There are two types of strategy – which do you need?
Ostensibly, a business strategy is about growth. Figure out a direction, execute on it, sell more stuff. Simple as that. However, whilst this is broadly true, the process by which you find a strategy can be quite different depending on your stage of development. Indeed the way one business goes about it can be the complete opposite […]
How not to be disrupted
Note: after last week’s discussion and the idea of balancing planned vs. agile strategies, I gave it some more thought and came up with a concept I think explains it well. So you can consider this a bit of a follow up, hope you enjoy. ____ Generally speaking, I think the pace of change is wildly exaggerated. […]
Agile vs. planned – and why wrong is sometimes better than right
In the wonkish strategy world, there is a debate between two schools: agile and planned. So far as I can tell planned strategies are those which involve setting out a particular position against the competition and sticking to it, whilst agile strategies are naturally more open to regular change, depending on circumstances and opportunities. Who […]
The Challenger Trap: fighting the status quo with the status quo
Once up on a time, to be a “challenger brand” simply meant that you weren’t number one. On this basis pretty much any brand could be framed as such, without it really saying anything about their philosophy or approach to the market. One of the original challenger brands, for example, was Avis, the car rental […]
Freddie Ljungberg and the transformative power of context
“For there is nothing either good or bad, but context makes it so”. – Not quite William Shakespeare, but close enough ___ Back in the days before they moved to the Emirates stadium and became mid-table dreck, Arsenal had a player called Freddie Ljungberg. Ljungberg has always held a particular fascination for me and my […]
The strategic difference that really counts
Difference, as we know, is at the heart of strategy. In any realm – business, politics, military, personal – it is about walking a different path to the others around you. Indeed we might say that’s its very definition: Strategy is that which only you do. Naturally, you will be the same as others in […]
The Toilet Paper Rule
We want to be the Apple of dishwasher tablets. We want to be the Nike of accountancy software. We want to be the Tesla of bathroom grout. We want to be the Supreme of clingfilm. We want to be the Netflix of medical waste disposal. Recognise statements like these? We all want to be the […]
The Most Underrated Strategic Tool
We are all cats in boxes. This is an analogy I once heard (can’t remember where) which really speaks to me, and has a lot of importance for smart and strategic thinking. Expanded, the concept is something like this. Imagine you have a cat in a box, with air holes punched in it so it […]
The Strategic Hierarchy – Business Made Easy
As we all know, strategy is confusing. If I tell people that I’m a strategist, they typically respond in a similar manner as if I told them I’m a pixie – a mixture of bafflement and scepticism. “I don’t really know what you mean, but it sounds like bullshit anyway”. This, frankly, is fair enough. […]
Great Brands Are Clueless Too
When I speak to businesses with a view to working with them, I tend to encounter two different attitudes. Very occasionally, the attitude is one of supreme confidence. We’re great, we’ve got it all figured out, everything’s perfect. This situation always begs the question of why exactly they’re speaking to me, but that’s by the […]