New Book Review: Rethinking Strategy
New book review for Rethinking Strategy, by Steve Tighe, Wiley, 2019:
Copy provided by author Steve Tighe.
The author mentions in his introduction that he feels this is the book he needed to read on his first day as foresight manager at Foster's. "As I sat at my desk on the first day in my new role I still clearly remember the feeling of being overwhelmed by the complexity of the task. Indeed, the one clear thought I had at the time was where do I start? The future appeared to me a vast, uncertain and unknowable black hole, seemingly awash with infinite possibilities. What was important? What was insignificant? And how would I know the difference? These were the questions running through my mind as I sat paralyzed at my desk surrounded by colleagues purposefully going about their roles.
"The difference, of course, was that my workmates fulfilled roles where the patterns of expectation and performance were well established. I, on the other hand, had seemingly stepped into the unknown. Such a role had not previously existed at Foster's, and corporate foresight managers were hardly prominent, so useful reference points were somewhat limited. What I needed at the time, and what every organisation needs today, is a framework for anticipating and preparing for future change. Something to help make sense of the patterns in the chaos." This book "aims to restore the loss of organizational agency by providing an innovative process for strategy development that is purpose-built for today's volatility and uncertainty."