Book Review of Your Strategy Needs a Strategy: How to Choose and Execute the Right Approach Essay

In Chapter 8, Leaders need to Be the Animator by knowing about the eight roles that they have to play. These roles are Diagnostician, Segmenter, Disrupter, Team Coach, Salesperson, Inquisitor, Antenna and Accelerator. Each of these roles are important for leaders as companies cannot survive on just one strategy continuously. As Diagnostician, leaders have to diagnose the predictability, malleability and harshness of the environment in order to understand what strategy would work best under different environments. As Segmenter, leaders have to arrange the structure of the company to maintain the balance of precision and complexity. As Disrupter, it is the leaders' job to change strategy when necessary, so that the changes reflect the needs of the changing environment. As Team Coach, leaders must be able to appoint the right person for the right job suitable to their capabilities, and be able to manage and help them to understand the strategy used. As Salesperson, leaders must be able to interest employees and potential investors by advocating the strategic choices coherently. As Inquisitor, it is the leaders' role to ask probing questions, not dictating answers, to motivate critical thinking. As Antenna, leaders have to constantly look outward for changes in the business environment, acting as signal amplifiers for units to be on the same wavelength as the change around them. And finally, as Accelerator, leaders have to put their foot down in getting faster results from changed strategy.
The Epilogue brings readers back to the strategy palette, stressing its importance in strategy implementation. The authors suggest four practical ways of mastering the strategy palette and making it work, firstly being to understand the strategy palette. Reading up on the references given in Appendix B will give further understanding of how the strategy palette works. Secondly, practicing its appliance on not just work but also non-work situations. Thirdly, get more experience in different types of business where differing strategies will allow for more challenge and ensure career growth. And lastly, practice the skill of shaping the context for others, as this build up leadership characteristics and communication as well as understanding management.
Appendix A contains a self-assessment for leaders to assess the suitability of the environment with the strategy approach and the strategic practices done for the company. Appendix B is the references for each chapters that the authors have used for further reading.
Appendix C contains the Multi-Armed Bandit (MAB) Simulation Model, a model used to calculate the economics of decisions done in ambiguity. It is named after a well-known problem in decision theory that is synonymous with slot machine gamble. The question is that, a gambler faced with several slot machines has to choose which one to play, and once he has chosen, he will have knowledge of payouts of one machine but not the others, therefore being forced to choose between partial knowns and unknowns. The similarity between this simulation and the strategy palette is that one strategy gives out a different payout compared to the other strategy, and so on.