Cynthia A. Montgomery

Based on an acclaimed professor's legendary strategy course at Harvard Business School, The Strategist offers a radically new perspective on a leader's most vital role.

"Are you a strategist?" That's the first question Cynthia Montgomery asks the business owners and senior executives from all over the world who participate in her highly regarded executive education course. It's not a question they anticipate or care much about on opening day. But by the time the program ends, they cannot imagine leading their companies to success without being—and living the role of—a strategist.

Over a series of weeks and months, Montgomery puts these accomplished executives through their paces. Using case discussions, after-hours talks, and participants' own strategy dilemmas, she illuminates what strategy is, why it's important, and what it takes to lead the effort. En route, she equips them to confront the most essential question facing every business Does this company truly matter? In doing so, she shows that strategy is not just a tool for outwitting the competition; it is the most powerful means a leader has for shaping a company itself.

The Strategist exposes all business leaders—whether they run a global enterprise or a small business—to the invaluable insights Montgomery shares with these privileged executives. By distilling the experiences and insights gleaned in the classroom, Montgomery helps leaders develop the skills and sensibilities they need to become strategists themselves. It is a difficult role, but little else one does as a leader is likely to matter more.  

Genres: Business, Leadership, Nonfiction, Management, Business Strategy, Buisness, Audiobook

213 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

CYNTHIA A. MONTGOMERY is the Timken Professor of Business Administration and immediate former head of the Strategy Unit at Harvard Business School, where she’s taught for twenty years. For the past six years, she has led the strategy track in the school’s highly regarded executive program for owner-managers, attend by business leaders of midsized companies from around the globe. She has received the Greenhill Award for her outstanding contributions to the Harward Business School’s core MBA strategy course. Montgomery is a top-selling Harvard Business Review author, and her work has appeared in the Financial Times, American Economic Review, Rand Journal of Economics, Strategic Management Journal, Management Science, and others. She has served on the boards of directors of two Fortune 500 companies and a number of mutual funds managed by BlackRock, Inc.

Reviews

[Said AlMaskery · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second time I read this book and it was worth it. The first time I was shifting careers from a day job in a big company to a family owned business. At the time I felt that this book does give some important insights.

Nearly 2 years down the line, I found the book does have practical aspects in it related to strategy and leadership alike. The author believes the two are inseparable.

Being a strategist is not enough, you need to be the "strategist your company needs", understanding the market forces, capable of creating value (Strategy Wheel), and finally taking stewardship of the process. The heart of all this is the purpose; why does your company exist?

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and marked it as a reference that I will be going back to when crafting my own organizational strategy.

I highly recommend this book!

[Frank Calberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Takeaways from leading the book:

Purpose
- Page 45: IKEA wants to create a better life for the many.
- Page 72: Everything that Domenico De Sole, leader of Gucci, changed was aimed at fulfilling the purpose: Producing products that were fashion-forward, high quality and good value.
- Page 83: Nike: To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.
- Page 84: Google: Find ways to do online search better and faster in an increasing number of new places and in ever more efficient ways.
- Page 84: BMW: Manufacture automobiles and motorcycles that concentrate on premium standards and outstanding quality.
- Page 87: A purpose is what the company exists to achieve.
- Page 108: As you put purpose in the center of your strategic thinking, you will ask whether the new initiative you want to take adds value and fits well with what you are doing.
- Pages 133 and 153: What are you bringing to the world? Why does it matter?

Users
- Page 45: IKEA serves the many. The many usually have limited financial resources. This purpose makes users / customers feel part of something important.
- Page 73: Gucci customers are fashion-conscious, urban and young in outlook.
- Page 93: What would you do differently if you narrowed your focus to one type of target customer?

Strengths
- Page 74: Brands and corporate reputations are valuable in most strategies.
- Page 74: Complex organizational capabilities and routines that are vital to a firm's distinctiveness yet relatively scarce and difficult to imitate are valuable in most strategies.

Access and delivery mechanisms
Page 70: Gucci replaced heavy cabinet cabinets in stores with a cleaner and more modern look.

Offerings
- Page 43: IKEA offers Scandinavian design with simplicity of clean lines which makes offerings appealing and less expensive. In addition, IKEA offers low priced food at the exit of stores and free child care.
- Page 104: Pixar offers computer-animated feature films with memorable characters and heartwarming stories that appeal to audiences of all ages.

Collaborators
- Page 43: Ingvar Kamprad turned the job of making a particular table over to a ski manufacturer, who could deliver it at a particularly low price. Kamprad also bought tables from a maker of shopping carts.
- Page 54: By designing products that are less expensive to manufacture, IKEA helps manufacturers save money.
- Page 71: Domenico De Sole, leader of Gucci, drove to all suppliers in Tuscany. He picked the 25 best suppliers, gave them technical training and helped them improve productivity. In return, he demanded consistent high quality and faster, more dependable production.

Engagement and trust building
Page 54: IKEA's flat-pack concept reduces shipping and assembly costs for customers.

Revenue streams
- Page 68: Lower prices were important for attracting young customers that Gucci wanted.
- Page 96: What evidence do you have that you are the low cost provider or premium provider that you say you are? Where exactly in the process do you add value?

Costs
- Page 43: Every aspect of IKEA's operation is subject to ongoing research to find out how and where further costs can be reduced.
- Page 71: Domenico De Sole, leader of Gucci, replaced Gucci's family-based management system with one that was merit based and performance focused. He introduced incentive-based bonuses. Managers were rewarded with stock options.

[Grant Storer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good material, except I heard it better from "Start With Why". This approach of finding your core identity and building your business on that basis was way too academic and not really that reader friendly. Start With Why was probably the most influential book I've ever read, so reading it again in this version was very disappointing.

[Alex Timberman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cynthia Montgomery is a professor at the Harvard Business School. She is influenced by another professor there, Michael Porter, and his work on strategy and the 5 forces.

This book is a short read on what strategy is about and on who is responsible for making the strategy: the CEO or business owner.

There is nothing technical or fancy here or even remarkable like say Blue Ocean Strategy but she does a good job of clearly laying out the basics: strategy is about having a compelling purpose for why the firm exists. She asks, “If the firm didn't exist anymore would the world care?” Most leaders she has talked to who enters into the program are not sure and also most do not know what the firm’s purpose is.

A purpose is different from the mission statement in that every part of the firm through its value chain is affected by it. A purpose is the very important paragraph in which a firm can base its culture around, like IKEA’s purpose to sell Scandinavian inspired furniture for a very low price in a comfortable shopping environment.

Again, the key takeaways for me from this book are that a leader/strategist must know why the firm exists and that they exist to give the firm a purpose. From the very top, a purpose is formed, and everything and every part in the firm should revolve around that purpose, except when times call for a change in purpose. I found this book a good read to ground me back into the basics on what leadership and strategy is all about. I recommend it.

[Thejas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Should Apple get into the business of Avacado cultivation?

Talking about Strategy sounds cool, so many people do it, especially if you are a newly minted MBA. Unfortunately, the perception of most people about Strategy is to solve the puzzle and declare it done. Sometimes it may be an internal team but many times it involves the use of an external Consulting firm with complicated sounding frameworks. The book talks about some strategy cases but is mainly focused on recommending the leaders of the firms such as CEOs or business owners to be active strategists who build, monitor and tweak the company strategy depending on the outside forces.

Maybe Apple should not go into Avacados, but Cynthia recommends that Tim Cook be more involved in that decision than anyone else.

[Mat Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book in 2013. I still use some of the ideas as activities (such as the strategy wheel) in my day-to-day job. I also found this book very readable and clear.

[John Seno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overtime I've come to the realization that an exceptional business or any enterprise is built around a profound purpose. Traditional strategy tools like SWOT analysis or Porter's five forces are essential but on their own they cannot carry the weight of an enterprise. For that we turn to the vision, to the strategists, to the one's who live strategy and accept it as an Unending way of life. This book is about the Strategist and how to acquire a strategic thinkers perspective. Because in a world where perfect information is not available quantitative models will not win the game, only a clear perspective and strategic choices will.

[Jiwa Rasa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pemimpin bisnes yang baik perlu ada matlmat yang jelas dalam organisasi. Ap yang ingin kita capai dalam bisnes. Apa yang akan jadi pada dunia jika bisnes kita tidak wujud.

Saya suka buku ini kerana mengetengahkan contoh dari 3 syarikat yang saya tahu dan ikuti iaitu IKEA, Gucci dan Apple.

Buku yang menarik dan boleh buat kita berfikir semula arah tuju kita dalam bisnes.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few good take-a-ways and interesting stories about companies in history.

[Adek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Those who’s working in strategy or management consulting will not find a really fancy points here, but this books does a good job of clearly laying out the basics: strategy is about having a compelling purpose for why the firm exists, “If the firm didn't exist anymore would the world care?”. Surprisingly, Montgomery said most leaders in her class are not sure about what their firm purpose is. “If leaders aren’t clear about this, imagine the confusion in the businesses three/four level lower. Yet these people must make day-to-day decision that could and should be based on some shared sense of what the company is trying to be and do”. A good purpose is ennobling, put the stake in the ground (do this and not that), and makes the firm distinct. Above all it should set the stage for a system of value creation, “Whatever your purpose is, it must mean something to others in a way that it also produce economic outcomes for you”. She gave example IKEA and Guccci story here.

Second, it looks like Montgomery is influenced by another HBS professor, Michael Porter with his 5 competitive forces. Montgomery explained about the “Myth of Super-Manager” story here. Her point is that no matter how good the strategy and the people who run it, there are always forces beyond your control, that shape each your industry competitive landscape. This is the fact that the average executives do not understand/want to accept. Those who are the most successful leaders acknowledge the crucially importance of picking the right playing field. Every good strategist should identify and understand the competitive force in their industry, and know how to respond these in their strategy. She gives examples of Warren Buffet and Jack Welch. “If you don’t understand this, your strategy is based on luck and hope”, she said.

Third, the classic yet the most important part that she emphasis in this book: keep it vibrant. “In most popular portrayals the strategist’s job would seem to be finished once a carefully articulated strategy has been made ready for implementation. Yet, rarely can strategy be so neatly contained. There will always be countless contingencies that couldn’t have been fully anticipated, choices that were not obvious, etc”. No matter how compelling, no strategy is likely to be a sufficient guide for a firm that aspires to a long and prosperous life. She gave example Apple story here.

[Synexe · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE MAIN IDEA

A strategist is an organization’s leader who works to ensure that the organization is able to adapt and change over time to maintain its competitive edge. As the author points out, strategy and execution are not two separate endeavours but are instead two-sides of the same coin. The key is balancing these two aspects of an organization’s operations over time. This is how you achieve long-term organizational success.

INTERESTING TIDBIT

The book is based on Cynthia Montgomery’s strategy course at Harvard Business School.

WHAT YOU REALLY NEED TO KNOW

Effective strategy is based on the realization that change is a constant and organizations need to change to be able to maintain their relevancy. The strategist’s role in this process is leading the organization through these ongoing changes – through an alignment of the organization’s purpose with the structured changes required within the organization to maintain its ongoing relevancy.

In Montgomery’s own words:

"whether there is a purpose and whether that purpose is viable is a leader’s first responsibility."

GENERAL OVERVIEW

This book is not really a ‘how-to’ book explaining how to put together a strategy for an organization – although it does outline the steps required to do that. Rather, the key lesson for this book is, as the title suggests, an explanation of what it is to be a strategist.

Based on three key case studies (IKEA, Gucci and Apple) the book is an interesting read. With a nice balance of theory and practical advice the book provides a good introduction to the idea of strategy while ensuring that readers realize that strategy and strategizing are dynamic processes that necessarily involve change.

Overall it’s a fun book which deals with a really important idea in a practical and theoretically informed way. Well-worth reading.

[Siim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is based on the strategy course this seasoned professor teaches at Harvard Business School. It reads like it. I know, I've taken strategy courses at business schools. I've always found that the biggest benefits from taking courses in business school are: 1) making important connections, as you toil through cases together with your already successful coursemates, and 2) you are given the chance, the tools and the whip to work on your own company's case.

It serves more to take the course. However, it's a short read, a couple of hours, and you will still get:
1. Why strategy is important
2. Why your strategy depends on your industry
3. Why your strategy should be dynamic
3. An introduction (but not much more) to the Strategy Wheel, a common sense tool for writing out your strategy's details for each domain of your business

This is a book (and course?) for entrepreneurs and business owners who have not taken a strategy course before and are already seasoned in their business, and now need to write down a more concise direction strategy for themselves.

[ftrStrategy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just finished “The Strategist. Be the Leader Your Business Needs” by Cynthia Montgomery. The examples and content come from Prof Montgomery’s teaching in the “Owner, President, Manager Program (OPM)” at Harvard Business School, where she leads the strategy track. The strategy content is based on (true and tested, but a bit tired) Porterian view of strategy (industry perspective, five forces) and some older, more descriptive material (“Wheel of Strategy”). Montgomery also emphasizes purpose = vision/mission as key to successful strategy. My favorite part of the book is some less well-known case studies, e.g., Gucci. My rating is 3 stars / 5 stars (“liked it”).

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would usually rather chew off my own leg than read a business book but I'm teaching undergraduate strategic thinking this semester so here I am, reading some business books.

I have to say, this one was fine. It explains the broad concepts of strategy using case studies, which I think is a smart way to go about it. I think it's pretty surface level, kind of common-sense thoughts, but if you have no background in the area I think it's a solid entry level book to talking and thinking about strategy generally. It's only around 150 pages (although goodreads lists it as longer due to endnotes, etc) so it can be a quick read over a weekend, which serves as another point in its favor.

[R · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was short. But not short enough. The entire principle could have been distilled to a one-pager with an infographic. Maybe only four statements.

1. Coming up with a strategy means defining who your company is and why you're different
2. Even if you have a good strategy, if you have no execution plan you have nothing
3. You should align all aspects of your business with your strategy

That's it. Even if you can grasp these simple concepts you're probably not a strategist. Strategists are rare and important. That'd be item #4.

[Riccardo Bua · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is around defining a strategy mix and how to set yourself apart, based on the experience of working with a set of navigated executives participating to Hardvard EOP program. I found a brilliant introduction for anyone working to defining their strategy for their company and ultimately how to gain a potential competitive advantage. A lot of the theory is based on Porter's theories and the writer does a good job presenting those in a easy to digest format.

[Powell Omondi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book reminding us the basics of business strategy to build a competitive advantage in the market. The book has practical historical lessons that one can learn from and critical questions that should be on every strategist mind.

A good Strategy should be a system of value creation driven by a unique purpose which forms the bedrock of all the organization decisions.
A key question that every strategist should always ask
“If the firm didn't exist anymore would the world care?”

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay so this book was suuuuuuuper dry but admittedly it is based on an #HBC course. While it was very dry, the material was really valuable and I’ve already passed it in to a colleague. It helped me reposition how I’ve been thinking about some work challenges for sure. I’d recommend it especially for folks who are small business owners or entrepreneurial.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BuHXuZ5FAIe/

[Raj Shankar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful Work on Strategy for Strategists. Enjoyed the book so much that i could not stop finishing it on priority. At times i felt like i was sitting in her class. I think i would re-read it and refer to it more in the future. If you are an entrepreneur, strategist or anyone aspiring to be one, you must not miss it.

[Cate Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best business book I've read this year, maybe ever. Extremely good.

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new classic... I kept nodding my head and wishing that I had read this book before I had to learn its lessons the hard way.

[Ronald Urizar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este libro nos muestra un punto de vista muy importante en la ejecución de negocios, muchas veces creemos que dirigir un negocio es cuestión de dirigir personas y saber vender, también es necesario saber sobre el ambiente en el que se moverá el negocio, saber sobre crear un producto atractivo al cliente y que se diferencie de la competencia, siempre manteniendo los niveles de competitividad por encima de la competencia y, sobre todo, logrando el margen de utilidad deseado. Para esto es que sirve la estrategia, logrando definir una estrategia optima podemos lograr posicionar nuestra empresa muy bien competitivamente.

Pero por encima de lograr definir una buena estrategia, se necesita que exista una persona encargada de crearla, dirigirla, implementarla; alguien que sepa llevar a la empresa hacia donde se desea por medio de la estrategia, aquí es donde entra el papel del Estratega esa persona encargada de darle forma a una empresa para que pueda desarrollar toda una estrategia competitiva y que pueda pelear en el mercado una muy buena posición. Los estrategas generalmente tienden a ser personas que conocen muy bien la empresa, personas que conocen el entorno en el que se mueve la empresa, en la mayoría de veces, tienden a ser personas que han trabajado varios años en el mercado o los propios fundadores de las empresas. Casos reales analizados en el libro El Estratega, cuentan, en muchas de sus ocasiones, personas que fundaron sus empresas desde cero y formaron una estrategia que los diferencio de la competencia perfectamente, empleando diferentes métodos, desde reducción de costos, atención personalizada, experiencias de usuarios muy buenas y productos de alta calidad.

Un ejemplo de reducción de costos es el que implemento Southwest, aereolinea que se especializa en vuelos cortos a bajo costo, esta empresa logro fijar una estrategia bien definida desde sus inicios y logro que la empresa lograra llegar hasta donde se habían planteado su estratega. IKEA, tienda de muebles para el hogar, logro que su costo de adquisición de muebles fuera baja, permitiendo marginar bastante en sus ventas y lograr una atención personalizada a sus clientes en sus tiendas. Apple, ha logrado posicionarse como una empresa que vende alta calidad a sus clientes, Sus productos tienden a ser muy duraderos y muy sencillos de usar.

El libro nos habla mucho, además de las personas que llevaron a sus empresas a ser exitosas, del perfil que tenían que tener estas personas, lideres, aunque, según menciona la autora, existen personas que no llegan a comprender la importancia del liderazgo en la ejecución de una estrategia, esta es imprescindible para que la estrategia se logre. El estratega tiene que tomar el papel de líder para que sus empleados logren comprender hacia donde se desea llevar a la empresa y la importancia de llevar a cabo la estrategia competitiva. Una cualidad de los estrategas, según la autora, es que nunca están quietos, siempre deben de estar analizando todo su entorno, rehaciendo la estrategia hasta que la misma plasme lo que se desea lograr, siempre buscando que la misma este por encima de la competencia.

Pero muchas veces también una estrategia, por muy bien definida que este, y por muy buen negocio que parezca puede no llegar a ser lo mejor para la empresa, tal como cuenta la editora que le sucedió a la empresa Masco, expertos en fabricación de grifos, idearon una estrategia para adentrarse en el mundo de los muebles, tal como lo hizo IKEA y no les fue bien, su margen de rentabilidad general disminuyeron, puesto que no pudieron mantener sus costos bajos y el mercado no les permitió elevar los precios de venta, esto debido a que el negocio de los muebles para el hogar es un mercado muy fraccionado y con mucha competencia, algo que IKEA logro romper perfectamente.

Un punto también muy importante sobre un buen estratega es que este no es lo mismo a un súper gerente, no importa cuán buena sea una empresa en determinada industria, no es completamente seguro que si al cambiarse de industria esta empresa vaya a tener éxito, tal como le sucedió a Masco, expertos en grifería pero no les fue muy bien en el ámbito de los muebles para el hogar, su rentabilidad operativa cayo muy fuertemente algo que no estaba en los planes estratégicos de la gerencia, por tal razón tuvieron que abandonar dicho mercado.

Un buen comienzo para una estrategia exitosa es definir un propósito, definir hacia donde queremos llevar nuestra empresa. Tal como nos muestra el caso IKEA, su fundador construyo una empresa creando lo que llamo una diferencia que importe. A diferencia de la historia que se nos cuenta de Masco, IKEA realiza un análisis claro de la industria en la que se adentraba, un análisis de las fuerzas competitivas planteado por Michael Porter resulta muy fructífero en este ámbito. IKEA determino que podía crear valor a sus productos en una industria que no tenía valor.

Un estratega también debe de tener la habilidad de traer un negocio a sus glorias pasadas, después demostrarnos el error de Masco y el éxito en la implementación de la estrategia desde sus inicios de IKEA, la autora también nos muestra la historia de Gucci, una empresa que tuvo que ser definida completamente por su gerente Dominico de Sole, una persona que sabía cuál era la esencia de los clientes que necesitaba Gucci para poder salir adelante, definió su estrategia basándose en los productos que tenía que ofrecer para atraer a los clientes correctos, aquellos que llevaran la moda en la sangre y que siempre querían estar en línea con las últimas tendencias de la misma. Por tal razón tuvo que desechar muchos productos que no iban acorde al mensaje que quería transmitir la marca, logro que una marca que por la sencillez de sus productos era muy imitada por piratas, llegara a ser tendencia de moda como lo fue en sus inicios, pero primero tuvo que redefinir el segmento de clientes al que se enfocarían.

En el caso de Gucci y de IKEA, se plantea que los estrategas han trabajado mucho en crear un sistema de valor, por medio de la rueda de la estrategia, se define cual es el objetivo de la estrategia, y se analizan todos los sectores de la empresa que aportaran y harán de esta un éxito, de deben de definir reglas macro bastantes claras para que un equipo de trabajo las pueda poner en práctica en sus diferentes áreas.

Definir la estrategia no solo se trata de poner una meta de algo que se quiere realizar, se debe ser dueño de la misma, se debe sentir la necesidad interna de llevar la empresa hacia un destino, la autora nos insta a que al momento de definir la estrategia nos adentremos en la misma, que la hagamos nuestra de tal modo lograremos que esta sea exitosa, de lo contrario no podremos transmitir al grupo de trabajo, a esto le llamamos ser dueño de nuestra estrategia, ser nosotros los encargados de hacerla llegar a cada uno de nuestro equipo de trabajo y así poder formar un plan estratégico ideal.

Para poder llevar un plan estratégico ideal, la autora nos presenta lo que llama “La Rueda de la Estrategia”, en esta colocamos como base el fin de toda nuestra estrategia, que deseamos obtener, hacia donde queremos llevar la empresa, y en su alrededor las diferentes áreas que formaran parte de esta estrategia, estas áreas de negocio podemos comenzar por listar algunas: Finanzas, Productos y Mercado Objetivo, Marketing y servicio, Ventas y Distribución, Manufactura, Consecución de objetivos, Recursos humanos, Sistemas de Información, Investigación y desarrollo, todas estas áreas amarradas al punto principal de la estrategia, que es el propósito.
Ya hemos hablado de todo lo que debemos saber sobre lo que debemos tener en cuenta para lograr ser un buen estratega, ahora nos enfocaremos en lo que no debemos hacer como estrategas, o los errores más comunes que comete un estratega.

Declaraciones Genéricas: no definir una declaración de estrategia enfocada a nuestro negocio puede llegar a ser perjudicial, no podemos aplicar la estrategia de nuestro negocio a la de otro o viceversa.
No hacer concesiones: debemos delegar tareas, debemos tener un equipo de trabajo puesto que nosotros como estrategas no podemos hacer todo.

Clichés Vacíos: no redondear mucho en afirmaciones grandilocuentes, no existe tal cosa de “la mejor empresa”, “líder en el mercado”.
Olvidar los medios: el no mencionar como lograremos nuestro objetivo, al cliente le gusta saber cómo lograremos lo que nos proponemos.
Dejar fuera al cliente: entender que una estrategia no está enfocada en el éxito de la empresa sino en la satisfacción de la empresa, el éxito de la empresa debe depender de la satisfacción del cliente.
Ser moralmente aburrido: no hay manera de ser lo suficientemente claro: muchas afirmaciones estratégicas, en sus borradores iniciales, son textos sin convicción, sin inspiración. Pregúntate: ¿querrías trabajar para está empresa?,¿querrías comprarle?

Uno de los casos empresariales y estratégicos más conocidos a nivel mundial posiblemente sea el de Steve Jobs, crea su empresa, la vuelve exitosa, lo despiden de la misma, crea otra empresa, su empresa anterior compra su nueva empresa y vuelve a dirigir su anterior empresa. Cuando Steve Jobs dirigió por segunda vez Apple, este tenía muy presente lo que quería lograr con su marca, tenía claro el impacto que deseaba generar en sus clientes y, sobre todo, hacia donde quería llevar su marca. Todos los que conocían a Jobs comentan que era una persona desordena, desorganizada, impuntual, arrogante, pero en algo si concuerda la mayoría, era un líder nato. Ese liderazgo lo ayudo a volver Apple una de las empresas tecnológicas más grandes a nivel mundial, su estrategia competitiva de diferenciación hizo que su posición en el mercado estuviera muy por encima de muchas otras marcas, en muchos segmentos de clientes, con muchos productos diversos. Su enfoque minimalista, enfocado en darle al usuario una experiencia única fue su estrategia hasta que se retiró del mundo de los negocios. Jobs siempre contaba con un equipo que lo ayudaba en todo, desde estrategias de marketing súper complejas, hasta un asistente que le estaba recordando sobre sus reuniones.

En conclusión, para poder llegar a ser un buen estratega, tenemos que realizar un análisis completo de todo el entorno, un análisis de fuerzas competitivas (Michael Porter) es esencial para saber cómo esta nuestro mercado y cuáles son las cualidades que podemos explotar frente a nuestra competencia, después definir hasta donde queremos llevar la empresa, cual es nuestro objetivo, posterior a esto, definir cuál es el plan de acción en cada una de las áreas de nuestro negocio y junto a un equipo de trabajo, pulir y ejecutar este plan de acción, trasladando la información a todos los empleados y hacer que los empleados vivan en carne propia la razón de la compañía, y por último, mantener siempre en constante análisis la estrategia y nunca dar por sentado que la estrategia caminara sola sin ajustes en el camino.

[InvestingByTheBooks.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cynthia Montgomery is a Professor, and former Head of the Strategy Unit at Harvard Business School, where she has taught for more than 20 years. She is currently teaching strategy in the School’s executive program for entrepreneurs and owners of private companies. This book is basically a brief summary of the course she teaches there. It is well worth reading. As always, when someone really understands their subject, they manage to explain complex issues in a rather simple and straightforward way. Montgomery does it far better than most, even though a dedicated student of strategy will not be surprised by the messages, nor by most of the cases like Apple, IKEA and Gucci. But Montgomery’s passion is unusual – she truly believes it is “time to approach strategy in a different way and time to transform the process from a mechanical, analytical activity to something deeper, more meaningful and far more rewarding for the leader”.

Montgomery reminds me of two important issues I had almost forgotten. It’s strange because it ought to be obvious to all of us. The first issue is that strategy has evolved a lot since Professor Porter’s first writings. Nowadays, it is an industry with hordes of specialists and consultants advising. But strategy is not a destination - it’s a journey. “Strategy – the system of value creation that underlies a company’s competitive position and uniqueness – has to be embraced as something open, not something closed. It is a system that evolves, moves and changes”

So, who is the true strategist? Many separate strategy from leadership, implying that you are either a doer or a thinker. Montgomery’s message is that only the leader can be the strategist, primary because strategy is more than just diagnosis and policy; it’s also about continuous adjustments of coordinated actions. The leader doesn’t necessarily need to create the strategy formulation himself – often it’s positive to involve the management team and consultants, but in the end it’s about living with a strategy over time and “the richness of judgment, the continuity of purpose, the will to commit an organization to a particular path”. If more leaders got this insight and realized they need to be the strategists – to also have a view from the balcony instead of just being firefighters – most companies would be better managed.

The second issue is equally interesting. Montgomery begins her course by asking these entrepreneurs: “Does your company matter? If you closed its doors today, would your customers suffer any real loss? How long would it take, and how difficult would it be, for them to find another firm that could meet those needs as well as you did?” These questions surprise most entrepreneurs, and few are able to answer them directly. “Accustomed to describing their business by the industries they’re in or the products they make, they can’t articulate the specific needs their business fills, or the unique points that distinguish them from competitors on anything beyond a superficial level.” Leaders are so focused on competition that they have forgotten the company’s purpose. Why does it exist? If the leaders aren’t clear about this themselves, imagine the confusion in their businesses three levels down...

I believe the one thing really successful companies have in common, is that every stakeholder has a genuine understanding of the company’s purpose. Montgomery puts purpose in the center of the strategy wheel. A genuine purpose is ennobling, puts a stake in the ground, sets you apart and sets the stage for value creation and capture. But a great purpose is not a great strategy. “A great strategy is more than an inspiration, more than a dream: It’s a system of value creation, a set of mutually reinforcing parts. Anchored by a compelling purpose, it tells you where a company will play, how it will play, and what it will accomplish.”

There are plenty of interesting and well-supported opinions from Montgomery in this handbook for “operational strategists”, e.g. on the myth of the super-manager, the industry effect, and on the Value Creation Wedge. To summarize, this book is a refreshing read for most managers and investors. It’s difficult to be passionate without a “purpose”.

[Jen Stirrup · Rating 5 out of 5]

The value of this book lay in its ability to distill important, insightful points in a digestible format.

In The Strategist: Be the Leader Your Business Needs, Montgomery helps you to think about applying and understanding the market forces in your industry. Montgomery also discusses the importance of creating value with her Strategy Wheel.

The heart of all this is the purpose; why does your company exist? The book is about taking ownership of the process, and ensuring that your system of value creation is critically linked to your purpose. If organizations want to be more effective, efficient, and have more impactful, then the strategist needs to line things up in that direction. If it isn't working in favour of your purpose and value, then cut it. The book is about identifying that strategy is about having a compelling purpose for why the organization exists, and ensuring that your organization is squared up to meet it, and push it forward.

From time to time, I see people not owning their behaviour. I also see them not owning their industry and understanding everything about it. It had good case studies, where you could see people straying outside their red lines.

I re-read the Strategy Wheel chapter a few times. The danger with canvasses such as the Business Canvas (or rebadged attempts at it) is that people really don't always ask themselves about value creation. It is easy to tick boxes in a dilettante fashion, and not move forward from there. Montgomery argues that you have to move deeper than ticking boxes, and I think that she is right.

The book is heavily Porterian, which is not surprising since Montgomery is also at Harvard. It means that people without a business knowledge backgound could understand the impacts in a Porterian fashion, but not necessarily know his theory. I think that makes it applicable and relevant to a wider audience, and that's a good thing.


The Strategist: Be the Leader Your Business NeedsThe Strategist: Be the Leader Your Business Needs

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audio book and while it is good it does not really tell the listener or reader how to define or determine a strategy. The book talks about the failed and successful strategies of some companies. It uses a faucet fixture company that buys furniture manufacturing companies and winds up selling them for a loss because it had no strategy and compares & contrasts that to Berkshire Hathaway's (Warren Buffett's) foray into furniture distribution successfully and notes that furniture distribution is very different that furniture manufacturing. What was interesting and memorable about this is that the author asks her ELP class at Harvard Business School what brand of sofa our couch they have and the best answer they could come up with is brown leather. Contrast this to what brand of car do you drive and most people can answer easily and provide the answer to what kind of car their neighbor drives and more.

The author talks a lot about Apple and Steve Jobs and how Jobs failed at Apple and was kicked out as CEO due to his failure to grow only to launch Next and buy into Pixar and return to Apple to turn it around by simplifying and having a good strategy.

The book also talks about Gucci and how it struggled because of a family power struggle and it's fall from grace and moving from being privately help to publicly owned and how one person implemented a new strategy to save the company until it went public and he and another person left only to see Gucci struggle again.

The author says that when developing a strategy you should consider a/the strategy wheel provided in the PDF to the CD (which I did not have access too since I downloaded using the Overdrive App) and consider the question, "If my company or product or service were to disappear tomorrow what would replace my company, product, or service and if someone else or something else can easily fill the void you leave then you likely need to rethink your strategy.

The author goes on to say as a Strategist you must answer these four questions: 1) What does my organization bring to the world? 2) does that difference matter? and 3) is something about it scarce and difficult to imitate and 4) are we doing today what we need to do in order to matter tomorrow?

The author also says that strategy is about serving an unmet need, doing something unique, or something uniquely well.

I can recommend this book and it was good.

[Ashraf Bashir · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is good, but its main message doesn't deserve all of these pages, the message is simple: “Focus on the reason of existence of your business, and have the flexibility to be agile to adapt to changes and new situations”. That's the whole of it!

The author gives tens of unexciting examples of businesses that didn't follow this, and they failed. The examples are repetitive, and sometimes boring as well. The book could have been half of its size if examples were concise and more to the point.

Also, the author mixes correlation with causation, this company failed because it didn't have a “raison d'être”, which failed because it did not adapt, etcetera; assuming that this is the reason for failure, not a symptom of the failure for many other reasons. And in other places, the author falls into mistaken generalizations of sample cases.

Another point that I don't like about the book, is that it focuses too much on the "what", trying to prove that it has correct reasoning, ok ok, I got convinced, tell me now about the “how”, how may I achieve the message of this book? Surprisingly you find no how-to, not even a broad highlight on it! Only a super small chapter at the end, as an exercise to execute with your team, which is very similar to a brainstorming session.

Overall, the book's message is good, the how-to is missing, the book should be half of its size, and it has a couple of logical fallacies across the flow of thoughts, I'd recommend other books instead of it, on the same topic.

[Allan Vega · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those books I picked up largely because the title and cover pulled me in. Add to that the fact that it’s written by a Harvard Business School professor, and it felt like a must-read.

I wish I could say the book was eye-opening or that it radically shifted how I think about my career, but that wasn’t my experience. Much of the material felt familiar and, at times, repetitive—concepts I’d already encountered in other books or in school. However, this doesn’t mean the book lacks value. It doesn’t. There are moments of real insight scattered throughout.

One passage, in particular, stood out: “Leaders often believe the heart of strategy is beating the competition; not so. Strategy is about serving an unmet need. Doing something unique or uniquely well for some set of stakeholders. Beating the competition is critical, but it’s a result of finding and filling that need.” Lines like this are where the book is at its strongest, reframing familiar ideas in a concise and thoughtful way. I also found the Q&A section especially useful, as they felt more grounded in real-world challenges and more directly applicable for working professionals.

Overall, I do think this book can be helpful, especially as a reference or a reminder rather than a revelation. I can see myself returning to it later in my career. It just didn’t deliver the level of insight or novelty I was hoping for.

[Davison Abrantes · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.2 Stars. This book contains pretty much two lessons: 1. Your company needs to have purpose; what would happen if your company disappeared today? Would you be missed, where will people go to fill that hole that your business left behind? 2. Your company needs to be able to adapt/reinvent itself. You have to keep working on your strategy, there is not one right answer where if you find it then you are good, you always have to keep working on the strategy to better your company, making tough decisions on the way. There you go. You just read the book. I saved you +150 pages of fluff and examples because that's all there really is to it, many stories of business's/company's that proved these lessons true, that (expect for some) really aren't all that interesting. In the end for two lessons I give it two stars.

[Poornima Khurana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a compilation of case studies on renowned companies related to strategic planning, such as Gucci, Ikea, Apple Inc., etc.
From the eyes of the author, you can interpret what strategies helped these companies succeed and what failed them.
Based on these case studies a reader can draw an inference, on how the purpose of the company is important while knowing the fact that being agile and flexible is the way to sustain the business.
It is the leader's job to ensure that the strategic planning should make changes in the functions of the business without making any changes to the "purpose of the business" while ensuring people's acceptability to the strategic changes go hand in hand.
The book is a teacher's handbook for the student.

[Matt Zamudio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible book by an incredibly smart writer, educator, and business strategist. I've learned so much, and will doubtlessly continue to re-read and reference this book throughout my career.

There's also references to a bunch of great books and articles on business strategy in the end notes.

This was a pleasure to read, which I did not expect! Cynthia's writing is clean, simple, and cuts to the chase.

As a result of reading this book, I'm excited to read a slew of other books on strategy and leadership. Although, I'll be surprised if they come anywhere near the goodness of this one.