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Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters Hardcover – Deckle Edge, 19 July 2011
Developing and implementing a strategy is the central task of a leader. A good strategy is a specific and coherent response to--and approach for--overcoming the obstacles to progress. A good strategy works by harnessing and applying power where it will have the greatest effect. Yet, Rumelt shows that there has been a growing and unfortunate tendency to equate Mom-and-apple-pie values, fluffy packages of buzzwords, motivational slogans, and financial goals with "strategy."
In Good Strategy/Bad Strategy, he debunks these elements of "bad strategy" and awakens an understanding of the power of a "good strategy." He introduces nine sources of power--ranging from using leverage to effectively focusing on growth--that are eye-opening yet pragmatic tools that can easily be put to work on Monday morning, and uses fascinating examples from business, nonprofit, and military affairs to bring its original and pragmatic ideas to life. The detailed examples range from Apple to General Motors, from the two Iraq wars to Afghanistan, from a small local market to Wal-Mart, from Nvidia to Silicon Graphics, from the Getty Trust to the Los Angeles Unified School District, from Cisco Systems to Paccar, and from Global Crossing to the 2007-08 financial crisis.
Reflecting an astonishing grasp and integration of economics, finance, technology, history, and the brilliance and foibles of the human character, Good Strategy/Bad Strategy stems from Rumelt's decades of digging beyond the superficial to address hard questions with honesty and integrity.
- Print length336 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherCrown Currency
- Publication date19 July 2011
- Dimensions16.61 x 2.34 x 24.18 cm
- ISBN-109780307886231
- ISBN-13978-0307886231
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Product description
Review
"So much that's said and written about strategy is - from my point of view - complete junk, that I get excited when I hear someone focusing on strategy in a coherent and useful way...A very good book." --Forbes
"The year's best and most original addition to the strategy bookshelf." --Strategy+Business
"The whole middle section, about sources of power, is valuable--particularly the explication of the limitations and nuances of competitive advantage." --Inc
"Clearly written, thoughtful...This book is painful therapy but a necessary read nonetheless." --Washington Times
"Represents the latest thinking in strategy and is peppered with many current real world examples. Good Strategy/Bad Strategy has much to offer and has every chance of becoming a business classic." --Management Today
"Drawing on a wealth of examples, Rumelt identifies the critical features that distinguish powerful strategies from wimpy ones--and offers a cache of advice on how to build a strategy that is actually worthy of the name. If you're certain your company is already poised to out-perform its rivals and out-run the future, don't buy this book. If, on the other hand, you have a sliver of doubt, pick it up pronto!" --Gary Hamel, co-author of Competing for the Future
"..Brilliant ... a milestone in both the theory and practice of strategy... Vivid examples from the contemporary business world and global history that clearly show how to recognize the good, reject the bad, and make good strategy a living force in your organization." --John Stopford, Chairman TLP International, Professor Emeritus, London Business School
"... Penetrating insights provide new and powerful ways for leaders to tackle the obstacles they face. The concepts of "the kernel" and "the proximate objective" are blockbusters. This is the new must-have book for everyone who leads an organization in business, government, or in-between." --Robert A. Eckert, chairman and CEO of Mattel
".... Richly illustrated and persuasively argued ... the playbook for anybody in a leadership position who must think and act strategically. " --Michael Useem, Professor of Management at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and author of The Leadership Moment
"... Rumelt writes with great verve and pulls no punches as he pinpoints such strategy "sins" as fluff, blue sky objectives, and not facing the problem." --James Roche, former Secretary of the Air Force and president of Electronic Sensors & Systems, Northrop Grumman.
"This is the first book on strategy I have read that I have found difficult to put down. --John Kay, London Business School
About the Author
Product details
- ASIN : 0307886239
- Publisher : Crown Currency; Illustrated edition (19 July 2011)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 336 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9780307886231
- ISBN-13 : 978-0307886231
- Dimensions : 16.61 x 2.34 x 24.18 cm
- Best Sellers Rank: 91,174 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Richard Rumelt is Emeritus Professor at UCLA Anderson. He received his MSEE from UC Berkeley and his doctorate in business from the Harvard Business School. He is an internationally known writer, speaker, and consultant on strategy. Richard lives in Bend, Oregon. See more about him at thecruxbook.com. Read his journal at strategeion.substack.com
Customer reviews
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Top reviews
Top reviews from Australia
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If you’re an executive or investor, this is a critical read.
Focus, systems and discipline are key themes of this book.
This statement however also applies to the author's politics that I am now WAY too across.
What is most fascinating (and eye rolling) about this fact is that he does EXACTLY in terms of measuring political impact the things he complains about in bad strategy. He hastily generalises the failures of the autocratic socialist states with all socialism.
I dont think I could ever read something by this author again, but I am grateful for his insight on strategy.
Explains what strategy is.
Explains how collaboration is on the whole way ahead of competition.
However, I can’t give it 5 stars, because I found the author’s narcissistic writing just plain irritated me. He puts down the executives of several manor blue chips through the book, quite unnecessarily. Based on the way, he openly slates organisations I’d think twice before engaging him as a consultant. It might have been valuable if he’d also shared some good examples of strategies others had developed and not just his own.
Top reviews from other countries

With a well organized structure, it will teach you the building blocks of a good strategy.
