Strategy That Works Leinwand
One book, placed in its field — what Paul Leinwand'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-strategy_that_works_leinwand
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Strategy That Works Leinwand
One book, placed in its field — what Paul Leinwand'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-strategy_that_works_leinwand
The problem
Sustained Competitive Advantage erodes when it is left to instinct instead of method.
You were taught the moves piecemeal, never the whole model.
Strategy That Works Leinwand · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
The model
- 01Commitment to an Identity
- 02Strategic Translation to the Everyday
- 03Leveraging Culture as an Asset
- 04Strategic Cost Management
- 05Future Shaping
- 06Organizational Coherence
- 07Bridged Strategy-Execution Gap
- 08Sustained Competitive Advantage
Strategy That Works Leinwand · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
Step 1 of 5 · Commitment to an Identity
A real identity statement is falsifiable: it names opportunities you will deliberately walk away from.
Misconception
Practitioners believe committing to a single identity forfeits growth options and that keeping the door open to attractive adjacencies is the safer, more resilient posture.
Reality
Optionality is the expensive illusion; the adjacencies that look attractive on a spreadsheet usually require capabilities you don't have and won't build well, so hedging quietly starves the few capabilities that actually differentiate you.
Strategy That Works Leinwand · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
Step 2 of 5 · Strategic Translation to the Everyday
Differentiating capabilities are cross-functional systems, so their owner must have authority beyond any one department.
Misconception
Leaders treat capabilities as functional competencies—something a department 'owns'—and assume a capable procurement or IT function equals a differentiating capability.
Reality
A differentiating capability is a bespoke combination of people, processes, technology, data, and behaviors that cuts across functions; no single department can house it, and buying best-practice tools off the shelf produces parity, not distinctiveness.
Strategy That Works Leinwand · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
Step 3 of 5 · Leveraging Culture as an Asset
Change behaviors first and beliefs will follow; do not wait to win hearts before acting.
Misconception
Practitioners believe that a strategy shift requires a culture overhaul, so they launch programs to replace 'how we do things around here.'
Reality
Culture is remarkably durable and rarely changes by decree; the winning move is to find the few authentic behaviors that already support your capabilities system and amplify them until they crowd out the rest.
Strategy That Works Leinwand · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
Step 4 of 5 · Strategic Cost Management
Sort costs by their contribution to your distinctive identity before you sort them by size.
Misconception
Practitioners believe cost cutting is a periodic austerity event triggered by bad quarters, aimed at hitting an across-the-board reduction target.
Reality
Effective cost management is a continuous reallocation discipline, not a one-time diet: the goal is not less spending but a different distribution of it, spending disproportionately on the handful of capabilities that define who you are while starving everything else.
Strategy That Works Leinwand · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
Step 5 of 5 · Future Shaping
You shape the future by projecting your existing strengths forward, not by acquiring unfamiliar ones.
Misconception
Practitioners equate future shaping with disruptive bets on emerging trends or being early to whatever markets are moving toward.
Reality
Shaping the future is an extension of your existing distinctive capabilities pushed into new territory, not a leap into unfamiliar arenas; you create demand precisely because you are exercising strengths rivals cannot match, not because you spotted a trend first.
Strategy That Works Leinwand · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
A framework to use
The Five Acts of Unconventional Leadership
This framework is part of the full guide. See the guide →
Strategy That Works Leinwand · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
The cheat sheet
- Commitment to an IdentityA real identity statement is falsifiable: it names opportunities you will deliberately walk away from.
- Strategic Translation to the EverydayDifferentiating capabilities are cross-functional systems, so their owner must have authority beyond any one department.
- Leveraging Culture as an AssetChange behaviors first and beliefs will follow; do not wait to win hearts before acting.
- Strategic Cost ManagementSort costs by their contribution to your distinctive identity before you sort them by size.
- Future ShapingYou shape the future by projecting your existing strengths forward, not by acquiring unfamiliar ones.
- Organizational CoherenceA capability only counts if it simultaneously enables your value proposition and is leveraged by your products.
- Bridged Strategy-Execution GapA truly executable strategy feels almost obvious in hindsight because it is built on what you already do best.
- Sustained Competitive AdvantageDurability comes from the interdependence of capabilities, not the quality of any one.
Strategy That Works Leinwand · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
Sources
- Strategy That Works Leinwand — Paul Leinwand
Strategy That Works Leinwand · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide