The Future of Strategy: A Transformative Approach to Strategy for a World That Won’t Stand Still

Leaders today are inundated with strategic opportunities, besieged by business disruptions, and pressured to innovate--to do things better, faster, or differently. The CEO of a Fortune 500 firm explains it "I am looking at 23 different strategic initiatives. Trying to develop and implement so many strategies is like trying to change the driver, tires, the oil, and the bumpers; paint the body; and tune the engine. And doing all of this on a car that's running at full speed." The answer used to be found in strategy. But in the past decade, the commonly deployed large-scale strategic exercises were largely discredited. They were slow and elaborate and did not deliver the expected returns, let alone help make sense of a glut of initiatives or cope with an increasingly unpredictable future. The Future of Strategy brings strategy back from those big top-down plans. It answers the questions of executives facing tumultuous business conditions and rapidly shifting environments. Is strategy still possible? Yes. Aren't strategies outdated before they can be implemented? Not if they are done right. Rather than developing strategy, aren't we better off being agile and able to capitalize on emerging trends faster than our peers? Agility complements strategy; it cannot replace it. This book is about reversing course and repositioning strategy in its rightful place as the overarching management system. The authors introduce their core methodology, designed to future-proof companies against the friction and "fog of war" that inexorably accompany changing times. They synthesize three fundamental principles that, when combined, provide the means to reclaim