A strategy delineates a territory in which a company seeks to be unique.
The best CEOs I know are teachers, and at the core of what they teach is strategy.
Strategy is about setting yourself apart from the competition. It’s not a matter of being better at what you do – it’s a matter of being different at what you do.
Competitive strategy is about being different. It means deliberately choosing a different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value.
The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.
Strategy is about making choices, trade-offs; it’s about deliberately choosing to be different.
Innovation is the central issue in economic prosperity.
The company without a strategy is willing to try anything.
There’s a fundamental distinction between strategy and operational effectiveness.
Health care historically has been a very siloed field that’s organized around medical specialties – urology, cardiac surgery, and so forth – and around the supply of these specialty services. The patient is the ping-pong ball that moves from service to service.
Ultimately, health care fails the most basic test. It’s not organized around the needs of the patient.
Without a goal analytics is aimless and worthless.
If your goal is anything but profitability – if it’s to be big, or to grow fast, or to become a technology leader – you’ll hit problems.
If a strategy meets a goal: It’s working. If a strategy meets a target: It’s a success.
A target should go with every goal. A target is the value that defines success.