Trigger Question #158?
In my experience, business leaders and managers are quick to want ‘better’. Yet when I ask why they want ‘better’, they often fall into this trap. They frame their response in terms of what they think is wrong and in terms of what they are against. They want ‘better’, but they think ‘fix’.
Let me give you an example. I once advised a newly appointed CEO as he turned around a bankrupt clothing chain of 185 stores in 5 countries. When he took over, the outside shareholders and internal executives were vocal about what was wrong (anything that could have caused the slide) and clear about what they were against (the loss of their investment, losing their jobs).
This type of thinking would never be creative enough to re-imagine, redesign, and recreate the troubled business.
Here’s the trap. You cannot build a sustainable, competitive strategy based on what is wrong and what you are against. If you tried, the strategy you design would be to react to what-is or what-was. Reactive strategies are not sustainable in a changing world.
Sustainable competitive strategies are proactive, not reactive. They aim to create what-can-be. Or even what-should-be.
Let’s get back to my example. Once the CEO communicated clearly what he stood for as a retailer, and what he was creating, things started changing throughout the clothing chain.
Once the change mentality took hold, it did not take long for creative strategies to emerge. And then for focused action plans to be implemented. The turnaround was a success, achieved within 18 months.
The secret? Build your strategy on what you stand for. But, please, make sure that your for is not simply the opposite of your against.
Welcome to my side of the nonsense divide.
. . .