Asking great strategy questions

Asking Great Strategy Questions is a strategy-focused article by my friend and co-author Roger Martin that I highly recommend reading.

Often, the key to getting to a winning business strategy is asking the right questions.

In a recent article, Roger Martin shares three simple but powerful questions he and I have found helpful when evaluating business strategies for companies, nonprofits and social organizations of all kinds.

First, we ask simple questions of logic. Do the choices make logical sense for your industry, your customer and your company in the context of current and future competition? Logical questions lead to logical answers.

Second, we ask about fit. Are the choices you’re making coordinated and integrated? Do they begin with the heart of strategy? Do they answer the questions of where to play and how to win? Do they include must-have capabilities, enabling management systems and your overall winning aspiration?

Third, and most importantly, how distinctive, unique and different are your choices?  Are you creating a new blue ocean? A new industry, category or segment within a category?  Are you choosing to create a different and better activity system of must-have core capabilities and enabling systems?

In order to effectively develop or evaluate a business strategy, it is imperative that you think about these types of questions.

Learn more by reading Roger’s insightful discussion of three simple but important questions to ask about your business strategy.