Best Books on Strategy (and the Podcast Episodes to Hear First)
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Most of what companies call strategy isn’t strategy. It’s a goal with a slide deck attached. “Grow revenue 20% and become the customer’s first choice” is a wish, and the best book on this list will make you a little embarrassed about every strategy offsite you’ve ever sat through.
I’ve kept this to six. Two teach you what strategy actually is, two are about competitive advantage, and two are about where new markets come from. Each has a podcast episode where the author (or someone very close to the work) explains it, and a couple of those episodes are honestly as good as the books.
Quick Glance
| Book | Best for | Podcast pairing |
|---|---|---|
| Good Strategy Bad Strategy (Richard Rumelt) | Learning what strategy really is | Lenny’s Podcast with Richard Rumelt |
| Playing to Win (A.G. Lafley and Roger Martin) | Making concrete strategic choices | Lenny’s Podcast with Roger Martin |
| 7 Powers (Hamilton Helmer) | Understanding durable competitive advantage | Acquired: 7 Powers with Hamilton Helmer |
| Competitive Strategy (Michael Porter) | Industry analysis and the five forces | Knowledge at Wharton with Michael Porter |
| The Innovator’s Dilemma (Clayton Christensen) | Why good companies get disrupted | The Disruptive Voice #104 |
| Blue Ocean Strategy (Kim and Mauborgne) | Creating uncontested markets | Coaching for Leaders #641 with Renée Mauborgne |
1. Good Strategy Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt
Pair it with: Lenny’s Podcast, “Good Strategy, Bad Strategy” with Richard Rumelt. Listen to the episode
If you only read one strategy book, read this one. Rumelt’s “kernel” of strategy has three parts: a diagnosis of what’s actually going on, a guiding policy for dealing with it, and a set of coherent actions. That’s it. Anything missing one of those isn’t a strategy.
The chapters on bad strategy are the fun part. Fluff, failure to face the challenge, goals mistaken for strategy. You’ll recognize your company in at least one of them, and probably your last quarterly plan.
Read it if: you write, approve, or have to execute strategy.
Skip it if: you want a quick framework to fill in. Rumelt makes you think, and that takes longer.
Why this episode: It’s almost two hours, and Rumelt’s in great form. He walks through real examples of good and bad strategy, and Lenny asks the questions a product or startup person would ask.
2. Playing to Win by A.G. Lafley and Roger Martin
Pair it with: Lenny’s Podcast with Roger Martin on the five strategy questions. Listen to the episode
Lafley ran Procter & Gamble and Martin was his strategy advisor, and this book is how they did it. Strategy comes down to five linked choices: your winning aspiration, where to play, how to win, what capabilities you need, and what management systems support it.
It’s the most usable book here. Rumelt tells you what strategy is. Martin gives you a worksheet for making one. Read them together.
Read it if: you need to actually build a strategy, not just understand one.
Skip it if: you work at a tiny company. The P&G examples can feel very big-company.
Why this episode: Martin’s extremely direct here, and he gives tactical advice on running a strategy process that goes beyond the book.
3. 7 Powers by Hamilton Helmer
Pair it with: Acquired: 7 Powers with Hamilton Helmer. Listen to the episode
Helmer asks a simple question: what lets a company keep earning great returns when competitors are trying hard to take them away? His answer is seven sources of power (scale economies, network effects, counter-positioning, switching costs, branding, cornered resource, process power).
It’s dense and a little academic, but it’s become the shared vocabulary of tech investors. Once you know the seven powers, you’ll start sorting every company you hear about.
Read it if: you invest, or you want to know whether your company’s advantage will last.
Skip it if: you’re looking for an easy read. It’s short but demanding.
Why this episode: The Acquired hosts have referenced 7 Powers in nearly every episode for years, so hearing Helmer explain it to them directly is a treat.
4. Competitive Strategy by Michael Porter
Pair it with: Knowledge at Wharton: Michael Porter on why good managers set bad strategies. Listen to the episode
The five forces. Generic strategies. The idea that operational efficiency isn’t strategy. Porter defined the field, and this is the book that did it.
I’ll be honest: it’s a slog. It’s written for MBA students and it reads like it. If you want Porter’s ideas without the pain, Joan Magretta’s Understanding Michael Porter is a great shortcut. But every strategy book on this list is arguing with Porter in some way, so you should know the original.
Read it if: you want the foundations, or you’re studying strategy formally.
Skip it if: you want something you’ll finish. Try Magretta’s summary instead.
Why this episode: Porter’s clearer out loud than on the page, and his warning about chasing shareholder value instead of a unique position still lands.
5. The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen
Pair it with: The Disruptive Voice #104, The Innovator’s Dilemma with Matt Christensen. Listen to the episode
The original disruption book, and the most misquoted. Christensen showed that well-run companies fail precisely because they do the right things: listen to their best customers, chase higher margins, ignore small, low-end markets. Then a cheaper, simpler competitor comes up from below and eats them.
The disk-drive case studies are dry. The idea is anything but. Read it and you’ll stop calling every new app “disruptive.”
Read it if: you work at an established company with a comfortable core business.
Skip it if: you’re hoping for a how-to. It diagnoses the problem better than it solves it.
Why this episode: Christensen’s son Matt walks through the book from Harvard Business School’s own podcast, which makes it about as close to the source as you can get.
6. Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne
Pair it with: Coaching for Leaders #641 with Renée Mauborgne. Listen to the episode
Stop fighting competitors in a crowded “red ocean” and create a market where competition doesn’t matter yet. Cirque du Soleil, the Nintendo Wii, and plenty of less famous examples show how.
The strategy canvas and the “eliminate, reduce, raise, create” grid are genuinely useful workshop tools. Critics say the examples are cherry-picked, and they’re not wrong. Use it as a creativity tool rather than a law of business.
Read it if: you’re stuck competing on price and features.
Skip it if: you want rigorous evidence. Sharp or Helmer will serve you better.
Why this episode: Mauborgne talks about the newer “nondisruptive creation” idea too, which is a nice extension of blue ocean thinking.
The Reading Order I’d Actually Use
Rumelt first. Always. Then Playing to Win, so you have something to do with what Rumelt taught you.
After that, it depends on your job. Investors and tech folks should go to 7 Powers. If you’re at a big incumbent, The Innovator’s Dilemma is the book that’ll keep you up at night (usefully). Porter’s for the completists, and Blue Ocean is great for the next time your team needs a workshop that isn’t miserable.
FAQ
What is the best strategy book for beginners?
Good Strategy Bad Strategy. It’s readable, it’s full of examples, and it gives you a clear test for whether something is a strategy at all.
Is Michael Porter still relevant?
Yes. Industries have changed, but the five forces still explain why some markets are profitable and others aren’t. Plenty of modern frameworks are Porter with new labels.
Should I read Good Strategy Bad Strategy or Playing to Win first?
Rumelt first, for the thinking. Then Martin and Lafley, for the process.
What is 7 Powers about?
The seven sources of lasting competitive advantage, and how companies build and keep them. It’s especially popular with tech investors.
