Playing to win: How strategy really works

by A.G. Lafley

Sameness isn’t strategy. It is a recipe for mediocrity.

a strategy is a coordinated and integrated set of five choices: a winning aspiration, where to play, how to win, core capabilities, and management systems.

Strategy needn’t be mysterious. Conceptually, it is simple and straightforward. It requires clear and hard thinking, real creativity, courage, and personal leadership.

If, after lots of searching, you can’t create a credible how-to-win choice, find a new playing field or get out of the game.

First, any acquisition had to be “growth accretive—