What Great Leaders Know Series
#7 What’s a Strategy and How Do I Get One?
Every business that succeeds has developed clear differentiation from every other business that competes for the same customer dollar to solve the same problem – differentiation that customers value. It doesn’t matter if you are a one person shop or a giant multi-national corporation.
So, how could a
declining, pure commodity business, flour, in a declining category with a poor market position and cost disadvantage differentiate from competitors and achieve revenue growth of 21%, profit increases of 85%, all while reducing spending … in two years?
For many, many businesses, this is essentially the challenge they face and the performance they want. Developing a strategy that works is the solution. But what is a strategy and how do I get one?
#6 I’ll Bet This Is Missing in Your Business Strategy
A true story: At a very well known manufacturer, there was a line worker in one of the company’s plants. The job, as explained to her, was to install a specific part as part of the assembly of a larger component. She had no idea what the part she installed did or what the component she contributed to would ultimately become. Read more or share… »
#5 Some BS: The World is Changing Too Fast
to Build and Sustain a Competitive Advantage
I recently read an article in Harvard Business Review. The point of the article is that creating a long term competitive advantage is almost impossible today because the world is changing too fast. This is, to sum it up in two letters, BS.
#4 Why Chasing Productivity Can Be A Trap
Hugh ran a $75 million manufacturing business. He’d been running this business for over 12 years. He worked long hours to keep the business on track, through many productivity improvement initiatives: customer acquisition campaigns and marketing productivity, pricing, sales effectiveness, employee management, and procurement/manufacturing/distribution cost reduction. Despite decades in the business, products and quality equal to the leading competitor, and a well known brand, the business was losing revenue and market share, and profit was barely staying even. Why? Read more or share… »
Great Leaders Series Overview
#3 Why Have Businesses Stopped Doing This?
We believe the complexity and sheer volume of “step-wise” business improvement has led companies to ignore the larger strategic health in their business (Focusing on the What – Why and How —the underlying drivers of real success).
We believe for a business to flourish, the complexity of leadership, strategy and execution must be simplified. The ability to simplify complexity is an extraordinarily powerful competitive advantage.
So we wrote a book, and we’re providing it to you (free) — offering many of the simplifying practices we’ve found that work — through research and leading over 30 businesses to several billion dollars in new, profitable growth. It will show up in your email one or two times a week, in easily consumed parcels. Read more or share… »