Good Strategy/Bad Strategy

Richard Rumelt argues that good strategy is not a vision statement, a set of ambitions or a long list of priorities. It begins with an honest diagnosis of the pivotal challenge, establishes a guiding policy for addressing it and translates that policy into coherent action.

The book’s distinctive contribution is its insistence on choice and concentration. Rumelt shows how organisations mistake goals, slogans and financial targets for strategy, while avoiding the difficult work of identifying leverage. His kernel of diagnosis, guiding policy and coherent actions offers leaders a practical test for whether a strategy can actually direct decisions.

For executives, the implication is to reduce complexity before adding initiatives: name the crux, decide what will not be pursued and align resources behind a small number of mutually reinforcing actions. The framework is especially useful when priorities have accumulated faster than capacity, although diagnosis still requires judgement and cannot be reduced to a template.

OutcomesLab profiles Good Strategy/Bad Strategy because it provides one of the clearest foundations for strategic coherence. It explains why focus creates leverage, why competing priorities produce Dilution Drag and why effective strategy must connect a precise problem to coordinated action.