The Strategy Paradox
Why Committing to Success Leads to Failure (And What to do About It)
About the book
Michael E. Raynor, a Distinguished Fellow with Deloitte Research and coauthor of The Innovator's Solution, argues that the qualities usually credited for business success, such as a clear vision and bold commitment, are also what lead companies to failure. Leaders feel they must commit now on guesses about a future no one can predict. The few whose guesses prove right prosper, many equally able managers do not, and most others retreat into cautious strategies that give up any chance of greatness in exchange for survival. Drawing on original research, Raynor shows how leaders can escape that trade-off while lowering the risks they take. Published in 2007, it was named one of the year's top ten books by BusinessWeek.
Ryan Holiday put it on his list of 24 books for sharpening strategic thinking, noting that sticking rigidly to one clever plan often leads businesses into disaster.
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This book has 1 recommendation
Ryan Holiday (Founder/Brass Check)
I don’t have a lot of modern books on this list, but this is an excellent one. We tend to wrongly think that strategy is about coming up with a genius plan and then committing to it. In fact, this is often a recipe for disaster, particularly in business. Though success often requires a total investment in a particular strategy, this is also the recipe for extreme failure. It’s a paradox. Michael Raynor’s book has important thoughts on this inherent paradox as well as approaches for mitigating and avoiding it.
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