Something to Chew On: Making Choices vs Having Options

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What do you believe about the upside of having options?  I am loving Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works, a new book by A.G. Lafley and Roger Martin.  Here’s a great line from A.G. Lafley, former CEO of Proctor and Gamble:

“In my now forty-plus years in business, I have found that most leaders do not like to make choices.  They’d rather keep their options open.  Choices force their hands, pin them down, and generate an uncomfortable degree of personal risk.

“In effect, by thinking about options instead of choices and failing to define winning robustly, these leaders choose to play but not to win.”  A.G. Lafley, (p. 48, Playing to Win)

This has everything to do with a plated meal as opposed to a buffet.  It’s all about thinking steps, not programs.  And it’s about designing next steps that are easy, obvious and strategic.

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