The very mention of the word strategy brings with it connotations of planning and images of executives sitting around large tables at off-site meeting facilities. These executives pour over data regarding what products are profitable and unprofitable. Finally, they emerge from their off-site cave with a step-by-step guide for the rest of the hierarchy to implement. This view of strategy is commonly held, but represents a very narrow perspective on what it means to be strategic. In reality, there are numerous schools of thought surrounding strategy, each one with an infinite number of perspectives on how to implement the ideas of that school. There are ten main schools of strategy as first outlined by Henry Mintzberg, Joseph Lampel and Bruce Ahlstrand. The Portable Guide to Strategy is a summary of each school and the key thought leaders to seek out for a more in-depth perspective.
