The Art of What Works: How Success Really Happens

If you don't have time for a short course in strategy, here's a good guide for separating facts from fads. Duggan is a visiting professor at Columbia Business School and the author of Napoleon's Glance: The Secret of Strategy. He discusses a variety of popular techniques or "arrows in the quiver" as he calls them, from SWOT analysis to reengineering to game theory to Wei Wu Wei (which means, in essence, to expect the unexpected), with a little Napoleon and Schumpeter tossed in. "Successful strategy starts with what works," the author writes, and what works for your unique environment may need to be a creative blend of old and new strategies in addition to the benefits of extensive homework.