Must-Win Battles: How to Win Them, Again and Again

Why Write This Book?

(Or, Who Needs Another Management Concept?)

Let’s be clear. Although we are professors, we are not writing about some clever idea we have dreamed up and are hoping that some management team will then try to tell us whether it works. Nor did we “invent” the must-win battle (MWB) concept and then unleash it on a collection of unsuspecting executives so we could write about the results.

In fact, the MWB idea evolved and developed over time as we and other colleagues worked with managers who were frustrated with their organizations’ performance and wanted to drive real and sustainable change while delivering concrete bottom-line impact. Consider some of the quotes you will come across later in this book—these are taken directly ...