HBR Guide to Executing Your Strategy

by Harvard Business Review

Put your strategy into action.

Even the best competitive strategies mean nothing if they aren't executed well. Yet many organizations struggle when they move from defining a strategy to actually applying it. Somehow, all the careful planning falls apart, initiatives fail, and leaders are left wondering how to pick up the pieces.

The HBR Guide to Executing Your Strategy is here to help. This book offers leaders and managers tips and advice for sharing the strategy with your employees, making the shift toward the right objectives, and seeing your strategy come to fruition.

You'll learn how

Understand the "why" behind your strategyIdentify the capabilities you have—and the ones you needCommunicate objectives and priorities effectively to your teamPrioritize strategic projects and let go of outdated onesEncourage cross-silo collaboration toward organizational goalsAdjust course when necessary

Arm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, with the most trusted brand in business. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

226 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 29, 2023

Reviews

[Bharath · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not expect to learn too many new things from the book, and that turned out to be right. It is nevertheless, a concise book on executing on a strategy.

Strategy provides direction to organizations and business groups. Many times, there is a tussle between strategy formulation and execution. This book has a lot of sensible advice around executors needing to get involved early, strategy & execution needing to run in parallel to accommodate changing circumstances, collaboration, communication, unlearning, the right level of metrics and other related topics. The pressure of near-term profits and revenues often leads to longer term strategies not being given time by CXOs. I liked the part about being conscious of what is being lost when adopting a new strategy. If this is not done, there is inertia and resistance. Alignment of strategy with organization’s design is important, but often misunderstood as a rigid cascading of goals. When people name companies they admire, they do it based on their innovation ability. Most people do not know the capabilities and enablers making innovation possible. Leaders need to communicate ‘Why’, and not only ‘What’ and ‘How’ and manage change carefully when executing strategy.

While there are some company examples such as Unilever, Wells Fargo, I expected more. As there are multiple authors, some matter tends to repeat, though the topic selection is pretty good.

My rating: 3.75 / 5.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harvard Business Review Press for a free electronic review copy.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great guide to determine how to implement your strategies best and understand what general questions will always need to be addressed to get the best result. It ensures you understand that others understand what you're trying to achieve and why.

[Facundo Lena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recopilación de artículos de HBR en relación a la estrategia.
Tan un poco de todo, tantos altibajos, que sólo vale la pena para ir a buscar un articulo recomendado o para ojear cual revista hasta cruzarte con algunos buenos artículos.