Why your Strategy Sucks — A review that might make you rethink how you choose
Strategy isn’t a boardroom ritual — it’s the muscle we use every time we pick a job, buy a home, or take a leap. In Why Your Strategy Sucks Sandeep Das offers frameworks, anecdotes and a practical stern-but-kind coach’s voice. I verify the facts, call out what’s useful, and ask the awkward questions you should be asking about your own life plans.
What is this book about?
If you must reduce it to one sentence: it’s a practical manual for turning fuzzy thinking about “strategy” into clear choices you can actually act on. Das’s premise is simple and generous: strategy isn’t just for CEOs or consultancies. It’s a method — a six-step, human-centred approach — that helps people prioritise, create options, and implement decisions in work and life. The publisher describes it as bridging strategist frameworks and personal career choices; the book itself works at that junction.
A few things the publisher blurbs and early reviews confirm: the book lays out a strategic-thinking framework (define the problem, create options, prioritise, deploy with an implementation charter, etc.), applies that framework to organisations and individuals, and uses examples and summaries at chapter ends to make the lessons repeatable. There are lots of practical exercises and frameworks — the book wears its usefulness on its sleeve rather than hiding behind academic prose.
Who is Sandeep Das?
I’ll start with the sensible bit: who I’m reading. Sandeep Das is the author of Why Your Strategy Sucks and a business-storyteller by trade — an MBA from IIM Bangalore who has spent years in consulting and FMCG roles and teaches at top Indian business schools. Penguin’s author page and the book’s publisher listing confirm the basics: Das is framed as a practitioner who writes for managers and early-career professionals alike.
Why does that matter to you? Because this isn’t written by an ivory-tower academic; it’s written by someone who has spent time in the trenches — consulting engagements, corporate strategy teams and workshop rooms. That shape of experience shows up in the book’s tone: practical, conversational and focused on “what to do next” rather than “here’s a theorem”. I like authors who have scars and spreadsheets in roughly equal measure; Das seems to fit that bill. You can also find multiple profiles and speaker bios that repeat the credentials and note his regular columns and classroom work.
Penguin lists the book under the Penguin Business imprint, gives the ISBN and shows a 256-page length
Is strategy only for CEOs and MBAs?
Short answer: no. Long answer: absolutely not — and that’s one of Das’s loudest points.
From the very first pages the book argues strategy is a decision-making habit we evolved to survive. I like that framing: hunters planning the shortest, safest route to a kill is the same mental muscle we use when deciding whether to accept a job, buy a house or move cities. That link — from primal planning to corporate strategy — is one of the book’s charms because it demystifies the discipline. The narrative repeatedly brings strategy back to everyday trade-offs: time, alternatives, priorities and implementation.
In my own life I’ve found that treating personal choices like a sequence of small strategy problems forces a useful discipline. Ask: what outcome am I optimising? What options am I missing? Who benefits if I choose A over B? That’s the very real acumen Das wants to teach — and it’s increasingly important in a VUCA world (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous), where tactical reflexes won’t cut it. The World Economic Forum and McKinsey research both underline the need for new skills as AI and automation change the job landscape — strategic thinking is the cognitive toolkit that will make individuals more adaptable to those shocks.
What makes the book stand out (and what quote sticks with me)?
What struck me most is the author’s insistence that strategy must be both simple and implementable. Plenty of books win awards for elegance; fewer give you an “implementation charter” — a practical checklist of who does what and when. Several reviewers and trade write-ups highlight Das’s Implementation Charter and Strategic Thinking Framework as the book’s beating heart: pragmatic templates you can actually use rather than admire. That focus on execution is a distinguishing strength.
A memorable line quoted by reviewers (and which I kept thinking about as I read) is: “The future is shaped by your dreams, so stop wasting time and go to sleep.” It’s a little cheeky — the sort of bleached-teeth joke that disarms and then makes you think. Business Standard picked up and repeated that sampler, and it symbolises the book’s tone: wry, practical, and built to nudge rather than scold. Use that line as a palate-cleanser when strategy feels too earnest.
And yes — it’s practical. Penguin and retail previews show the book is organised to be applied: chapter summaries, examples (with some names masked for confidentiality), and actionable frameworks. For readers who hate theory for theory’s sake, that’s a big plus. I value books that ask for two hours of your attention and give you instructions you can try the next day.
Does the book fill a genuine knowledge gap?
Here I’ll be frank: there are hundreds of strategy books — classic tomes like Rumelt’s Good Strategy, Bad Strategy and Kim & Mauborgne’s Blue Ocean Strategy are staples — but many of them assume you’re reading from the perch of an organisation. Das writes for the person who has to make strategy on their way to lunch: individual career choices, portfolio trade-offs, the choice to upskill versus change industries. That is a gap few business books intentionally address in a sustained, applied way. If your mental model of strategy starts and ends with a five-year corporate plan, this book will feel like oxygen.
Another gap it fills is accessibility. Strategy can feel elitist — packed with consultants’ shorthand and portfolio matrices. Das strips the jargon away and replaces it with checklists, deployable charts and a voice that expects you to start using the tools immediately. That doesn’t mean it’s light; it’s simply pragmatic. For students, early career professionals, and managers who want to move beyond “strategy theatre” toward real decisions, Why Your Strategy Sucks is a useful north star.
For readers exploring academic corporate strategy material, Tushar Mangl’s older course materials and notes can be a handy complement — see this corporate strategy resource: BBA 601 Corporate Strategy
What themes dominate this book?
If you’ve read enough management literature, you’ll know the danger: themes can blur into clichés. But Das keeps his thematic focus tight and sharp. There are three pillars that repeat throughout the book:
- Strategy as survival in a VUCA world: Volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous — the phrase may be overused, but the reality hasn’t softened. Das hammers the point that in such an environment, intuition without a framework leads to chaos. Strategy is the discipline that tames ambiguity.
- Balancing ambition with practicality: Ambition without a roadmap leads to burnout. The book stresses how to translate vision into measurable priorities and sequencing. If you’re a dreamer, this will feel like a friendly tug back to Earth.
- Strategic thinking in the age of AI: Automation and machine intelligence are rewiring how decisions are made. If AI executes the routine, the human’s edge must come from strategic foresight. Das hints this will be the new literacy of the workplace.
These themes don’t live in isolation. They intersect. The hunter-gatherer’s primal strategies now collide with algorithms. In that junction, Das argues, lies the necessity for a personal and professional strategy mindset. And he’s not wrong — surveys from McKinsey, PwC and the World Economic Forum all confirm “strategic thinking” ranks as one of the top ten skills for 2025 and beyond.
How does Sandeep Das write?
Let me be candid: some business writers are insufferable. They either drown you in jargon, or they condescend with aphorisms that could fit on a motivational poster. Das is refreshingly in-between. His writing style is witty but not frivolous, sharp but not arrogant, and practical without being colourless.
There’s a journalistic edge to his prose, probably honed through his 200+ columns in the Times of India, Economic Times and Forbes. He writes in crisp sentences that rarely overstay their welcome. Yet he balances this with storytelling — short anecdotes of boardrooms, classrooms, and even daily-life dilemmas. You might not remember every framework verbatim, but you’ll remember the human faces attached to them.
One stylistic device I noticed: humour used as a release valve. Strategy can feel intimidating, but Das often inserts a quip or wry aside that makes you chuckle before you catch yourself thinking more deeply. That’s a clever tactic. It’s the same method great teachers use — keep you amused long enough for the tough lesson to sink in.
Does it always land? Not quite. Occasionally the quips feel a little too clever for their own good, especially if you’re impatient for substance. But the overall tone is approachable, which is no small feat for a subject this abstract.
Who are the protagonists in this book?
Non-fiction books don’t have “characters” in the literary sense, but they do have protagonists: the recurring case studies, the archetypes, the voices who inhabit the examples. In Why Your Strategy Sucks, Das peppers the text with managers facing crossroads, companies wrestling with market shifts, and individuals plotting career moves.
Each of these protagonists is carefully chosen to humanise strategy. These composites (names often changed, details anonymised) embody the universal dilemmas we all face. In their shoes, you test the framework yourself. You ask: what would I do differently? How do my priorities align?
The companies featured also act as protagonists. Das references well-known corporate examples alongside less glamorous but equally instructive caselets. The lesson is clear: strategy isn’t only written by Fortune 500 firms; it’s shaped by small businesses, family-run enterprises, and even NGOs struggling with finite resources.
One interesting example I connected with is the discussion of tech firms using aggressive platform plays. It reminded me of the debates around Facebook’s marketing strategy — a case where corporate ambition, user growth and ethical dilemmas collide. Reading Das’s take on strategy, you begin to see how the same tools can both empower and distort decision-making. That’s what makes his protagonists compelling: they aren’t neat case studies, they’re messy, recognisable humans and institutions grappling with trade-offs.
What’s the magic (or flaw) in the structure?
Every good book needs scaffolding. Das organises his argument into clear steps: defining problems, generating options, prioritising, and executing via an “Implementation Charter.” The scaffolding is easy to follow, and that’s the magic. Many readers (myself included) find comfort in checklists and repeatable steps. You feel you could take a decision that’s been nagging at you, run it through the framework, and at least clarify your own thinking.
The chapters end with summaries and bullet-point recaps — a teaching technique familiar to anyone who’s attended one of Das’s workshops. This makes it ideal for note-takers and for readers who like to flip back quickly to find the key steps. The visuals (framework charts, diagrams, matrices) also give it a classroom-textbook vibe, which, depending on your taste, is either a strength or a weakness.
Where’s the flaw? Occasionally the structure feels too clean, too neat for the messiness of life. Real decisions are rarely as linear as the book suggests. For instance, you may define a problem, generate options, and then discover halfway through that the problem itself has shifted. The framework does allow iteration, but the tidy chapter flow risks giving newcomers a false sense of simplicity. That’s a trade-off most structured books make, but it’s worth noting.
Which insights genuinely stand out?
There are plenty of insights, but three categories stood out for me:
- The Implementation Charter: This is a powerful device. It forces you to spell out who is responsible, by when, with what resources. It’s like a contract with yourself (or your team). Few strategy books I’ve read place such heavy emphasis on this, and it’s refreshing.
- The challenge to “strategy theatre”: Das has little patience for empty slideshows or vision statements that gather dust. He wants outcomes, not optics. This scepticism resonates with anyone who has sat through a strategy presentation that sounded profound but led nowhere.
- The humanisation of strategy: Perhaps the deepest insight is not a framework but a philosophy: strategy is as much about people as it is about numbers. Your choices, priorities, and the way you sequence actions determine whether a plan breathes or suffocates. Das makes you confront your biases, your blind spots, and your tendency to procrastinate. That’s a far cry from abstract models.
There are also memorable statistics sprinkled in. For instance, one McKinsey survey (2019) found that only 20% of executives believe their companies excel at strategy execution. That statistic aligns perfectly with Das’s insistence on practical tools. It’s not just about crafting a brilliant plan; it’s about making sure the wheels actually turn.
In short, the standout insights are the ones that blend practicality with provocation. They make you stop, smile, and then think: “How am I doing this in my own life?” That reflection is the mark of a book that’s more than just ink on paper.
Where does the book fall short?
No book is flawless, and honesty demands we talk about the creases. For me, Why Your Strategy Sucks sometimes feels too polished, too “consultant deck tidy.” Life is rarely so neat. If you’ve ever made a major decision, you know it’s not a clean flowchart; it’s more like spilled ink on paper. The book simplifies brilliantly, but at times it risks oversimplifying.
I also noticed a tendency to rely on corporate-heavy examples. That’s fine if you enjoy case studies, but if you’re a student, artist, or someone in the non-profit world, you might wish for more diverse contexts. Yes, the lessons still translate, but there are moments when the voice assumes a corporate background the reader may not have.
And here’s a little irony: the humour that often charms can occasionally undercut the gravity of a point. A witty quip is delightful; three in a row can feel like garnish when you’re hungry for substance. It’s a balancing act — and sometimes Das tips slightly toward entertainment over depth. Still, these are minor quibbles in a book that does a lot right.
How does it compare to other strategy books?
If you’ve ever browsed the “business strategy” shelf, you’ll know the competition is fierce. Let’s stack this one up.
- Good Strategy, Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt — A classic. Rumelt has a knack for cutting through nonsense. Where Rumelt is surgical, Das is conversational. Both hate fluff, but they wield different scalpels.
- Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne — Famous for urging businesses to create uncontested markets. It’s grand and visionary. Das, in contrast, brings the conversation down to your desk — to your job offer, your team project, your side hustle.
- Playing to Win by A.G. Lafley & Roger Martin — This one is structured around corporate decision-making at scale. Das borrows the discipline but repackages it for individuals who don’t have Procter & Gamble’s budget.
What’s the verdict? Das doesn’t replace these giants — he stands beside them, addressing a slightly different audience. If Rumelt is the surgeon, Kim & Mauborgne the architects, Lafley the CEO whisperer, then Das is the friend at the café table asking you to sketch your life’s options on a napkin. His strength is accessibility.
This makes me think of the way personal branding works on platforms like LinkedIn. The technical term is “thought leadership,” but really it’s about making ideas digestible and human. I was reminded of a thoughtful piece on the brand benefits of LinkedIn articles — a reminder that complex ideas find traction only when made relatable. That’s exactly what Das does with strategy: he translates consultant frameworks into something you’d actually read — and use.
What are the best strategy books to gift in Winter 2025?
If you’re looking for holiday gifts that don’t end up collecting dust, a strategy book can be a surprisingly thoughtful present. Here are my picks for Winter 2025:
- Why Your Strategy Sucks by Sandeep Das — Practical, witty, and designed for both the boardroom and the living room.
- Good Strategy, Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt — Still the gold standard for cutting through strategic fluff. This one is a bit heavier, but deeply rewarding.
- Measure What Matters by John Doerr — A guide to OKRs (Objectives and Key Results). Essential if you’re a team-builder or entrepreneur.
- Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne — For those who love big-picture vision and bold moves.
- Plain Truths About Stock Investing by Debashis Basu — Not strictly about strategy in the corporate sense, but about the mindset of navigating markets. A gem for finance enthusiasts.
Books are gifts of perspective. If your friend or colleague is standing at a career crossroads, nothing says “I believe in your next move” quite like a well-chosen strategy book.
Would I recommend this book personally?
This is where I stop being neutral and get personal. Would I hand this book to a friend? Yes — with a few caveats. I’d recommend it to students finishing university, to managers itching for a promotion, to entrepreneurs balancing cash flow and ambition. It’s for people who sense that instinct alone won’t get them where they want to go.
Who might not love it? Readers who dislike structure. If you prefer free-flow inspiration or meandering narratives, this might feel too much like a workbook. And if you’re already a strategy veteran, much of it may feel familiar — though even then, the frameworks can be a welcome refresher.
Personally, my takeaway was this: strategy isn’t a lofty abstract. It’s the daily discipline of aligning dreams with decisions. Reading the book made me question small things — the way I prioritise my time, the projects I take on, even how I prepare for difficult conversations. That, to me, is worth the price of admission.
Is this book worth your time?
When I closed the book, I didn’t feel lectured. I felt nudged. Nudged to pick up a pen, draw a quick chart, and ask: “What are my options, and what am I avoiding?” That, in my view, is success for a strategy book.
Yes, it has its flaws. It could have stretched beyond corporate contexts more boldly. It could have trimmed some of the witty asides. But overall, it does something important: it makes strategy less scary and more human. It fills a gap. It gives you tools you can actually use, not just admire.
So is it worth your time? If you’ve ever found yourself stuck between choices — career, personal, or otherwise — then yes, it absolutely is. And even if you don’t agree with every page, you’ll at least walk away with better questions. Sometimes that’s more valuable than easy answers.
FAQs about Why Your Strategy Sucks
1. Is this book only for people in business?
No, and that’s the whole point. While it draws heavily from business and corporate examples, its lessons about decision-making apply to careers, relationships, finances, and personal growth. Strategy is about choices — and we all face those daily.
2. How is this different from other strategy books?
Other strategy books often focus on companies, markets, and macro-level competition. Das brings the conversation down to individuals, making frameworks relatable to anyone navigating modern life.
3. Does the book provide practical tools?
Yes. It includes more than fifty visuals and frameworks that help you map out decisions clearly. It’s less “theory-heavy” and more “toolbox-ready.”
4. Is it an easy read?
Yes. Das’s style is witty and conversational. Even if you’re not from a business background, you won’t feel lost. That said, some corporate-heavy parts may feel a bit textbook-like to a non-business reader.
5. What’s the single biggest takeaway?
That strategy is not an abstract buzzword reserved for CEOs. It’s a muscle you build — one that helps you make better choices in uncertain times. With AI, rapid change, and a volatile job market, it might be the most important muscle you can train today.
6. Who designed the cover of the book?
Aakriti Khurana has designed the cover of the book, whereas the cover image has been sourced from Adobe Stock.
7. What is the price of the book, Why Your Strategy Sucks?
The non-fiction book by Sandeep Das, published by Penguin India has been priced at INR 399.
What struck me most while writing this review is how often strategy hides in plain sight. When you’re choosing between two jobs, debating whether to move cities, or even deciding how much time to spend on social media, you’re already making strategic calls. Das makes you aware of this invisible muscle — and helps you use it consciously.
I was reminded of how Facebook’s marketing strategy has often shaped not just user behaviour but entire industries. That’s the scale of strategy. But zoom in, and your choices matter just as much. This book nudges you to see that connection.
About the reviewer
Tushar Mangl writes on books, investments, business, mental health, food, vastu, leisure, and a greener, better society. He is also a speaker and author of Ardika and I Will Do It.
I’d love to hear from you — what’s the book on your bedside table right now? And what do you think about strategy as a life skill? Drop your thoughts in the comments below, let’s start a conversation. 👇
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