Diagnose a situation, make real trade-offs, and decide well under uncertainty.
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Two clear accounts of what strategy is and what separates a real strategy from a wish list.
Richard Rumelt distinguishes real strategy from empty goal-setting and buzzwords. A good strategy, he argues, has a kernel made of a diagnosis, a guiding policy and coherent actions. Written for executives and anyone who wants to judge the quality of a plan.
A. G. Lafley and Roger Martin set out a way of treating strategy as a series of integrated choices: what winning looks like, where to play, how to win, which capabilities are needed and what management systems support them. Drawn partly from Lafley's time at Procter & Gamble.
Frameworks for finding space to compete and for judging whether an advantage will last.
Companies do better by creating uncontested market space than by fighting rivals in crowded industries, argue Kim and Mauborgne. They introduce value innovation and tools for mapping a strategy. Useful for strategists and entrepreneurs seeking real differentiation.
Hamilton Helmer identifies seven sources of durable competitive advantage, among them scale economies, network economies and switching costs, and explains how each pairs a benefit with a barrier against rivals. Helpful for founders, investors and executives judging how defensible a business is.
Courses on strategy frameworks and competitive advantage.
Browse Business strategy coursesBetter judgement: how intuition misleads, how to forecast, and where noise creeps into decisions.
Daniel Kahneman explains two modes of thinking, one fast and intuitive and one slow and deliberate, and shows how they produce predictable biases in judgement. Readers learn why intuition can mislead and how to make sounder decisions in work and personal life.
Examines the research behind the Good Judgment Project and what its most accurate forecasters do differently. Tetlock and Gardner argue that forecasting skill comes from habits such as careful reasoning and updating beliefs, and that it can be improved. Useful for anyone predicting under uncertainty.
The authors look at unwanted variability in human judgement, which they call noise, and explain how it differs from bias. Using examples from courts, insurance and medicine, they suggest ways to measure and reduce inconsistency. Relevant for leaders who rely on professional judgement.
Courses on making better decisions under uncertainty.
Browse Decision making coursesCourses on structured, critical thinking.
Browse Critical thinking coursesUse one framework to sharpen a diagnosis or clarify a trade-off in a decision you face now.
This week: Use one framework to sharpen a diagnosis, clarify a trade-off or improve an important decision.
