Ford’s Model T Example:
- Strategic price: Set against horse-drawn carriages ($400), not other cars ($1,500+)
- Final Model T price: $850 initially, dropping to $290 by 1924
- Cost innovation: Revolutionary assembly line cut production time from 21 days to 4 days
Critical Gap: The book champions “strategic pricing” but provides limited guidance on the messy reality of price discovery. How do you know what price point will attract the “mass of target buyers” before you launch? Market research? Customer surveys? The authors criticize these approaches elsewhere but don’t offer concrete alternatives.
Execution Principles: Where Strategy Meets Reality
The second half of the book tackles the “how” of execution—arguably its strongest contribution.
The Organizational Hurdles Framework
Kim and Mauborgne identify four hurdles that block strategy execution:
HurdleChallengeTipping Point SolutionCognitivePeople don't see the need for changeMake them experience the problem firsthand (ride the "electric sewer")ResourceLimited money and peopleFind "hot spots" (high impact, low resources) and "cold spots" (high resources, low impact)MotivationalHow to inspire movement fastFocus on "kingpins"—key influencers who naturally lead othersPoliticalInternal and external resistanceLeverage "angels" (those who benefit), silence "devils" (those who lose), secure a "consigliere"
Case Study: NYPD Transformation
Bill Bratton’s turnaround of the New York City Police Department brilliantly illustrates these principles:
Cognitive Hurdle: Made top brass ride the “electric sewer” (subway) to witness crime firsthand rather than rely on statistics showing only 3% of major crimes occurred there.
Resource Hurdle:
- Hot spot: Narcotics unit (less than 5% of force) even though 30-70% of crimes were drug-related
- Cold spot: Processing arrests took 16 hours per officer; solution was “bust buses” that cut time to 1 hour
Motivational Hurdle: Focused on 76 precinct commanders (kingpins) in “fishbowl” meetings where performance was transparent to peers and superiors.
Political Hurdle: When courts resisted the new strategy, Bratton allied with the mayor and media to isolate opposition.
Results: Felony crime fell 39%, murders dropped 50%, theft decreased 35%, and public confidence jumped from 37% to 73%—all within two years without budget increases.
What Makes This Section Outstanding: Unlike most strategy books that treat execution as an afterthought, Kim and Mauborgne dedicate half the book to it. The tipping point leadership framework is genuinely actionable.
The Weakness: Bratton’s examples are compelling but may not transfer to corporate settings. Police departments have clear hierarchies and measurable outcomes (crime rates). How do these principles apply to more ambiguous corporate transformations? The book needs more diverse execution examples.