How to develop a strategy that wins in competitive markets
Roger Martin, former Dean of the Rotman School of Management and author of Playing to Win, explains why strategy is fundamentally about making choices rather than producing plans. The discussion explores practical frameworks for selecting markets, testing assumptions and building durable competitive advantage. Speaker: Roger Martin | Podcast: Growth Manifesto Podcast | Views as of post date: > 241,000
STRATEGY
About this video
Roger Martin is a leading strategy thinker and advisor who was named the world’s #1 management thinker in 2017 by Thinkers50, and formerly served as Dean and Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.
Most businesses don't fail because they cannot execute—they fail because they never made a real strategic choice. Strategy is not a list of initiatives; it is choosing where to compete, how to win there, and systematically testing the assumptions before committing resources.
For SME operators, the biggest shift is to stop asking "What should we do?" and start asking "What would have to be true for this to succeed?" That single question turns strategy from opinion into evidence-based decision making.
Full Video at the end of page
Core Insight (Plain English)
Many companies confuse planning with strategy.
A plan tells people what to do.
A strategy explains why this business should win instead of someone else.
That means making deliberate choices about which customers to serve, how you will serve them differently, and which capabilities you must build to stay difficult to copy.
The goal is not to compete harder.
The goal is to compete somewhere you can genuinely become the preferred choice.
7 Practical Lessons
Stop trying to serve everyone. Choose a customer segment where you realistically have the potential to become the preferred provider instead of spreading resources across every opportunity. For many Southeast Asian SMEs, winning one niche often scales better than chasing every market.
Separate strategy from planning. Plans describe execution. Strategy decides where limited capital, talent and attention should be concentrated before execution begins.
Ask "What would have to be true?" before investing. List the assumptions behind every major initiative—customer demand, pricing, internal capability, competitor response—and identify which assumptions worry you most.
Test assumptions before scaling. Run pilots, prototypes or limited market launches to reduce uncertainty before making large investments. This is often more affordable than correcting a failed rollout later.
Build capabilities competitors struggle to copy. Technology alone rarely creates lasting advantage. Processes, culture, hiring, customer relationships and operational discipline are usually much harder to replicate.
Review strategy continuously, not annually. Monitor whether the assumptions behind your strategy remain valid. Markets change faster than annual planning cycles, especially in digital businesses.
Design systems that reinforce your strategy. Recruitment, incentives, training and decision-making processes should all support how you intend to win. Good management systems make competitive advantages harder for rivals to imitate.
Summary & Reflections
The framework is compelling because it shifts strategic discussions away from opinions and towards explicit assumptions that can be tested.
However, not every SME has the time or resources for extensive research or structured experimentation. In fast-moving markets, operators sometimes need to act before every assumption can be validated. The challenge is finding the right balance between disciplined testing and maintaining execution speed.
Regional Consideration (Southeast Asia)
Across Southeast Asia, fragmented customer behaviour, varying regulations and diverse distribution channels mean assumptions that work in one country may fail in another. Testing locally before regional expansion can significantly reduce execution risk.
Who should watch the full video
This discussion is particularly valuable for:
SME founders
Managing Directors
Business owners planning expansion
Product and Strategy leaders
Innovation managers
Consultants supporting business transformation
Decision Rating
Decision Usefulness ★★★★★
This provides a practical decision-making framework that SME operators can immediately apply when evaluating new products, market expansion or strategic investments. The emphasis on testing assumptions before execution is broadly applicable across industries.
Strategic Value ★★★★★
The discussion focuses on the core elements of competitive strategy—market selection, differentiation, capability building and continuous reassessment. These are foundational decisions that shape long-term business performance rather than short-term tactics.
Practical Applicability ★★★★☆
Most concepts can be implemented without significant investment, particularly the "What would have to be true?" framework and assumption testing. Larger organisations may be able to adopt the full methodology more comprehensively, while smaller businesses will likely need lighter-weight versions of the process.
Until next time,
The SME Signal editorial Team
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