Management Archives

Good Strategy, Bad Strategy: Quotes by Richard Rumelt

Are you looking for Good Strategy, Bad Strategy quotes by Richard Rumelt? What are some of the most noteworthy passages worth revisiting? Richard Rumelt is one of the world’s foremost thinkers on strategy, having guided organizations ranging from small, entrepreneurial start-ups to large, multinational conglomerates, as well as several governments and the U.S. Department of Defense. In Good Strategy Bad Strategy, he lays out the essential components of good strategy and the faulty thinking behind bad strategy. The following Good Strategy, Bad Strategy quotes highlight his key points.

How to Recognize a Bad Strategy in Business

How does one tell a bad strategy from a good one? What are the signs that your business is operating under a misguided strategy? According to author and UCLA management professor Richard Rumelt, there are four elements that can signal a misguided strategy: 1) fluff, 2) failure to identify the challenge, 3) conflation of goals with strategy, and 4) misguided strategic objectives. The effects of bad strategy can be seen in everything from the failures of corporations to the poor performance of our educational system. Keep reading to examine four elements that can create a misguided strategy.

Take Pride in Your Work: Lessons From a Submarine

When you take pride in your work, what difference does it make for you—and your work? How can you, as a leader, help others have this attitude—and behavior—of pride? David Marquet shares leadership principles that he employed to turn around a demoralized submarine crew. He offers practical ways—such as the three-name rule—that you can take pride in your work and turn around things for your team. The key is to start with behaving proud, and thinking proud will follow. Read more to learn how taking pride in your work can lead to a change in thinking and morale.

The Ultimate Guide to Feedback in the Workplace

Do you have a feedback system at your organization? Do you feel like your employees take on the feedback provided by senior management? There’s no such thing as a perfect feedback system for any given organization. Every system will have tradeoffs. It will work well for some, be adequate for others, and be poorly suited to still others. There are some things you can do, though, to give your chosen system the best shot at success. In this article, we’ll examine these techniques through three perspectives: 1) senior leadership and HR, 2) team leaders and coaches, and 3) receivers.

Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work: Book Overview

What is the book Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work about? Why doesn’t motivation based on financial incentives work anymore? How can employers make employees feel motivated to do their best work? In the book Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work, Paul Marciano argues that engagement stems from respect and that employees don’t want to feel like a cog in a chain. That’s why Marciano suggests that managers use the RESPECT model to motivate their employees. Continue reading for an overview of Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work and the RESPECT model.

Effective Team Communication: Make It Brief & Early

What is effective team communication in the leader-leader model? How can leaders communicate without controlling? Submarine captain David Marquet found that brief and early conversations with his crew at all levels were the key to effective team communication. Ultimately these conversations saved time, prevented mistakes, and focused efforts on the right objectives. Read more to learn this method of effective team communication.

How to Develop a Business Strategy: Best Advice

Do you want to learn how to develop a business strategy? What factors should you take into account when designing a big-picture strategy for your business? According to Richard P. Rumelt, the author of Good Strategy, Bad Strategy, your business strategy must be designed in such a way so as to capitalize on the key strengths of your organization. Once you’ve identified your strengths, figure out how you can them to increase your competitive advantages. You can do this by leveraging your strengths onto one pivot point, and by pressing your advantages by increasing them, broadening their influence, or increasing

The Carrot and Stick Method: Rethinking Motivation

What is the carrot and stick method when it comes to the workplace? Why doesn’t this method work in the modern day? The carrot and stick method is when somebody hangs a carrot in front of a donkey and jabs it with a stick to get it to move. This approach is often applied in the workforce—although not with literal carrots and sticks. Author Paul Marciano asserts that trying to motivate employees with financial incentives (carrots) is not the best way to promote good work habits. Keep reading learn why Marciano thinks financial incentives are outdated.

How L. David Marquet Turned the Ship Around

What did L. David Marquet do when he first took command of a submarine? What leadership lessons did he get a chance to put into action? Today, L. David Marquet is known as a remarkable leader who turned things around for a demoralized submarine crew. He did this by putting into action the leadership lessons he learned in his early years in the Navy. The primary lesson was realizing that everyone can think and act like a leader. Read more to learn what L. David Marquet did in the first few months of his new command.

Strategic Management: Strategy Design and More

What exactly is strategic management? How do businesses develop strategies? What goes into a business strategy? In the most basic terms, strategic management involves setting objectives and devising strategies to attain them. According to Richard P. Rumelt, one of the most influential thinkers and strategic management and strategy design, a good organizational strategy must have a “kernel”—an underlying structure consisting of three components: 1) diagnosis, 2) guiding policy, and 3) action plan. Read more about the two primary truths about an organizational strategy and the kernel at the heart of any good strategy.