The Strategy Manual: A step-by-step guide to the transformational change of anything

Strategy holds the promise of success. It steers you through the choppy waters of day-to-day business towards your desired goals. Strategy is about change; it opens up fresh possibilities and sets new horizons. For many of us, however, the path to developing and managing transformational change can seem far from straightforward.

Do you struggle with strategy? Are you unsure how to do it well? Have you concerns that the strategy you wrote may not be as good as it might have been? Do you fear it might not have the uptake and impact you hoped for?

You have good reason! Research suggests that half of all strategies fail to achieve their stated objectives. Strategy development falls prey to many known cognitive biases that steer us away from purely rational conclusions.

The Strategy Manual sets out to be a practical handbook for anyone interested in the creation, management or governance of strategy. It aims to demystify strategy and provide a step-by-step guide on how to do it well. It features many innovative models, frameworks and templates to help you make sense of the challenges of strategy and how to overcome them systematically and rigorously.

Mike Baxter is founder and Director of Goal Atlas Ltd, and has a background as a scientist, psychologist and designer. He is a renowned strategy expert, having spent over 20 years delivering independent front-line consultancy to some of the world's leading companies. The Strategy Manual draws on his many years of experience, expertise and thought leadership to deliver clear, visual models and frameworks to help you understand strategy and turn principles into practice.

Mike Baxter has been awarded a PhD in Science, a personal Professorship and Chartered Designer status. He has enjoyed a variety of careers: trawlerman, animal welfare scientist, product designer, higher education college dean, web entrepreneur, author, keynote speaker, business thought-leader and company director. He has been a business consultant since 2001 for some of the world's biggest brands (e.g. Cisco, Google, HSBC, Lilly, Skype, Sony PlayStation) and a long-term advisor to some of London's fastest growing tech start-ups. Mike's company, Goal Atlas Ltd, was established in 2014 to work with leaders and teams to facilitate the systematic, hands-on management of effective strategies (www.goalatlas.com). Mike lives with his family in a houseboat on the River Thames in West London.