Playing to Win

A practical strategy framework from two people who actually used it to transform one of the world’s largest companies. A.G. Lafley, former CEO of Procter & Gamble, and Roger Martin, dean of the Rotman School of Management, distill their approach into five deceptively simple questions that force strategic clarity.

Why Start Here

If Rumelt’s book teaches you to recognize good strategy, this one gives you a repeatable process for creating it. The framework centers on five interconnected choices: What is our winning aspiration? Where will we play? How will we win? What capabilities must we have in place? What management systems are required? Each question builds on the previous ones, and the power lies in how they constrain each other.

Lafley and Martin illustrate every concept with real examples from P&G’s transformation. Under Lafley’s leadership, P&G doubled its sales, quadrupled its profits, and grew its portfolio of billion-dollar brands from 10 to 24. The examples are not hypothetical. They show real strategic choices made about Olay, Bounty, Gillette, Swiffer, and other iconic brands, including the reasoning behind each decision and what happened as a result.

The framework is accessible enough to use immediately. Many readers report applying the five questions to their own business within days of reading the book. It works at every level, from corporate strategy down to individual product decisions.

What to Expect

A focused 272-page book that is easy to read in a weekend. The writing is clear and jargon-free, with real examples grounding every concept. This is the most actionable book on this list. If you want a framework you can start using immediately, this is the one.