Book

Elevate

The Three Disciplines of Advanced Strategic Thinking

Rich Horwath

Wiley, 2014

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A 25-year study of 750 bankruptcies identified bad strategy as the primary reason businesses fail. Strategy is crucial, but most firms give it neither the respect nor the attention it merits. Strategy expert Rich Horwath explains that successful companies are, by definition, strategic, as is his book, which conveys valuable, concrete information succinctly. He explains the links between strategy and success, and guides executives on how to think strategically. getAbstract recommends Horwath’s authoritative lessons on making strategy an ongoing aspect of your business to CEOs, executives, entrepreneurs and investors analyzing corporate strategies.

Summary

“Elevate” Your Thinking

In business, you can’t see the big picture until you gain “elevation.” Seek an encompassing overview so that you can understand what makes your businesses tick, how the parts work together, how to differentiate it from its competitors, and how to provide value and service to your customers. Leaders must think strategically so they can make the right decisions and the best trade-offs – choices that lead to success.

This elevated view demands mental agility and the ability to sift through floods of information. Failure to think strategically can be disastrous. The Conference Board reports that 70% of the public companies that suffer a “revenue stall” will see their market capitalization drop by more than 50%. Poor strategic decisions account for most revenue stalls. When a firm’s business falters due to inferior performance, that pattern is likely to continue for at least 10 years. Many times, this leads to complete collapse.

What Is Strategy?

Strategy is defined as “the intelligent allocation of limited resources through a unique system of activities to outperform the competition in serving customers. Resources include time, talent...

About the Author

Former chief strategy officer and professor of strategy Rich Horwath is CEO of the Strategic Thinking Institute. A frequent lecturer on strategic thinking, he is the author of six books.

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D. A. 5 years ago

Great read! You always here about our "strategy" no matter what company you work for, but this brief article cuts to the chase of what is "strategic" and what looks strategic, but is really just a list of tactics or a do list!
G. C. 7 years ago

Good set of questions to look at ourselves (and our strategy) in the mirror...and then close the gap.
J. S. 10 years ago

One of the better written summaries on Strategy.
A strong takeaway among many and something I ask myself daily, " Am I working on an activity that is important to the execution of the strategy, or is it an urgent but unimportant issue that's taken me off plan?" When I lose focus of the bigger picture, this question always brings me back to proper time allocation and gets me focused on the company's strategy.