Alan (AG) Laffley was CEO of Procter and Gamble for 10 years (1999 to 2009) and during that time he oversaw the consumer goods giant double its sales, dominate new markets and increase margins. He is revered as legendary leader who delivered great returns for the company and its shareholders. He claims that his success was based on implanting a rigorous approach to business strategy in every department of P&G’s global company. Together with his principal strategy adviser, Roger Martin, Laffley has written a book describing his approach and expounding his views on what makes a successful business strategy. The book is entitled Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works. It draws on the works of great business gurus like Michael Porter, Peter Drucker and Clayton Christensen and is embellished with many precepts and examples from the P&G playbook.
Laffley and Martin believe that a great strategy needs six components. They are:
1. Defining what winning looks like.
2. Selecting the right markets
3. Generating a distinctive and winning approach to the market.
4. Identifying and exploiting the company’s unique strengths versus competitors.
5. Identifying and implementing those things that need to be managed for the strategy to succeed.
6. Deciding what not to manage.
Interestingly the authors also list six common business strategy errors and they give each a catchy title. These are:
1. Do it All. Trying to do everything and failing to prioritize.
2. Don Quixote. Being fixated with the strongest competitor and attacking them first.
3. Waterloo. Fighting on too many fronts at once.
4. Something for Everyone. Trying to attract every sort of customer.
5. Programme of the Month. Switching to whatever business fad is in fashion rather than sticking to one over-arching strategy.
6. Dreams that Never Come True. Starting with a wonderful vision but failing to translate that into hard choices about where and how to compete.
The book contains many illustrations based on Laffley’s successes at P&G but is curiously quiet about his failures or P&G’s travails since he left. Nevertheless it is a highly recommended addition to the business strategy bookshelf.
On Amazon.co.uk
On Amazon.com
