Michael Porter Quotes & Sayings

“The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.”

“Strategy is about making choices, trade-offs; it's about deliberately choosing to be different.”

“As a multisport athlete, I was always fascinated with competition and how to win. At HBS and later at the Harvard Department of Economics, I was drawn to the field of competition and strategy because it tackles perhaps the most basic question in both business management and industrial economics: What determines corporate performance?”

“Change brings opportunities. On the other hand, change can be confusing.”

“Innovation is the central issue in economic prosperity.”

“The best CEOs I know are teachers, and at the core of what they teach is strategy.”

“Strategy 101 is about choices: You can't be all things to all people.”

“Unfortunately, I'm an engineer. I'm always thinking about, what's the task and how do I get it done? And some of my tasks are pretty broad, and pretty fuzzy, and pretty funky, but that's the way I think.”

“There's a fundamental distinction between strategy and operational effectiveness.”

“A strategy delineates a territory in which a company seeks to be unique.”