Most therapy-area reviews I have sat in start with one slide: where is the market growing?
It is a fair question. It is also the question every competitor is asking.
Lafley and Martin's Playing to Win frames strategy as linked choices: where to play, and how to win there. The second one is where most therapy-area decisions get skipped.
The order I use, from the bottom up:
Is the need real and growing? Patients, prescribers and funding that will still be there in five years.
Does it fit what we have? The same prescribers, accounts and channel as our strongest brands. Fit makes every call work harder.
Can we build the capability? Specialist reps, medical support, key account skills. Built over years, not bought in a quarter.
Do we have a right to win? A reason doctors and payers would choose us over the companies already there.
That last step is where I push hardest. If the leadership team cannot say it in one sentence, we are joining a crowd, not entering a market.
Sometimes the honest answer is to stay out. That is a decision too, and often a good one.
“A growing market is an invitation. A right to win is a reason.”
Lesson 8 of 16 in Step 1: Setting strategy, with the full guide and a checklist for this week.