Playing to Win: How Strategy Became a Series of Disciplined Choices at P&G

In Playing to Win, A.G. Lafley and Roger Martin take readers inside the
strategic transformation of Procter & Gamble during one of the most pivotal
periods in the company’s history. Rather than presenting another abstract,
jargon-heavy strategy manual, the authors tell a grounded and practical story
of how a global consumer-goods giant rediscovered its competitive edge.

Through this narrative, strategy is no longer mysterious or theoretical.
It becomes a series of deliberate and disciplined choices about how a
company will compete and, ultimately, how it will win.

A Company at a Crossroads

Lafley, who served twice as P&G’s chief executive officer, begins by
confronting an uncomfortable truth. Despite its scale, legacy, and deep
talent pool, Procter & Gamble was struggling to grow. The marketplace
was crowded with strong global competitors, and the company had slipped
into a familiar corporate trap.

Leadership had come to believe that trying a little of everything across
every category and every geography was a strategy in itself. Lafley and
Martin challenge this mindset directly. They argue that strategy is not
about doing more. It is about choosing. Just as important as deciding
what to do is deciding what not to do.

The Five Choices That Define Strategy

At the heart of Playing to Win is a framework built around five
essential choices. While the book explains these choices clearly, the
storytelling makes them feel less like a rigid model and more like a
philosophy for survival in competitive markets.

Everything begins with a deceptively simple question. What is our winning
ambition? Many companies say they want to grow or lead, but Lafley and
Martin insist that ambition must be grounded in a clear and meaningful
definition of what winning actually looks like.

For Procter & Gamble, winning meant improving consumers’ everyday lives
while delivering superior returns to shareholders. This clarity of purpose
became the foundation for every strategic decision that followed.

Where Will We Play?

The next critical choice focused on where the company would compete.
Strategy required narrowing focus, not expanding it. Lafley describes
how P&G had to make tough decisions about which categories, brands,
geographies, and consumer segments truly mattered.

These choices were rarely easy. Some categories carried emotional weight
or strong internal advocates, yet they lacked real growth potential.
Whenever P&G avoided making clear choices about its playing field,
it spread itself too thin and lost ground to more focused competitors.

The lesson is unmistakable. Competitive advantage begins with setting
boundaries. By choosing where to play, companies create the conditions
needed to win.