Bringing Strategy Back (PDF)

Reconsider Strategy and Make Planning Relevant

In Bringing Strategy Back, strategy expert Jeffrey
Sampler cuts through the clutter to reveal exactly why the usual
tools of strategy are so sorely out of sync with our needs: windows
of opportunity close far faster than they once did, many of these
opportunities are smaller than they once were, growth rates are
uneven across markets, and today's competition is more asymmetrical
than ever. The upshot for managers is that they need to reorient
their approach to absorb the shocks and surprises that strike at a
moment's notice. Only then can strategic planning reliably play its
part.

Leaders all around the world at organizations of any size and
type will benefit by shedding their obsolete notions about strategy
and becoming more resilient. Bringing Strategy Back rises to
the challenge and presents a new prescriptive model. It introduces
four "strategic shock absorbers" that enable leaders to build
resilient organizations that can withstand even the most unexpected
global turbulence. Based on the author's in-depth research in the
world's most tempestuous markets, the model delivers several
must-have qualities that interact and work together in an ongoing
process: Accuracy, Agility, Momentum, and Foresight. With this new
framework, Bringing Strategy Back shows how to be prepared
and proactive, rather than reactive, even when the future is
uncertain.