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Deep Dive: The Proven Method for Building Strategy, Focusing Your Resources, and Taking Smart Action
Get competitive by learning to think strategically
The inability to set good strategy can sink a company—and a leader’s career. A recent Wall Street Journal study revealed that the most sought-after executive skill is strategic thinking, but only three out of ten managers have this skill set.
Horwath explains the three keys to strategic thinking, breaks them down into simple, attainable skills, and gives you practical tools to apply them every day, providing managers with a clear path to mastery of the three
1. Acumen—generate critical insights through a step-by-step evaluation of your business and its environment
2. Allocation—focus your limited resources through strategic trade-offs
3. Action—implement a system to guarantee effective execution of strategy at all levels of your organization
Based on new research with senior executives from 150 companies and the author’s experience as a thought-leading strategist, Deep Dive is the first book to focus on the most important level of strategy—you. Armed with this knowledge and dozens of effective tools, you can become a truly strategic leader for your organization.
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Rich Horwath is the president of the Strategic Thinking Institute, a former chief strategy officer, and professor of strategy at the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. As a thought-leading strategist, he has worked with such giants as Adidas, Amgen, and Pfizer. He is the author of four books and more than fifty articles on strategic thinking and has been profiled in business publications around the world, including Investor’s Business Daily.
The inability to set good strategy can sink a company—and a leader’s career. A recent Wall Street Journal study revealed that the most sought-after executive skill is strategic thinking, but only three out of ten managers have this skill set.
Horwath explains the three keys to strategic thinking, breaks them down into simple, attainable skills, and gives you practical tools to apply them every day, providing managers with a clear path to mastery of the three
1. Acumen—generate critical insights through a step-by-step evaluation of your business and its environment
2. Allocation—focus your limited resources through strategic trade-offs
3. Action—implement a system to guarantee effective execution of strategy at all levels of your organization
Based on new research with senior executives from 150 companies and the author’s experience as a thought-leading strategist, Deep Dive is the first book to focus on the most important level of strategy—you. Armed with this knowledge and dozens of effective tools, you can become a truly strategic leader for your organization.
--
Rich Horwath is the president of the Strategic Thinking Institute, a former chief strategy officer, and professor of strategy at the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. As a thought-leading strategist, he has worked with such giants as Adidas, Amgen, and Pfizer. He is the author of four books and more than fifty articles on strategic thinking and has been profiled in business publications around the world, including Investor’s Business Daily.
229 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 2, 2008
193 people are currently reading
409 people want to read
About the author
Rich Horwath
16 books20 followersRich Horwath is the CEO of the Strategic Thinking Institute, and has helped more than 100,000 managers around the world develop their strategic thinking skills. He is the author of seven books, including StrategyMan vs. The Anti-Strategy Squad: Using Strategic Thinking to Defeat Bad Strategy and Save Your Plan. He is a former Chief Strategy Officer and professor of strategy at the graduate level, and has spoken to managers at companies such as Google, Intel, FedEx, Bank of America, and L’Oreal.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 20, 2025
TL;DR
Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)
Who should read this: leaders; tech folks who live in trade-offs (PMs, staff+ engineers, founders); anyone tired of “strategy” as vibes and slideware.
I didn’t expect a field manual, but I got one!
Rich Horwath’s Deep Dive is a compact, repeatable way to think (and act) strategically, without the usual MBA jargon. It’s pragmatic; it’s visual; it insists on choices (what you won’t do matters as much as what you will do).
Strategy, per Horwath, isn’t a once-a-year retreat. It’s a daily discipline:
generate insight → allocate scarce resources → translate into action
The big idea
Strategy ≠ aspiration/best practices/caution. Goals and “we should be more like X” are not a strategy; neither is avoiding hard trade-offs. Strategy is “the intelligent allocation of limited resources through a unique system of activities to outperform the competition.” (Note the word unique; sameness is death.)
You create advantage two ways: do different things, or do similar things differently (keep asking both questions). Most firms that outperform pick a lane and commit.
What I’ll be stealing
Ten strategic thinking skills, useful as a self-audit and a team hiring rubric.
1. Strategy
2. Insight
3. Context
4. Competitive
5. Value
6. Resource
7. Modeling
8. Innovation
9. Purpose
10. Mental Agility
Insight sources: Context, Customers, Questions, Models (CCQM). If you don’t reserve calendar time for insight, you won’t get any (the book even cites execs who block “think time”).
Value disciplines: pick one (Product Leadership, Operational Excellence, or Customer Intimacy) and let it cascade into everything.
Straddle two? Enjoy mediocrity.
Strategy Filter: pre-agreed criteria for what gets resources (purpose, business design, strategy fit, impact).
Say “no” faster; say “yes” with receipts.
G.O.S.T. without mush: Goal, Objective, Strategy, Tactic—stop mixing them. Then pressure-test execution against the five failure modes (faulty strategy, unclear resourcing, poor communication, weak accountability, no calibration).
Trade-offs
Resources come in three flavors—tangible, intangible, human—and not all are equal.
To anchor a strategy, resource must be hard to copy, generate customer value, be sustainable, and lack easy substitutes.
Translation: protect the crown jewels (brand, talent, proprietary capabilities) and prune the rest.
My 7-day playbook
Day 1–2 — Context scan: run an OODA loop on market, customer, competitor, and company; sketch two models (Five Forces and SWOT/Opportunity Matrix). Deliver one provocative insight per area.
Day 3 — Choose a value discipline: pick one (product, cost, or solution) and write the consequences (what we double down on; what we stop).
Day 4 — Draft the Strategy Filter: 6–8 criteria aligned to purpose, business design, strategy, impact; socialize and adopt.
Day 5 — StrategyPrint v1: one-pager of WHAT/HOW/WHO/IMPACT plus an Activity System Map. (Force connections from tactics back to strategy; kill or fix or fund accordingly.)
Day 6 — Resource audit: map key resources to the four tests (hard to copy, value, sustainable, no substitutes).
Day 7 — Tune-up cadence: put a recurring “strategy tune-up” on the calendar (weekly/biweekly); debate with data; assign owners; close the loop.
Favorite frameworks
Strategy Design (7 prompts): Purpose, Value, Context, Who, What, How, Advantage. (Yes, in that order.)
Strategy = Acumen → Allocation → Action: ask daily: What’s the key insight? Where will we focus? How will we win?
Insight = info × info (non-obvious): if an “insight” doesn’t change a decision, it’s a restatement, not an insight.
Why "Deep Dive"
Most strategy books admire problems; Deep Dive arms operators. It’s relentlessly practical, anti-buzzword, and structurally simple enough to teach your team; then hold them to it. If you’re stepping into leadership (or founder mode), this is the upgrade.
Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)
Who should read this: leaders; tech folks who live in trade-offs (PMs, staff+ engineers, founders); anyone tired of “strategy” as vibes and slideware.
I didn’t expect a field manual, but I got one!
Rich Horwath’s Deep Dive is a compact, repeatable way to think (and act) strategically, without the usual MBA jargon. It’s pragmatic; it’s visual; it insists on choices (what you won’t do matters as much as what you will do).
Strategy, per Horwath, isn’t a once-a-year retreat. It’s a daily discipline:
generate insight → allocate scarce resources → translate into action
The big idea
Strategy ≠ aspiration/best practices/caution. Goals and “we should be more like X” are not a strategy; neither is avoiding hard trade-offs. Strategy is “the intelligent allocation of limited resources through a unique system of activities to outperform the competition.” (Note the word unique; sameness is death.)
You create advantage two ways: do different things, or do similar things differently (keep asking both questions). Most firms that outperform pick a lane and commit.
What I’ll be stealing
Ten strategic thinking skills, useful as a self-audit and a team hiring rubric.
1. Strategy
2. Insight
3. Context
4. Competitive
5. Value
6. Resource
7. Modeling
8. Innovation
9. Purpose
10. Mental Agility
Insight sources: Context, Customers, Questions, Models (CCQM). If you don’t reserve calendar time for insight, you won’t get any (the book even cites execs who block “think time”).
Value disciplines: pick one (Product Leadership, Operational Excellence, or Customer Intimacy) and let it cascade into everything.
Straddle two? Enjoy mediocrity.
Strategy Filter: pre-agreed criteria for what gets resources (purpose, business design, strategy fit, impact).
Say “no” faster; say “yes” with receipts.
G.O.S.T. without mush: Goal, Objective, Strategy, Tactic—stop mixing them. Then pressure-test execution against the five failure modes (faulty strategy, unclear resourcing, poor communication, weak accountability, no calibration).
Trade-offs
Resources come in three flavors—tangible, intangible, human—and not all are equal.
To anchor a strategy, resource must be hard to copy, generate customer value, be sustainable, and lack easy substitutes.
Translation: protect the crown jewels (brand, talent, proprietary capabilities) and prune the rest.
My 7-day playbook
Day 1–2 — Context scan: run an OODA loop on market, customer, competitor, and company; sketch two models (Five Forces and SWOT/Opportunity Matrix). Deliver one provocative insight per area.
Day 3 — Choose a value discipline: pick one (product, cost, or solution) and write the consequences (what we double down on; what we stop).
Day 4 — Draft the Strategy Filter: 6–8 criteria aligned to purpose, business design, strategy, impact; socialize and adopt.
Day 5 — StrategyPrint v1: one-pager of WHAT/HOW/WHO/IMPACT plus an Activity System Map. (Force connections from tactics back to strategy; kill or fix or fund accordingly.)
Day 6 — Resource audit: map key resources to the four tests (hard to copy, value, sustainable, no substitutes).
Day 7 — Tune-up cadence: put a recurring “strategy tune-up” on the calendar (weekly/biweekly); debate with data; assign owners; close the loop.
Favorite frameworks
Strategy Design (7 prompts): Purpose, Value, Context, Who, What, How, Advantage. (Yes, in that order.)
Strategy = Acumen → Allocation → Action: ask daily: What’s the key insight? Where will we focus? How will we win?
Insight = info × info (non-obvious): if an “insight” doesn’t change a decision, it’s a restatement, not an insight.
Why "Deep Dive"
Most strategy books admire problems; Deep Dive arms operators. It’s relentlessly practical, anti-buzzword, and structurally simple enough to teach your team; then hold them to it. If you’re stepping into leadership (or founder mode), this is the upgrade.
June 18, 2022
A short well written book that requires time and a deep dive. On the surface the concepts are easy to digest but I find them hard to execute without considerable time allotted to personal strategy and planning. This is the reason for the title and the most difficult aspect of the book.
June 19, 2018
Simple, effective description of strategy and how it should be formed. Perfect introduction to strategy for entry level employees, and great reminder/tactical book for those with experience.
July 13, 2019
A very important book for managers. Straightforward examination of strategy and how strategic thinking should work in a firm.
December 30, 2019
Very good book on strategic thinking in an organization.
January 27, 2017
Offered as a pearl of great opportunity, Horwath says "the deeper you can dive into the business and resurface with strategic isights, the more valuable you'll beocme to your organization." This is unpacked by using the principles of scuba diving as a way to understand the different ways that people approach strategic planning.
This book helped me get a good grasp on concepts like purpose, mission, vision, values and strategy. The quote that floored me was nearly 40% of organizations have no formal process for developing strategy -- this is like 4 in 10 automobiles on the road operating without a steering wheel. A scary propostion.
During one of the times in the book that the author goes deep, he provides his definition of business strategy as "the intelligent allocation of limited resources through a unique system of activities to outperform the competition in serving customers."
In the past few weeks since finishing this book, I have enjoyed multiple times that I've been able to use the insights, definitions and pearls of insight in very practical ways. In a couple of different projects where I am serving as a consultant, I have developed an "action plan" that strongly draws on the strategy that "Deep Dive" so excellently unfolds.
This book helped me get a good grasp on concepts like purpose, mission, vision, values and strategy. The quote that floored me was nearly 40% of organizations have no formal process for developing strategy -- this is like 4 in 10 automobiles on the road operating without a steering wheel. A scary propostion.
During one of the times in the book that the author goes deep, he provides his definition of business strategy as "the intelligent allocation of limited resources through a unique system of activities to outperform the competition in serving customers."
In the past few weeks since finishing this book, I have enjoyed multiple times that I've been able to use the insights, definitions and pearls of insight in very practical ways. In a couple of different projects where I am serving as a consultant, I have developed an "action plan" that strongly draws on the strategy that "Deep Dive" so excellently unfolds.
April 27, 2011
Deep Dive by Rich Horwath is a decent overview of the basics of strategy. Highlights include (1.) the differences between strategy / objective / goal / tactic, (2.) the use of Acumen / Allocation / Action to achieve strategy,(3.) the pitfalls of developing strategy development, (4.) the SCAMPER technique for use in brainstorming -- Substitute / Combine / Adapt / Magnify and Modify / Put to other uses / Eliminate / Reverse and Rearrange, and (5.) SWOT analysis. I didn't necessarily come away from the book feeling aglow with enlightenment, as I have read / practiced many of the techniques previously, but there are quite a number of example company situations which make the book a fairly quick read.
September 6, 2016
This was an interesting book. There are ton's of great resources and examples included in these pages, it's a short read, and I image it's one of those books I'll refer back to again and again. I'd give it five stars, but for two things: 1) The diving metaphor really becomes painful. I understand the marketing appeal of a comprehensive metaphor, but this was a stretch. 2)A couple of the analogies to nature are just WAY WAY off base. Again, the arguments made are spot on, the insight provided is valuable, but the analogy to "illustrate" the point is terrible in a couple instances. Overall, definitely worth reading for anyone involved in crafting corporate (or even departmental or divisional) strategy.
January 9, 2017
A tactical book on strategy
I have read various books and strategy and the thing that most impressed me about the book is the tactical advice. The book has many tools and frameworks that one can use for strategic thinking. One thing lacking though are more concrete business real life examples that the reader can relate to. The author talks about 3 fictitious companies, but having real life examples might have really nailed the concepts for me.
I have read various books and strategy and the thing that most impressed me about the book is the tactical advice. The book has many tools and frameworks that one can use for strategic thinking. One thing lacking though are more concrete business real life examples that the reader can relate to. The author talks about 3 fictitious companies, but having real life examples might have really nailed the concepts for me.
August 26, 2012
This book lit a creative fire in me like few others!
August 12, 2014
Lots of valuable tips on developing and implementing a strategy with just enough wit and humor to make it an enjoyable read.
January 19, 2021
Didn't like the diving analogies, but there are definitely good pointers I need to bring into my job ...
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews