Playing to win: How strategy really works

by A.G. Lafley

Look for these, for your own business and among your competitors. An activity system that looks different from any competitor’s system. It means you are attempting to deliver value in a distinctive way. Customers who absolutely adore you, and noncustomers who can’t see why anybody would buy from you. This means you have been choiceful. Competitors who make a good profit doing what they are doing. It means your strategy has left where-to-play and how-to-win choices for competitors, who don’t need to attack the heart of your market to survive. More resources to spend on an ongoing basis than competitors have. This means you are winning the value equation and have the biggest margin between price and costs and the best capacity to add spending to take advantage of an opportunity or defend your turf. Competitors who attack one another, not you. It means that you look like the hardest target in the (broadly defined) industry to attack. Customers who look first to you for innovations, new products, and service enhancement to make their lives better. This means that your customers believe that you are uniquely positioned to create value for them.