The Changing Nature of Strategy

Gradual shifts have led to an explosion of creative thinking around strategy.

First, a new era of business demands a new approach to strategy. Second, micro-battles help companies execute good strategy and compete on the basis of scale and speed. Finally, there are 6 questions all CEOs should ask themselves.

Over the past three decades, we’ve seen a transformation in how strategies are developed:

- from perfect anticipation to fast adaptation

- from “where to play” to “how to win"

- from "push" to "pull"

We’ve seen a path toward scale insurgency through micro-battles

- scale vs intimacy

- routine vs disruption

- short term vs. long term, or “deliver vs. develop”

And after 30 years, the core questions about strategy remain the same:

- Can we lead in our core business? If not, how can we create a path to sustainable, profitable growth?

- What are the biggest threats to the core business over the next decade, and what can we do now to start responding to these threats?

- How can we manage the complexity of execution? What is the set of Repeatable Models that will help us win in our core markets?

- How can we compete not only on scale, but also on speed? How can we rediscover our sense of Founder’s Mentality?

- What leadership qualities do I need in my executive team and top 100 leaders to respond quickly in times of uncertainty, to create the required pull from the front line and to act like scale insurgents?

To read the full article from Bain&Company, please click here.