MACMILLAN Solving the Strategy Delusion: Mobilizing People and Realizing Distinctive Strategies

Solving the Strategy Delusion is a comprehensive and insightful remedy for the field of strategic change, and advances the subject in original ways. Everyone working at senior levels of business and policy should read this book. This is a fresh and decisive contribution to the canon of strategy. Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide of Saatchi & Saatchi Solving the Strategy Delusion opens new windows for looking at realising strategy. It rewrites ingrained behavioural practices to fit today's extraordinary strategic challenges. Fons Trompenaars Ranked one of the top 50 Most Influential Management Thinkers in 2013 and co-author of Riding the Waves of Culture - Understanding Diversity in Global Business This remarkable book is a survival guide for business leaders who have found the ground shifting quickly beneath their feet. But more than that it's a logical path forward showing us how to realise distinctive strategies by unlocking the energy of people within the organisation. It's clever and timely. Tony Gillies Editor in Chief, Australian Associated Press Don't even think of embarking on any strategic change effort without reading this book first! It demonstrates not only why conventional planning has become irrelevant but, importantly, how to see, feel, think, and act strategically in today's fast changing environment. James Sutherland Chief Executive Officer, Cricket Australia Don't be deluded that strategic planning leads to strategic thinking. If strategic changes are to be realised then this book is a must for those who want to make that happen! Professor Philip Dewe Birkbeck, University of London Solving the Strategy Delusion hits at the very core of challenges that most organisations suffer from in the current era. Too many organisations continue to plod along with old-fashioned thinking even if the paradigms have changed dramatically around them. This pioneering book delves into the causes of such delusions which occur around the much-exploited term of strategy. The authors present a compelling in-depth, incisive, and to the point view based on their vast industry experience and decades of academic pursuit on the subject of strategy and organisational behaviour. This is a can't-put-down book and a must-read for all CEOs and executives wanting to make a real difference! Sanjay Mathur Vice President, India & ASEAN, Foseco at the Vesuvius Group Solving the Strategy Delusion is the ultimate why, what, how, who, and when of strategy realisation in the 21st century. It will inspire, energise and give you a foundation from which to make strategy truly happen. Paul Baxter Chief Executive and National Commander, New Zealand Fire Service Almost all organisations these days claim to have a 'strategy' - it would hardly be fashionable to not have one! But how many of these strategies are delusional, destroy value and organisations? Many - according to this original book from Dr Marc Stigter and Sir Cary Cooper, in which they outline cases where ingrained and delusional models of strategy were held on to, despite their shortcomings. They demonstrate how to avoid delusion and achieve strategic wisdom. Such wisdom means ditching most of the security blankets and conventions that managers and leaders still hang on to, even today, such as command and control, managing by the numbers and through stressed out workers. There are better ways and this book elaborates them! Professor Stewart Clegg University of Technology, Sydney You are about to read a book that gives a fascinating perspective on how it doesn't work and how it should in many organisations when it comes to strategic change! The examples discussed in Solving the Strategy Delusion on how people react to change or keep holding on to the status quo are very recognisable. But in today's landscape this is not sustainable. Dr Marc Stigter and Sir Cary Cooper explore how to bring new strategies to life and think beyond traditional practices and models. I highly recommend this book to all Forward Thinkers and Doers out there! Rick Denekamp Vice President, Trade & Commodity Finance, ING Bank, Netherlands Solving the Strategy Delusion is an outstanding reference for realising strategic change in today's complex environment. Zeger Degraeve Dean, Melbourne Business School Dean, Faculty of Business and Economics, The University of Melbourne Dr Marc Stigter and Sir Cary Cooper are to be congratulated for highlighting the need for a more holistic view on strategy - to use an Australian colloquialism they call a spade a bloody shovel! I commend them for that. In today's fast changing environment, we are seduced to a world of short termism without proper regard for or a focus on the future. In such a world, strategy is more often than not relegated to an annual repetition of talkfests followed by a plethora of communications of various forms without action or progress. This book challenges conventional thinking and provides invaluable and practical insights that will enabl