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I recently finished reading Walter Keichel’s The Lords of Strategy on the recommendation of Peter Bishop. And like all Peter’s recommendations, this one didn’t disappoint. A big surprise for me is how relatively new the idea of a corporate strategy is: “fifty years ago there was no such thing as corporate strategy.” I guess I assumed (there ya go, unexamined assumptions) it had been around forever, or at least much longer than 50 years. Knowing this led to some mixed feelings about the state of foresight. On the one hand, we’re barely 50 years old as a field, and while we’re nowhere near as ingrained as strategy, there is at least a precedent for relatively new ideas to become commonplace relatively quickly (in the big scheme of things). On the other, it’s been fifty years….and we’re still not there.
Back to the book itself. The story is told through the big consulting players: Boston Consulting Group, Bain, McKinsey, and Michael Porter.
The makes a useful observation that the history of strategy can be seen as a struggle between two definitions: strategy as positioning (Porter), and strategy as organizational learning (Mintzberg). Positioning sees strategy as about where you want to compete. The learning school suggests that virtually no strategy works as originally planned, and the key is the ability to adapt and learn.The new “meme” entering the fray is strategy as centering on people (about time, one might say).
There are lots of interesting stories, and interesting insights about how strategy mainstreamed. For instance, the author notes that Porter’s Competitive Strategy did more than any book to consolidate the advances of the strategy revolution. And that BCG, the early hero, never published a book that outlined their approach.
All in all, a fun and informative reader that will have futurists pondering the evolution of our own field. Will there be “Lords of Foresight?” Andy Hines
Hello Mr Hines, Im constructing may sectorial map future for mining with Transnational Mining enterprises and I need to know about corporative strategies in developing countries. The lords like Rockefeller with Standard Oil are very interesting because its necessary a comprehension about ETNM