Playing to Win How Strategy Really Works
One book, placed in its field — what A.G. Lafley Roger L. Martin's book gets right, where it goes further than the rest, and what the rest of the field adds.
Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide · bicycle.guide/guides/profile-playing_to_win_lafley_martin
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Playing to Win How Strategy Really Works
One book, placed in its field — what A.G. Lafley Roger L. Martin's book gets right, where it goes further than the rest, and what the rest of the field adds.
Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide · bicycle.guide/guides/profile-playing_to_win_lafley_martin
The problem
Sustainable Competitive Advantage erodes when it is left to instinct instead of method.
You were taught the moves piecemeal, never the whole model.
Playing to Win How Strategy Really Works · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
The model
- 01Winning Aspiration
- 02Where-to-Play Choice
- 03How-to-Win Choice
- 04Core Capabilities Choice
- 05Management Systems Choice
- 06Strategic Choice Integration
- 07Distinctive Activity System
- 08Organizational Alignment and Focus
Playing to Win How Strategy Really Works · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
Step 1 of 5 · Winning Aspiration
Define winning against named consumers and named competitors, not against your own past performance.
Misconception
A winning aspiration is a lofty mission or vision statement about being 'the best' or 'the leader.'
Reality
A winning aspiration specifies who you must win with (which consumers) and who you must win against (which competitors) — it is a competitive statement, not an inspirational one. Purpose alone gives no guidance on which battles to fight.
Playing to Win How Strategy Really Works · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
Step 2 of 5 · Where-to-Play Choice
Where-to-play and how-to-win must be chosen together; a field is only viable if you have a way to win in it.
Misconception
The bigger the addressable market you choose to play in, the greater your growth potential.
Reality
Where-to-play is as much about where you refuse to compete as where you do; a narrower, well-chosen field where your capabilities dominate beats a large field where you are one of many undistinguished players.
Playing to Win How Strategy Really Works · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
Step 3 of 5 · How-to-Win Choice
A how-to-win is only valid if it answers 'why us, not them?' for a specific consumer in a specific field.
Misconception
How-to-win means picking one of Porter's generic strategies and being told you can never mix low cost with differentiation.
Reality
The mandate is to create a value advantage that is unique and sustainable in your specific field; some firms genuinely win by pairing scale-driven cost advantage with differentiated brand, so the point is defensibility, not doctrinal purity.
Playing to Win How Strategy Really Works · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
Step 4 of 5 · Core Capabilities Choice
Capabilities exist to serve the where-to-play and how-to-win, not the other way around.
Misconception
Core capabilities are simply the things your organization is already good at.
Reality
Capabilities are chosen backward from the win, not catalogued forward from present strengths; a capability only counts if it is essential to the specific how-to-win and reinforces the other capabilities in the set.
Playing to Win How Strategy Really Works · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
Step 5 of 5 · Management Systems Choice
Your measurement system encodes your real strategy, whatever your slides say.
Misconception
Once the strategy is decided, the management systems are an administrative afterthought handled by operations or HR.
Reality
Management systems are a strategic choice in their own right — the wrong metrics and review cadences will actively undermine sound choices by rewarding behavior that contradicts them.
Playing to Win How Strategy Really Works · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
A framework to use
The Strategic Choice Cascade
This framework is part of the full guide. See the guide →
Playing to Win How Strategy Really Works · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
The cheat sheet
- Winning AspirationDefine winning against named consumers and named competitors, not against your own past performance.
- Where-to-Play ChoiceWhere-to-play and how-to-win must be chosen together; a field is only viable if you have a way to win in it.
- How-to-Win ChoiceA how-to-win is only valid if it answers 'why us, not them?' for a specific consumer in a specific field.
- Core Capabilities ChoiceCapabilities exist to serve the where-to-play and how-to-win, not the other way around.
- Management Systems ChoiceYour measurement system encodes your real strategy, whatever your slides say.
- Strategic Choice IntegrationA strategy's durability lives in the fit between choices, not in any single choice's brilliance.
- Distinctive Activity SystemFit and trade-offs, not best practices, are what make an activity system defensible.
- Organizational Alignment and FocusReal alignment shows up in decisions made without you in the room.
Playing to Win How Strategy Really Works · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
Sources
- Playing to Win How Strategy Really Works — A.G. Lafley Roger L. Martin
Playing to Win How Strategy Really Works · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide