What Is Strategy? It’s a Lot Simpler Than You Think

To many people, strategy is a total mystery. But it’s really not complicated, says Harvard Business School’s Felix Oberholzer-Gee, author of "Better, Simpler Strategy". 00:00 To many people, strategy is a mystery.00:25 Strategy does not start with a focus on profit.00:52 It's about creating value.01:00 There's a simple tool to help visualize the value you create: the value stick.01:30 What is willingness-to-pay?02:30 What is willingness-to-sell?03:14 Remind me: Where does profit come in again?03:48 How do I raise willingness-to-pay?05:00 And how do I lower willingness-to-sell?06:18 Real world example: Best Buy's dramatic turnaround Companies should simplify and focus on two value drivers, he argues: customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction. By aligning strategic initiatives on these alone, leaders make their workers’ jobs less complicated and improve customer experiences. Oberholzer-Gee is the author of the Harvard Business Review article “Eliminate Strategic Overload” (https://hbr.org/2021/05/eliminate-strategic-overload) as well as the book “Better, Simpler Strategy: A Value-Based Guide to Exceptional Performance” (https://www.amazon.com/Better-Simpler-Strategy-Value-Based-Exceptional/dp/1633699692/).Produced and edited by Scott LaPierreVideo by Dave Di Iulio and Elie HoneinAnimation by Alex BelserFollow Harvard Business Review:https://hbr.org/https://www.linkedin.com/company/harvard-business-review/https://www.facebook.com/HBR/https://twitter.com/HarvardBizhttps://www.instagram.com/harvard_business_reviewSign up for Newsletters: https://hbr.org/email-newsletters#HarvardBusinessReview #Strategy #WhatIsStrategyCopyright © 2022 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved.