About Strategy: “Understanding Michael Porter” by Joan Magretta, Day 1.

I am reading the book “Understanding Michael Porter” by Joan Magretta. Over the next weeks I will post my personal highlights.

I am reading the book “Understanding Michael Porter” by Joan Magretta. Porter is all about strategy. He is the most cited scholar in economics and business and his ideas are widely used in business and governmental affairs. Howard Wenger, President of the US solar company Nextracker, recommended Porter to me during a podcast recording for The Solar Journey. I got quickly intrigued by the way Porter understands strategy. He wants to give a framework that is so general but also specific and applicable at the same time that it is more science than art. That’s what got me, being a scientist by training myself.

I just committed myself to post here my key findings as I progress reading the book. Why? A) It’s easy to read a book, but hard to really understand. Writing about it forces me to really understand. B) You, the reader, might find value in the work and my journey in Porter’s world.

DAY 1

The first passage I underlined in the book: “The essence of strategy is choosing what NOT to do.” Interesting and intuitively correct, but hard to put into practice. I myself tend to do too many things, ask my former colleagues about it…

The author's (Joan Magretta) own work also sounds interesting: “What Management Is: How It Works and Why It’s Everyone’s Business”.