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How Strategy Really Works

Most companies don’t fail due to poor execution—they fail because they never had a real strategy to begin with. In Playing to Win, A.G. Lafley, former CEO of Procter & Gamble, reveals the strategy framework he used to revive and grow one of the world’s biggest consumer brands. This isn’t about mission statements or lofty visions—it’s about making the hard choices that give you a sustainable advantage.

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Top 10 Lessons from Playing to Win

1. Strategy Is About Winning—Not Just Playing the Game

Many leaders confuse strategy with planning or survival. Lafley redefines strategy as a coordinated set of decisions designed to win in a specific market, against specific competitors.

2. A Good Strategy Starts With Two Critical Questions

The core of Lafley’s model is built on answering two foundational questions:

1. Where will we play?
2. How will we win?
   If you can’t answer both clearly, you don’t have a strategy—you have a wishlist.

3. You Can’t Be Everything to Everyone

Winning requires focus. Trying to serve every customer, in every market, dilutes your brand and your resources. Great strategy requires saying no to good opportunities so you can double down on the best ones.

4. The Right Choices Define a Great Strategy

Strategy is a cascade of interconnected choices—about customers, value propositions, capabilities, and culture. Winning comes from alignment, not just effort.

5. Your Competitive Advantage Must Be Sustainable

Temporary wins are easy. Lafley emphasizes building advantages—like brand equity, supply chain, or customer insight—that competitors can’t easily copy.

6. Customer-Centric Thinking Is Non-Negotiable

The companies that win aren’t just product-driven—they’re customer-obsessed. Strategy should begin with deep insight into what the customer needs and values, not what the business wants to sell.

7. Your Capabilities Must Match Your Strategic Choices

It’s not enough to decide where to compete. You must also have the capabilities—systems, talent, technology—to deliver on your promise. If there’s a gap, it must be closed or the strategy must be reconsidered.

8. Culture Must Reinforce Strategy at Every Level

A company’s culture is either an accelerant or a brake. Winning strategies are lived out daily in decisions, meetings, and hiring—not just in boardrooms and slide decks.

9. Assumptions Must Be Challenged and Tested

No strategy is perfect at launch. Lafley encourages leaders to stress-test assumptions, seek dissenting views, and update choices as new data emerges. Strategy is dynamic, not static.

10. Winning Requires Commitment from the Top Down

A bold strategy without execution is just theater. Lafley reminds us that strategy only works when leaders commit, align their teams, and make trade-offs visible and non-negotiable.