"The core of strategy work is always the same: Discovering the critical factors in a situation and designing a way of co-ordinating and focusing actions to deal with those factors."
From Good Strategy/Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt. No more, no less. Brilliantly put.
Choose also what not to do
Just read a brilliant article on the essentials of strategy: Ditch the To-Do list and start a Not-To-Do list. Distinguish between To Do and To Die For. We tend to forget that strategy is not only about choosing what to do, but also about choosing what not to do.
The article is written with an innovation perspective but the principle applies to all kinds of strategy. Remember what Michelango answered when asked how he could create a sculpture as magnificent as David: "I carve away everything that isn't David".
It also applies to how we approach our work in general. I've worked with a performance consultant over the years when I was at Levi's and also at Lego, and I'm still inspired by his approach.
One of his principles is that potential - interference = performance. Interference can be many things but often it's dressed as a hell-bent focus on tasks. We buzz around all day at the office busy doing tasky stuff, when what we should be focusing on is the purpose and objectives, the bigger goals.
Stephen Covey and others promote the important/urgent matrix and that's a good tool to create awareness of just how much time we spend on disproportionately time-consuming tasky stuff. But ultimately, it's the mindset that matters. Gerry, the consultant, would always challenge us to get clear on the purpose of our job and the business and whether a given task was aligned with the purpose. If it was not, bye-bye task.
It's really hard to do! It's like taking a leap into the unknown, a leap of faith. What if I don't do this task, what will happen, what might I miss, will the earth stop turning, will the sun still rise?
And it's just as hard to choose what not to do as part of a strategy. But it's among the most important choices we can make. Create a clearing so you can see the forest in there between all the trees. And start chopping.
Read the full article in Business Week here.
The article is written with an innovation perspective but the principle applies to all kinds of strategy. Remember what Michelango answered when asked how he could create a sculpture as magnificent as David: "I carve away everything that isn't David".
It also applies to how we approach our work in general. I've worked with a performance consultant over the years when I was at Levi's and also at Lego, and I'm still inspired by his approach.
One of his principles is that potential - interference = performance. Interference can be many things but often it's dressed as a hell-bent focus on tasks. We buzz around all day at the office busy doing tasky stuff, when what we should be focusing on is the purpose and objectives, the bigger goals.
Stephen Covey and others promote the important/urgent matrix and that's a good tool to create awareness of just how much time we spend on disproportionately time-consuming tasky stuff. But ultimately, it's the mindset that matters. Gerry, the consultant, would always challenge us to get clear on the purpose of our job and the business and whether a given task was aligned with the purpose. If it was not, bye-bye task.
It's really hard to do! It's like taking a leap into the unknown, a leap of faith. What if I don't do this task, what will happen, what might I miss, will the earth stop turning, will the sun still rise?
And it's just as hard to choose what not to do as part of a strategy. But it's among the most important choices we can make. Create a clearing so you can see the forest in there between all the trees. And start chopping.
Read the full article in Business Week here.
Vækstdagen 2011
To my Danish readers: I will be speaking at the annual Vækstdag February 10 in Copenhagen about Brand As Strategy and why Branding is dead while the Brand is very much alive. More info and registration at Vækstdagen 2011. For an immediate view on the topic, pls read the post below.
Branding is dead, long live the brand
Branding is dead, long live the brand. What do I mean by that?
All companies are building their brand(s) every day, it's inevitable. But many don't realize it and have no plan or system for it which can have dire consequences. Perhaps even worse, many think that building the brand has to do with simply raising awareness of it and spending a lot of $$ on campaigns, and much less with delivering value to the customers in a specific and consistent way.
The word 'branding' has come to mean slapping a logo and a cute name on an expensive piece of packaging and then promoting the bejesus out of it. It has come to mean something we do at the end of the product development process, when we are about to launch. It has become superficial, disconnected from the product, the company and the people behind it. This saddens me so, because when approaching the brand this way, we cannot leverage it, we cannot maximise its potential, we cannot serve customers, and we cannot create or develop a business around it.
This is why I say that 'branding' is dead. The brand, however, is very much alive, and in fact more important than ever.
But does brand really matter these days, you might ask, when more and more marketing takes place between people eg on social media networks?
Why yes. Indeed, in a me-too marketplace where everybody has access and can express themselves about any brand any time (and this openness, in my book, is a great thing), the importance of developing and managing a highly differentiated brand - which starts with delivering distinct and superior customer value consistently - is more critical than ever.
We can only do so by putting the brand at the heart of our business strategy. Apart from simplifying the complex, making objectives clear and realistic, and giving direction for everyone in the company, putting the brand at the center ensures that everyone understands the brand promise and works on delivering this to customers every day. And it helps broadening yet clearly specifying the options for business development and growth.
The brand is what people buy. The product, the promise, the experience, and the conviction behind it. Meet and exceed customers' expectations and maximise business potential by putting the brand at the heart of your business strategy.
NB. To my Danish readers: I will be talking about this at the annual Vækstdag February 10 in Copenhagen. More info at Vækstdagen 2011.
All companies are building their brand(s) every day, it's inevitable. But many don't realize it and have no plan or system for it which can have dire consequences. Perhaps even worse, many think that building the brand has to do with simply raising awareness of it and spending a lot of $$ on campaigns, and much less with delivering value to the customers in a specific and consistent way.
The word 'branding' has come to mean slapping a logo and a cute name on an expensive piece of packaging and then promoting the bejesus out of it. It has come to mean something we do at the end of the product development process, when we are about to launch. It has become superficial, disconnected from the product, the company and the people behind it. This saddens me so, because when approaching the brand this way, we cannot leverage it, we cannot maximise its potential, we cannot serve customers, and we cannot create or develop a business around it.
This is why I say that 'branding' is dead. The brand, however, is very much alive, and in fact more important than ever.
But does brand really matter these days, you might ask, when more and more marketing takes place between people eg on social media networks?
Why yes. Indeed, in a me-too marketplace where everybody has access and can express themselves about any brand any time (and this openness, in my book, is a great thing), the importance of developing and managing a highly differentiated brand - which starts with delivering distinct and superior customer value consistently - is more critical than ever.
We can only do so by putting the brand at the heart of our business strategy. Apart from simplifying the complex, making objectives clear and realistic, and giving direction for everyone in the company, putting the brand at the center ensures that everyone understands the brand promise and works on delivering this to customers every day. And it helps broadening yet clearly specifying the options for business development and growth.
The brand is what people buy. The product, the promise, the experience, and the conviction behind it. Meet and exceed customers' expectations and maximise business potential by putting the brand at the heart of your business strategy.
NB. To my Danish readers: I will be talking about this at the annual Vækstdag February 10 in Copenhagen. More info at Vækstdagen 2011.
New words for 2011
This post has nothing whatsoever to do with business, strategies, brands or any of the fancy stuff this blog tends to focus on. It's simply good old fun that made me laugh a zillion times today - it's a list of new words for 2011. I can recognize myself in several of 'em, eek!
TESTICULATING
Waving your arms around and talking bollocks.
BLAMESTORMING
Sitting round in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.
SEAGULL MANAGER
A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves.
SALMON DAY
The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die.
SITCOMs
Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage.
PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE
The fine art of whacking the crap out of an electronic device to get it to work again.
GOING FOR A McSHIT
Entering a fast food restaurant with no intention of buying food, you're just going to the loo. If challenged by a pimply staff member, your declaration to them that you'll buy their food afterwards is known as a 'McShit with Lies'.
404
Someone who's clueless. From the World Wide Web error message '404 Not Found'.
MYSTERY BUS
The bus that arrives at the pub on Friday night while you're in the toilet after your 10th pint, and whisks away all the unattractive people so the pub is suddenly packed with stunners when you come back in.
BEER COAT
The invisible but warm coat worn when walking home after a pub crawl at 3:00am.
TESTICULATING
Waving your arms around and talking bollocks.
BLAMESTORMING
Sitting round in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.
SEAGULL MANAGER
A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves.
SALMON DAY
The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die.
SITCOMs
Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage.
PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE
The fine art of whacking the crap out of an electronic device to get it to work again.
GOING FOR A McSHIT
Entering a fast food restaurant with no intention of buying food, you're just going to the loo. If challenged by a pimply staff member, your declaration to them that you'll buy their food afterwards is known as a 'McShit with Lies'.
404
Someone who's clueless. From the World Wide Web error message '404 Not Found'.
MYSTERY BUS
The bus that arrives at the pub on Friday night while you're in the toilet after your 10th pint, and whisks away all the unattractive people so the pub is suddenly packed with stunners when you come back in.
BEER COAT
The invisible but warm coat worn when walking home after a pub crawl at 3:00am.
You don't need a social media strategy
"You don't need a social media strategy - you need a brand strategy that leverages social media. Don't get off the brand strategy just because there's a new communications channel, that's how you lose the plot as a brand. Technology is the tail, not the dog." (Chris Kirubi, Chairman of Coca Cola Nairobi via Tim Sanders).
This quote made my day today. Not just beacuse I agree - we always like to know that our own brilliant thinking is shared by others - but also because I've seen the shiny objects syndrome at play only too many times. We get so caught up by new possibilities and 'so ein ding müssen wir auch haben' that we take our eyes off the ball; this tendency is particularly prevalent when it comes to new technology, media and communications vehicles.
When I was European digital director at Levi's I would, among many things, work closely with the country marketing teams to plan and execute digital programs. I was met time and time again with all sorts of ideas from the teams on new stuff/things/apps/widgets/gadgets etc that somebody - often a local agency - had suggested.
While I really appreciated the creativity, my main role in these conversations quickly came to be Chief Sense-Making Officer, ie challenging them to test the ideas and their validity against the digital brand strategy - which of course was in place to support the overall brand strategy.
At some point, I developed a simple litmus test tool for the teams called 'Testing Your Idea', with the sentiment that all good marketing starts with an idea, however, not all ideas make for good marketing and with the purpose of encouraging strategic thinking. (I think I'll post this tool in a blog post soon, it's still pretty good!)
Anyway, as the digital protagonist in the company I was somehow expected to jump at and promote any new tech thingy that would pop out of the blue and often the teams just didn't get why I was so, in their eyes, conservative.
And this is why I love Chris Kirubi's quote above. Because it isn't about all the new shiny objects. It's about sticking to the brand strategy, having the courage to do so in the flurry of all things new, clever, cute and seductive, and having the judgement to filter out what isn't relevant and to frame within your strategy what is.
And btw, I'm not saying that social media isn't important, it's extremely important. But first and foremost the importance for a brand lies in finding the relevant and sustainable way to make use of it, whether for communications, research or other purposes.
Tim Sanders himself says it brilliantly: 'Don't let social media glam you out, causing you to waste time and money on keeping up. Confirm your brand promise and how you fulfill it, and find ways that social media can complement it. It's about being human, not techy.'
This quote made my day today. Not just beacuse I agree - we always like to know that our own brilliant thinking is shared by others - but also because I've seen the shiny objects syndrome at play only too many times. We get so caught up by new possibilities and 'so ein ding müssen wir auch haben' that we take our eyes off the ball; this tendency is particularly prevalent when it comes to new technology, media and communications vehicles.
When I was European digital director at Levi's I would, among many things, work closely with the country marketing teams to plan and execute digital programs. I was met time and time again with all sorts of ideas from the teams on new stuff/things/apps/widgets/gadgets etc that somebody - often a local agency - had suggested.
While I really appreciated the creativity, my main role in these conversations quickly came to be Chief Sense-Making Officer, ie challenging them to test the ideas and their validity against the digital brand strategy - which of course was in place to support the overall brand strategy.
At some point, I developed a simple litmus test tool for the teams called 'Testing Your Idea', with the sentiment that all good marketing starts with an idea, however, not all ideas make for good marketing and with the purpose of encouraging strategic thinking. (I think I'll post this tool in a blog post soon, it's still pretty good!)
Anyway, as the digital protagonist in the company I was somehow expected to jump at and promote any new tech thingy that would pop out of the blue and often the teams just didn't get why I was so, in their eyes, conservative.
And this is why I love Chris Kirubi's quote above. Because it isn't about all the new shiny objects. It's about sticking to the brand strategy, having the courage to do so in the flurry of all things new, clever, cute and seductive, and having the judgement to filter out what isn't relevant and to frame within your strategy what is.
And btw, I'm not saying that social media isn't important, it's extremely important. But first and foremost the importance for a brand lies in finding the relevant and sustainable way to make use of it, whether for communications, research or other purposes.
Tim Sanders himself says it brilliantly: 'Don't let social media glam you out, causing you to waste time and money on keeping up. Confirm your brand promise and how you fulfill it, and find ways that social media can complement it. It's about being human, not techy.'
- More about social media on my blog, click here for the post 'It's the mindset, not the media'.
- About being human as a brand, click here for the post 'Brand-bonding'.
- And to read a terrific article on the strategic use of social and other media in Harvard Business Review, click here - 'Branding in the Digital Age'.
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