Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works
- Downloads：2656
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-06-11 08:54:34
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：A.G. Lafley
- ISBN：142218739X
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
Are you just playing—or playing to win？
Strategy is not complex。 But it is hard。 It’s hard because it forces people and organizations to make specific choices about their future—something that doesn’t happen in most companies。
Now two of today’s best-known business thinkers get to the heart of strategy—explaining what it’s for， how to think about it， why you need it， and how to get it done。 And they use one of the most successful corporate turnarounds of the past century， which they achieved together， to prove their point。
A。G。 Lafley， former CEO of Procter & Gamble， in close partnership with strategic adviser Roger Martin， doubled P&G’s sales， quadrupled its profits， and increased its market value by more than $100 billion in just ten years。 Now， drawn from their years of experience at P&G and the Rotman School of Management， where Martin is dean， this book shows how leaders in organizations of all sizes can guide everyday actions with larger strategic goals built around the clear， essential elements that determine business success—where to play and how to win。
The result is a playbook for winning。 Lafley and Martin have created a set of five essential strategic choices that， when addressed in an integrated way， will move you ahead of your competitors。 They are:
• What is our winning aspiration？
• Where will we play？
• How will we win？
• What capabilities must we have in place to win？
• What management systems are required to support our choices？
The stories of how P&G repeatedly won by applying this method to iconic brands such as Olay， Bounty， Gillette， Swiffer， and Febreze clearly illustrate how deciding on a strategic approach—and then making the right choices to support it—makes the difference between just playing the game and actually winning。
Strategy is not complex。 But it is hard。 It’s hard because it forces people and organizations to make specific choices about their future—something that doesn’t happen in most companies。
Now two of today’s best-known business thinkers get to the heart of strategy—explaining what it’s for， how to think about it， why you need it， and how to get it done。 And they use one of the most successful corporate turnarounds of the past century， which they achieved together， to prove their point。
A。G。 Lafley， former CEO of Procter & Gamble， in close partnership with strategic adviser Roger Martin， doubled P&G’s sales， quadrupled its profits， and increased its market value by more than $100 billion in just ten years。 Now， drawn from their years of experience at P&G and the Rotman School of Management， where Martin is dean， this book shows how leaders in organizations of all sizes can guide everyday actions with larger strategic goals built around the clear， essential elements that determine business success—where to play and how to win。
The result is a playbook for winning。 Lafley and Martin have created a set of five essential strategic choices that， when addressed in an integrated way， will move you ahead of your competitors。 They are:
• What is our winning aspiration？
• Where will we play？
• How will we win？
• What capabilities must we have in place to win？
• What management systems are required to support our choices？
The stories of how P&G repeatedly won by applying this method to iconic brands such as Olay， Bounty， Gillette， Swiffer， and Febreze clearly illustrate how deciding on a strategic approach—and then making the right choices to support it—makes the difference between just playing the game and actually winning。
Reviews
Nitesh
，
Nice Outlook on business strategy and how to implement these strategies in large scale organisation。
Swapnil Agarwal
，
My key takeaway was that all successful strategies fall into two buckets: you can provide a commodity at the lowest price or you can differentiate your offering to charge a premium。 Not worth reading the whole book。
Esther Yang
，
a strategy book that helps me to rethink my prof dev strategy
Ashwin Agarwal
，
Playing to Win is a great book for strategic thinking。 Using examples from P&G， it shows how organizations should structure their approach to solving any problem。 Loved the turnaround story for Olay
Jiliac
，
The shortest summary would be "The Lean Startup for big companies"。 The framework assumes you have more information and is made to be collaborative between multiple people， and between different layers of a company management。 The central questions are "How to win" and "Where to play"。 It's a good book on strategy， especially if you are a big company。 I guess most people will find it easier to apply than the lean startup？ I should re-read on text rather than audio。 The shortest summary would be "The Lean Startup for big companies"。 The framework assumes you have more information and is made to be collaborative between multiple people， and between different layers of a company management。 The central questions are "How to win" and "Where to play"。 It's a good book on strategy， especially if you are a big company。 I guess most people will find it easier to apply than the lean startup？ I should re-read on text rather than audio。 。。。more
Patrick
，
I haven't read a ton of books on strategy， but this is my favorite so far。 Lafley and Martin provide a common-sense framework to step through when considering your own strategy and provide compelling examples from Proctor and Gamble to illustrate。 The simple question in the penultimate chapter "what would have to be true for this strategy to work" will change the way I approach my job。 I haven't read a ton of books on strategy， but this is my favorite so far。 Lafley and Martin provide a common-sense framework to step through when considering your own strategy and provide compelling examples from Proctor and Gamble to illustrate。 The simple question in the penultimate chapter "what would have to be true for this strategy to work" will change the way I approach my job。 。。。more
Erdenebaatar
，
Эхэндээ сонирхолтой case үүд байрлуулж， харин сүүлрүүгээ тоон мэдээлэл талруугаа ном байна。
Sara Fay
，
Had to read this for class。 It was too repetitive
Clay Tennies
，
Not my favorite read on strategy， but I was hoping for more philosophy that could be applied universally over corporate strategy。 Thus， this was not the book for me， but it did offer a good glimpse into how strategy is not the choices you make， rather the choices you choose not to make。
Sebastian Gebski
，
Very hyped， in my case it didn't meet the expectations though。1。 Well， it's a book about P&G， so there's a lot of FMCG specifics。 And internal praising， incl。 company's culture， but all this praising seems very shallow - there's not much content （cases， anecdotes， field-level practices） to back it up。2。 It's also a book about strategy， but Lafley's message is very simple here - 'Where to play' + 'How to win' and that's what 80% of the book is about。 Yes， these are the key aspects and Lafley have Very hyped， in my case it didn't meet the expectations though。1。 Well， it's a book about P&G， so there's a lot of FMCG specifics。 And internal praising， incl。 company's culture， but all this praising seems very shallow - there's not much content （cases， anecdotes， field-level practices） to back it up。2。 It's also a book about strategy， but Lafley's message is very simple here - 'Where to play' + 'How to win' and that's what 80% of the book is about。 Yes， these are the key aspects and Lafley have used them successfully， but mainly because of expertise and judgement he had - IMHO he failed to capture these 'low-level' tools （how to shape them， what was the root cause of their effectiveness） for the reader - it's a basic manifestation of Dunning-Krueger effect。3。 Whether the business book is interesting depends not only on the described business， but also the storytelling capabilities， presented mental models， good flow and a driven train of thought。 In this case all those elements were 。。。 average。 The book felt less and less engaging in time。4。 At last but not least - Lafley represents the fraction of 'traditional' corporate executives。 His options on some topics （e。g。 efficiency， outsourcing， etc。） may be different to modern businesses of higher velocity and smaller inertia。 Be warned。2-2。2 stars。 。。。more
Mari
，
Põhimõtted meil kattuvad - innovatsiooni， eristumise， strateegia alus on oma klientide põhjalik tundmine， st nende harjumuste ja vajaduste。 Küll aga ei kattu meie arusaamad toodete kvaliteedist ehk Protect&Gamble esindab usa suurtootjat， kes miljardiäris。 Tore oli lihtsalt lugeda， et põhimõtted toimisid ka neil。 Pigem näidetega kokkuvõte ettevõtte otsustest kui praktiline käsiraamat。
Toni Kokkonen
，
Good read。 Nice stories about how P&G has had to position some of its products in the markets and what they have done to revitalize for example Olay。 Good examples of creating new markets to replace dying ones。 A pretty easy read overall。
Matthew Manning
，
Great book to start thinking about how to create good strategy for a large corporation。 Less applicable to startups and SaaS based products but overall good read。
Ksenia
，
Вводная в область стратегии книга。 Написана， в т。ч。， Аланом Лафли， CEO P&G – все кейсы книги посвящены P&G。 Большой фокус на достижениях P&G， есть элементы corporate BS。 Кейсы интересные， но описаны поверхностно。 В книге есть ряд увлекательных идей， но читать ее немного скучно。 Думаю， это также связано с не вполне удачным переводом и опечатками。Интересные идеи и концепты， на которые я обратила внимание （впервые или вновь）:1。tПовторяется популярная мысль， что стратегия – это всегда выбор， всегда Вводная в область стратегии книга。 Написана， в т。ч。， Аланом Лафли， CEO P&G – все кейсы книги посвящены P&G。 Большой фокус на достижениях P&G， есть элементы corporate BS。 Кейсы интересные， но описаны поверхностно。 В книге есть ряд увлекательных идей， но читать ее немного скучно。 Думаю， это также связано с не вполне удачным переводом и опечатками。Интересные идеи и концепты， на которые я обратила внимание （впервые или вновь）:1。tПовторяется популярная мысль， что стратегия – это всегда выбор， всегда фокус。2。tПредложено определение стратегии – «интегрированная совокупность стратегических решений， которая обеспечивает уникальное позиционирование компании в соответствующей отрасли， направленное на создание устойчивого преимущества и уникальной ценности для потребителей， позволяющее превзойти конкурентов。»3。tПредлагается «интегрированный каскад стратегических решений»:—tВ чем состоит наше стремление к победе？—tГде мы будем играть？—tКак мы добьемся победы？—tКакими компетенциями мы должны обладать？—tКакие системы управления необходимо задействовать？Неплохой фреймворк， но， откровенно говоря， интеллектуальной новизны я в нем увидела немного。4。tСегмент «мастиж» - сегмент престижных продуктов， доступных по цене массовому потребителю。5。tПитер Друкер: «Цель любой организации – создание клиента。»6。tЕсть две формулы создания ценности для клиентов: стратегия лидерства по издержкам и дифференциация。7。tКритерии оценки целесообразности слияния:—tслияние должно «обеспечивать рост на рынке， растущем темпами выше средних темпов роста в своей сфере и категории продуктов， сегменте， регионе или канала продаж， где， на наш взгляд， мы могли бы развиваться столь же быстро， сколь и рынок в целом， если не быстрее。»—tперспективная структура приобретения – «маржа валовой и операционной прибыли приобретаемой компании должна превышать средние показатели в отрасли или нашей компании。»—tсогласованность со стратегией компанией – компетенциями， системами управления и т。д。8。tМенеджеры внутри компании должны не «продавать» свои идеи， а открыто их обсуждать。9。tДва момента истины – первое знакомство с продуктов в магазине и первое использование дома。10。tВ качестве критериев успеха лучше выбирать не рыночные показатели， а операционные。11。tИнтересная система обратного анализа стратегических решений:—tФормулируем выбор: предлагаем как минимум два взаимоисключающих варианта;—tОпределяем стратегические возможности: расширяем список предполагаемых вариантов;—tОпределяем условия: какие условия должны соответствовать действительности， чтобы каждая из возможностей была обоснована со стратегической точки зрения？—tОпределяем препятствия， которые не позволяют выбрать данный вариант: в выполнении каких условий мы уверены меньше всего？—tРазрабатываем валидные тесты: разрабатываем тест прохождения для каждого из препятствий， поручаем разработку скептику;—tПроводим тесты;—tДелаем выбор。12。tКонсультанты не убеждают клиентов в лучшем выборе， а организуют процесс так， чтобы они убедились в этом самостоятельно。13。tСовет Директоров привносит в компанию внешние опыт и знания。14。tУ каждого отдельного покупателя есть своя кривая спроса， на основании индивидуальных кривых спроса формируется кривая отраслевого спроса。 。。。more
Jay Ehret
，
Excellent book that guides you to think through your strategy to arrive at one with the best odds of winning。 Although written for large businesses and corporations， the process is excellent for small businesses。 The final two chapters really wrap it up nicely and the "What would have to be true" question is both simple and genius。 Excellent book that guides you to think through your strategy to arrive at one with the best odds of winning。 Although written for large businesses and corporations， the process is excellent for small businesses。 The final two chapters really wrap it up nicely and the "What would have to be true" question is both simple and genius。 。。。more
Antonio
，
Love this book and how I learn to integrate playing to win with other methodologies for strategy
Catherine
，
Very consumer-goods focussed。The five questions process and supporting systems are interesting but the examples are all about consumer goods。 I was， however， able to extract some wisdom for the nonprofit organisations with which I work。 It would be interesting to see a more in depth analysis of using this approach in the nonprofit context。
Chelsea Jean-mary
，
This was a good book。 I didn't appreciate the P&G examples too much but found them useful。 I had read an article about playing to win but the book did a deep dive and gave me a better understanding of how to develop a good strategy。 Biggest takeaway is if you're going to play， play to win！ This was a good book。 I didn't appreciate the P&G examples too much but found them useful。 I had read an article about playing to win but the book did a deep dive and gave me a better understanding of how to develop a good strategy。 Biggest takeaway is if you're going to play， play to win！ 。。。more
David
，
A must-read。 P&G's playbook to dominance。 A must-read。 P&G's playbook to dominance。 。。。more
Martin Smrek
，
Great material for strategic planning hidden under a load of mind-numbing stories about laundry detergents， garbage bags and toothpaste。 It starts horribly dull but gradually gets more interesting。 In the end the book leaves you with a ready-to-go toolset for building your strategy from a scratch。
Miriam
，
Simple and clear; Lafley and Martin have exerted a concerted effort to teach how to come up with a winning strategy rather than what to do。 A useful book for those interested in business， particularly consulting。
Becca
，
I enjoyed this book as a way to view strategy。
shamika
，
Profound， insightful and impactful！This is by far one of the most insightful and impactful books on strategy formulation that empowers you with a real-world， battle-tested framework that actually works！ Worth reading it again and again。 A must read for business leaders and decision makers across industries， functions and roles。 Hat's off to the author's！ Profound， insightful and impactful！This is by far one of the most insightful and impactful books on strategy formulation that empowers you with a real-world， battle-tested framework that actually works！ Worth reading it again and again。 A must read for business leaders and decision makers across industries， functions and roles。 Hat's off to the author's！ 。。。more
Mohd Almomen
，
The journey this book takes you is unique providing a very easy to follow concepts with success stories of brands that we are all familiar with。 The first question asked: what is your winning aspiration？ Caused a paradigm shift。 This would make the person and team to dig deep into the real motivation to put all effort to win。 What would make someone to work hard toward his goals tireless is when the passion and goals are aligned。 The winning aspiration must be found upfront for any company in or The journey this book takes you is unique providing a very easy to follow concepts with success stories of brands that we are all familiar with。 The first question asked: what is your winning aspiration？ Caused a paradigm shift。 This would make the person and team to dig deep into the real motivation to put all effort to win。 What would make someone to work hard toward his goals tireless is when the passion and goals are aligned。 The winning aspiration must be found upfront for any company in order to take the path of success。 The rest of the questions would follow， where to play， how to win， what capabilities and what management system needed to achieve the passion。 It is like working on a detailed design for the company and identifying potential problems in the design and fix it before going to real life。 The design might go through several iterations until the team has high confidence that the final one would lead to make them win and pioneer。 Therefore， answering all the questions and make it a proper design for the company will significantly increase the chance of winning。 。。。more
Ryan Crasta
，
Probably one of my favourite business books for its insights， simplicity of language and advice on implementation。Beyond the useful examples to see in practice the 5 questions that guide strategic thinking， I believe the last chapter that touches on how strategy discussions can take place in a team setting is immensely valuable。
John
，
This book is justifiably famous for a strategy cascade that looks like this:The key observation of the book of the book is that to answer each of these questions （"What is our winning aspiratioon？，" etc。） you have to make choices。 That's hard。 The first six chapters set this out with case studies from Proctor & Gamble， and especially with regard to the repositioning of the old Oil of Olay into Olay， which was re-situated as a "masstige" product。 The book mentions in passing the sell-off of major This book is justifiably famous for a strategy cascade that looks like this:The key observation of the book of the book is that to answer each of these questions （"What is our winning aspiratioon？，" etc。） you have to make choices。 That's hard。 The first six chapters set this out with case studies from Proctor & Gamble， and especially with regard to the repositioning of the old Oil of Olay into Olay， which was re-situated as a "masstige" product。 The book mentions in passing the sell-off of major brands， such as Folgers and Pringles。 I think the dumped products （ones for which P&G had to choose: "no"） might have stories as interesting as Olay （and they would be all about strategy）。 In any case， there's a lot to learn in how each of the questions gets answered。 That's what the first six chapters are about。 I think almost anyone in a leadership role in business would get some value here。 This is what I knew about the book before reading it: That it was largely a structural formula for deciding what to do （and not do）。 Because I get into a part of the process that needs to be "sequential" below， I want to note that the authors rightly say that all of the questions in the cascade have to be answered simultaneously: You can't afford to leave one hanging， which might leave a big hole in your execution。But the book has a huge shift in chapters 7 and 8， and now I'm kind of befuddled that this part wasn't stressed by people who knew the book better than I。 Chapter 7 defines a research process for getting sharp choices around the two key questions， where-to-play and how-to-win。 This all builds on Porter's "five forces" but focuses on analysis so that you can find potential gaps （where you can lodge your business） in the competitive landscape/marketplace。 I'm not going to detail it here: You'll have to read the book。N0w， chapter 8。 This is the best part。 The authors characterize most strategy meetings as being about the consumption of reams of data and arguments over "the truth" and doing （choosing） the right thing。 This kind of discussion creates winners and losers， and if someone is committed to an idea， they don't want to let go of it （pp。 183-185）。 What Roger Martin （who thought this up） does is replace the question "what is true？" with "what would have to be true？" （Think about that shift。） Now we can have a conversation with a lot of crazy ideas; if someone is poised to attack， you say: well， maybe that's crazy， but what would have to be true to actually do it？" Now we've turned acrimony into an interesting series of research questions。 Indeed， Martin says that what you really want to do is organize these questions from hardest to easiest， and try to answer the hardest "what would have to be true" questions first: Because if you discover with one of the hard ones that there's no way to proceed， you don't need to do the rest。 Essentially， Martin turns a conversation about a large body of hard-to-synthesize facts into a methodology that is a sequence of tests。 I think this could be used at many levels in a modern business。 It strikes me as a great way to proceed on build-vs-buy decisions。 It reminds me a lot of Eric Reis's The Lean Startup but more geared to a corporation。So why four stars rather than five？ One gripe I have about this book is that it makes it sound as though strategy is always forward thinking， something you do when entering a new market or exploiting an opportunity。 （That's a more heroic story for the authors。） So， for instance， in chapter 7 the authors mention Pampers as though the company was thinking in advance about possibilities in the diaper market （p。 170）。 But， in fact， there is a huge earlier section on Pampers （pp。 98-103） where one day P&G woke up to discover that Huggies had stolen their market because Huggies paid more attention to customer wants and needs。 So， yes， P&G did turn the crank on this strategic approach as described in chapter 7， but it was entirely reactive。 So my simple point here is that when you are trying to figure out where-to-play and how-to-win， you need to be doing it periodically: Not just when looking forward: Sometimes you are looking in the rear-view mirror， scared， and you need this process to re-situate。Another gap in the book is that this is really， truly， about "products，" i。e。， consumer packaged goods。 There is very little about services here， and I think the story would be quite different。 （Services are mentioned in the appendices but not worked up。） For one thing， you make a commitment to many services over a longer period of time （perhaps a year-long contract） and the margins can be lower because dependent on headcount。 By not discussing services， the book misses out on a lot of recent high tech。 Also， while the book notes how Porter's "five forces" have a story around a channel possibly getting into your product area and overtaking you， the book doesn't have "Amazon" in the index。 This P&G story is about great brands where no one would think to buy the generic product， but Amazon's pricing and distributing skills are so compelling I'd be shaking in my boots were I a traditional packaged goods company。 I guess that story will have to wait for the next book from a P&G CEO。 。。。more
Fanny
，
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Super buenos tips a nivel estratégico
Dipinty
，
Well described strategies that worked for Proctor and Gamble， and the authors have done a good job at projecting them into generalist strategies that would work for any organisation。 You get to study and know a lot about P&G's market strategies， including the revival of Olay， their failure in the orange juice market， etc。 In some places， the P&G part gets heavy， and could be broadened in a better way。 Ultimately， a good book for learning organisation and market strategies。 Well described strategies that worked for Proctor and Gamble， and the authors have done a good job at projecting them into generalist strategies that would work for any organisation。 You get to study and know a lot about P&G's market strategies， including the revival of Olay， their failure in the orange juice market， etc。 In some places， the P&G part gets heavy， and could be broadened in a better way。 Ultimately， a good book for learning organisation and market strategies。 。。。more
Kyle Null
，
It was nice to learn about systems were setup at P&G。 I feel like they may need an update to their approaches or refresher for the upper management to make sure these things remain in their culture。
Muhammad Yusuf
，