Q&A: Big Moves Make the Difference—McKinsey & Company authors reveal what really matters for exceptional performance

In their new book, Strategy Beyond the Hockey Stick: People, Probabilities, and Big Moves to Beat the Odds, McKinsey & Company strategy leaders Chris Bradley, Martin Hirt and Sven Smit address how companies can conquer the human side of the strategy room, so that bold moves and real growth can happen. The authors studied the performance of over 2,400 of the world's largest companies over a ten-year period to find out what factors in a corporate strategy move the needle on performance, including: How human behaviors in the strategy room can foil even the smartest strategies; How companies can calibrate and shift the odds of success for a strategy; and, Why strategy success depends on a steady drumbeat of big moves. Anyone in the strategy room will be equipped to change the way they evaluate strategies to result in the best possible outcomes. Consulting caught up with Bradley and Smit to discuss the social side of strategy, big moves and how to tilt the odds for exceptional performance into your favor.

Consulting: Congratulations on the book. So, talk to me a little bit about the origins of the book. What do you hope the book brings to the conversations around strategy? In short, why this book now?