Today we review a book called "Strategy Rules" by Yoffie and Cusumano.
Yoffie is an Harvard Business School professor and Cusumano is an MIT professor.
They offer a new take on three giants - Bill Gates, Andy Grove and Steve Jobs by bringing them together into one how-to guide on strategy and offer a new take on these three giants of entrepreneurship and technology by bringing them together.
According to the authors, the three men differ widely in their personalities but followed the same five rules for strategy and execution.
1. Look forward, Reason back. The first rule was to look forward into the future and reason back to the actions required today. They imagined what the world could be with their vision and have made a tremendous impact on the world. All three had the ability to determine in detail what needed to happen immediately to turn vision into reality.
2. Make Big Bets, Without betting the company. Gates Grove and Jobs were all leaders but not reckless They knew how to time or diversify their big bets so that even huge strategic bets were not reversible.
3. Build platforms AND ecosystems. Another important rule, the authors write was to build platforms and ecosystems as opposed to pursuing a product strategy. This we know from our review of "The Responsible Entrepreneur" is not just game changing but self-sustaining. As an example, Gates chose not to sell his product DOS to IBM that requested it but retained the right to license the system to other companies. The rest is history.
4. Exploit leverage and power - According to the authors all three men could play judo and sumo Judo requires using the opponents strength and turn it into weaknesses. As an example, Job could successfully negotiate with the music companies for a license to their music. Apple was so tiny and even its market share was 2%, yet the music companies made the agreement to Apple. This laid the foundation of the iTunes revolution. At the same time, the three did not hesitate to use their power.
5. Shape the company around your personal anchor - Personally each had their own taste, strengths and interest - Gates the coding genius, Grove - a precise engineer, and Jobs a wizard at design. The companies they built reflected these strengths. At their peak, Microsoft, Apple and Intel were worth 1.5 trillion. And these companies are the talk of the world.
Yoffie is an Harvard Business School professor and Cusumano is an MIT professor.
They offer a new take on three giants - Bill Gates, Andy Grove and Steve Jobs by bringing them together into one how-to guide on strategy and offer a new take on these three giants of entrepreneurship and technology by bringing them together.
According to the authors, the three men differ widely in their personalities but followed the same five rules for strategy and execution.
1. Look forward, Reason back. The first rule was to look forward into the future and reason back to the actions required today. They imagined what the world could be with their vision and have made a tremendous impact on the world. All three had the ability to determine in detail what needed to happen immediately to turn vision into reality.
2. Make Big Bets, Without betting the company. Gates Grove and Jobs were all leaders but not reckless They knew how to time or diversify their big bets so that even huge strategic bets were not reversible.
3. Build platforms AND ecosystems. Another important rule, the authors write was to build platforms and ecosystems as opposed to pursuing a product strategy. This we know from our review of "The Responsible Entrepreneur" is not just game changing but self-sustaining. As an example, Gates chose not to sell his product DOS to IBM that requested it but retained the right to license the system to other companies. The rest is history.
4. Exploit leverage and power - According to the authors all three men could play judo and sumo Judo requires using the opponents strength and turn it into weaknesses. As an example, Job could successfully negotiate with the music companies for a license to their music. Apple was so tiny and even its market share was 2%, yet the music companies made the agreement to Apple. This laid the foundation of the iTunes revolution. At the same time, the three did not hesitate to use their power.
5. Shape the company around your personal anchor - Personally each had their own taste, strengths and interest - Gates the coding genius, Grove - a precise engineer, and Jobs a wizard at design. The companies they built reflected these strengths. At their peak, Microsoft, Apple and Intel were worth 1.5 trillion. And these companies are the talk of the world.
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