Review

Strategy is simple. Human beings make it complicated, either to make sure that those who don’t fully understand the theories become reliant on those who do or to massage their own egos. Animals, however, keep their strategies at a simple level. They know that they need to implement their strategies on a daily basis to survive – thus the strap line of the book, Strategies of the Serengeti – where having the right strategy is a matter of life and death.

From the outset of his book Stephen Berry destroys some of the myths that have been built up around the subject. With a really entertaining style of writing, he then goes on to describe the strategies that various animals of the Serengeti use. I didn’t know I had been a Dung Beetle for the vast majority of my previous career – and I realised that after just the prologue. It has taken me a long time to realise that my 6’8” profile is not the only thing that compares me to the Giraffe. If you want to know what I’m talking about, read the book. You will be as enthralled as I was.

Stephen uses simple strategies of the animals and makes analogies to business that are memorable, not least because some of them are funny. At the same time you cannot help but become intrigued with the animals he describes and their nobleness. Tragically, it also makes you realise the negative impact that the human being is having on some of these animals and their environment – another example of how we create flawed strategies instead of learning from the animals we share this earth with.

This is one of those books that has a big impact on the reader and is my top recommendation for a great book about strategy.

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