Seven Strategy Questions: A Simple Approach for Better Execution - Hardcover

"While leaders cannot always have the right answers, they must know how to ask the right questions to drive strategy. Simons captures the power of this leadership approach in a highly inspiring and engaging way. It is essential reading for experienced managers as well as for everyone new to a leadership role." Kasper Rorsted, CEO, Henkel Germany "Simons's book is a concise reminder of the critical questions that successful CEOs must constantly ask themselves in a rapidly changing world." John Rowe, Chairman and CEO, Exelon Corporation "Seven Strategy Questions recognizes that every business creates value for customers differently, and sets out a useful framework for challenging strategic assumptions and gaining focus. The book provides invaluable insight for any business leader." Ron Williams, Chairman and CEO, Aetna Inc. "I highly recommend this book as a must-read for CEOs and other senior executives. Simons has distilled the essence of competing and winning in the marketplace down to seven hard-hitting, high-impact questions that all of us should have in mind as we manage in the unpredictable and much-less-forgiving 'new normal.'" Nils Andersen, Group CEO of A.P. Moller-Maersk "Simons provides a remarkably insightful path to clarity in defining and executing strategy, guiding us away from distractions and worse. Though closing with a question about what keeps you up at night, this book will help you sleep better." Arne M. Sorenson, President and COO, Marriott International

To stay ahead of the pack, you must translate your organization's competitive strategy into the day-to-day actions carried out in your company. That means channeling resources into the right efforts, achieving the right balance between innovation and control, and getting everyone pulling in the same direction. How to keep all this on track?

Identify critical gaps in your strategy execution processes, focus on the most important choices you must make, and understand what's at stake in each one. In this concise guide, Harvard Business School professor Robert Simons presents the seven key questions you and your team must continually ask, beginning now.

These questions including Who is our primary customer? What critical performance variables are we tracking? and What strategic uncertainties are keeping us awake at night? force you to reexamine the emerging data and unspoken assumptions underlying your strategy and how it's implemented through your business processes and structures. Simons's extensive examples then help you understand your options and position you to make the tough choices needed to excel at execution.

Drawing on decades of research into performance management systems and organization design, Seven Strategy Questions is a no-nonsense, must-read resource for all leaders in your organization.