In today's volatile marketplace, it's tough to feel confident that your business strategy is up-to-the-minute and cutting-edge.

Here's one way to put it to the test. Writing at the McKinsey Quarterly, Chris Bradley, Martin Hirt, and Sven Smit offer a set of 10 tests designed to get you and your team strategizing at the top of your form.

"Ultimately, strategy is a way of thinking, not a procedural exercise or a set of frameworks," the authors explain. So to stimulate your thinking, they focus on testing the strategy itself.

Intrigued? Here's what the first three tests will ask you:

Will your strategy beat the market? Are you happy to stay the course and compete, or are you uniquely positioned to exploit a true competitive advantage? "Good strategies emphasize difference—versus your direct competitors, versus potential substitutes, and versus potential entrants," the authors note.

→ end article preview
Read the Full Article