Critical to the success of every organization, strategy is not a long planning exercise or document. Strategy can be simple, fun and effective and is founded on a set of five interrelated and powerful choices that positions an organization to win.
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Integrative thinking is a form of reasoning which allows you to constructively face the tensions of opposing models. Instead of choosing one at the expense of the other, you generate a creative solution. Your solution contains elements of the individual models, but is superior to each.
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Organizations need to incorporate the best of design thinking into their ways of working to unleash innovation and creativity. An organization will be able to counter-balance analytical thinking with intuitive thinking – to enable it to both exploit existing knowledge and create new knowledge.
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While prevailing theory holds that stock-based compensation perfectly aligns corporate executives’ incentives with those of shareholders, it does the opposite. As a consequence, executives have done brilliantly while shareholders have become increasingly frustrated. Incentives and governance practice needs to be transformed to enable corporations to prosper in a way that better serves society.
More on Incentives & Governance
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The combination of the stagnation of medium incomes and the rapid rise of high incomes is threatening the future of democratic capitalism. Its predictive future requires building a more robust knowledge, transactional and physical infrastructure for broadly shared prosperity.
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For both social entrepreneurs and corporations, the key tenet of social innovation is finding ways to make the world a better place. My work focuses on building tools for social entrepreneurs to create more powerful models for creating value for society and developing models to guide corporations on a path of productive corporate citizenship.
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Thinker Author Advisor Speaker
Meet Roger
Meet the Team
Let's Read
A New Way to Think
When More is Not Better
Creating Great Choices
The Rise (and Likely Fall) of the Talent Economy
Getting Beyond Better
Playing To win
Canada: What it is, what it can be
Fixing the Game
The Design Of Business
The Opposable Mind
The Responsibility Virus
Dia-Minds
The Future of the MBA
Rotman on Design
Let's Engage
Thought Pillars
Thinker Author Advisor Speaker
In 2017, Roger was named the world’s #1 management thinker by Thinkers50, a biannual ranking of the most influential global business thinkers.
Roger is a trusted strategy advisor to the CEOs of companies worldwide including Procter & Gamble, Lego, Ford, BHP & Verizon
Roger Martin is a Professor Emeritus at the Rotman School of Management at University of Toronto where he served as Dean from 1998-2013, Academic Director of the Michael Lee-Chin Family Institute for Corporate Citizenship from 2004-2019 and Institute Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute from 2013-2019. In 2013, he was named global Dean of the Year by the leading business school website, Poets & Quants.
His newest book is A New Way to Think: Your Guide to Superior Managerial Effectiveness (Harvard Business Review Press, 2022). His previous twelve books include When More is Not Better (HBRP, 2020), Creating Great Choiceswritten with Jennifer Riel (HBRP, 2017) Getting Beyond Betterwritten with Sally Osberg (HBRP, 2015) and Playing to Win written with A.G. Lafley (HBRP, 2013), which won the award for Best Book of 2012-13 by the Thinkers50. He has written 30 Harvard Business Review articles.
Roger received his BA from Harvard College, with a concentration in Economics, in 1979 and his MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1981. He lives in South Florida with his wife, Marie-Louise Skafte.
Contact Roger through Twitter or email. Call us to book a speaking engagement or other services.
Roger is available for keynote and other speaking engagements. Advisory services and team workshops can also be booked with Roger.
Articles
Harvard Business Review
The One Thing You Need to Know About Managing Functions
July-August 2019
HBR.org
Why Smart People Struggle with Strategy
June 12, 2014
Harvard Business Review
The Big Lie of Strategic Planning
January–February 2014
Harvard Business Review
Bringing Science to the Art of Strategy
September 2012
Medium
December 18, 2023
Medium
December 11, 2023
Medium
December 4, 2023
Medium
November 27, 2023
Medium
November 20, 2023
Medium
Strategy for Natural Monopolies
November 13, 2023
Medium
The Work and Working of Leadership Teams
November 6, 2023
Medium
Turning the Future into the Past
October 30, 2023
Medium
October 23, 2023
Medium
October 16, 2023
Medium
Heuristics, Management & Strategy
October 9, 2023
Medium
October 2, 2023
Medium
Measuring, Managing & Mattering
September 25, 2023
Medium
Strategy for the Experience Economy
September 18, 2023
Medium
Dangerous Cost Reduction Projects
September 11, 2023
Medium
September 4, 2023
Medium
Performance Measurement Transparency
August 28, 2023
Medium
The Downside of Go-to-Market Strategy
August 21, 2023
Medium
August 14, 2023
Medium
The Strategy Lesson from the Bud Light Fiasco
August 7, 2023
Medium
How Brands Grow & Playing to Win
July 31, 2023
ReD Associates
Strategy in 1,000 words Part IV w/ Roger Martin: Strategy at a Human Scale
July 26, 2023
Medium
How to Thwart Strategy Masquerades?
July 24, 2023
Medium
July 17, 2023
ReD Associates
Strategy in 1,000 Words Part III w/ Roger Martin: Strategy Frameworks for Tomorrow's CEO's
July 12, 2023
Medium
July 10, 2023
Medium
Balanced Scorecard & Playing to Win
July 3, 2023
ReD Associates
Strategy in 1,000 words Part II w/ Roger Martin: The Secret Sauce of Strategy Creation
June 28, 2023
Medium
Commercial Innovation Strategy
June 26, 2023
Medium
June 19, 2023
ReD Associates
Strategy in 1,000 Words Part I w/ Roger Martin: The State of Strategy Today
June 13, 2023
Medium
June 12, 2023
Medium
What Strategy Questions are you Asking?
June 5, 2023
Medium
Business Model Generation & Playing to Win
May 29, 2023
Medium
May 22, 2023
Medium
Blue Ocean Strategy & Playing to Win
May 15, 2023
Medium
May 8, 2023
Medium
Playing to Win/Practitioner Insights Milestone
May 3, 2023
Medium
Jobs to be Done & Playing to Win
May 1, 2023
Medium
Do You Know What's Going on Below?
April 24, 2023
Medium
April 17, 2023
Medium
April 10, 2023
Medium
April 3, 2023
Medium
March 27, 2023
Medium
March 20, 2023
Medium
March 13, 2023
Medium
Cost-Effective Differentiation
March 6, 2023
Medium
Platform Businesses & Strategy
February 27, 2023
Medium
Decoding the Strategy Choice Cascade
February 20, 2023
Medium
Unclogging Your Decision Factory
February 13, 2023
Medium
The Origins of Playing To Win: The Backstory of a Strategy Classic
February 6, 2023
Medium
January 30, 2023
Medium
Being 'Too Busy' Means Your Personal Strategy Sucks
January 23, 2023
Medium
January 16, 2023
Medium
January 9, 2023
Medium
January 2, 2023
Medium
Strategy Choice, Risk and the Road not Taken
December 26, 2022
Medium
Striving to Follow the Golden Rule
December 19, 2022
Medium
Why 'Execution' is a Bankrupt Management Concept
December 12, 2022
Medium
The Best of Two Years of Strategy - #1
December 5, 2022
Medium
The Best of Two Years of Strategy - #2
November 28, 2022
Medium
The Best of Two Years of Strategy - #3
November 21, 2022
Medium
The Best of Two Years of Strategy - #4
November 14, 2022
Medium
The Best of Two Years of Strategy - #5
November 7, 2022
Medium
October 31, 2022
Medium
My Least Favorite Business Book of All Time
October 24, 2022
Medium
October 17, 2022
Medium
October 10, 2022
Medium
October 3, 2022
Medium
September 26, 2022
Medium
September 19, 2022
Medium
September 12, 2022
Medium
September 5, 2022
Medium
August 29, 2022
Medium
August 22, 2022
Medium
What Makes for a Great Strategist?
August 15, 2022
Medium
Untangling Value Proposition & Competitive Advantage
August 8, 2022
Medium
The Delusion of Single-Point Accountability
August 1, 2022
Medium
July 25, 2022
Medium
Winning the Long Game of Strategy
July 18, 2022
Medium
My Love/Hate Relationship with VUCA
July 11, 2022
Fortune
Going to the Office is the New 'Remote Work'
July 7, 2022
Great Business Decisions Often Require Imagination More than Data
June 22, 2022
Medium
June 20, 2022
Medium
How to Prevent Data Analytics from Wrecking Your Strategy
June 6, 2022
Medium
Information Technology & Strategy
May 16, 2022
Rotman Management
Spring 2022
Medium
May 9, 2022
Medium
May 2, 2022
Medium
April 25, 2022
Medium
April 18, 2022
Medium
April 11, 2022
Medium
April 4, 2022
Medium
March 28, 2022
Medium
March 21, 2022
Medium
Understanding the True Building Blocks of Corporate Strategy
March 14, 2022
Medium
Corporate vs. Business Unit Strategy
March 7, 2022
The Agilist
Strategy & Transformation: The Four Keys to Success
March 2022, Issue 63
Medium
How to Get Buy-in for Your Strategy
February 28, 2022
Medium
February 21, 2022
Interviews
Stitcher
Demystifying Organizations: Balancing Stakeholder Interests
June 21, 2019
HBR Ideacast
July 31, 2018
The Reading Lists
Roger Martin: Reading to Unlock Mysteries
May 31, 2018
The Learning Leader
Episode 190: Roger Martin - Playing to Win: Strategy Is A Choice
February 12, 2017
Tonyloyd.com
Changing the World One Model at a Time
November 30, 2015
Changeboard.com
Roger Martin: Strategy is choice
November 9, 2015
Outlook Business
September 2, 2015
BFM 89.9 The Business Station
Raise your Game: Playing to Win
August 27, 2015
Val 202
December 9, 2014
Mind Tools
National Magazine
delawareonline
What I am Reading this Summer and Why You Should, Too
June 20, 2013
Odgers Berndtson
May 30, 2013
Forbes India
Strategy Needs a Mix of Data and Logic: Roger Martin
April, 16, 2013
Business World
Analytical Thinking Is Stifling Innovation
March 25, 2013
Inc.com
4 Key Things Great Strategic Thinkers Do
March 11, 2013
Business Insider
PROFESSOR: 'JC Penney Serves No Compelling Customer Purpose'
March 11, 2013
Business Standard
Every new idea cannot be proven in advance: Roger L Martin
February 24, 2013
Live Mint
Roger Martin | The Master Strategist
February 17, 2013
The Sunday Times
Win the strategy game in five steps
February 10, 2013
Business Insider
P&G's Legendary Ex-CEO Explains Why Everyone Gets Strategy Wrong
February 5, 2013
Forbes
Playing To Win: How Strategy Really Works
February 4, 2013
Inc.com
Rule for Success: Choose Your Playing Field
February 2013
Why the How-to-Win Strategy Choice is So Hard
Nov 3, 2025
Oct 27, 2025
How to Define True Strategy and Make Real Choices (Ivy.com interview clip)
Oct 22, 2025
