The Attacker's Advantage

December 15, 2014
How can business leaders weather the consumer market’s constantly changing climate? Charan, business advisor and author of the best-selling Execution, instructs readers on the necessity of going on the offensive, particularly stressing the “perceptual acuity” needed to detect the next radical change before competitors do. Carefully outlined chapters make the case that companies must break free of internal constraints and acquire new expertise as appropriate, even at the cost of severing ties to past money makers. Drawing on 35 years’ worth of experience guiding top executives, Charan provides numerous concrete examples of companies, both within and outside the U.S., that have either succeeded or floundered under pressure. He also has firsthand knowledge, stemming from his business trips to his native India and to “emerging markets” elsewhere, of how quickly the ground can shift beneath a business leader’s feet in an economically developing nation. In light of this, he advocates embracing times of uncertainty, writing that only thus can a company create something “new and immensely valuable.” Each chapter concludes with a checklist of questions that succinctly summarize talking points and invite introspection, making this manual an invaluable resource for anyone navigating the market’s ever-changing but always taxing demands.