The best strategy quotes

"Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory, tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat."

"The strategy is an economy of forces"

"... strategy is the determination of the basic long-term goals and objectives of an enterprise, and the adoption of courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary for carrying out these goals"

"A good field hockey player plays where the puck is. A great field hockey player plays where the puck is going to be."

"Competitive strategy is about being different. It means deliberately choosing a different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value."

"Creating a new business from scratch is hard, but executives of incumbents have the dual challenge of creating new businesses while simultaneously staving off never-ending attacks on existing operations, which provide vital cash flow and capabilities to invest in growth."

"Life belongs to the living, and those who live must be prepared for change."

"The strategy process is a learning process and formulation work."

"He who hunts two hares at the same time will catch neither."

"Dreams without goals are just dreams. And ultimately, they fuel disappointment. On the road you must apply discipline, but more importantly, consistency. Because without commitment you'll never start, but without consistency, you'll never finish."

"You have to do exactly what you think you can't do."

"Dual Transformation is the greatest challenge a leadership team will ever face. It is also the greatest opportunity a leadership team will encounter."

"A goal without a plan is just a wish."

"It is not our job to predict the future, but to be well prepared for it."

"Execution is everything."

"Experimentation can be defined as an iterative process of learning what does and does not work. The goal of a business experiment is actually not a product or solution; it is learning - the kind of learning about customers, markets, and possible options that will lead you to the right solution."

"Good artists copy - great artists steal."

"Don't be afraid to give up the good in order to achieve the great."

"However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results."

"I never think about the future. It comes soon enough."

"I love it when a plan works"

"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."

"The more systematically people proceed, the more effectively they are hit by chance."

"Some people have a keen eye for the weaknesses of others and a lack of vision for their own."

"Market share is a meaningless number unless a company defines the market in terms of the boundaries separating it from its rivals."

"After the game is before the game!"

"Nothing is more helpful than a challenge to bring out the best in a person."

"Only what the customer perceives makes a contribution to success."

"Only those who know where they want to sail can set sail correctly."

"Openness makes us more crisis-proof as a company, but also as a country. That's why German SMEs in particular need to think about how they can transform themselves from hidden to open champions."

"Once you understand business models you can then start prototyping business models just like you prototype products."

"Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, (...). There is no other route to success."

"Strategy is a big word. Often oversized. When it comes up in a meeting, everyone freezes to a pillar of salt and hopes for the Messiah to show the way. But you have to realize that strategy is often only the tried and tested means for the weak. Strategy is important (...) for those who can't make it with sheer performance."

"The central issue is never strategy, structure, culture, or systems. The core of the matter is always about changing the behavior of people."

"The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do."

"The key steps in dealing with a strategic challenge are a diagnosis of the situation - a comprehension of 'what's going on here,' finding the crux, and then creating reasonable action responses."

"The reason why it is so difficult for existing firms to capitalize on disruptive innovations is that their process and their business model that make them good at the existing business actually make them bad at competing for the disruption."

"The result of our incomplete knowledge of the world, or about the connection between our present actions and their future outcomes. (...) There are things we do not know, and things we do not know that we do not know. And sometimes things we do know that are just not so."

"The starting point of any strategy is a great situation analysis. (...) Intelligence precedes operations."

"Embrace the coincidence! Say yes to chaos!"

"Realization is everything. (...) There are so many people who work so hard and yet achieve so little"

"What one person cannot achieve, many can."

"We have to lay the railroad tracks first before we can make the trains run on time."

"If you have the intention to renew yourself, do it every day."

"When you're on the pitch, it's not about whether you like it or not. All that matters is playing at a high level and doing everything you can to help your team win."

"If you have visions, you should see a doctor."

"Competition is a way of separating the lazy from the hard-working."

"You pick a general direction and implement like hell."