donald mcmichael

value-enhancing outcomes

monopolyLet’s face it, being the perceived best, obtaining scale, and operational excellence are no longer the sole drivers of business success. Advantage is less durable. But there is hope. What if I showed you how to put together a playbook that would give you the ability to deliver what your customers desire, when it’s desired, and do so on a long-term consistent basis? Keep reading. In today’s ever changing hyper-competitive business environment, it has never been more important to not only over come these challenges but to exploit the unique opportunities that it presents. There are a plethora of economic macro-economic and human changes that have forced this chance. The biggest of which we know all to well, for they are constantly parading across the pages… err home pages, of the best business news outlets. They go by the titles sluggish customer demand, price sensitivity, and risk adverse – each of which is all too real. Research and case studies conducted over the last few years suggest that the fundamental shifts in today’s business environment is forcing all of us to rethink the nature of business strategy, innovation, and consequently, leadership. The following questions are all to familiar.

  • With change so rapid, how can we develop a plan that stays relevant?
  • What is the bet way to ensure that we are reading the right signals and acting on them?
  • How do we ensure that we are taking the right approach—or the right mosaic of approaches—for the specific challenge at hand?

Business Models don’t last long anymore

What we really have to watch out for though is this new trend of rapid hyperbolic shifts in business cycles {note find post}. It is for this reason that just when you think your done reinventing your business you need to collect your $200 and return to go {get Monoploy board game picture for post}. To not only survive but prosper it is imperative that we understand how to link an existing effort to the kickstart of a new one.

Strategy needs a strategy

Over the last half decade many organizations lost confidence in strategy for good reason. Instead of determining goals and setting the right stage for success, methodologies were followed for the sake of saying one was doing XYZ. But good strategy calls for doing the opposite:

  • being clear about objectives
  • flexible about how to reach them

With a business environment that promises to remain turbulent and unpredictable for the foreseeable future we best not loose sight of this or risk our organizations ‘drifting’ in a strategic vacuum. Or worse yet a institutionalizing a strategy – innovation disconnect, just ask Nokia. Strategies and objectives need to be reviewed frequently to determine how shifts will affect both your business and marketing objectives. This will always be the primary role of Strategy, developing an integrated solution that leverages an organization’s strengths to overcome new challenges and capitalise on emerging business opportunities…. {gregs article}. Yet, it’s execution needs to change. What is called for is a new approach to strategy, innovation, and, consequently, leadership that provides a competitive edge.

“Without strategy you have no direction, without innovation you lose relevance.” – Greg Satell

Agility is this new competitive edge. Five-year plans must give way to rapid-cycle learning. Traditional strategy becomes adaptive strategy feeding its insight to, and working with, innovators to determine how to get the organization to its ultimate objective. The Business Model Canvas is such a linchpin. Together both must focus on answering the following key questions:

  • What is our business?
  • Who are our target customers?
  • What do our target customers value?
  • What should our business be?
  • What must we do to stay relevant?

It’s your move

You have the tools (BMG, Lean Startup, etc), you have the essential business model elements, now you just need to engrain the right mindset. And, that’s what we’ll tackle next week.

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