Strategy is about choosing different ways
of competing that are not necessarily good for everybody, but that are uniquely
good for you, in your company, given the particular market outcome that
you aspire to achieve.
The essence of strategy is tradeoffs - making choices
about what you won't do, in order to do other things uniquely well. The
weakness of many companies is that they lack the discipline to limit themselves
to competing in some business segments while avoiding others. They react
to pressure to quickly grow revenue without first considering the strategic
impact. Many businesses inadvertently destroy their competitive advantage
by attempting to be everything to everybody.
Everyday, you and your employees are making
choices - about how to spend your time, about what to say to individual
customers, about whom to call on - and those choices are either going to
be consistent or inconsistent with your strategy. To ensure sustainable
results, you must be diligent in communicating and enforcing the strategic
limits of your company.
Sustainable competitive advantage comes from being different.
What one must ask is: "How can we, by limiting what we do, by not
seeking to serve all customers, by not seeking to offer every product
in every geography, how can we, by limiting ourselves, be unique?"
That's the essential strategic question you must answer.
The strategic mind set understands tradeoff.
The strategic mind set is willing to sacrifice customers and is willing
to forgo making customers happy if they're not profitable customers.
The strategic mind set is willing to turn down current
opportunities for growth if those opportunities are not wholly consistent
with the long-term strategy. This means that as the Leader, you have to
learn to say "NO" a lot!
In any business, there are countless opportunities
to invest money, to incorporate new technologies, to add new features, to
chase a new market segment, to respond to a competitor. There's constant
pressure from all directions to blur, homogenize, and imitate in the name
of "opportunity." So, while you are developing and reinforcing
your strategy - communicating how you are different and what you are willing
to give up in the name of strategy- you must also have the self-discipline
and courage to be the enforcer of those limits. Only by setting limits can
you truly be unique. And without being unique, you will have no competitive
advantage.
The hallmark of strategic thinking is making those crucial
tradeoffs.
You must have the willpower to turn away
some customers, pass on some opportunities and abandon some markets in order
to focus on what you do best. Most business owners don't want to hear this,
because in the short term, sticking to a core strategy may constrict growth.
But those who have the guts and determination to focus
on the areas where they have a unique competitive advantage will build
a much stronger, and ultimately, more successful company.
LEAP is our acronym for an Action
Management Technique
Lead the charge with an overall Strategic
Objective for 2008 and the beginnings of a Strategic Plan in place.
Energize the triad of Productivity/Labor/Capital to leap
the gap over current performance and future objectives.
Allocate resources to the plan preparation,
launch and sustained drive.
Proceed with the tools, support and resources
that an enterprise leader applies to creating a prosperous future.
Workshop Led by Dale Bruder, Dynamic
Strategy Business Coach
