Felix Oberholzer-Gee: Simplifying strategy for the better

Strategy is a mystery to many of us. It’s an over-used, misunderstood term in business. Put simply, a strategy is a plan to create value. Don’t start with profit though. That’s the result of strategy. Instead, use a ‘value stick’ which provides a way of measuring the two fundamental forces that lead to value creation and increased financial success: (1) the customer’s willingness to pay; and (2) the employee’s willingness to sell their services to the business.

Companies that ‘win’, according to Felix Oberholzer-Gee, create value for customers by raising their willingness-to-pay and they provide value for talent by lowering their willingness-to-sell. He describes how to do this in this fascinating discussion, talking about the distinction between the creation and capture of value, the potential of ’near-customers’, strategy in ecosystems, the power of value-maps and the relationship between strategy and culture.

Further resources

Felix Oberholzer-Gee is the Andreas Andresen Professor of Business Administration in the Strategy Unit at Harvard Business School. He currently teaches competitive strategy in executive education programs such as the Program for Leadership Development, the Senior Executive Program for China and in a program for media executives titled Effective Strategies for Media Companies. He hosts the HBR After Hours podcast, in which he discusses and debates current events that sit at the crossroads of business and culture with fellow HBS professors Youngme Moon and Mihir Desai.

• Felix’s research.
• Felix’s book Better, Simpler Strategy.
• HBR article Eliminate Strategic Overload.
• What is Strategy? video.