Playing to Win
A.G.Lafley and Roger L.Martin
Playing to Win is one of the leading books on business strategy.
Written by the ex-CEO of P&G along with his trusted strategy consultant, the authors break down the complexity of business strategy into a set of cascading choices.
Two of the most important choices for any founder are the interrelating questions of where to play and how to win.
As much as deciding where to play is important, so is deciding where not to play.
“Anyone can use our product” is a negative not a positive - it shows that you have not made clear Where To Play choices.
Having explained the different sets of choices that a founder must make, the authors lay out a process for defining your strategy.
Whilst the discussion with your team starts on the left and works towards the right, having made a shortlist of strategic choices you can stress test your ideas - what needs to be true for this idea to win the market?
