Playing to Win

How Strategy Really Works

By: Roger L. Martin, A.G. Lafley

Narrated by: LJ Ganser

Playing to Win, a noted Wall Street Journal and Washington Post best seller, outlines the strategic approach Lafley, in close partnership with strategic adviser Roger Martin, used to double P&G’s sales, quadruple its profits, and increase its market value by more than $100 billion when Lafley was first CEO (he led the company from 2000 to 2009). The book shows leaders in any type of organization how to guide everyday actions with larger strategic goals built around the clear, essential elements that determine business successwhere to play and how to win.

Lafley and Martin have created a set of five essential strategic choices that, when addressed in an integrated way, will move you ahead of your competitors. They are: (1) What is our winning aspiration? (2) Where will we play? (3) How will we win? (4) What capabilities must we have in place to win? and (5) What management systems are required to support our choices? The result is a playbook for winning.

The stories of how P&G repeatedly won by applying this method to iconic brands such as Olay, Bounty, Gillette, Swiffer, and Febreze clearly illustrate how deciding on a strategic approachand then making the right choices to support itmakes the difference between just playing the game and actually winning.

Playing to Win outlines a proven method that has worked for some of today’s most celebrated brands and products. Let this book serve as your new guide to winning, as well.

©2013 A.G. Lafley and Roger L. Martin (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Okay for strategy

Some of these things are straightforward. Although most of them seem short-termist, as is evident today. This is a good book to understand P&G businesses. There are probably better strategy books.

Loved it

The book was informative and I loved the examples. I was guilty of the error of strategic planning and now I’m convinced to change my strategy formulation approach.

Clear & Outstanding

This is simply one of the very few most important things you should read about strategy!

Great book and audio performance

The Choice Cascade provides an immensely linear and approachable model to understand business. Thank you.

Fun but limited to Oct

It was fun listening to it. If only they had longer story, need more story from outside

Strategy meaning and framework to create your own

It’s a great balance between science and application in a great success story of P&G gives the trust of working methods and steps that are executable which is very useful and very recommended for anyone wants to create a strategy for any size of business

very good strategic framework

very good strategic framework for cpg companies. it compiles key issues to consider when crafting strategy

Required reading for business execs

This book does an excellent job capturing the essence of business strategy and providing interesting and relatable examples. Highly recommend.

P&G Stan Account

This is good stuff. I’ll be using it.

But be prepared… this guy loooooves P&G and he’s going to tell you alllll about it.

Different than most strategy approaches I’ve heard.

Liked how simple it was an can be applied to many levels of organization. Was able to take away several impactful points