Why 'Play to Win' Doesn’t Work Without This

The Strategic Choice Structuring Process That Turns Good Thinking Into Great Outcomes

🔑 The Big Idea:

Most companies think they have a strategy.
What they really have is a PowerPoint.

You’ve seen it: Bullet-point answers that feel... safe. Polished. Predictable.

But great strategy isn’t about filling in blanks.
It’s about making the hard choices that unlock real action.

That’s where the Strategic Choice Structuring Process comes in — a practical method to transform strategic guessing into strategic doing.

🧭 The Backstory:

The “Play to Win” strategy framework by Lafley & Roger Martin is gold — it’s stood the test of time. But the problem? Most teams skip the work and go straight to the framework.

They answer the questions without confronting the logic behind them:

• What’s really blocking us?

• What behaviors must change?

• What would have to be true to win?

Strategy without structure is like trying to build a bridge by just drawing it — no materials, no engineering, no foundation.

💥 The Fix: Strategic Choice Structuring

It’s a 9-step process designed to do three things:

1. Expose the real challenge.

2. Explore multiple ways to solve it.

3. Test your way into confidence.

Here’s the breakdown:

1. Situational Assessment

What’s happening now?
What choices are we already making — even unintentionally?

2. What Better Looks Like

Don’t ask for perfection. Ask: what would better look like for our customers, employees, and stakeholders?

3. Define the Core Challenge

Which actions matter most — and what’s standing in the way?

4. Generate Options

Use “How Might We” to explore multiple paths. Don’t rush to “the one” — explore the many.

5. Build Strategy Scenarios

Flesh out full cascades: Where to Play, How to Win, Capabilities, Systems. Create integrated options.

6. What Would Have to Be True?

For each scenario to work, what assumptions must hold? Don’t judge them yet — just name them.

7. Identify Barriers

Which assumptions are iffy? What’s in the way? These are your Barriers to Choice.

8. Test & Refine

Run low-cost tests. Build prototypes. Gather signal. You’re not guessing — you’re learning.

9. Make the Choice (and Activate It)

Choose the best path. Define triggers that could change it. Then commit to actions, behaviors, and alignment.

🧠 Why This Works:

Roger Martin’s core idea is this: different choices lead to different outcomes.

But let’s go further:

Only enacted choices change reality.

A strategy that doesn’t lead to action isn’t a strategy — it’s theater.

Strategic Choice Structuring helps teams move beyond planning into strategic activation — where choices cascade into behaviors, behaviors drive results, and results build momentum.

🚀 Try This:

In your next strategy session, ban the question “What’s our strategy?”

Instead, ask:

• What is the behavior we need to elicit from our customers?

• What’s blocking that behavior today?

• How might we make that behavior happen?

• What would have to be true for that to work?

You’ll be amazed how fast the conversation goes from fuzzy to focused.

🎁 Bonus Tool:

🧩 Want a one-pager version of the Strategic Choice Structuring flow?
Reply “structure” and I’ll send it your way. Print it, share it, use it.

🧨 One Last Thought:

If your strategy doesn't change anyone’s behavior — it’s not a strategy.
It’s a story you tell yourself while the status quo stays in charge.

Make the choices that make change happen.

Stay lucky,
— Alex