Winning Aspiration
Box one of the Strategy Choice Cascade: what does winning look like, for whom, against whom? The key word is winning. An aspiration to participate, serve, or improve is the posture of Playing to Play.
The key word is winning. An aspiration to participate, serve, or improve is the posture of Playing to Play. Martin requires that the aspiration name a victory condition.
But an aspiration alone is not a strategy. It is the most commonly isolated box, companies write an inspiring sentence, mount it on the wall, and change nothing. This is the core failure examined in Corporate Purpose and BHAGs Through Martins Lens: purpose that lacks Integration with the other four choices is decoration.
A useful aspiration:
- Passes The Opposite Test, a rival could sanely aim elsewhere
- Can be traced downward through Where to Play and How to Win
- Compels trade-offs, something must stop because of it
Our synthesis of Roger Martin’s published work, sources credited. Read the originals: they’re excellent.
Reading about method is not the same as running it. We install this system and build the capability that stays.
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