The Attacker's Advantage: Turning Uncertainty into Breakthrough Opportunities

by Ram Charan

*A Wall Street Journal bestseller* The forces driving today's world of structural change create sharp bends in the road that can lead to major explosions in your existing market space. But exponential change also offers exponential opportunities. How do you leverage change to go on the offense? The Attacker's Advantage is the game plan for winning in an era of ambiguity, volatility, and complexity, when every leader and every business is being challenged in new and unexpected ways. Ram Charan, harnessing an unequalled depth and breadth of experience working with leaders and companies around the globe, provides tested, practical tools to help Build the perceptual acuity to see around corners and detect, ahead of others, those forces -- especially people, who are the catalysts of change -- that could radically reshape a company or industry Have the mindset to see opportunity in uncertainty Commit to a new path forward despite the unknowns, positioning your business to make the next move ahead of competitors Break the blockages that can hold your company back Know when to accelerate and when to shift the short-term and long-term balance Make your organization agile and steerable by aligning people, priorities, decision-making power, budgeting and capital allocation, and key performance indicators to the new realities of the marketplaceThe Attacker's Advantage provides a stark and simple stay in a legacy world of incremental gains or defensiveness, or be an attacker by creating a new world, scaling it up quickly, ahead of the traditional players.

Genres: Business, Leadership, Management, Nonfiction, Buisness

242 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 23, 2014

About the author

Ram Charan is an Indian-American business consultant, speaker, and writer resident in Dallas, Texas.

Reviews

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Authors and audiences alike have heckled me with names like Socialist, "an obvious Communist," and "far-left" for my business book reviews. Not so. I keep agreeing to review business books because I have entrepreneurial aspirations, and I await the one that'll mentor me through my planned shoestring start-up venture. And awaiting. And awaiting. Clearly I'm not done waiting yet.

Ram Charan worked his way from his family's rural Delhi shoe store, through Harvard Business School, to the heights of corporate governance. Along the way, he recognized two categories of business uncertainty. There's operational uncertainty, like markets and labor values, that you just live with. Then there's structural uncertainty, the unpredictability that breaks weak leaders and makes strong ones. Charan wants to help you master and exploit structural uncertainty.

I realized I'd let myself in for a bumpy ride when I read this early quote: "The single greatest instrument of change... is the advancement of the mathematical tools called algorithms and their related sophisticated software." I've become allergic to Taylorist command-control management, reinforced by mathematical controls. Anyway I presume that's what Charan means, because he repeatedly uses the word "algorithm" thereafter without bothering to define it.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines an algorithm as "a procedure or set of rules used in calculation and problem-solving." Venn diagrams and logic grids are algorithms. Presumably Charan intends calculus-based algorithms, of the type taught in MBA programs, but he never says so. This, unfortunately, epitomizes what reading this entire book is like: strings of bromides and professional buzzwords, opaque to those not initiated into today's business tabernacle.

Following this, Charan's narrative becomes a laundry list of bromides so expansive, punch-drunk executives could make them mean anything they want. He anchors his declamation on platitudes like "Perceptual acuity," "The ability to see a new path forward and commit to it," and "Skill in making the organization steerable and agile." No business professional would dispute these chestnuts. But ask five CEOs to define them, you'll get five incompatible answers.

Charan makes sweeping pronouncements on how you (yes, you!) can run your business like Fortune 500 CEOs using Charan's principles. But very few of his object lessons run longer than two paragraphs. He dedicates occasional short chapters to unpacking some corporation's success, but he repeatedly relies upon their self-reported media and press releases. Charan essentially becomes others' unpaid press agent and mythmaker.

One example struck me. He wonders why Sony, inventor of the Walkman, failed to anticipate the digital revolution and got blindsided by Apple. But I've read Duncan J. Watts. Apple's iPod soared; Sony's MiniDisc landed with a thud. Really, that's emblematic of business today. Watts' take-away: businessmen aren't soothsayers. "Sony's choices happened to be wrong while Apple's happened to be right."

Beyond all this, Charan is an inveterate name-dropper. He wants you to know he's had drinks with everyone from Indian telecom maestro Vinod Kumar to former GE CEO Jack "the Layoff King" Welch. Consider just some of these self-congratulatory statements:

"In the early 1990s... I ran into [Jack] Welch on an elevator."

"I was in a board meeting at Seagrams, which at the time owned Universal Music, the world's largest music company, when Napster had just recently come onto the scene."

"In May 2012 a director of Conoco Phillips discussed with me an issue he had been considering: whether to expand in India."

"One day I was sitting at a lunch table during Microsoft's yearly CEO Summit with Warren Buffett and eight other people."

It doesn't take many of these to realize, Ram Charan's greatest business asset isn't his acquired acumen. If you hire Ram Charan as your in-house management consultant, you gain access to Ram Charan. And you get one space closer to the entire Fortune 500 in the Kevin Bacon game.

Ram Charan offers the false promise that, should you merely adopt his simple stipulations, your business will run like the great world-changers that... um... imploded America's economy in 2007. But what makes Charan's prescriptions better than the hundreds of others coming from America's business press this year? Watts again: "we can never be sure how much these explanations really explain, versus simply describe."

Maybe I'm the problem. Maybe because I live in Flyover Country, and don't hope to start the kind of business that'll ever merge with Chinese corporations, these books talk past me. But I doubt it. I really think this showcase of meaningless bromides is essentially a billboard for Charan's management consultancy. And I can do without that moonshine.

[Taylor Ellwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I like about this book is how the author explores the necessity of being able to think outside the confines of your business or industry in order to anticipate possible changes that will occur. Through his anecdotes, the author illustrates his point and shows how businesses have successfully anticipated and planned for changes, or in some cases how they have responded to changes to make sure the business is successful. No matter how stable you think your industry is, the point the author makes is that changes can occur and learning how to think creatively and cultivate perceptual acuity can help you stay ahead of the changes and some times create them as well. This is a must read book for any business owner who wants to grow their business and be strategic about that growth.

[deleted d · Rating 3 out of 5]

The attacker's advantage
"Recognize that uncertainty is an invitation to go on the attack..."
- exponential change also offers exponential opportunities.

Remember, the "Good Life" doesn't go to those paralyzed by fear, it's won by those who attack even in the midst of tough situations.

Reminds me of the obstacle is the way by Ryan Holiday. I think Holiday's book is better, but I think you might think differently :)

main point remains, adapt or die.

[Ying Qian Tan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author was clear and concise on the concept and broad action plans required to identify / spot and navigate possible sharp bends in business plans. Good read for those in middle or senior management

[Sujata Sahni]

We feel Uncertainity in our bones. Competition that appears in an instant and scales up almost as quickly, the algorithmic revolution, a growing pool of economic contenders from virtually every part of the world, a global financial system that will not be reformed. These are just a few of the many forces that can permanently alter money making for a company, industry, or entire economic sector and make Uncertainity the fundamental leadership challenge of our time. Taking control of such uncertainty is the fundamental leadership challenge of our time. What today's business leaders face is something totally unique; its scale, it's speed, the ferocity of its impact and its increasing ubiquity, which is qualitatively different by orders of magnitude from anything that has gone before. Life is full of uncertainties and most of those that businesses face are familiar. Some are operational like optimising production for shifts in demand, launching a new product or adjusting for changing interest rates. Other are career uncertainties that affect your job security and future opportunities such as bad decisions made by bosses who favour less competent rivals. Some are macro: geopolitical conflict, climate change and a seriously unstable global financial system. What is new is structural Uncertainity. It is structural because the forces now at work can explode the existing structure of your market space and industry, putting it at risk of being drastically diminished or completely eliminated. These forces are long term and irresistible. For those who are unprepared, the massive chnages they bring are sudden bends in the road that appear seemingly without warning to obscure whatever future you envisioned for your business. But in a world economy projected to grow a net $30 trillion in the coming decade, human needs and wants are always changing. The opportunities are boundless for those who can anticipate and take control of them to create new businesses, new business models, new market segments and even new industries. Structural Uncertainity is global and yet at the same time atomistic. A growing army of change creators everywhere is empowered by the Internet and low cost wireless communication. In theory there are potentially seven billion of them: the entire population of the world. Everyday more of the seven billion have instant access to any and all knowledge and insight that exists as well as ability to collaborate with others like never before. Their ideas can be scaled up swiftly because capital is readily available to fund promising ideas. For digital companies, the scaling can be accomplished extremely fast and at low incremental cost. On the other side of the coin, consumers have acquired great new powers because of digitisation and online connectivity- including social media, reviews and instant price comparisons, that give them information and options they never had before. Their preferences can shift en masse, even globally destroying and diminishing whole industries and creating new ones - adding yet another dimension to Uncertainity. Finally, every Uncertainity is magnified by quantum increases in the speed of change, largely brought about by revolutions in computer and communications technologies. Steering the business through structural Uncertainity will call for a distinctly different type of leadership than the one you were trained for, a radically differ t mindset, new skills anticipating events and going on attack. The advantage now goes to those who create change and not just learn to live with it. Instead of waiting and reacting such leaders immerse themselves in the ambiguities of the external environment, sort through them before things are settled and known, set a path and steer their Organization decisively onto it. They conceive a new need or a total redefinition of an existing need, often with a new business model in mind. They paint a specific picture of what the new company will be. Then they take their Organization, along with its external constituencies on the offensive. No matter how successful it has made you, your past experience won't ensure success in the new world. Many leaders wait for uncertainties in the external environment to firm up before they react to them. With blind faith in the core competencies and momentum of the established companies, the deniers focus on the most immediate symptoms of shrinking margins, market share and fight back as they always have, typically by lowering prices, increasing promotions, cutting costs deeply and improving service. Their rationalisations are reinforced by short term but temporary success. Given the realities of the changes taking place now, these behaviours are rear view mirror thinking. Those that are best prepared to lead now and in the future in this era of big bends in the road have Perceptual acuity, a mind-set to see opportunity in uncertainties, the ability to see a new path forward and commit to it, adeptness in managing the transition to the new path and skill in making the Organization steerable and agile. Taking advantage of the Landscape that is emerging will almost certainly call for significant changes in how you define your business. In many cas s it will mean starting a new and different business that could sooner or later eclipse your biggest revenue maker or cash generator. Either of these is an entrepreneurial act on a grand scale, one that leaders in legacy companies have little experience with. The risks make them uncomfortable, they ignore the risk of not going into a new game and sticking too long with a business that is ripe for transformation. How you deal with uncertainty puts you in one of the two worlds. The first is the legacy world of core competencies, incremental gains and defensiveness. The second is the world of large scale entrepreneurs who create a new need, scale it up quickly and put a bend in the road for traditional players. You can manage an operational uncertainty with existing tools but a structural Uncertainity arises from the external environment. It is outside your control, and it can obliterate your business if you don't detect it in time and create your own space in the new environment that is taking shape. A contemporary case and point is the decline of Dell Computers. With its high velocity of inventory turns, low margins, low prices, Dell at one point with its "made to order Model" gained market share with negative working capital. Dell got hit with a double whammy with Lenovo which focused on lower costs and innovation at the same time and in 2009 it attained the largest market share in the world against Dell and HP. Dell might have overcome this operational challenge but at roughly the same time a killer structural change occurred with the introduction of tablets and smart phones. This was one of the most dramatic industry shifts which signalled a decline in desktop and laptop market. Currently Dell has gone private to give Michael Dell the freedom to make big bets on the future. Few industries are exempt from the threat of structural uncertainties. The single greatest instruments of change is the advancement of the mathematic tools called algorithms and their related sophisticated software. Never before has so mush mental power been computerised and made available to so many. The power to deconstruct and predict patterns and changes in everything from consumer behaviour and human health to maintains fe requirements and operating life times of industrial machinery. Algorithms are changing both the structure of the global economy and the life styles of people. The others include digitisation, the Internet, broadband mobility, sensors, and faster and cheaper by the day data crunching abilities. Companies that have new mathematical abilities possess a huge advantage over those that dont. They are math houses which are creating structural Uncertainity for all industries and companies within them. Google, Facebook and Amazon were created as Mathematical Corporations, they were born digital. Apple became a mathematical corporation after Steve Jobs became the CEO. Legacy companies that don't make the shift will be vulnerable to digital competitors. Leaders often miss the early warning signs because they are flying at low altitude immersed in daily operating details of the business. The attackers advantage is the ability to detect ahead of others those forces that are radically reshaping the market place, then position the business to make the next move first. Perceptual acuity is your human radar for seeing through the fog of Uncertainity so you act before others do. How many times have you heard someone say something like, " Ted Turner could see it, but others couldn't" referring to his creation of a national cable television network and CNN or ask, " how could they have missed it" after Sony's leaders slept through the dawn of digital music. Though perceptual acuity is a native talent for the Turner's of the world, you can cultivate it by watching such people and adopting the routine and disciplined practice of looking over the horizon and searching for new ideas, events, technologies or trends, things that an imaginative person can combine to meet an unmet need or create a totally new one. There are many ways to practice the skill of sorting, sifting and selecting what matters from the vast and changing landscape. Whenever you notice an anomaly, contradiction or oddity, you need to imagine what the new land scape might be if what you are seeing is a signal of powerful change. Picture a highway stretching more or less straight to the horizon. Yes, it has hills and bumps and curves, but as you look at it, you get a pretty clear idea of the direction you are heading. That's life in the age of core competencies. Now imagine that the road takes a sudden sharp bend and branches off into a multitude of directions. Which way should you head? Will there be wash outs or dead ends? This is the new world of leading in Uncertainity. Seizing the attackers advantage is not the same thing as seeking new ways to use your core competencies. Rather, it is a process that starts with the central question " what new developments can I take advantage of to create a new need or give the customer or consumer a more compelling experience. Remember, even the best strategic thinkers can be weak on offence if they lack the courage to move in the face of Uncertainity. Companies such as Amazon that were born digital don't have to peel through layers of bureaucracy to become consumer centric. Companies can be reborn digital if their leaders have a mind-set for offence and the courage to venture into U chartered waters. Besides the mental gymnastics, setting a clear path in the face of Uncertainity includes a psychological component. Your tolerance for ambiguity and risk will be tested, because going on offence almost always requires taking action before you have a crystal clear picture of all the factors your success will depend upon. Even if you educate yourself about digitisation and the consumer, your own psychology may get in the way of finding a path to take advantage of Uncertainity. Paying keen attention to your sub-conscious blockages, your own as well as your teams will help transform your mind set from defense to offence. For a mind-set of offense, the blockages are attachment to your existing core competencies, inability to build a new core competency, obsolence officials key people, fear, avoidance of opposition. You cannot steer an Organization properly without making the necessary shifts in decision making and making the Organization agile. You may have a creative thought out plan to go on the offense, but you still have to sustain your existing business for some period of time. This dual track creates enormous stresses, particularly among those at higher levels who are being adversely affected. People who sense they are losing power will procrastinate, hide resources, distort changes you need to make, usually hoping the new thing will go away. Their reactions may stir up your own self-doubt and test your leadership. You will have to be a master at managing the transition at appropriate speed with the financial resilience to withstand shocks and transitions. Continually stimulating your thinking and self-reflection is a critical aspect of building and maintaining your attackers advantage. To be successful in this era of structural Uncertainity you will need the skills mentioned at the start. Perceptual acuity, a mind-set to see opportunity in Uncertainity, the ability to see a new path forward and commit to it, adeptness in managing the transition to the new path and skill in making the Organization steerable and agile.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful book that offers some useful tools in proactive management and business direction. You do not need to dig too deep to find the gems in this book.

My one complaint is that the author falls into the trap many business advice authors find themselves in: he describes his advice as more than advice. His way is the only way to success, and all who do not fall in line will fail. Things are never that simple, especially in the business world. Businesses are much too varied to make such blanket statements.

Regardless, it is a good read with sound advice for staying ahead of the turbulent market.

[Derek Thue · Rating 4 out of 5]

He uses several real world examples of businesses that saw the bend in the road and pursued opportunity for growth. I liked some of the concepts of getting a meeting with pertinent staff so everyone is on the same page to address goals. And using the red yellow green system for progress because it makes an easy visual of where things are getting stuck. It truly brings people together for the common good of a business

[Helfren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Instead of waiting for the market to become right for our investment, we should instead be the beacon of change the market need to change. Using attacker's advantage and making supplemental improvement in organization, this book help readers on how to keep attune to the market tiniest hint of change and make full opportunities of it.

[Marcin Nowak · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting take on personal risk and career management.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Key words: perceptual acuity, see oppo. In uncertainty, new path, managing the transition, steerable & agile

[Manoj Sinha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Must read for professional and every individual.
..

[Anuj Goliya · Rating 4 out of 5]

How to win in VUCA environment...

[Juan Castro · Rating 3 out of 5]

By developing your perceptual acuity, you can learn to identify the seeds of structural uncertainties that may shake up the market in the future. Use your knowledge to push for change in your company ahead of time, and work to embed this sort of attack attitude in management circles.

[Mahesh Sheshadri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant as always by Ram Charan!

[Ligia Bonetti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Understanding the world is full of uncertainties and we need to face them and learn to cope and benefit from them. This book was interesting for me not great, expected a little more.

[sreekanth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book. A very reasonable time was spend , approximately 5 hours. This talks about the keenness to observe the threats/opportunity every business can see as we move. Like the bend ahead on the road. some sort of a belligerent soldier guarding the border, the business leaders are expected to think and behave. Off course some tools are also provided to make it practical. The best thing I liked in this book is that, it is quite objective and can be applied in a very flat structure, the regular hierarchy model is not needed for application of these tools, hence any business people can use this effectively and collaborate with other supporting group/extended group, that is the beauty of this concept. A great read for every business leader.(Especially in a uncertain environment like COVID-19)

[S]

I won a copy of this book from Goodreads. Thank you.
It doesn't matter if this is your first business, or perhaps you have one of many, there is something for everyone in this book. Well written, and concise, Ram Caharan is a leader in this area, and I am glad he isn't in the same business as mine.
It would be a great book to take to a business networking meeting, and discuss in your group ideas and thoughts from the members.
I look forward to more books from Ram Charan. May he have continued success.

[morphologies · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a fun read. The author's main emphasis is on how technology is rapidly changing the landscape for companies which favor them to constantly be on the attack and on the lookout for new opportunities. His outlines that math and algorithms are essentially the future for companies and that they should be on the lookout for this kind of talent if the want to succeed and last long into the future. A lot of this is common sense, but despite this, unfortunately most companies seem to fail to acknowledge many of the points outlined in this book, especially bigger companies.

[Amir Fahmin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It guides me to see business as more challenging in advance and I appreciate those terms he used in this book. Those terms like perceptual acuity, nodes, uncertainty etc make it easy to understand the situations in business. A very good guide for business people no matter at what stage they are. But, some of the stories are shortened that few chapters are quite brief. But I guess the reading shouldn't stop here with the book finished read, rather more research online should be done by readers. Overall, it's a good book.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a lot of good reminders in this book. It's too easy to get set in your ways, or to miss the signs that you should see. The one that consistently stands out in my mind is the example of Nokia completely missing the signs with the rise of Apple and how it destroyed them as a company.

I'd like to see more about how junior leaders or mid-level managers can implement the same types of ideas and/or manage up, in their organizations, but perhaps that might be a good sequel.

[Lucas Victorino · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book gives us a insight on how to have a more proactive and agressive view in business. It contains interestings cases on how many companies dealt with crisis and uncertainty and how they managed to reestructure themselfs in a quick and profund way. Furthermore, it talks about how the leader of the 21st century has to be adaptable and aware of his surroundings.

[Abhijeet Lele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice book. Rather than theory, Ram Charan has written this purely on basis of his experience. Book talks about what benefit agility could yield for organization and how to achieve it. He has applied Joint Practice Sessions (JPS) technique in his sessions for his client.

[Jose Mari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leadership is not at all times about a democratic vote. Leadership is about conviction, engaging and having the right people, steering an elephant with agility and, at the right timing, going on a relentless offensive.

[Sambasivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but effective. Contemporary examples. Powerful insights. Must read.

[Dan VerBout · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book on forward thinking in business.

The book provided good real life examples of how forward thinking in business is critical to the health of any organization.

[Pooja · Rating 4 out of 5]

it's s good read with something to teach in every chapter. Definitely for people in decision making profiles. for others. well something they can use when they get there.

[Julio]

Do you want to know why Bob would want leaders at Grimco to read this book? Well.... you have read it. It is basically the x-Ray of what company has to become to not just remain in the market, but to thrive as far its ability to adapt to change, generate change and do it with speed.
Great read.