#20 Book announcement: HOPE IS NOT A STRATEGY. Making your corporate strategy simple with the StrategyFrame.
The latest findings from strategy research, management training and consulting practice prepared for direct application in companies: With the StrategyFrame, the author duo and podcast hosts have developed a new, practical tool for strategy development and implementation. It links the strategy process end-to-end in a practical way: from situation analysis and strategic decision-making to the target image, formulation and communication of priorities and implementation of measures.
TARGET GROUP
Whether at the top management level of a corporation or in an owner-managed medium-sized company: the StrategyFrame makes strategy tangible, relatable and applicable. A book for all strategy makers and those who want to become one.
BENEFITS
The book dispels previous strategy myths and sheds light on the individual steps of strategy work throughout the entire process. It offers tailor-made knowledge along the workflow. With inspiration and real practical examples, it provides concrete, tried-and-tested guidance for strategy development and implementation.
SHOWNOTES:
Pre-order now:https://www.underwood.de/buch
Christian Underwood:https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianunderwood/
Prof. Jürgen Weigand:https://www.linkedin.com/in/j%C3%BCrgen-weigand/
Underwood GmbH:https://www.underwood.de
Detailed episode description:
Why do we still need a strategy book?
There are already a large number of strategy books on the market. In the new book "Hope is not a strategy", which will be published by Campus Verlag in October, the authors Christian Underwood and Jürgen Weigand want to share their experiences and tips in the field of strategy development, but above all make the topic understandable, interesting and directly applicable for everyone.
In this strategy discussion, you will give an initial outlook on what readers can expect and what added value the new book will bring. What can readers expect?
The subtitle of the book is "Making your corporate strategy simple with the StrategyFrame". This has two meanings. On the one hand, to create the start of a strategy process, i.e. to make strategy simple. On the other hand, strategy should be simplified in such a way that strategy development is not a burden or an ordeal for those involved, but a pleasure for them.
The book "Hope is not a strategy" provides precisely this impetus at the start of a process and also a systematic, structured approach to the procedure.
Christian Underwood and Jürgen Weigand want to detach the fine art of strategy development from complicated terminology and thus make it understandable for everyone, even for company managers whose everyday life is not concerned with strategy development.
Because many things are easy to implement if you know how to do it along the workflow.
What do Christian and Jürgen mean by strategy in a simple sense?
Strategy is the plan to move from today's state to the future and achieve the goals set.
The book does not go into great historical detail. The theory has been pushed into the background so that the focus is on the presentation of a tool, a workflow with appropriate knowledge. It shows how to develop the target image from the situation analysis and then transfer it to the fields of action, as well as how to implement the strategy. There will be many instructions for this. There is also the opportunity to apply elements from the book directly in the workshop.
This was a key point for Christian. Unlike in other strategy books, readers should not only be presented with lots of great ideas, but should also receive concrete advice on how to implement them. Many books on the market focus on individual parts or always leave the question unanswered: "And how do I really do this now?". Christian and Jürgen, however, want to cover the entire strategy process - from formulation to implementation and reformation. Covering the questions "What are the results?", "What can I learn from this?" and "What's next?" are also part of the process. Michael Porter in particular has served as a model for breaking down theoretical approaches into something practical. His book contains many well-founded, theoretical approaches and views, but he has also managed to formulate them in a way that enables strategists to implement them immediately.
After reading, it should therefore be possible to get started immediately within a framework that always emphasizes the important factors so that you don't get lost in the details, but can focus on the right things.
Who was this book written for? What is the target group? The book is aimed at all strategy makers and those who want to become one. There is no focus on specific company sizes, industries or markets.
Strategy is often only applied at the very top of corporate management. Large companies often have their own strategy departments and spend a lot of time on strategy development. The aim of this book, however, is to make this knowledge available to anyone who wants to be successful and develop a plan to achieve their goals, so that everyone is able to carry out such a strategy process.
Especially for smaller companies and SMEs, it is very exciting that the book empowers people to develop and implement strategy on their own. Everyone can understand it. This is a key factor: empowering people to do strategy themselves. However, this strongly communicated self-doing approach is not intended to discourage external advice and inspiration. Rather, it offers the advantage of learning exactly which steps to take and what happens during these steps. Having external consultants or advisors take a fresh look at your own strategy makes sense at another point. By using the StrategyFrame, you know where it makes sense to think on your own and where not. The principle of hope should be abolished in the corporate world. We have developed the StrategyFrame for those who are looking for pragmatic assistance. It is an aid and instrument, a methodology and process that also combines research topics, the latest management theory and consulting practice. It is a tool that comes from practical experience and has already been used by a wide variety of clients - from hairdressing salons to insolvency administrators and large corporations. It always works and at all levels.
The key factors for balancing rationality and creativity
A big picture is always helpful. A big picture makes it possible to step back in order to understand individual connections and to have clarity and truth. It also takes a holistic approach. The book will initially be published in German, with the English version due to appear in bookshops in early 2023. This poses the particular challenge of finding the right terminology in both languages, so that this clarity of language makes everything understandable even for the inexperienced strategists of tomorrow.
The book offers great assistance in terms of organizing workshops, scheduling and much more by providing instructions on specific procedures so that theory can be put into practice. Christian and Jürgen are currently working on a digital version.
You can pre-order the book atwww.hoffnungistkeinestrategie.degibt. You can find the link in the show notes.