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R

Roger Martin

Strategy Advisor & Former Dean

Rotman School of Management / Roger Martin Inc.

🎯 Product Strategy (2)⚡ Execution (1)

Key Takeaways

  • 1.Strategy is not about planning resources; it is an integrated set of choices that compels desired customer action.
  • 2.You must choose to either be the low-cost leader or the differentiated player; anything else is 'playing to play' and leads to failure.
  • 3.The 'Where to Play' and 'How to Win' choices must be tightly linked; you cannot win everywhere.
  • 4.True competitive advantage (moats) comes from capabilities that competitors either 'can't' replicate or 'won't' replicate due to their existing business model.
  • 5.Don't strive for perfection immediately; use the 'Betterment' approach to identify a gap between current and desired results and make choices to close it.

Methodologies(3)

🎯 Product Strategy

A framework consisting of five interrelated questions that must be answered to create a strategy. It forces leaders to make specific trade-offs and ensures that capabilities and management systems support the core way the company intends to win.

Core Principles

  • 1.Winning Aspiration: What is the purpose of your enterprise and what does winning look like?
  • 2.Where to Play: Which specific markets, segments, channels, and product categories will you target?
  • 3.How to Win: Will you win through low cost or differentiation? (You must pick one).
  • +2 more...

"Strategy is an integrated set of choices that compels desired customer action."

#choice#cascade#strategy
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🎯 Product Strategy

A way to evaluate moats. The strongest position is when a competitor *can* technically copy you, but *won't* because it would destroy their existing business model (counter-positioning).

Core Principles

  • 1.Analyze Competitor Incentives: Why haven't they copied you yet?
  • 2.Identify the 'Won't': Look for strategies that require competitors to cannibalize their revenue or alienate their partners to match you.
  • 3.Build Complex Activity Systems: Create a web of reinforcing capabilities (like Southwest) that are too painful/complex to copy piecemeal.
  • +1 more...

"The ultimate way to compete to win is to never actually be forced to compete."

#can't#won't#competitive
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⚡ Execution

Instead of trying to solve every problem, identify the single most painful gap between current outcomes and desired outcomes. Make choices to close that specific gap, then move to the next one.

Core Principles

  • 1.Identify the Gap: Find where outcomes < aspirations.
  • 2.Hypothesize Choices: Use the Strategy Cascade to propose changes to close the gap.
  • 3.Iterate Relentlessly: Treat strategy as problem-solving practice. Repetition builds strategic muscle.
  • +1 more...

"I have never met this mythical beast called a great natural strategist. Great strategists have all one thing in common, they just practice."

#'betterment'#approach#execution
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