Deep Dive: The Proven Method for Building Strategy, Focusing Your Resources, and Taking Smart Action Hardcover – Illustrated, August 1, 2009

Having worked with management in different industries in various parts of the country it has become apartent to me that strategic thinking occurs significantly less than I first thought. Business leaders over the past couple of years seem to be very short term thinkers. While times were good it was easy to cover up bad decisions but now that revenues are down it is very obvious that their acumen was overestimated. I was some what surprread in Rich Horwath's book that 85% of executive leadership spends less than an hour a month discussing strategy, what are they doing the rest of the month? I believe all leaders can use further development in the strategic thinking arena to keep their skills sharp and to enhance their companies performance. Rich Horwath offers in his latest book, "Deep Dive", a plunge into waters of business creativity, and the unseen jewels that reside beneath the surface.Complacency has caused more damage in corporate America than foreign competition. New strategies and ways of thinking are how we can turn things around. During an economic downturn, when all of your instinct tells you to hold onto your business model at all costs, this is the precise moment when new strategies are needed the most. What "Deep Dive" does is to identify how to maximize the productivity of a brain storming sessions and eliminate any unnecessary risk when implementing a new strategy.Several great strategic thinking concepts and methods are introduced in "Deep Dive" and are summarized at the end of each chapter. These examples given through out the book can be utilized across any organization in any functional area. Tools such as the OODA Loop and Contextual Radar methods reveal the context in which particular ideas need to flourish. Rich drives home the fundamentals of his program, stating and restating his three central strategic points, `Acumen, Allocation, Action', which form the outline of his chapters.Rich Horwath has created a wonderful compilation of methods for businesses that make strategic thinking more clear in this complex global marketplace we live in. He provides a complete list of references given where readers can find further information on the particular methods that suit them or their company best. What "Deep Dive" provides is a sense of focus on the importance of constantly shifting the way a business rides the rough and tumble waters of our economic reality."Deep Dive" is about being objective and not just following the school of fish swimming along the surface. Leaders looking to delve down below the surface and open their eyes to see what is going on around them will be justly rewarded.

I have read various books and strategy and the thing that most impressed me about the book is the tactical advice. The book has many tools and frameworks that one can use for strategic thinking. One thing lacking though are more concrete business real life examples that the reader can relate to. The author talks about 3 fictitious companies, but having real life examples might have really nailed the concepts for me.

Dense, digestable, clear. A quick read for the depth of material. Obviously based on clarity gained from years of experience.In the advertising program where I teach, we do a strategic kind of advertising, which means that no design or word in the final advertising execution is random; it all supports the "single most important thought" or "SMIT." That SMIT is arrived at through research, but more importantly, through thinking.This book has already helped provide me with a better framework for strategy theory, so I can share with students more clearly.This is important because when you're about to navigate uncharted territory, you can't depend on experience alone. You have to create a theory of something you've never experienced. Creativity is this way, by definition. And even though innovation implies risk, good thinking and research can help us hedge our bets tremendously.The cons: Analogies could be better (they sometimes break down kind of quickly), but if you understand the material, you can come up with better ones on your own. In the end, they were still helpful in making the concepts understandable.Note: I noticed someone gave this book 3 stars. After reading the 3-star review, I can only guess that that person must have speed-read the book (only getting the main conclusions, which doesn't always help you understand what you're reading) or already understands most of the concepts. I think most of the rest of us will get a lot out of this book.

I have to read this and rate this book in my book review. I gave it a 7 out of 10, and I think it's a bit generous. It repeats a lot of concepts from other fields so it's a good book if you haven't read or taken many economics/marketing/strategic management classes. If you look for novelty, it's not the right book.

I've been a fan of this book for years. It clearly describes the difference between strategies and tactics, shows you how to write actionable strategic plans, and generally cuts through the jargon of other books. In addition to sharing it with peers at my national foundation, I also give copies to grantees who need to up their games. If you wonder what it means to be more strategic, this book will quickly answer that question. It's a quick, easy read--well worth your time.

Hold your breath and get ready to develop insight into developing strategy. Amazing, brilliant and educational. A must read and a powerful resource!

Not that deep. Read the entire ok on a flight to china so maybe I wasn't as focused and merely wanted to complete reading it quickly. It's a good reference for giving to a manager as a reminder that having a shared vision is important for effective communications.

I liked the comparison of "deep diving" like a swimmer approach to strategic thinking approach. Gives you good mental visuals while learning the process. Easy to read but stresses vital approach for everyday business thinking for improvement. I really like the focus on the action steps as many times great ideas do not materialize due to lack of action, evaluation, and revised action.