Peter Killing

The Title Tells the Story
You can stop here.

This book’s title tells the whole story. Must-win battles (MBWs) are those three to five challenges your organization must conquer to achieve its key objectives.

For most organizations of any size, that is not much of a list. Arriving at it requires focus and prioritization. Someone’s priorities will not make the cut. If you do not, your goals will suffer from inadequate resources and attention.

To be successful, the authors, Peter Killing and Thomas Malnight, strategy professors at IMD, along with Tracey Keys, a consultant and manager with an expertise in complex strategy and organizational issues, believe strategy concepts must be combined with leadership and team building principles.

Before achieving MBW status, an objective must meet:

1. Make a difference.
2. Be market-focused.
3. Create excitement.
4. Be specific
5. Be tangible.
6. Be winnable.

Forsaking an academic approach, the authors argue MWBs must generate as much emotional energy and commitment as intellectual rigor. No two are the same. Yet each can be broken into two distinct phases: engaging the team and engaging the organization.

Phase one, engaging the team, consists of three steps:
1. An assessment of the starting conditions.
2. A definition of the battles to be fought.
3. Then, a commitment to one agenda.

Phase two, engaging the organization, motivates and marshals the organization.

1. Embed the agenda.
2. Engage the organization.
3. Maintain momentum while driving the last 10 per cent of your goal.

The authors employ case studies to illustrate their method. By establishing an MWB culture in your organization, the authors argue, you will create a sustainable competitive advantage by responding to your immediate market challenges quickly and efficiently.

By transforming the way in which your people work together, you will create a series of renewable competitive advantages in the market place.… (más)