FROG BLOG

Differentiating and prioritizing opportunities is a primary function of the strategic plan. This is important to remember because we so often get sidetracked with all the different sections and points that typical outlines demand to be part of a ‘finished’ plan.

Remember that plan templates were developed over time by two sorts of authors. The first is the inspired, successful company that discovered a form that works. The second is the academic who has studied the inspired, successful company that discovered a form that works. From those two sources come all sorts of ‘proven’ processes and plans.

Funny thing is…The run away successes almost always deviate from the standard. They succeed specifically because they blaze an inspired trail.

So where to begin? 3 pointers:

1. Start Simple and Straightforward. If your strategy feels foggy then your people will be lost in it.
2. Let Your Strategy Limit You. If your strategy offers nothing but far off horizons with unlimited opportunity, then it will not help you make difficult choices when confronted with tactical decisions.
3. Let Your Strategy Be About What You Do, Not About Your Competitors. You never pass a competitor by following them.

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Have you identified the project in your organization that will shift the ground all your competitors compete on?

Have you protected it from suffocation under layers of corporate security blankets?

No matter what kind of organization you work at, there is a good chance the idea is there — In a business plan, maybe in development. And, more than likely covered in security blankets.

Alice Rawsthorn identified corporate security blankets as a prime culprit in a recent article, Why The Overwhelming Number Of Design Flops? (April 8, International Herald Tribune). Included in her list of blankets was ‘My Competitor Did It’ and ‘Design by Committee.’

Ground shifting innovation is moved by two key forces within any organization: Vision and Fear. When conceptualized, vision drives truly innovative ideas. It attracts key talent in your organization. It drives energy and excitement that something astounding is working its way through the pipeline.

But then the concept needs to be operationalized. Here come the security (or should we say in-security) blankets.

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When something fascinates you, do you still pick it up?

Or do thoughts of unforeseen trouble keep your hands in your pockets?

Few of us live in an industry where last year’s strategy will take us through the next decade.

Few of us have businesses where success will come from ideas handed to us by our competitors.

Sometimes the best ideas look icky when they are sitting under a rock.

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Sometimes an industry faces a long term threat that appears so overwhelming that the long term strategy appears to involve sticking management’s collective heads’ in the sand, hoping the problem goes away.

Now, it turns out that an ostrich does not stick its head in the sand. An ostrich is smarter than that. An ostrich learns to lay low, head to the ground, blending in with the scenery until it is time to jump up and run. Or jump up, kick and run. Or bite, kick and run. An ostrich keeps its options open.

Many strategic plans appear to do the same thing with long term threats. The threat gets mentioned, maybe a study group is formed, maybe a bit of research is assigned. True believers in the importance of the long term threat might even be given a ’special project’ to concentrate on.

Truth be told, this is just a different form of sticking your head in the sand. The long term threat is separated from the day-to-day operations of the company. The company isn’t ‘laying low’ waiting for the opportunity to run. It has segmented the issue, hoping something will come running to the rescue when needed.

A recent examination of U.S. automakers’ difficulty with battery technology highlights the issue. Back in the 70’s they let more fuel efficient autos in the door when fuel supplies became expensive and unpredictable. Today, once again they are behind in technology that improves fuel efficiency and it appears that competitors may have locked in years of advances in battery technology critical to catching up.

Where was the point in the strategic plan that said, “With a spike in oil prices our entire sales model will be disrupted and we will have to improve fuel efficiency because customers demand it?” You know it had to be there somewhere. They spent millions on research. They’re not idiots.

In the end, the issue was relegated off somewhere. The opportunity costs of being caught flat footed were not factored into their existing line development. The costs of playing catch-up in a world where falling behind can be terminal were ignored.

Your products face long term strategic threats. It may be environmental, it may be technological, it may be social. They exists. There are examples of great companies facing these threats head on. Building the fact of disruptive change into the day-to-day operations of their firms.

So, if you’re going to mimic an ostrich, make sure you know how an ostrich actually deals with threat — because sticking your head in the sand does not work.

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Methods of saying ‘no’ to your boss or co-worker — Business Fables “Learn the Art of Saying No.” provides ten. ‘No’ seems to be the most difficult word to use in a business relationship, maybe any relationship. ‘No’ carries with it disappointment from every angle. The receiver didn’t get what they wanted, the giver couldn’t make the receiver happy….probably the only thing worse than saying no is saying yes when you shouldn’t.

For example: “Yes, we’ll do that.” — but you don’t.

“Sure, I’ll rush that.” — but now ten other folks get their stuff late.

“I would love to speak at your meeting.” — but you wouldn’t and your attitude shows.

“Lets move forward on all these projects.” — and each one gets too little funding to be done well.

“We’ll add that feature right now.” — even though it adds more complexity than benefit and destroys lead times.

‘No’ is the great, underused tool of managing expectations. ‘No’ can focus people everywhere on the mystical 80% effort rule where profit maximization lives. ‘No’ is a necessary leadership word that focuses you, your team and your customers on the important aspects of what you do well.

That being said here’s a fair warning: There is an art to all this. ‘No’ requires creativity. Say ‘no’ at the wrong time in the wrong way and it’s mystical powers can dramatically backfire.

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As you may have read at the end of March, Dominick’s has turned me into a Yogurt Fanatic. This is not to say I enjoy yogurt more than I had before, it’s just that now I must make a separate trip to find the brand to which I had become attached (Lifeway Kefir). It’s been about two weeks and I’ve discovered Trader Joe’s. It’s a nice place. They have kefir. They also have baked pea pods (yum). To date I’ve made two trips for kefir, spent about $60 in doing so, and have found a store with a bunch of stuff I can’t find at Dominick’s.

Who Cares?

Back to shelf optimization and the trade-offs you end up making. Dominick’s missed why I shop their yogurt display. They didn’t get it. I now am buying all my yogurt elsewhere, other things as well. If there are only a few of me, Dominick’s probably wins overall from increased yogurt sales. if there are a lot of folks like me… well, they just made a great hidden contribution to their competition.

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Tom Peters borrowed something I said in a post on Indifference.  Go check it out!

“The Non-indifferent War on Words”

How cool!

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I am on a soap box these days about the effect of no thinking time. So today I come to you with a simple way to add more time into your day:

• Make all 1 hour meeting 40 minutes.
• Make all 30 minute meeting stand-up.

If you do this (at least in the meetings you have control over!) you will buy yourself at least a few extra chunks of time you can set aside for thinking. Shut your door, turn off your phone, send your computer to sleep and that’s it…contemplate a problem, noodle over the future, consider the consequences, ruminate over a decision.

I double dare you to try this…You and your business will be better off because of it.

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Are you? Is your team? Your boss? Your company?

Whether the answer is yes or no it matters. If I were a betting person (wait I’m a marketer isn’t that the same thing?) I would lay you odds that a company’s passion score is directly related to their success with long-term innovation and development.

Can a blase’ company embrace the change necessary to grow and evolve along with their customers? Can a team truly redefine how they approach the marketplace if they are indifferent?

Take a quick pulse of your organzation…is the collective heart rate up as they excitedly move ahead?

If it isn’t or you want it to go faster, you will have to be passionate and you will have to inspire passion in others.

And that is what leadership is all about.

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Floor space, budget, image, key messages, partners, neighbors, product display, education… The list can go on for quite a while. All matter. All must be optimized. But the key factor to a great trade show booth is the people who are there to talk to prospects.

In small booths it’s easy to make the mistake of putting a table between you and the aisle, adding a few folding chairs and creating a situation where prospects must actively try and grab your attention. Be standing, make it easy to shake hands.

In larger booths its easy for personnel to gather deep inside the space, forcing prospects to walk-in and around before being greeted. Yes, the prospects that make it that far are more likely to be interested. And unfortunately yes, the marginal prospect has walked past.

Booth design strategy must take into account ways to encourage your peoples’ natural ‘outgoingness.’ The trade show aisle is a natural barrier to entry encouraging straight line walking. While flash and sizzle help draw prospects past the carpet tape, your people reaching out a hand to pull prospects in is what truly drives results.

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