Martin Reeves: Your strategy needs a strategy

Is it possible to look ahead without stumbling over what’s in front of you? All too often companies spend precious time laying out long term strategic plans, only to discover that their maps are out of date in a month. Business strategy expert Martin Reeves offers a solution. He advocates transitioning from relying on a single “classical“ approach to strategy and moving towards a more tailored approach to strategy and execution, selecting from 5 distinct patterns of success. Martin leads The Strategy Institute, BCG’s vehicle for exploring ideas from beyond the world of business, which have implications for business strategy. Current research themes include meta-strategy, evidence-based transformation, corporate longevity and strategies of sustainability. Martin joined BCG in London in 1989 and later moved to Tokyo, where he led the Japan health care practice for eight years and was responsible for BCG’s business with Western clients. He has led strategy assignments in healthcare, consumer goods, financial services, and industrial goods in Japan, the US, and Europe. He has authored numerous articles on strategy, a book on “Adaptive Advantage” and another – “Your Strategy Needs a Strategy” – will be published by Harvard Business Press in Spring 2015. About the TED Institute: We know that innovative ideas and fresh approaches to challenging problems can be discovered inside visionary companies around the world. The TED Institute helps surface and share these insights. Every year, TED works with a group of select brands to identify internal ideators, inventors, connectors, and creators. Drawing on the same rigorous regimen that has prepared speakers for the TED main stage, TED Institute works closely with each partner, overseeing curation and providing intensive one-on-one talk development to sharpen and fine tune ideas. Learn more at Follow TED Institute on Twitter @TEDPartners Follow more business thinking worth sharing from TED at