Thinker, author, strategist, advisor, & author of Playing to Win
Fort Lauderdale, FL
- Tweets 6,161
- Following 5,679
- Followers 34,006
- Likes 8,727
Farewell Toronto, Ontario and Canada. This is my final day at @MartinProsperiT @rotmanschool @UofT. It has been a productive 21 yrs! Thanks most to Rob Prichard, Peter Pauly, Jim Fisher, Mary-Ellen Yeomans, @suzannespragge, @JenniferRiel and @JamisonSteeve
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Cool thing happened today. My viral video - A Plan is Not a #strategy - just hit 3 million views in just over one year. And at the same time, became #Harvardbiz most viewed video of all time. Screen shot below & see video here if you haven't already: piped.video/watch?v=iuYlGRnC…
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Happy to be able to announce that my A Plan is Not a Strategy video has passed the 1 million view mark. piped.video/watch?v=iuYlGRnC… #strategy
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The four books that I think are a must on strategy are:
The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
The Concept of Corporate Strategy by Kenneth Andrews
Competitive Strategy by @MichaelEPorter
Business Model Generation by @AlexOsterwalder & @ypigneur
@RogerLMartin really love your concepts in strategy. I am starting my career on strategy thinking. Could you recommend great books or author like you on this subject?
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I wasn't paying enough attention and missed the second anniversary of A Plan is Not a Strategy, which was on June 29th. In only two years, it is closing in on 4.3 million views - which is #1 in the history of Harvard Business Review videos (thx HBR). piped.video/watch?v=iuYlGRnC… #strategy
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Peter Drucker was voted the most influential in 2001. I am honored to be on the same list in the same position 16 years later. He is the best management thinker in history. #GPDF17 @rstraub46
The winner is ... the most influential management thinker in the world is: @RogerLMartin #Thinkers50
- welcomed in Vienna for the @GDruckerForum in Vienna on 16 November #GPDF17 @rstraub46
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This is a sad day. The world has lost a great man & I have lost a friend in Clay Christensen. Lovely obit by @andrewtghill on.ft.com/2TWNe94
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Very few executives understand strategy. That is why OKRs substitute (ineffectively) for strategy.
"Strategy is what you do"
↳ @RogerLMartin
I am thus genuinely confused as to how someone can think OKRs = strategy
Unless you understand neither strategy nor OKRs.
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I just published my new Playing to Win/Practitioner Insights piece - this one on how to use and do competitor analysis rogermartin.medium.com/the-b… #Strategy Hope you enjoy!
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Cool. Today A Plan is Not a #Strategy piped.video/watch?v=iuYlGRnC… crossed the 4 million view mark. That is in less than 22 months. And almost a million views more than the next highest Harvard Business Review video. Happy to have had this positive impact.
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I don't talk about strategy because it just causes confusion. I get them talking about the biggest problem they wished they could make go away - and we work on that.
the senior leaders of these companies that would help create a 'aha' moment that encourages them to see strategy differently ? How to wake them up from this collective self-hypnotization ?
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Work on problems. Don't call it strategy. Ask management what bugs them most and help them make a set of decisions that make the problem go away. They will keep coming back for more of your help.
How can great strategists (to your definition) position themselves in the corporate space when their idea of what a strategist does is so contrary?
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Just passed the 3-year anniversary of my viral video A Plan is Not a Strategy. With over 5.6 million views, I think it the most viewed pure #strategy video of all time. Let’s see if it can add another million+ views in its fourth year! Thanks #harvardbiz for the collaboration.
piped.video/watch?v=iuYlGRnC…
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As you well know, Tom, I tried for 15 years as Dean. But I have to admit, I underestimated how hard it would be. A whole new pedagogy needs to be built to give folks the confidence to let go of the existing one. A big job!!
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My newest HBR article with @TonyGolsbySmith just went on line. hbr.org/2017/09/management-i… This was a labor of great love!
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Cool! In exactly 2.5 yrs, my A Plan is Not a Strategy passed 5 million views - 2 M per year, 5,500/day. More than any other @HarvardBiz video ever by almost 2M views. Would never have guessed while filming it! piped.video/watch?v=iuYlGRnC…
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Our lives are organized by models. Once we have a model of something, the answers/decisions we come to are shaped by that model. And all models (per John Sterman) are wrong - otherwise they wouldn't be models. So having multiple
models available to look at a problem is critical.
.@RogerLMartin In your opinion, what is the importance of an inter-disciplinary viewpoint to answering society’s big questions? #9DotsChat
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Stellar day for @TennisCanada. 3 Cdns in @ATP_Tour top 30. Tied for most of any country. Before new strategy in 2005? Only one Can player in ranking history. Strategy matters! @milosraonic @denis_shapo @felixtennis
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My brand new HBR article. The Jan-Feb 2019 Spotlight article. hbr.org/2019/01/rethinking-e…
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I have just published my latest Medium Playing to Win/Practitioner Insights piece, this one on #rrumelt Good Strategy/Bad Strategy rogermartin.medium.com/good-… #strategy Enjoy!
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The majority of 'strategy consultants' don't even have a useful definition of strategy, let alone are able to consult usefully. If a client doesn't know a thing about strategy, they won't be able to distinguish between a strategy charlatan and a strategy advisor.
I still hope the other founders will come to their senses (I mean If you don't see the value of strategy how are you supposed to convince clients to buy strategy advice from you????)
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I just published my latest #playingtowin Practitioner Insights piece: It’s Time to Toss SWOT Analysis into the Ashbin of Strategy History link.medium.com/RonkYksOofb Hope you enjoy. #strategy #SWOT
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I just published COVID-19 Across America: It’s the Geography, Stupid! link.medium.com/q80g1S6bQ8
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Longer subject. But core thing to remember is AI is a mean-seeking device. Don't expect tail answers from an LLM.
What do you think will be generative AI’s impact on strategy and durable competitive advantage?
I have not convinced myself I know the right answer, just some initial theories
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This interview with @shaneparrish was one of my all time favorites. fs.blog/knowledge-project/ro…
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I just posted my latest Playing to Win/Practitioner Insights piece. This one is on the process for creating #Strategy rogermartin.medium.com/the-s… Hope you enjoy!
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Just posted my latest Playing to Win/Practitioner Insights piece - on #strategy myths rogermartin.medium.com/the-f… Enjoy!
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Just published my latest Medium Playing to Win/Practitioner Insights piece - on features of a good CEO rogermartin.medium.com/the-s… #strategy Enjoy!
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My latest Medium Playing to Win Practitioner Insights post: Is Strategy in B2B Dramatically Different than in B2C? link.medium.com/gz9DocWXXcb Enjoy! #strategy #playingtowin
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My new @washingtonpost editorial. The virus shows that making our companies efficient also made our country weak washingtonpost.com/outlook/2… More to come in my Sep 2020 book: When More is not Better: Overcoming America's Obsession with Economic Efficiency
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If your deck is 95 pages long, you haven't figured out the problem or even how to think about it.
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Happy New Year. And just found out my video on A Plan is Not a Strategy was the top HBR video of the year hbr.org/2022/12/hbrs-most-wa… #strategy
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I just published my latest #playingtowin Practitioner Insights piece on Medium. This one is on Asking Great Strategy Questions link.medium.com/18NHaoWuTgb Hope you enjoy! #strategy #questions
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Maybe that is why I have written a book and over 50 articles on the subject. So, yup, guess it had occurred to me.
@RogerLMartin Has it occurred to you that your strategy cascade requires the following skills:
- design thinking
- business design
- system thinking
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Now that is integrative thinking. Fight - nope. Ignore - nope. Figure out a clever way to be more effective than both mediocre options. nitter.app/koebimoonlight/status/…
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That is why Must-Have Capabilities & Enabling Management Systems are the reality check of #strategy
If you don't do the reality check, your strategy isn't real.
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Folks: People often ask me about the role of the Management Systems box in the #playingtowin Strategy Choice Cascade. Here is my answer link.medium.com/JlFAuqv0kab
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My latest Medium post on Strategy as Problem Solving link.medium.com/REv56YJp5ab Enjoy!
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Couldn't care less how old it is, the question is it any good? And the answer is that this is a terrific piece. Just terrific. Great work. I learned from reading it and encourage everyone to do so.
Hi @RogerLMartin
Thanks for the follow
It’s quite old now, but you might find this piece of some interest
socialinnovationexchange.org…
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I just published my latest Playing to Win/Practitioner Insights piece on Medium, this one the first of two pieces on #AI rogermartin.medium.com/strat… Enjoy #strategy
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I have just posted my latest #Medium #playingtowin Practitioner Insights piece on the link between Clay Christensen's #jobstobedone framework and Playing to Win rogermartin.medium.com/jobs-… #strategy Enjoy!
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Brand new @HarvardBiz article with @tceb62 just out. How to use design thinking to make great things actually happen hbr.org/2015/09/design-for-a…
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They can't. Strategy is an integrated set of choices - they all have to fit together and reinforce each other.
I heard your recent podcast with @lennysan, and I have a question, @RogerLMartin: If positioning is indeed a subset of sound strategy, how can companies be sure about their positioning and messaging, but not be sure about their overall strategy?
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Hey @stevenmarkryan Enjoyed your Telsa piece utilizing my strategy v planning video. Would love to chat.
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Just published my latest Medium Playing to Win/Practitioner Insights piece, this one dedicated to the great @MichaelEPorter rogermartin.medium.com/micha… #strategy
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Thrilled that Creating Great Choices made the @WSJ best seller list for business books. @JenniferRiel Thx for spotting it, @davidburkus
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I like when one of my @HarvardBiz articles is as relevant 10 years later (this was 2014) as it was when published.
Don’t think linearly.
Such an important strategy advice.
“Strategy isn’t planning” — @RogerLMartin
hbr.org/2014/01/the-big-lie-…
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My latest Medium post with #playingtowin practitioner insights. medium.com/an-idea/strategy-… Enjoy!
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I just published my latest #playingtowin Practitioner Insights piece, this one on Strategy & Boards of Directors link.medium.com/7tY4UnXY8ib #strategy #Governance
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Most: user needs being targeted; value proposition; amount of cash the needs to be spent before getting definitive user reaction. Least: revenue forecast (it's made up); vision statement; advisory board.
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New HBR article with proper title: CEOs Should Stop Thinking that Execution is Somebody Else’s Job; It Is Theirs bit.ly/2iKbJmK
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If you can't explain to each employee how their work contributes to your strategy, you don't have a real strategy. You have a plan.
A related strategy question I am often asked by our executive team is how to “paint all of our employees into the strategy”? The concern is that only some employees will be directly involved in executing the strategy and the rest will feel left out. Thoughts anyone?
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Just published my latest Medium Playing to Win/Practitioner Insights piece - on how to start doing #strategy rogermartin.medium.com/where… Enjoy!
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Strategy has become a lost art. It just needs to be rebuilt. That is my project.
With respect to @RogerLMartin, if Strategy isn't a plan. Why is nearly all strategy out there...
a plan
Reminds me of how 'Marketing' had to be rebranded to 'Growth' in order for Silicon Valley to digest it for the last 20 years.
Do we need to rebrand Strategy too?
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I am more sympathetic than not. MBA education is broken and I spent 15 years attempting to fix it. It will crater if it doesn't fix itself. However, I am not as enthusiastic as he is about engineer-CEOs - lots of good ones, but lots of bad ones. Not a panacea.
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Just posted my latest Medium Playing to Win/Practitioner Insights piece on applying Statistical Process Control to #STRATEGY rogermartin.medium.com/stati… Enjoy!
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What it means to be a Canadian pursuing excellence: When you don't win ('11, '13, '15) Cdn media covers foreign winners. When you do win thinkers50.com/t50-ranking/ Cdn media ignores totally @globeandmail @TorontoStar @nationalpost
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Strategy advisor @RogerLMartin explains how 2,000 year old military thinking is useful in modern business strategy.
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I just published my latest #playingtowin Practitioner Insights piece: Stop Letting OKRs Masquerade as Strategy link.medium.com/49uAez6Dclb #strategy #OKRs Hope you enjoy!
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I have just posted my latest #Medium #playingtowin Practitioner Insights piece, this one on Business Model Generation and Playing to Win. rogermartin.medium.com/busin… @AlexOsterwalder @ypigneur #strategy
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Sadly I have none to recommend. Frankly, this question is a big source of business for McKinsey and BCG. They sell generic analyses of industries and make a lot of money doing it.
@RogerLMartin what online or offline sources or reports would you recommend to understand industry analysis / dynamics. Objective is to understand their unit economics
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Thx. Interestingly, the accomplishments below have been totally ignored by the Canadian press - I guess they don't like to acknowledge Canadian success
Congratulations to Canadians @RogerLMartin and @dtapscott on being named #1 and #2 most influential management thinkers in the world at the @thinkers50 awards last night in London
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Nicely done Mahmoud. What I like the very best is your iteration. Most people do the equivalent of your Version 1 and think they are done. You kept going and going - and will reap the rewards of your efforts. Great stuff!
Product Roadmap is not a strategy.
OKRs are not a strategy.
Hope is definitely not a strategy.
In the past 9 years, I read 10s of books and tried several frameworks for creating a "Product Strategy", but all failed.
Thanks to the work of @RogerLMartin , I was able to create a winning strategy in all of my successful products.
Here is a step by step on how to create a winning product strategy
00:11 What is Strategy?
01:00 How to Create a Product Strategy?
01:29 Product Strategy Walkthrough
05:00 How to Refine The Strategy?
Follow the below link to get your free template.
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Cool. @HarvardBiz just dropped my second video - after the Planning v Strategy that is up to 1.1 million views. This one is on Loyalty v Habit piped.video/hbspublishing #strategy
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Every MBA program should teach system dynamics. I got John Sterman to help us create a course on it at Rotman.
@RogerLMartin Very interested to hear your thoughts on system dynamics and its application in strategy and management science.
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Just published my latest Medium Playing to Win/Practitioner Insights piece called The Best Place to Start: It's Where You Are. rogermartin.medium.com/the-b… #strategy Enjoy!
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With the clock ticking down to its May 3 launch, I wanted to let everyone know that I am very excited about my 13th book: A New Way to Think. Please pre-order it at amazon.com/New-Way-Think-Man… #strategy #leadership #Effectiveness #Management
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You will be happy to know I am working on a @HarvardBiz article on functional strategy with @JenniferRiel
Dear #CEO, plaster this advice from @RogerLMartin’s to your bathroom mirror:
Every business function should have a #strategy, one that aligns with company strategy & decides for its context
- Where to play
- How to win
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I just published by latest Medium post: My Business is Too Fast-Moving for Strategy link.medium.com/8O8xc6nv9cb Enjoy! #strategy #playingtowin #DataAnalytics
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Have just published my latest Medium Playing to Win/Practitioner Insights piece, this one on the business of #Strategy consulting rogermartin.medium.com/the-b… Enjoy!
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Friends: Go buy it today! It is launch day. Thx. R
Filled with keen economic insight and advice for citizens, executives, policy makers, and educators, @RogerLMartin’s When More Is Not Better is the must-read guide for saving democratic capitalism.
trib.al/RaZMGPf
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Man, MBA programs are so deficient. I love your idea, Tom - mine was a Masters in Business Design. But on those top three, Tiffani, MBA teaches: simplistic problem solving, reflexive thinking and how to (accidentally) crush creativity.
I am demanding (ha) that new MBA will be renamed Master of Business Arts. And will have a core course in listening/core course in art appreciation (not kidding). Reading 3 books on power of liberal arts—helluva note for a guy with 2 engineering degrees and 2 business degrees.
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Just posted my latest Playing to Win/Practitioner Insights piece, this one on nuances in Where-to-Play rogermartin.medium.com/throu… #strategy Enjoy!
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I like this short interview from the @thinkers50 European Forum done by @BrightlineOrg that briefly covers my most current views on management effectiveness brightline.org/videos/thinke…
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Stupendously good article by @MartinProsperiT fellow @AdamMGrant. Critical to the future of democratic capitalism salon.com/2018/07/15/can-you…
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Wow, so honored! "Creating Great Choices" was named one of the best Decision Making books of all time by @BookAuthority! bookauthority.org/books/best… @JenniferRiel
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Just posting my latest Medium Playing to Win/Practitioner Insights piece on the optimal way to create #STRATEGY rogermartin.medium.com/the-d… Hope you enjoy!
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I do downplay the word 'strategy' in my work with clients. We solve their toughest problem by making choices - which is strategy whether it is called that or not.
Viewing it as problem solving without complicating it under the guise of “strategy” might help. But it is vested interests and politics which prevent it from being what it is
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At most 15% of S&P 500 CEOs have a useful definition/understanding of strategy. So they are not capable of getting good strategy help - whether by hiring strategy staff or 'strategy consultants.'
The seemingly lack of interest for strategy really struck me when I started looking for an in-house strategy role (I'm a bit tired of consulting).
I'm amazed by the number of CSO/strategy directors in the financial services that have zero experience in strategy.
Still puzzles me
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Newest strategy article. Key thing to keep in mind while you create strategy. hbr.org/2017/04/strategic-ch…
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I just published my latest Medium piece in the #playingtowin Practitioner Insights series: It’s Time to Accept that Pay for Performance Doesn’t Work link.medium.com/lm4IulPc5gb #strategy #incentives #mythbreakers
It’s Time to Accept that Pay for Performance Doesn’t Work
It Impedes Playing to Win!
link.medium.com 3
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Read Playing to Win and the entire Playing to Win/Practitioner Insights series - that is six books worth on how to do strategy in a practical way.
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Just posted my latest Medium Playing to Win/Practitioner Insights piece on #strategy and #branding featuring the new Jaguar ad rogermartin.medium.com/strat… Enjoy!
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My latest @HarvardBiz article with the fabulous @JenniferRiel on Functional Strategy. Enjoy
hbr.org/2019/07/the-one-thin…
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Beautiful. For America to be great, we have to defeat the STEM obsession. @johnmaeda is right. It is STEAM!
Exactly the wrong direction - turning students into unimaginative robots with big drop in "creative elaboration" bit.ly/1KMSMoh
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Hey @IDEO buddies; thanks for retweeting this piece. I really liked that discussion.
Capitalism needs #designthinking: a conversation with @RogerLMartin & @IDEO CEO @tceb62: ideo.pn/2iMNOkW
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Just published my latest Playing to Win/Practitioner Insights piece, this one on #strategic tension. rogermartin.medium.com/the-i… Hope you enjoy!
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Bit of a rant.... but I like it!
Never use a SWOT analysis, says @RogerLMartin
"They have at best, zero value. They generally are worse than nothing, because they get you thinking about all sorts of stupid things."
piped.video/watch?v=iQ1rjGSH…
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I think that is a good diagnosis. As my friend Mike Porter would say, executives love to imagine producing extraordinary results with ordinary decisions.
I have a theory to explain the low adoption rates.
In most non-startup organisations, harmony is more important to the CEO than excellence (hence the obsession with psychological safety instead of trust)
Choosing to make a plan (where you control all the elements of success) rather than a strategy (where you must admit you don’t) is more conducive to short-term organisational harmony.
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The fundamental conceit is that the measure designer thinks those measured will treat the measure in the way the designer desires rather than the way the measured desires. Hint: they don't!!!!
Goodhart’s Law: “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.”
Campbell’s Law: "The more a metric is used, the more likely it is to corrupt the process it is intended to monitor.”
What do you think?
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This is fun. My video on the positive lessons from Sun Tzu done with @bigthink hit 300K views in the first month. piped.video/watch?v=g_tmTYzn… #strategy
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Nice article on Design. Is Design Thinking the New Liberal Arts? blogs.wsj.com/cio/2016/11/04… via @WSJ
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Just posted my latest #medium #playingtowin Practitioner Insights piece on who should do #strategy rogermartin.medium.com/who-s… Enjoy!
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Just published my latest Medium Playing to Win/Practitioner Insights piece - this one on #strategy and #scale. rogermartin.medium.com/strat… Enjoy!
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