Playing to Win

📖 Why You Should Read It

Think your design team is "strategic"? Think again. Most design organizations are just tinkering with tactics, not playing to win. Lafley and Martin give a bulletproof framework for making the hard choices that actually matter. This isn't fluffy business theory. It's a practical playbook for design leaders who want to move beyond "we need a seat at the table" to "we own the table." Whether you're building design systems, choosing which initiatives to tackle, or figuring out how to position your team for maximum impact, this book will change how you think about strategy. Plus, the real-world P&G case studies show you exactly how world-class teams make winning choices under pressure.

👉🏻 Key Takeaways

• Strategy isn't a vision statement or a plan, it's a coordinated set of five specific choices that create competitive advantage.
• Most companies want to keep all options open, but only making and acting on clear, tough choices allows you to actually win.
• Strategy is not complex, but it is hard because it forces people and organizations to make specific choices about their future.
• The "where to play" choice is often more important than "how to win", choosing the right playing field gives you a massive advantage.
• Capabilities are the map of activities and competencies that critically underpin your specific where-to-play and how-to-win choices.
• Winning strategies are time-dependent and must evolve as competitive landscapes shift.
• Strategy is not following best practices, sameness is not strategy, it's a recipe for mediocrity.
• Asking "what would have to be true?" can change everything when evaluating strategic options.
• Building strategic thinking capability within your organization is more valuable than any single strategic decision.

💬 Favorite Quotes

"Winning should be at the heart of every strategy."

"Strategy is a coordinated and integrated set of five choices: a winning aspiration, where to play, how to win, core capabilities, and management systems."

"It is natural to want to keep options open as long as possible, rather than closing off possibilities by making explicit choices. But it is only through making and acting on choices that you can win."

"Strategy is not a plan or a set of tactics; those are only elements of strategy."

"Asking a single question can change everything: what would have to be true?"

"The important thing for an organizational leader is to build up strategic thinking capability within your organization."

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