Playing to Win

Chapter Six

Manage What Matters

The last box in the strategic choice cascade is the most neglected. Often, senior management teams formulate strategy and then broadcast key themes to the rest of the company, expecting quick and definitive action. But even if you set a winning aspiration, determine where to play and how to win, and define the capabilities required, strategy can still fail—spectacularly—if you fail to establish management systems that support those choices and capabilities. Without supporting structures, systems, and measures, strategy remains a wish list, a set of goals that may or may not ever be achieved. To truly win in the marketplace, a company needs a robust process for creating, reviewing, and communicating about strategy; ...