I woke up seriously late today – 10 am. The result of reading a book while running high-temperature last night.
Must have been an unputdownable murder mystery.
Unputdownable, yes. But eerily, it was a book on 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘺 – my few remaining friends are gonna disown me.
Since the time I was at B-school, corporate strategy has been the topic we all loved to read, discuss and dissect. A classy word with a halo around it, full of appetizing frameworks adorned with intriguing numerical prefixes, those shiny vision and mission statements…
What is not there in corporate strategy for a management student not to love it? (I can write even more complicated sentences. Btw, is this statement correct? :-)).
And then I start reading this book 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐮𝐱: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 ( https://shorturl.at/qtBO0 ) that tells me strategy in most cases has little to do with visions, frameworks, goals and targets.
I would have perhaps said “nuff” and cast it aside – especially when my feverish eyes were begging me to get shut to get a sleep – had I not noticed, in the very beginning, the author Richard Rumelt being described by a McKinsey guy as a “strategist’s strategist.” That must mean something.
When I fell asleep some 5 hours later, with lights on, I had just about completed the entire book – it was 2 am.
Rumelt’s latest work is a refreshingly different take on strategy, and it centers around ASC – addressable strategic challenges. To me, it means – Look at where your company is, look at the external environment and trends, identify the crux of a critical challenge or opportunity, and get going on 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 actions that can make a big difference to the crux.
Doesn’t sound like strategy to you? You might change your mind after 325 pages.
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I strongly request business and management folks to buy a copy and read it.
Another reason I had zipped through the book in one sitting (lying) was because the lessons were hitting home rather hard. Some examples:
1. Richard’s really interesting take on the UN SDGs – essentially, vision or target statements – and how some of the SDGs conflict with others!
2. Putting big numbers on board and imagining that this will somehow magically motivate you to get there – reminded me of my company’s (CliDemy – the Climate Academy) “vision” to provide effective education to a billion people worldwide by 2030.
3. The arbitraryness of UNFCCC climate targets, and many countries’ Net Zero targets. The results are there for all to see – as I had mentioned in an earlier post ( https://shorturl.at/mCG36 ), after 28 COPs, the world’s CO2 emissions had INCREASED by almost 70%. (well, many have “pathways” to get there, but I have not seen too many discussions on the crucial challenges that each pathway has).
Are Rumelt’s the last words on strategy? Not sure, but these are some damned good words.
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