The new book by Skip York · January 5, 2027
Mind the Gap : How Leaders Bridge Today’s Position to Tomorrow’s Aspirations
A practical framework for leaders whose decisions have long-term consequences.
Hardcover · Advantage Books
Written for the people who carry the decision
Strategic plans fail every day — not because the analysis is wrong, but because nothing in the plan changes what anyone does on Monday morning. Mind the Gap is Skip’s answer to two decades of colleagues telling him he should write a book: a practical framework for leaders who have to make decisions with long-term consequences, built on the three-legged stool — the assets you have today, the assets you want tomorrow, and the actions that bridge them.
It’s written for the people who carry those decisions, not the people who grade them.
“Skip York provides the definitive toolkit and the distilled essentials to get you and your organization on the way to winning and achieving your purpose.”
Strategy that changes what you do every day
Drawing on thirty years advising and working inside global organizations, Skip York gives leaders who make long-term decisions a framework they can use on Monday morning. Skip's own call to action: take your strategy off the shelf and let it change what you do every day.
You'll learn how to
- Distinguish strategic decisions from merely important ones
- Define an aspiration that actually guides choices
- Select where to play — with discipline
- Develop a winning approach in the markets you choose
- Build the capabilities the strategy requires
- Create management systems that keep strategy alive
Three ideas that change how strategy gets done
Important isn’t strategic
Most of what gets called strategic is really urgent. Knowing the difference is where clarity starts.
The three-legged stool
Today’s assets, tomorrow’s assets and the actions that bridge them. Remove one leg and the plan falls.
The discipline of no
In capital-intensive businesses, a fast, early “no” is the cheapest good decision you’ll make.
What's inside
1
What Strategy Is (and More Importantly, Isn't)
the D-Day test
2
Defining Your Aspiration
reflective vs. prospective aspirations
3
Where to Play
and the harder question of where not to
4
How to Win
"what would have to be true?"
5
Required Capabilities
build, buy or borrow
6
Management Systems for Strategy
capital allocation that follows strategy
7
Sustaining Strategy
strategy as a living document
8
Strategic Thinking for the Long Term
decisions that span decades
Chapter 1's distinction gets the full treatment in the D-Day test for telling strategy from tactics.
Who it’s for
CEOs and executive teams
Leaders whose next decision will tie up capital for a decade or more, and who need a plan their organization will act on.
Boards
Directors who oversee long-horizon strategy and want a clear way to test whether a plan is truly strategic.
Strategy and planning leaders
The people who write the plan and want it to leave the binder: in energy, mining and other capital-intensive industries.
About the author
Skip York has spent more than thirty years on the strategic questions that shape energy and mining — at Exxon, McKinsey and Wood Mackenzie, and as head of commodity strategy for BHP’s petroleum business, where he set the strategy that repositioned $30B in petroleum assets. Today he is a nonresident fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute, chief energy strategist at Turner Mason & Company, and founder of DSC Advising.
Praise for Mind the Gap
“Mind the Gap is a thought-provoking tour of the value of a structured approach to strategic thinking within organizations. Skip articulates various elements that define a well-structured strategy, while highlighting the importance of long-term thinking—which is too often discounted—for sustained growth and success.”
“York has lasered in on the reason so many organizations lose their way. Mind the Gap will reground you in your approach to aligning operations with strategy.”
“Dr. York has brought new insight and clarity to the age-old problems of strategic thinking and organizational development. Mind the Gap is both an education and a guidebook.”
“Skip York demystifies strategy in Mind the Gap. Grab your pencil and paper!”
Ordering for your leadership team?
Bulk orders, signed copies and a keynote to go with them for your offsite or conference.
Questions about Mind the Gap
Who is Skip York?
Skip York (Dr. Harold "Skip" York) is a strategist and energy economist. He is the nonresident fellow in energy and global oil at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy, chief energy strategist at Turner Mason & Company, and founder of DSC Advising. He previously led commodity strategy for BHP's petroleum business and holds a PhD in economics from the University of Virginia. He is the author of Mind the Gap: How Leaders Bridge Today's Position to Tomorrow's Aspirations.
What is Mind the Gap by Skip York about?
Mind the Gap is a practical strategy book for leaders whose decisions have long-term consequences. Skip York shows how to tell strategic decisions from merely important ones, define an aspiration that guides choices, decide where to play and where not to, build the capabilities a strategy needs, and set up management systems that keep strategy alive. Its central framework, the three-legged stool, connects the assets you have today, the assets you want tomorrow, and the actions that bridge them.
When is Mind the Gap published, and where can I buy it?
Mind the Gap: How Leaders Bridge Today's Position to Tomorrow's Aspirations by Skip York is published by Advantage Books on January 5, 2027, in hardcover (240 pages) and Kindle. It is available to pre-order now from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
How is Mind the Gap different from Playing to Win?
Skip York builds on the "where to play, how to win" framework that Roger Martin and A.G. Lafley set out in Playing to Win, and applies it to organizations with long planning horizons — energy, natural resources, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and aerospace. Mind the Gap adds the distinction between strategic and merely important decisions, the three-legged stool, and the discipline of saying a fast, early "no" to attractive opportunities that don't fit.
Mind the gap.
Then close it.
Pre-order Mind the Gap today, publishing January 5, 2027.