Comments on: Book Review: Blue Ocean Strategy

By: So it's been 2 years now, time for a change!!!!

So it's been 2 years now, time for a change!!!! — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 22:33:18 +0000

[...] On the business stuff, I suggest you read this link or read any one star review for BSO on Amazon: Book Review: Blue Ocean Strategy and Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and [...]

By: Venkat

Venkat — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:57:56 +0000

Abhay, I tried: not a 'how to write' but a 'how to read' How to read business and self-improvement books You may like 2 books I reviewed more favorably Lords of Strategy Strategic Intuition Cheers! Venkat

By: Abhay

Abhay — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:21:45 +0000

Wow! This is the best review of a strategy book that I’ve read in years. I skimmed Blue Ocean Strategy and found is unsatisfying, but couldn’t quite put my finger on the combination of reasons, and your review gave words to the amorphous objections I had. Sadly, most of your sins could easily be ascribed to 80% of the business strategy books published nowadays. There’s a formula: (1) create a plausible framework based on 4 to 7 components that can be memorized easily, (2) support it with add a bunch of superficial metaphors that are hard to refute, (3) and fill the book with short, easy to digest, compelling examples and anecdotes that serve as proof; and finally (4) get a bunch of executives to compliment the book on the cover. Hmmm…maybe this formula could be converted into a strategy book about writing strategy books!

By: Gene Russell

Gene Russell — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:59:57 +0000

Great review of Blue Ocean. This is another one of those troubling books that often is purchased and handed out to management teams with our without discussion. I was working in a Senior Management position with an HK based company and the CEO handed the book out to the USA team telling us to develop Blue Ocean strategies… That was it. The real substance of the discussion – pricing, competition, design strategy, channel management, unified brand language, sales teams, etc. etc. was never, ever brought up. The company continues to churn through senior USA staff as it tries to hit the long ball over the fence with some dream idea / solution / deep big blue Ocean of profits that do not exist. The real problem with the book in this particular instance was that the company kept developing over priced, edgy design product and the book seemed to justify this strategy to the owner / CEO. This is a very popular book in China & I think it does damage to their understanding of the US market and marketing in general.

By: William

William — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:21:38 +0000

I just started reading this book and felt a little confused by the continued use of the same information (southwest and such). I thought maybe it was just me, but maybe I am not alone.

I was actually looking for a site for my college class to discuss the book and it looks like I found one. Thanks for the information.

By: Ted

Ted — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:25:11 +0000

I’ve lived in Montreal and the thought of some of these street performers sitting back and analyzing the circus market is absolutely hilarious.

I agree that Christensen is a far better read than this, but on a positive note I do think there are some interesting things to think about if you are new to business strategy. I have also found the strategy canvas to be powerful visual tool, whether they invented it or not.

It’s a bit lightweight from a research perspective but I wouldn’t call it dangerous.

By: Dena Ware

Dena Ware — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:24:32 +0000

I haven’t read all of your critique, but I already know I agree wholeheartedly. My company is spending $700 per person for a group of us to attend a Blue Ocean Strat training tomorrow. In preparation, I bought the book on CD so I would understand the concepts. I could not even make it through the first CD without succumbing to dry heaves. Without getting past the Yellow Tail example, I already knew that they were assigning BOS to successful strategies in hindsight. My first question to the trainer tomorrow was going to be: please give examples of companies who have succeeded using BOS as their framework, to which I expect there is no answer. I will now go back and read your entire blog, but good for you for debunking the bunk!! I’d write more, but I have to get my scrip for valium filled before tomorrow’s training…

By: Venkat

Venkat — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:36:16 +0000

Mason: thanks for the refs, they sound interesting.

Let me challenge your anecdote a bit though. What if the wrong map had led the group into a crevasse in the dead of the night? People who make fatal mistakes don’t live to tell the tale, leading to a classic case of survivorship bias among those who do. The test is which method causes fewest fatalities really

The argument that “anything that gets you out of the armchair and into action is good” is a dangerous one, since it can be used to justify anything from tea-leaf and entrail reading to astrology. It is a good argument, but needs some qualification and quantification. The basic idea that action interleaved with thought is better than analysis paralysis is tautological. The trick is to get to “better than wrong map” approaches to switching between the two, otherwise you as a strategy teacher, are out of a job. You might as well become an astrologer!

My claim is that the methods in this book will do no better than arbitrary and ad hoc (but not random) methods people might come up with in a controlled exercise. But there ARE methods I think do better than “arbitrary and ad hoc,” such as Moore’s approach in “Dealing with Darwin” or Christensen in “Innovator’s Dilemma.”

To justify the tree-killing a biz book had better meet a higher threshold!

Since I see from your back link that you are a professor in the field, you might have an opportunity to test this hypothesis. Divide your strategy class into 10 random groups of 2-3 each. Let 4 of them, randomly chosen, tackle a “strategy move” challenge with ad hoc methods they make up. Let 2 each use blue ocean, disruptive innovation and dealing with darwin as their frameworks. I’d be interested to see the results Of course it would take many iterations of the experiment to smooth out the effects of other variables.

By: Mason Carpenter

Mason Carpenter — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:13:29 +0000

Nice review,

Not from the standpoint that your view is right or wrong (meaning, whether I agree with it or not , but from the standpoint that the review is well structured and has consistent logic. Not just a rant or stream of consciousness, in other words.

That said, some of the Blue Ocean visualization tools are valuable from the standpoint that they get managers to think about and engage the environment outside of their organization. I don’t care that they seem simple — charting, for instance, gives managers a good sense of common competitor approaches and the ways one firm can become distinct based on distinct choices.

And it does not matter to me that much that the tools identify “the” correct answer (was not your critique but one of others). One of my favorite management and strategy writers is Karl Weick. In a number of his books he recounts the now familiar tale of a army troops lost in the Swiss Alps. In my rough recounting of the tale (apologies to Weick) it goes like this: One of the troops found a map in his pocket and they followed the map to safety. As it turns out, the map was of the Pyrenees (a range between Spain and France, and nowhere near the Swiss Alps). The point of this [strategy] story was not whether the map was right or not, but that the map got the troops moving and based on that movement they could make further progress.

In my world, where I write about, teach, and practice strategy, the moral always is that no amount of strategy and strategic planning are a substitute for action — that is, moving forward (even making mistakes) and taking action counts more than elegant plans and concepts.

For additional interesting (though not necessarily related) reading see:

Finkelstein, S., J. Whitehead, & A. Campbell. 2008. Think again. HBS Press.

Pfeffer, J. & R. Sutton. 2000. The knowing-doing gap. HBS Press.

Weick, K. 1995. Sensemaking in organizations. Sage.

Weick, K. & K. Sutcliffe. 2001. Managing the unexpected. Jossey-Bass.

By: Jon

Jon — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:07:57 +0000

Great review. It’s always a relief to see that there are others who aren’t bamboozled by the P.T. Barnum approach to business methodology. In my 30 year career, I’ve seen, and live through, SO many business management “panaceas” touted, and it seems to be an incredibly cynical process after a while.

Thanks for presenting your case so thoughtfully and concisely.

- Jon

By: Chris Steele

Chris Steele — Mon, 18 May 2009 16:42:16 +0000

Great review, thanks for that.
I was at a presentation by ?Whatif! (www.whatifinnovation.com) a while ago and they held up B.O.S.
“Anyone read this?”
“Well you needn’t have bothered … its all here” he said ripping off the cover.
LOL.

By: Your Blue Ocean Is Filled With Tribbles | Product Management Meets Pop Culture

Tue, 12 May 2009 20:26:19 +0000

[...] and these excellent criticisms of [...]

By: Todd

Todd — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 21:53:34 +0000

And why should we need armchair strategists like you to explain right or wrong. Have you ever managed a company, taken it through the storms, seen what works and doesn’t in the market?

Thank you for your writing, but I find value in hearing others. Ha..

By: Bob

Bob — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:46:53 +0000

Totally agreed. (greed on their part)
My bosses have asked all of us to read the book to discuss(at least they purchased it, and not us)…and where do the authors/publishers get off asking $30 for such trivial tripe? I am hearing a Baaa Baaa out there….the padding of numerous hooves…
One need only count the numerous redundencies in the first two chapters alone to see they are pouring water through a seive and telling you its holding well (while your toes are starting to feel really moist). I took one glance/read at the first 2 pages, and walked over to my co-worker and said “total bullshit”, a weak attempt at repackaging “Postioning” from the eighties. I fail to see how my employers are missing the boat….. perhaps waiting on the wrong side of the ocean? I am certainly not a great mind, but in this case…it is clear….
the emperor is “buck-naked”.

adieu.

By: Gillette

Gillette — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 12:22:48 +0000

Venkat, nice review. I havent read the book but one thing you mentioned about using past examples to show off their point is a failing common to almost all business books. I’d like a book that finds some good strategy and makes predictions from it – or at least puts its money where its mouth is and invests in that stock. It’s like the DIY cryptologists who say oh the Bible encodes this and the Vedas encode that… I’d like them to discover an unknown theorem this way. Also these books are rarely honest, I’d like them to pick someone who followed their strategy yet failed, because of course no strategy can be omnipotent. Also one book I think should make your list is Built to Last, which I thought had some really great points about leadership (esp the contrast bet level 4 and level 5 leaders) although it does suffer from the past-only approach.

By: Venkat

Venkat — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 22:56:03 +0000

Hi Diane:

Thanks for the missing details on the Cirque du Soleil story, which I was not aware of. That’s a key problem in using business case histories to illustrate or validate theories. People only dig deep enough to find the details that confirm their analysis, not deep enough to reveal the story in a form where it has full narrative integrity.

Your critique of business-as-war/Darwinian models though, makes me pause, since I frankly like that metaphor a lot, and I think it has value when shorn of its obviously romantic elements.

And I hadn’t thought of the analogy to diets and “you too can be a Hollywood star” types of flattery. Suggests themes to explore in future posts.

By: Diane

Diane — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 16:05:13 +0000

Thank you for a critical and insightful review of this flaccid text. The danger of books, like those of diets, is mitigated by the fact that few people follow them. That’s a good thing.
This book is making the rounds at my company but I haven’t seen any intent to put the so-called tools into practice. Again, a good thing. As it makes the rounds, I’ve noticed something else that may challenge your concept of a first sin. The “Blue Oceans” metaphor appears to be designed to flatter rather than enlighten its audience. This metaphor reinforces the private sector feeling that thier world is engaged in a violent Darwinian struggle. Thus we are “players” and “warriors” but not corporate stooges or desk jockies. This flattering self-concept helps us through the boredom, uncertainty and frustration that are also pat of corporate life. The book is pandering to its audience in the title to get us to read the rest of the stuff. But why? As you point out, there is no content that benefits the reader here so the goal must be to satisfy a yearly publication quota.
Business school professors often seem like particularly niave sociologists or animal behaviorists. In this case, the authors seemed to be studying the behavior of four footed mammals and extracting the survival practices common to lions, giraffes etc. (Run as fast as possible). Again as you point out, grouping Southwest, Yellow Tail Wine and Cirque Du Soleil completely fails to reveal anything that is not painfully obvious. They choose the proof cases to make their point but fail to discuss any others which may be exceptions. Was the popular Nokia case even here?
If one digs a bit deeper, the examples they have chosen do not necessarily illustrate their points. For example, Cirque du Soliel (I am a rabid fan) which started as a group of street artists in Montreal very clearly derives from the long French tradition of Circus. So why did something that existed for a very long time become a global success? And success did not come on a time scale any company I know could tolerate. They largely remained street performers, with the full economic implications of that lifestyle, for about a decade. Once they began to get big, half the original cast left because they felt the troop had sold out. Who in Cirque du Soliel had the tenacity to continue through all this hardship and why? No “process” like the one described in the book fits their history. The Yellow Tail example looks absolutely nothing like Cirque du Soleil- it would seem more like the classic “Un-Cola” marketing play.
Overall, the book left me with the impression that the intent was to offer a prescription for knocking off a certain type of success without revealing any indication of the real work behind it. I imagine the true stories of these companies are far more interesting than what the book portrays.
Couple the flattering metaphor with the easy promise of “you too can be a Hollywood star” and you have the classic American wish fulfillment fantasy.