Patterns of Strategy Paperback – 27 Feb. 2017

So, here am I, a software developer of some 30 years worth of experience writing a review of a book on management... Why? Because of the traditional communications gap between those who write code and those who direct people like me what to code. I am by training no management theorist, but over the years I have been obliged to study things like organisation design, strategy definition and so on in order to understand how my work fits into the grand scheme of things. Many of the books I have read on "management science" seem to me to concentrate on one particular aspect of organisation form and function, usually at the process level and leave strategy as something a bit abstract, murky.... Understandably so given that there is more than one way to skin the planning cat. It is important to me therefore to find books that set out styles or approaches to strategic planning and this is that rare thing, a book that discusses planning approaches, then dissects them in a way that is both easy to read in terms of writing style and coherent in the way it sets about breaking the various approaches down.There are a couple of management theory books I nearly always have close to hand, the Puritan Gift is one of them. As far as I am concerned, the reasons why this book is so useful, is set out in that book and its criticism of management training generally as it stands today. In a rapidly changing world some kind of balanced assessment of strategic approaches becomes increasingly useful, therefore this book is a nice addition to my close to hand book set... Definitely recommended for geeks who need to figure out, like me, a basis on which to join stuff up..This book is firmly in my "close to hand" set and I have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone who, for whatever reason, has a need to understand various ways of approaching business driven strategic planning. For myself, I will use it as part of the basis on which to fashion elements of my software architectural modelling as I move, albeit gradually, towards understanding and implementing code associated with "semantics" and "meaning".

I was lucky enough to see a preview copy and am quoted in the book, but I have now purchased the book and wanted to put something here. Loh and Hoverstadt have written a book that really gets to the heart of why 'strategy' works or (more often) doesn't work. It is a rich book, with a *lot* of content (really two or three books in one - a summary of the field, a proposition and elaboration of a more meaningful approach, and an entire 'playbook' to allow you to apply the approach for analysis, forecasting, and your own strategic plan.This is a demanding book but one I think those seriously interested will want to read from cover to cover. I have a very short attention span, buy business and systems thinking books by the dozen, and skim, or dip, or read key parts.This one I not only read through but also followed in detail with the workings-out. I am also a frugal small business owner, and was inspired to get myself and team trained up in the full version of this analysis, already used in anger three or four times.I think this should be the new lense through which businesses and business teachers view strategy - it's that impressive.

I bought this book several years ago. It is one of those that I keep coming back to because it makes sense at both the theoretical and practical levels. It also fits very nicely with TRIZ - which essentially is patterns of technology, or patterns of problem solving.

Wow! A refreshing look at strategy. This book is ideal both for the experienced manager and those dipping their toes into the world of strategy for the first time. The authors have an exceptional talent in making a topic that can be daunting to some, so very easy to understand. Not only that, it is an easy, practical guide to putting the concepts into practice immediately. This is a new and exciting look at strategy that will open up your thinking. I highly recommend this book to anyone forming strategy, particularly in complex situations. This is completely new and quite unlike anything you will have read before about strategy. A must read!