6 Strategy books that will change how you run your business
That you’ll actually enjoy reading
1. Only the Paranoid Survive — Andy Grove
The inside story of Intel’s strategic pivot by the company’s president. Which itself is the origin story of what Intel grew into today. Part autobiography, part Intel strategy, part CEO manual.
Andy starts out broadly, talking about industry dynamics, how change happens and what that means for leaders. He dives in to talk about how to tell the signal from the noise, and when to act with decisive swiftness. He then zooms right into the fork in the road in Intel’s history where acting too late would have had the business go the way of Kodak and Blockbuster.
A must read for any entrepreneur or business leader. And bonus, Andy’s writing style is poetic. It’s the kind of book you start and can’t put down.
2. Competitive Strategy : Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance— Micheal Porter
This is the ultimate strategy book and the foundation for Strategy classes in MBA programs around the world, including Harvard and Stanford. Originally published in 1994, it’s the definitive guide to strategic thinking and decision making.
The word strategy has evolved to mean lots of different things, both broad and narrow. Every area of a business has had the word ‘strategy’ appended to it — Marketing strategy, product strategy, distribution strategy. Yet true strategy is bigger than that. And, ironically, far simpler. There are very few true ways to win, and Micheal Porters explains them seamlessly.
Rooted in research and analysis, the work continues to be timeless and applicable to any market and business, large or small. Once you understand what your business strategy is, you can shape marketing, product, distribution and more to unequivocaly align in its pursuit. [Porter’s other work, Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors, is also great further reading.]
3. The Art of War — Sun Tsu
If you only read one book on strategy, read this one. While famous for it’s relevance to military manoeuvres, The Art of War is applicable to strategy in all its guises.
It tackles the challenges of managing yourself
4. Strategy & Tactics — Jocko Willink
The go-to read for rallying your people around your cause. A strategy is nothing without execution, and execution is done by people.
Willink is a former Navy Seal and bring a unique level of stoic rigour and objectivity. His methodology is impartial and hinges on a leader being able to truly focus their energy on the people who will bring their vision to life. A must read for anyone with a team — whether it’s a small group early in the life of a business or a cast of 10,000 working globally to your vision.
An execution toolkit for the kind of leadership that’s critical to strategy execution.
5. Measure What Matters — John Doerr
John Doerr used to do sales for Intel in the 1970s. He left Intel to Join Kleiner Perkins, a Venture Capital firm in Menlo Park, and led funding rounds with Silicon Valley sweethearts including Netscape, Amazon and Google.
Measure What Matters is a distillation of his learnings in funding and supporting growth at the biggest tech brands int he world. He was an early board member at many of the companies he funded and has seen first hand how data-led decisions can make a difference between getting cast into oblivion and dominating a market.
The ideas and advice is easy to understand, clearly structured, and actionable by a business leader or entreprenur with any kind of background. Plus, there’s great stories and anecdotes from the major tech companies of our era.
6. This is marketing — Seth Godin
A short and fun read on undersatnding your customers and how they make decisions. If you only read one book on marketing, make it this one. A good one to re-read from time to time, as you’ll take something different from it every time.
Godin’s style has a rhythm and flow that makes it joyful to read and experience. and if you listen on audible, his personal delivery makes you feel like you’re on a long walk together.
If you’re struggling with product-market fit and haven’t achieved that hockey stick growth that we all strive for, this is the book to help you shift your perspective and turn that around.
Enjoy and re-read your favourites
In a world obsessed with consuming, it’s easy to get sucked into getting to the end of your book and moving on. Kind of like that scene in the Matrix, where in a matter of seconds Neo realises “I know Kung Fu.”
But real reading, and real learning isn’t like that. When we read, we naturally focus on what’s relevant to us in that moment. That’s the stuff that hits a chord, or where you can clearly see the applicability. And that’s what we remember. Or try to.
But we never achieve universal retention or comprehension of an entire book. So rather than racing through and moving on, don’t be afraid to take your time.
And don’t be afraid to come back and re-read a few months later.
The best books are the ones you reach for again and again.
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