
The Crux
How Leaders Become Strategists
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Narrated by:
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Richard P. Rumelt
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Charles Constant
About this listen
The paradigm-busting theory for doing strategy.
What passes for strategy in too many businesses, government agencies, and military operations is a toxic mix of wishful thinking and a jumble of incoherent policies. Richard P. Rumelt’s breakthrough concept is that leaders become effective strategists when they focus on challenges rather than goals, pinpointing the crux of their pivotal challenge—the aspect that is both surmountable and promises the greatest progress—and taking decisive, coherent action to overcome it.
Rumelt defines the essence of the strategist’s skill with vivid storytelling, from how Elon Musk found the crux that propelled the success of SpaceX to how the American military came to grips with the weaknesses of its battle strategy. Musk’s core challenge, for example, was rocket reusability. His intense focus on the soft landing of SpaceX’s rockets enabled them to be used again—radically reducing the cost of putting a pound in orbit. Musk’s strategy was not based on how value is created or how to position SpaceX in its industry. It was a design foraction, the mental maneuver that focuses energy on what really made a difference through understanding the crux and creating an effective response that led to breakthrough.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2022 Richard P. Rumelt (P)2022 PublicAffairsListeners also enjoyed...
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In this audiobook, you'll learn a structured and sustainable approach to continuous discovery that will help you answer each of these questions, giving you the confidence to act while also preparing you to be wrong. You'll learn to balance action with doubt so that you can get started without being blindsided by what you don't get right. If you want to discover products that customers love—that also deliver business results—this audiobook is for you.
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The title is confusing. Great content inside.
- By Ken Wells on 09-25-22
By: Teresa Torres
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Strategy
- A History
- By: Lawrence Freedman
- Narrated by: Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 32 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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In Strategy: A History, Sir Lawrence Freedman, one of the world's leading authorities on war and international politics, captures the vast history of strategic thinking, in a consistently engaging and insightful account of how strategy came to pervade every aspect of our lives.
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Comprehensive 'Tour de Force' on Strategy
- By Logical Paradox on 07-20-14
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Competitive Strategy
- What Is Strategy
- By: Michael Porter
- Narrated by: Deaver Brown
- Length: 1 hr and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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This audiobook was created based on Michael Porter's landmark book Competitive Strategy. This was Mr. Porter's synopsis of his book for the Harvard Business Review.
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Tough to listen to this one
- By Rick on 01-26-12
By: Michael Porter
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How Big Things Get Done
- The Surprising Factors That Determine the Fate of Every Project, from Home Renovations to Space Exploration and Everything in Between
- By: Bent Flyvbjerg, Dan Gardner
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Nothing is more inspiring than a big vision that becomes a triumphant, new reality. Think of how the Empire State Building went from a sketch to the jewel of New York's skyline in twenty-one months, or how Apple’s iPod went from a project with a single employee to a product launch in eleven months.
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Great on Project Mgmt But Uninformed on Renewables
- By Richard Redano on 03-09-23
By: Bent Flyvbjerg, and others
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Competing Against Luck
- The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice
- By: Clayton M. Christensen, Taddy Hall
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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The foremost authority on innovation and growth presents a path-breaking book every company needs to transform innovation from a game of chance to one in which they develop products and services customers not only want to buy but are willing to pay premium prices for. How do companies know how to grow? How can they create products that they are sure customers want to buy? Can innovation be more than a game of hit and miss? Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen has the answer.
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Understood from the first 5 min, the test was unnecessary
- By Julie on 11-02-18
By: Clayton M. Christensen, and others
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Attention Factory
- The Story of TikTok and China's ByteDance
- By: Matthew Brennan
- Narrated by: Maxwell Zener
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2012, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance was just a handful of geeks working out of a scrappy four-bedroom apartment in Beijing. Today, it is the world’s fastest-growing tech behemoth worth in excess of $100 billion, unrecognizable from its humble beginnings.
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Fascinating
- By Saul Lustgarten on 10-30-24
By: Matthew Brennan
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The Cold Start Problem
- How to Start and Scale Network Effects
- By: Andrew Chen
- Narrated by: Andrew Chen
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Although software has become easier to build, launching and scaling new products and services remains difficult. Start-ups face daunting challenges entering the technology ecosystem, including stiff competition, copycats, and ineffective marketing channels. Teams launching new products must consider the advantages of “the network effect”, where a product or service’s value increases as more users engage with it. Apple, Google, Microsoft, and other tech giants utilize network effects, and most tech products incorporate them.
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Great high level summary. More unique insights wanted.
- By Roman on 12-09-21
By: Andrew Chen
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The War Below
- Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives
- By: Ernest Scheyder
- Narrated by: Matt Godfrey
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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The War Below reveals the explosive brawl among industry titans, conservationists, community groups, policymakers, and many others over whether the habitats of rare plants, sensitive ecosystems, Indigenous holy sites, and other places should be dug up for their riches.
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Misses its chance at greatness
- By B L on 09-16-24
By: Ernest Scheyder
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A CEO Only Does Three Things
- Finding Your Focus in the C-Suite
- By: Trey Taylor
- Narrated by: Trey Taylor
- Length: 4 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Whether you’re a new CEO trying to navigate chaotic workdays or a veteran of the C-Suite trying to reignite your passion, focus is your most important asset. Many owners and CEOs think they have to be involved in every aspect of their business. They spend valuable brainpower on low-priority decisions. Before long, they’re overworked and burned out.
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Reading this with my boss
- By Taniesha Whorton on 12-06-22
By: Trey Taylor
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The Six Disciplines of Strategic Thinking
- Leading Your Organization into the Future
- By: Michael D. Watkins
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 4 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Michael D. Watkins, an expert on leadership transitions and organizational success, returns to the page with a new how-to guide for the modern leader. Here, he presents the six disciplines that separate the great from the good. Developed over the course of his storied career, Watkins’ approach to strategic thinking—"a set of mental disciplines leaders use to recognize potential threats and opportunities, establish priorities, and mobilize themselves and their organizations to envision and enact promising paths forward”.
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Clear concepts
- By Armando Ascencio on 01-05-25
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Blue Ocean Strategy, Expanded Edition
- How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant
- By: W. Chan Kim, Renee Mauborgne
- Narrated by: Roger Wayne
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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In this perennial best seller, embraced by organizations and industries worldwide, globally preeminent management thinkers W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne challenge everything you thought you knew about the requirements for strategic success. Recognized as one of the most iconic and impactful strategy books ever written, Blue Ocean Strategy, now updated with fresh content from the authors, argues that cutthroat competition results in nothing but a bloody red ocean of rivals fighting over a shrinking profit pool.
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Profoundly Insightful
- By James on 10-29-20
By: W. Chan Kim, and others
What listeners say about The Crux
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- Amazon Customer
- 01-03-23
Another great book from this Author
Read good strategy bad strategy then this and you will build a stronger plan for your business.
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- Brad
- 05-29-22
Excellent
I confess that I consider Author’s first book, “Good Strategy, Bad Strategy” to be one of the best business books - period. So I was thrilled for this new work. It does not disappoint but builds on his core beliefs on what is strategy and how it is different than goals, mission statements, objectives and most corporate double speak. Essential reading for corporate leaders.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 01-19-25
Highly Recommend
This is a MUST read for anyone who is interested in strategy, entrepreneurship or running a company large or small, public or private. Filled with practical advice you will be equiped to apply concepts immediately to your own situation.
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- JGinter
- 09-28-22
Rumelt is the best
I couldn’t wait to read this when I saw Richard Rumelt had come out with a new book. It is just as good as I hoped and I’m ready to start my second listen through. I have gone through good strategy bad strategy many times and yet this is still very valuable.
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- WY
- 01-08-23
A logical approach to strategy that I can follow
If you like to think independently and logically, you will like this book. Author provides a solid framework on how to evaluate and select a strategy that will work for your situation.
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- Sean O. Scott
- 12-08-22
Another must read from Rumelt for those trying to understand what real strategy is
Rumelt’s use of easily understandable examples to illustrates the dos and fonts of strategy was genius. He not only covers what are good and bad examples of strategy. And towards the end of the book provides a great guide on setting up strategy workshops he calls foundries
Great book for folks looking to not only understand good and bad strategy through examples but the process through which a good strategy can be born
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- Anonymous User
- 06-17-23
A great read but a poor listen
Unless the choosing of this narrator was a strategy of increasing the sales of the hard copy of the book, switching from an amazing Sean Runnette that narrated Good Strategy / Bad Strategy was a blunder.
The focus from the content gets constantly shifted to gulping individual words that the narrator likes to emphasize over and over. There is a lack of flow, tone variations, emphasis on the key words and points, the whole package. It is really a pity, but the edition is on a border of unlistenable. I find myself lost in the point as I get constantly distracted by the narration and often need to rewind to get the grasp of it again.
Of course, this may come down to the individual taste, but if you compare the two releases, The Crux and Good Strategy / Bad Strategy, it is as clear as a day. Again, a real pity.
But, it does motivate me to buy a hard copy, the author and his content is that good. So if this was the idea, great job!
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- Cliente Amazon
- 11-19-22
Business strategy
For me this is a really important book for business leaders. Strategy concepts for the competitive market.
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- Troy Thompson
- 11-16-23
A must listen for strategic thinkers in a short-sighted environment
Contrary to the status-quo of the epoch I write this review in - long term strategic analysis is in demand and this book is a great foundation filled with case studies and analysis to provide guidance to seasoned strategists and newly interested parties.
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- Javon Solomon
- 01-09-24
Great book
The book was a great listen, and continuation of “Good strategy, bad strategy” I recommend listening to
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