The CEO Playbook for Strategic Transformation

There is no CEO task more significant than leading change in an organization whose old business model needs updating. Large-scale change involves rethinking how to engage customers, partners and suppliers with new technology and hard decisions about how to reorganize internal operations—plus the challenges of executing the transformation. The stakes are high, filled with risk and reward obvious to all...and it often fails. Why? Most organizations aren't built for change—they're designed for stability, scale, and repetition. Too many things can go wrong, from natural organizational resistance and inertia, to lack of strategic focus, to execution problems. And yet, organizations today must be more dynamic than ever before. Strategy is dynamic, not static, and requires agility, nimbleness, rapid resource deployment, and organizational change.


This practical playbook helps CEOs and other key leaders reduce the risks and see through the overwhelming complexity of a major change in organizational strategy. Unlike many other books on leading change that focus narrowly on overcoming resistance, The CEO Playbook for Strategic Transformation offers a more comprehensive framework involving 4 major tasks for leaders: 1) Establish and Communicate the Urgent Need; 2) Engage Stakeholders; 3) Mobilize the Organization; and 4) Develop Organizational Agility. Leaders who guide their organizations through these stages are far more likely to succeed than those who lack a playbook. Professor Scott A. Snell shares insights based on years of experience working with organizations undergoing change. He provides a set of self-assessments, frameworks for action, and interventions to help senior leaders succeed at their most challenging and important task.