Myths of Strategy summary

Introduction

MYTHS OF STRATEGY by Jérôme Barthélemy This book dispels common business misconceptions and delivers evidence-based strategies for true success. Why do business gurus offer advice that is often founded on virtually nothing at all? They observe a business led by a visionary leader and assume that is the sole path. Then they determine the best way to succeed is to simply have a visionary chief executive officer.

They see a business that sets a stretch goal and reaches it with great fanfare. Then they declare that stretch goals are always beneficial for every company trying to grow. These casual observations are merely anecdotal and entirely incomplete for serious professionals. They completely fail to account for many other hidden factors influencing final business results.

In short, current business strategy advice is rarely founded on stringent peer-reviewed research. Most other academic disciplines respect and closely align with solid scientific research every day. It is vital that modern business leaders now do the exact same thing. In this summary we will cover 6 of the 30 myths featured inside this book.

You will learn from real-life examples why these popular strategies are invalid or incomplete. You will also discover a much better path forward for your own organization.

careful planning versus emergent strategy

CAREFUL PLANNING VS. EMERGENT STRATEGY How does a global furniture giant build an empire without ever drawing up a master plan? Much advice from business gurus and consultants is founded on virtually nothing. They observe a business led by a visionary CEO.

Then they determine the best way to succeed is to have a visionary CEO. They see a business that sets a stretch goal and reaches it. Then they declare that stretch goals are beneficial. These observations are anecdotal and incomplete.

They fail to account for many other factors in the results. In short, current business strategy advice is rarely founded on stringent, peer-reviewed research. Most other disciplines respect and align with solid research. It is important that business leaders now do the same.

In this summary we will cover 6 of the 30 myths in this book. You will learn from real-life examples why these strategies are invalid or incomplete. You will also get a better path forward. Think of the furniture chain IKEA.

Their worldwide success is mainly due to self-assembly furniture, Scandinavian-designed low-cost production and self-service stores. But these features were not the result of a carefully planned strategy. In fact, most happened due to challenges. These forced leader Ingvar Kamprad to make tough decisions.

For instance, IKEA was not always a furniture designer or manufacturer. At first, they merely distributed other people's furniture. However, as the company grew, Swedish furniture sellers convinced Scandinavian producers to boycott IKEA. This forced the company to design their own furniture, thus developing the characteristic look and functionality.

The reason for their success is that they did not only have a deliberate strategy. A deliberate strategy is based on careful planning. But they also had an emergent strategy, which develops in response to outside circumstances. Studies show that organizations do need deliberate strategy.

However, it is best that this strategy remains high-level. This empowers mid-level leaders to work within that strategy to adapt and respond to changes.