Art of the Strategist, The: 10 Essential Principles for Leading Your Company to Victory [Abridged] [Hardcover]

William A. Cohen Ph.D. (Author), William A., PhD, Major General, USAFR, Ret. Cohen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2004

"The Art of the Strategist" shows clearly how superior strategy trumps other factors in almost every competitive arena. Renowned strategy expert William A. Cohen, whose considerable experience in the military, corporate, and academic sectors forms the basis for "The Art of the Strategist", presents the timeless lessons of: Commitment to objectives; Seizing and maintaining initiative; Economization and massing of resources; Surprise; The indirect approach; Simplicity; Multiple alternatives; Security; and Exploitation of success.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"His[Cohen's]abridged versions of famous military campaigns and battles are the book's greatest appeal". -- Cecil Johnson, syndicated columnist

Review

Cecil Johnson, syndicated columnist: "His [Cohen’s] abridged versions of famous military campaigns and battles are the book’s greatest appeal. History buffs particularly will be delighted by his interpretations."

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 17 and up
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: AMACOM; abridged edition edition (June 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081440782X
• ISBN-13: 978-0814407820
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,149,051 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William A. Cohen, Ph.D. (Pasadena, CA) is an authority on leadership and strategy formulation and deployment. He gives speeches and seminars for the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, the Air War College, the FBI Academy, all four armed services, and corporations from Boeing to The Cheesecake Factory. He is the author of many books including The New Art of the Leader, The Wisdom of the Generals , and How to Make It Big as a Consultant (978-0-8144-7073-2).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Valuable Resource for Strategic Thinking, June 7, 2004

By 

Don Blohowiak "Lead Well® Institute" (Charlottesville, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Art of the Strategist, The: 10 Essential Principles for Leading Your Company to Victory (Hardcover)

Strategy (like leadership) might well be typified in the same way Mark Twain described the weather: Everybody's talking about it, no one is doing anything about it.

While there is already a bountiful harvest of materials covering the strategy landscape, retired Air Force Major General William A. Cohen, Ph.D., has made a valuable, highly readable, and practical addition to the strategist's arsenal.

Perhaps surprisingly, General Cohen is an avid contrarian; very early in the book he rightfully takes on the silly notion of likening business to war. (A topic I also wrote about in 1996.) And he rails against the folly of trying to divine strategy from either statistical analysis or simplistic market stratification.

While there *are* fascinating accounts of military history in this general's book, they appear alongside equally well-researched tales from the contemporary business world (with some personal and historical political tales as well). The anecdotes serve to illustrate instructive strategic brilliance and stupidity, not as blueprints of strategies to imitate.

As Cohen relates early in the book, he "researched the greatest strategists and strategic thinkers of the millenia [including] strategists from both East and West over a period spanning more than 7,000 years of recorded history, in almost every country on earth...."

Well, the "almost every country on earth" part does seem to be a stretch, but beyond this hyperbole the book is well grounded in a wide variety of useful examples from many fields, places and times.

DECEPTIVE SIMPLICITY
As I remind my own clients, the critical part of strategy is to do strategic *thinking* before undertaking strategic planning. And Dr. Cohen's ten universal principles prime the strategic thinking pump.

Admittedly, a quick skimming of these principles might well elicit a ho-hum response. After all, 'Keep Things Simple' and 'Exploit Your Success' just don't scream "ground breaking." But to dismiss these principles as either obvious or old hat would be a mistake.

As with most clearly stated principles, Cohen's are easy to grasp superficially, more difficult to appreciate at a deeper level of meaning, and far more challenging to actually put into faithful practice.

Fortunately, Cohen puts substantial meat on these little bones. He offers bountiful food for thought in a book that is engaging, frank, wide ranging and highly digestible.

Read this book to gain valuable and useful against-the-norm insights into forming and applying strategy.

Don Blohowiak
author, Strategy Clarified And Simplified, available exclusively on Amazon.com (ISBN: B00008OHT1)

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Practical and clear baseline for strategic thinking, December 2, 2004

By 

Jj Pieterse "Passion, Romance and Philosophy" (Cape Town, Western Cape South Africa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Art of the Strategist, The: 10 Essential Principles for Leading Your Company to Victory (Hardcover)

William A Cohen succeeds in his declared objective of establishing ten principles for leading a company to victory. He first provides a case for why strategic thinking is needed. He then introduces the ten principles within the context of some past research and the application of the principles. Ten chapters follow with each chapter elaborating one of the principles through additional detail and examples. The books end with an argument to establish the ten principles as universal principles that can be applied in all spheres of life.

The book read with ease, is well structured and the content can be summarised without much effort. Information is presented in a way that it is easy to find information or to drill down to a specific topic. Supporting notes is at the back of the book with references within the chapters to guide the interested reader to additional information sources. The index is comprehensive and easy to use.

Each chapter is ended with a concise summary that captures the essence of the chapter. Throughout the book the author keeps to the same recipe of clarity, simplicity and supporting anecdotes. The anecdotes are primarily based on the author's insights of war scenario's, battles and business cases. The author is seems to be more acquainted with war strategies than with business strategies. The principles are easy to grasp with broad based relevancy to business strategies. Although examples are given of the application of these strategies its correct application still will have to be mastered through experience.

The content can hardly be described as revolutionary but can most definitely be commended for its clarity. It is not the equivalent of Sun Tzu's "Art of war" but it does capture key strategic elements with explicit clarity. Every strategist can use the book to create a checklist against which he can evaluate his strategies. The book effectively highlights several alternative approaches that are at the disposal of a strategist. This book might help to increase the life span of CEO's if they succeed to apply the ten principles in business.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not just for "Leading Company to Victory", June 19, 2004

By 

a different Victor "Victor" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Art of the Strategist, The: 10 Essential Principles for Leading Your Company to Victory (Hardcover)

This is a very enjoyable book. It is clear that (you pick the title) Cohen is passionate about the subject of strategy. He brings strong opinions and illustrative examples to the text. I could care less about leading any company to victory or becoming a strategy expert. I am interested in new perspectives that can broaden my view of how to get things done well - strategic thinking in this case. This book delivers to my interests. Again very enjoyable and enlightening. His passion is refreshing.