StrategyDriven Big Picture of Business Article

MacroScope: Big Picture Perspective Takes Your Business Further

/0 Comments/in /by

StrategyDriven Big Picture of Business ArticleIt seems so basic and so simple: Look at the whole of the organization, then at the parts as components of the whole and back to the bigger picture.

The Big Picture of business is a continuing realignment of current conditions, diced with opportunities. The result will be creative new variations.

Business must review, revise and reinvent itself for the 21st Century. The great mistake is thinking that tomorrow will be the same as today. 90% of all firms are out of business by year 10. 70% of businesses cannot or should not grow any further.

Companies spend so much time rearranging small pieces of their business puzzles that they neglect long-term Strategic Planning and miss potential successes. 98% of companies have no real plan of action and meander toward uncertainty and perils.

Each year, one-third of the U.S. Gross National Product goes toward cleaning up damages caused by companies that failed to take proper actions. The costs of band-aid surgery for problems and make-good work cost business six times that of proper planning, oversight and accountability. 92% of problems stem from poor management decisions.

98% of all organizations – including major corporations, small businesses, public-sector entities and community groups — have no real plan for where they are going or how they will get there. Of the two percent that do, their plans usually consist of sales goals, lists of projects to be completed, trite slogans that pass for mission statements, or marketing hype.

Organizations stop growing because they have failed to make investments for the future. Rather than plan to grow and follow the plan, they rationalize organizational setbacks, excuse poor service or quality, and avoid change, all the while denying the need for change and avoiding any planning. Too often, they rely on what worked for them in the past, on buzzwords, and on incomplete strategies. I’ve also seen businesses in which a paralysis creeps in, keeping them from doing anything at all.

To benefit from change and to grow, each organization may take these actions in order to move forward:

  • Understand where you’ve been and where you might go.
  • Research trends and spot opportunities.
  • Heed messages from the marketplace telling them of changing market conditions, new global business imperatives, new partnering concepts, recognition of new stakeholders, and other changes outside of their influence that may profoundly affect them.
  • Put more focus upon running a successful organization.
  • Get a qualified business mentor.
  • Identify the company’s stakeholders and work with them.
  • Predict and benefit from cycles in business.
  • Broaden the scope of your services.
  • Find creative ways to collaborate with other companies. Collaborations, partnering and joint-venturing are the major business emphasis for economic survival and future growth.

A growth plan or strategic plan is a must for any organization that intends to survive and thrive in today’s rapidly changing business environment. Take a big picture business approach by looking at the whole, then at the parts as they relate to the whole, then at the whole again. Plan to grow, and grow by the plan.

These are the basics of Big Picture business growth strategies:

  • Know the business you’re really in. Prioritize the actual reasons why you provide services, what customers want and external influences. Where all three intersect constitutes the Growth Strategy.
  • Focus more upon service. Dispel the widely-held expectations of poor customer service. Building relationships is paramount to adding, holding and getting referrals for further business. Retaining 2% of customers from deflecting has a bigger impact on your bottom line than cutting 10% out of operating expenses.
  • Plans do not work unless they consider input and practicalities from those who will carry them out. Know the people involved, and develop their leadership abilities. Plans must have commitment and ownership.
  • Markets will always seek new and more profitable customer bases. Planning must prepare for crises, profit from change and benchmark the progress. “More of the same” is not a Growth Strategy. A company cannot solely focus inward. Understand forces outside your company that can drastically alter plans and adapt strategies accordingly.
  • Evaluate the things that your company really can accomplish. Overcome the “nothing works” cynicism via partnerships and long-range problem solving. It requires more than traditional or short-term measures. He who upsets something should know how to rearrange it. Anyone can poke holes at organizations. The valuable ones know the processes of pro-active change, implementation and benchmarking the achievements.
  • Take a holistic approach toward individual and corporate development. Band-aid surgery only perpetuates problems. Focus upon substance, rather than “flash and sizzle.” Success is incrementally attained, and then the yardstick is pushed progressively higher.

Management and leadership activities must be fine-tuned to the company’s Big Picture. Vision is an organization’s way. Corporate culture is the methodology by which they successfully accomplish Vision.

For companies to succeed long-term, the Visioning process begins with forethought, continues with research and culminates in a Strategic Plan, including mission, core values, goals, objectives (per each key results area), tactics to address and accomplish, timeline and benchmarking criteria.

Corporate Visioning goes beyond the Strategic Plan. It sculpts how the organization will progress, its character and spirit, participation of its people and steps that will carry the organization to the next tiers of desired achievement, involvement and quality.

Both the Strategic Plan and the Visioning process must be followed through. This investment is one-sixth that of later performing band-aid surgery on an ailing organization.

Key Messages to Recall and Apply Toward Your Business:

  • Understand the Big Picture
  • Benefit from Change
  • Avoid False Idols and Facades
  • Remediate the High Costs of Band-Aid Surgery
  • Learning Organizations Are More Successful
  • Plan and Benchmark
  • Craft and Sustain the Vision

About the Author

Hank Moore has advised 5,000+ client organizations worldwide (including 100 of the Fortune 500, public sector agencies, small businesses and non-profit organizations). He has advised two U.S. Presidents and spoke at five Economic Summits. He guides companies through growth strategies, visioning, strategic planning, executive leadership development, Futurism and Big Picture issues which profoundly affect the business climate. He conducts company evaluations, creates the big ideas and anchors the enterprise to its next tier. The Business Tree™ is his trademarked approach to growing, strengthening and evolving business, while mastering change. To read Hank’s complete biography, click here.

StrategyDriven Podcast Special Edition 21e – An Interview with Duane Sparks, author of Sales Strategy from the Inside Out

/0 Comments/in , /by

StrategyDriven Podcasts focus on the tools and techniques executives and managers can use to improve their organization’s alignment and accountability to ultimately achieve superior results. These podcasts elaborate on the best practice and warning flag articles on the StrategyDriven website.

Special Edition 21e – An Interview with Duane Sparks, author of Sales Strategy from the Inside Out explores how businesses employing a consultative sales method realize dramatically increased revenues. During our discussion, Duane Sparks, author of Sales Strategy From The Inside Out: How Complex Selling Really Works and Chairman and Founder of The Sales Board, shares with us his insights and illustrative examples regarding:

  • the five decisions individuals go through before making the final buying decision
  • how to bring other team members into the sales process and the benefits of this practice
  • determining the right number of client needs identification interactions before presenting a solution balanced with the client’s desire to hear the solution given their time investment
  • role of the sales professional in orchestrating solution presentations made by client personnel

Additional Information

In addition to the invaluable selling skills insight Duane shares in Sales Strategy From The Inside Out and this special edition podcast, please visit his company’s Sales Training or Sales Management site. To discover why this selling skill is so effective at maximizing sales productivity, purchase Duane’s book: Sales Strategy From The Inside Out.

Complimenting Sales Strategy From The Inside Out, are Duane’s four other books on the consultative sales process including:


Read a Summary of the above Sales Books.

Final Request…

The strength of our community grows with the additional insights brought by our expanding member base. Please consider rating us on iTunes by clicking here. Rating the StrategyDriven Podcast and providing your comments online improves our ranking and helps us attract new listeners which, in turn, helps us grow our community.

Thank you again for listening to the StrategyDriven Podcast!

About the Author

Duane Sparks, author of Sales Strategy From The Inside Out, is Chairman and Founder of The Sales Board, a Minneapolis-based strategic sales training company that has trained and certified more than 350,000 salespeople in more than 3,000 groups in the system and skills of Action Selling. He has written five sales books, personally facilitated more than 300 Action Selling training sessions and continues to engage in the business and art of the strategic sales process. Read Duane’s full biography and the history of Action Selling Sales Management Training.
[powerpress]

Ideas Are the Easy Part

/1 Comment/in , /by

One of the best aspects of my role as Fahrenheit 212’s COO is that I’m the first person candidates meet when they’re interviewing for a job. No matter how many people I interview, I am constantly astounded by the ideas they bring to our conversations. Amazing, amazing ideas with clear market opportunities.

Drinks that prevent hangovers.

Athletic clothes that go beyond wicking and actually hydrate.

A service called Dial A Mom that would provide all the services you want when you’re sick –making doctor appointments, picking up your prescriptions, even sending chicken soup. And the best part is the business would be staffed by actual retired moms. They would get paid for doing what comes naturally and sick people would get what exactly what they want at exactly the right moment. Genius!

The point is, great ideas are everywhere. Online, off line, even in a line at Starbucks, today’s culture consists of people who are constantly dreaming up new things that should exist. And as a result, I think most readers would likely agree that the old adage is true: ideas can indeed come from anywhere.

[wcm_restrict]And yet, while they can come from anywhere, most ideas never really go anywhere. Why?

I would suggest it’s due to the fact that there’s a big difference between an idea and an innovation.

Idea vs. Innovation

When you start to explore the difference between an idea and an innovation, you’re (not surprisingly) confronted with a million and one different definitions of the two terms.

An idea is a provocative thought that has the power to inspire action.

An innovation is the result of inspired action. It’s something created that improves life in a manner that’s both quantifiable and sustainable.

Innovations require the catalytic power of ideas. But it’s the catalyzed action that generates the outcomes that change the world.

It’s the difference between concept car and the Prius. Between Bell Labs and Apple. Between Dial-A-Mom and Amazon.com.

When we launched Fahrenheit 212, we set out to create a firm specializing in the creation of new products, businesses and services for our clients that would make this critical leap from idea to innovation.

Ah, The Benefits Of Hindsight

Without question, one of the smartest things we did was to anchor our business model on a performance-based compensation structure. It’s a straightforward approach in which we put 2/3 of our potential revenue at risk based on the performance of the innovations we create for our client.

The decision to link our success to that of our clients was driven by two factors. The first stemmed from Fahrenheit 212’s New Zealand origins where “put up or shut up” is a defining cultural norm. The second was our initial suspicion that potential clients would welcome the idea of a consulting firm that actually had skin in the game.

What we didn’t realize at the outset was that it would be the key to creating successful innovations.

When You Have To Deliver, You Learn To Deliver

In 1999, Jim Collins wrote a brilliant piece in the Harvard Business Review entitled, “Turning Goals Into Results: The Power Of Catalytic Mechanisms.” In it he addressed the problem that many managers face within their organization: they have a big goal but lack the organizational focus and courage to achieve it. Collins offered catalytic mechanisms as a potential solution.

By his definition, a Catalytic Mechanism is “the crucial link between objectives and performance, [the] galvanizing device that translate lofty aspirations into concrete reality.”

His article provided some fantastically poignant examples that span a wide range of industries. But for the purposes of this discussion, I’ll break his central thesis down into an analogy we can all understand: if you’re standing next to a lake and you have to catch a fish to eat, you will catch a fish.

Collins posits that this same philosophy can be applied to business problems simply by framing a firm’s most ambitious goals in this type of scenario:

  • Step One: Translate your objective (I would like to catch a fish) into an imperative (I will catch a fish)
  • Step Two: Give it real teeth (or I will die)
  • Step Three: Get to work (start fishing… with dynamite)

For Fahrenheit 212, our performance-based compensation model provided us with a powerful catalytic mechanism – we needed to figure out how to generate true innovations quickly, consistently and across a wide range of categories.

And in so doing, it gave us a much better understanding of the core tenets of effective innovation.

Money and Magic

In order for an innovation to gain necessary traction inside a company and ultimately within a competitive market, it needs to have two central characteristics. It has to tap into a real commercial opportunity and it has to capture people’s imaginations in a manner that is both unique and compelling. Said simply, it needs to have “the money and the magic.” Without “the money” it won’t likely see the light of day. Without “the magic” it’s unlikely to break into consumers’ consideration set in a sustainable manner.

As simple as this prescription sounds, it’s frequently overlooked. In some instances, a company’s desire to capitalize on a rapidly emerging growth opportunity can overwhelm its better instincts and cause it to rush a me-too product to launch only to discover it lacks the magic necessary to unseat the market leaders (think Microsoft Zune).

Or conversely, a company can be painfully disappointed when it discovers its new magical product hits a gap in the market, but not a market in the gap (sorry Dean Kamen).

The What, The Why and The How

Once it’s clear the innovation you’re creating offers a balance of the money and the magic, it’s important to create an action plan that will enable you to leverage the necessary support amongst key stakeholders within your organization.

Here again, we’ve found that simplicity is an asset. We believe successful innovations can be distilled into three component parts:

  • The What: The first step is capturing the lightning in a bottle and expressing it in a manner that clearly defines “what” you are creating that will make the world a better place. The hybrid car. The stain stick. The first detergent in the world that’s so beautiful you actually want to keep it above the sink. The What should be the encapsulation of the inspiration. It’s the loadstone that guides the collective actions necessary to get your vision into the hands of customers. If it’s simple and clear, it will drive action. If it’s not, you run the risk of giving the world the next Pontiac Aztrek.
  • The Why: The second step is articulating “the why.” Unfortunately, today’s corporate culture has become a hotbed of risk-aversion. Senior managers across categories are frequently rewarded for their ability to challenge, to question and to advocate on behalf of the devil. And as a result, early stage innovations are often forced to climb a steep hill of inquisition before they reach acceptance. To succeed, innovators need to be able to convincingly yet succinctly defend why the idea they are championing has strategic and commercial power.
  • The How: There’s a reason the number of ideas far exceeds the number of true innovations: the lightning strike is just the beginning. Sure the blinding inspiration of a “eureka moment” is thrilling; but in reality, it’s just the first step. As any entrepreneur will tell you, the journey from conceptualization to commercialization is often when the real break-through thinking happens. As a result, it’s critical to have a well-defined understanding of what needs to be true for an innovation to get to market. Once you’ve defined “the how”, the champion should surround herself with lateral-thinking people who can react quickly to new challenges without ever losing sight of the true vision.

[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember]

Hi there! This article is available for free. Login or register as a StrategyDriven Personal Business Advisor Self-Guided Client by:

[reveal_quick_checkout id=”25489″ checkout_text=”Subscribing to the Self Guided Program – It’s Free!”]
 
[/wcm_nonmember]

About the Author

Pete Maulik is Partner and Chief Operating Officer at innovation consultancy Fahrenheit 212. He is instrumental in the development, evolution and actualization of clients’ innovation efforts. His experience includes leading innovation projects in the alcohol, technology, FMCG, software, beauty, financial services and hospitality categories. Pete is responsible for unleashing the potential of the Fahrenheit 212 organization. This includes finding world-class people, giving them a structure in which they can perform at their peak and ensuring Fahrenheit 212 is delivering transformational innovations on every project.

Pete has spoken on the power of bringing creativity to business at Columbia Business School, Pace University, American Marketing Association’s Quarterly Meetings, The Art Director’s Club of New York, ESSEC and Fordham Business School.

He holds an undergraduate degree from Harvard and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Portfolio Management Best Practice 2 – The Project Registry

/0 Comments/in , /by

How frequently do organizations duplicate effort because the same initiative is unknowingly performed by more than one group? Probably far more often that one might think and certainly more frequently than one would want to admit.[wcm_restrict plans=”41080, 25542, 25653″]

As an organization’s size increases, it becomes increasingly difficult for managers to be aware of all of the activities going on within each of the organization’s various divisions, departments, and workgroups. Subsequently, managers may fund initiatives within their area of responsibility not realizing that a similar effort is being undertaken by another workgroup; sometimes within the same building! The question becomes how this duplication of effort can be minimized so as to not unnecessarily waste the organization’s precious resources. A single consolidate corporate project registry is one possible answer to this dilemma.

Project registries are easily accessible, consolidated listings of all in progress projects within the organization. Such registries serve as a communications tool; providing visibility to the body of work being undertaken throughout the organization. By providing executives and managers with the project details of groups within and outside their direct control, duplicative projects can be eliminated.

Prior to initiating a project, managers are required, by policy, to check the organization’s consolidated project registry and ensure no other similar effort is in progress. If such a project does exist, the manager should seek to collaborate with those leading that effort in order to extend the benefits of the already funded project while minimizing the need for additional expenditures. Key features of an effective project registry include:

  • easily accessible – often available through the organization’s intranet
  • limited size – only projects larger than a predefined size are included so to minimize the registry’s length, thereby ensuring its ease of use balanced against the potential cost of duplicating smaller not-listed projects
  • searchable – possesses search capabilities such that individual projects can be easily identified from the longer list
  • indexed – an index key, often a sequential numbering of listed projects, provides ease of reference
  • detailed – each project listed is accompanied by its title, owner and/or manager names and contact information, initiation and expected completion dates, description, and outputs/benefits/results to be achieved

To reinforce the project registry’s use, project initiation documents should have an activity signoff for checking the project registry for duplicate efforts and project approval documents an activity for updating the project registry. If duplicate projects are identified, an effort should be made to combine the work thereby eliminating an unnecessary expenditure of corporate resources.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember plans=”41080, 25542, 25653″]

Hi there! Gain access to this article with a StrategyDriven Insights Library – Total Access subscription or buy access to the article itself.

Subscribe to the StrategyDriven Insights Library

Sign-up now for your StrategyDriven Insights Library – Total Access subscription for as low as $15 / month (paid annually).

Subscribe Now!

Not sure? Click here to learn more.

 Buy the Article

Don’t need a subscription? Buy access to Portfolio Management Best Practice 2 – The Project Registry for just $2!

Access the Article Now!

[/wcm_nonmember]

5 Tips to Keep You Mission-Ready

/0 Comments/in /by

Whether you’re currently employed, seeking a new opportunity, or transitioning from the military into the civilian work force, it’s important to continuously find ways to hone and refine your professional skill while on the job.

Below are five critical wing tips that will keep you flying high and mission ready in a turbulent work environment and rapidly changing economy:[wcm_restrict]

  1. Walk the flight line: Get out there and connect with different departments on the job. If you’re in sales, grab a cup of coffee with tech support or customer service. If you’re in marketing, spend an hour or two in finance or in research and development. Make your objective not only to get to know the job of your fellow wingmen at work, but to get to know them personally. When you treat you co-workers as people first and employees second, they will go the extra mile for you when you call out “mayday” and ask for help when the missiles of business are launched.
  2. Seek out an informal mentor: We always learn more when
    we get authentic (and timely) feedback on our performance. Ask your supervisor or a trusted colleague to sit in on your sales call or presentation. Politely ask for their honest feedback, but be willing to be humbled. Then, thank them and take immediate action to work on the areas that need improvement. Finally, offer to do the same for them. Wingmen naturally want to help others in their formation.
  3. Fine new wingmen, and jettison the wing nuts: The relationships you have outside of work are almost as important as the ones you have at work. Who do you hang out with after hours and on the weekends? Are they wingmen who challenge you to grow and lifting you to new heights? Or are they wing nuts – dragging you down and holding you back? If you want to grow personally and professionally, spend time with wingmen of character who will hold you accountable for meeting your commitments and won’t “yes” you to death.
  4. Be a wing-giver: Think outside your cockpit. When a volunteer opportunity at works presents itself, raise your hand and take it on. Help lead a company fundraising initiative or volunteer to serve on a committee that plans the annual holiday party. Be the type of wingman others can come to for help. These behind the scenes missions that often go unnoticed are great opportunities to showcase your leadership and planning skills. Most importantly, it will give you a chance to build relationships with other employees in your company from different divisions.
  5. Sharpen your sword: Don’t rely on your company to provide on-the-job training. Seek out opportunities to grow outside of work. In addition to finding wingmen that are committed to excellence, attend a skills seminar or personal development course that may not have anything to do with your immediate job requirements. Attend a public-speaking class, a weekend seminar on communication skills, or a local three-hour course on Microsoft Excel. These will pay off huge dividends on the job as you become more professionally balanced and flexible enough to handle additional tasks.

[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember]

Hi there! This article is available for free. Login or register as a StrategyDriven Personal Business Advisor Self-Guided Client by:

[reveal_quick_checkout id=”25489″ checkout_text=”Subscribing to the Self Guided Program – It’s Free!”]
 
[/wcm_nonmember]

About the Author

Robert “Waldo” Waldman is a decorated former fighter pilot, sales manager, and professional leadership speaker. His Fortune 500 clients include Hewlett-Packard, Aflac, Marriott, Medtronic, and Nokia. He has been featured on Fox News and BusinessWeek online and in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Selling Power. A lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Reserve, Waldman lives in Atlanta where he was ranked one of the Top 40 under 40 Business Leaders in Georgia.