About the Method — Book Summary
TheStrategist.me
A Value-Based Method for Strategy That Works
By Abdulla Al-Awadi — GM of Strategy, Kuwait International Bank
Most organizations approach strategy the same way: gather the leadership team, run a SWOT, set some priorities, and call it a plan. It looks like strategy. It rarely works like one.
TheStrategist.me was written for strategy professionals who are tired of that cycle — who have the frameworks but not the system that connects them.
What the Book Is About
The book introduces a complete, value-based methodology for building and executing strategy. It is organized around a single conviction: strategy must be earned through a disciplined sequence of analysis and decisions, not declared in a workshop.
The method integrates the most powerful frameworks in strategic planning, lean thinking, change management, project management, and leadership — not as a catalog of tools, but as a connected, sequenced system where the output of every step becomes the input for the next.
The Structure
The book is organized around 4 phases, 5 process groups, 12 processes, and 36 curated tools.
Before any analysis begins, the organization confirms its belief system: core values, vision, and mission. Strategy without a clear mission is direction without a destination. The book explains why most mission statements fail this test — and how to write one that doesn't.
The heart of the book. Nine sequential processes that move from internal assessment through external assessment, product/company fit, value definition, primary customer identification, problem/solution fit, value drivers, value maps, and strategy map. Each process uses specific tools applied in a specific order. The sequence is not arbitrary — it reflects the logical dependencies between different types of strategic analysis.
Strategy without execution is aspiration. This phase translates the strategy map into OKRs, control systems, and organizational initiatives — building an execution architecture that keeps strategy alive after the document is written.
Strategy is not an event. The book closes with a structured annual review process — a disciplined rhythm for reassessing, adapting, and renewing strategy as the organization learns and the market evolves.
What Makes It Different
Three things distinguish this method from conventional strategy books:
It covers the full lifecycle. Most strategy books stop at the plan. This one carries through execution and review — because a strategy that isn't executed isn't a strategy.
It is eclectic by design. The method draws from Porter, Kaplan, Collins, Christensen, Osterwalder, Simons, and others — selecting the best tool for each moment rather than being loyal to any single school of thought.
It is built for practitioners. Every process produces a defined output. Every tool has a specific place in the sequence. The book is designed to be used, not just read.
Who Should Read It
This book is for Chief Strategy Officers, strategy managers, management consultants, and any leader responsible for organizational direction who wants a structured, repeatable, professionally grounded approach to strategy — not another collection of frameworks with no instruction manual.
“TheStrategist.me is the instruction manual strategy was always missing.”
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