Playing to Win, Expanded with Bonus HBR Articles: How Strategy Really Works

The proven playbook for winning—now updated with a new preface and two bonus HBR articles.

Strategy is not complex. But it is hard. It's hard because it forces people and organizations to make specific choices about their future—something few companies do well.

In this contemporary business classic, now with a foreword by former Harvard Business Review editor in chief Adi Ignatius and insightful articles from HBR, two of today's most respected business thinkers explain what strategy is for, how to think about it, and how to get it done. And they use one of the most successful corporate turnarounds of the past century, which they achieved together, to prove their point.

A.G. Lafley, former CEO of Procter & Gamble, in close partnership with strategic adviser Roger Martin, doubled P&G's sales, quadrupled its profits, and increased its market value by more than $100 billion in just ten years. Drawing from their experiences, they explain how leaders in any organization can guide everyday actions with strategic goals built around the essential elements that determine business success—where to play and how to win.

The result is a playbook for winning. At its core is a set of five integrated and essential strategic choices:

• What is our winning aspiration? • Where will we play? • How will we win? • What capabilities must we have in place to win? • What management systems are required to support our choices?

The authors tell rich stories of iconic P&G brands, such as Olay, Bounty, Gillette, and more, to clearly illustrate how deciding on a strategic approach—and then making the right choices to support it—can make the difference between just playing the game and actually winning.

© 2025 Harvard Business Review Press (Ebook): 9798892792295

Release date

Ebook: 30 September 2025