Tag Archives: Strategic management

April 27, 2015 · 9:32 am

A Neutral Grip

You can tell it’s a Monday because he’s writing about golf once more.  Well, I’m happy.  It’s finally golf weather here in the NY area – if you don’t mind starting off when the temperatures are around 40 degrees, that is. I spent the last couple of days trying to shake off the winter rust. One thing to which I paid particular attention was probably the most under-appreciated – but most critical – part of the golf swing: the grip.

Every golf instructor begins working with you by asking to see your grip. How you hold the club can trigger many issues that even a perfect swing can’t fix since it affects everything in the swing. The interesting thing is that there is no one right approach although there are some very important basics that all good grips have in common. No, I’m not going to spend the next hundred words teaching you about golf grips since this is a business blog. However, there is a business point to be made.

All good grips return the club face to a neutral position at impact regardless of how the club is manipulated during the swing. Your approach to your strategic thinking needs to be the same. Regardless of how the data or discussions swing your thinking, when you reach the time to take decisions – the point of impact – you need to be in as neutral a position as possible to avoid wayward shots.  Interpret the data with as few prejudices as possible.  Maybe the numbers show your pet project isn’t producing.  As Sonny Corleone said, it’s just business, not personal.  Keep your grip – and your attitude – neutral.

Neutral thinking draws out alternative solutions to problems or opportunities.  It keeps negative thinking at bay and doesn’t let the excitement of the moment when something goes right cloud your longer term thinking.  Just as a neutral grip tends to keep the golf ball from going off-line, a neutral approach to business thinking can keep us heading toward the goal.  Clear?

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April 23, 2015 · 10:47 am

What Vs. How

One of my mantras is that we can’t confuse the business with the tools. I remind clients of this all the time when they’re confused about the imperative to be on a specific platform or address a particular market segment. While they might think their need is to build a better app, I’d rather we explore the underlying business processes and make sure they’re optimal from a customer perspective. The app we’ll then build will reflect a great customer experience and not magnify the flaws in our offering.

Here is another mantra. People hate middlemen but love people who add value. Think about the great sharing economy that’s emerged over the last few years. Uber doesn’t own a single car but facilitates millions of rides. They’re a middleman but they add value by provide generally inexpensive, fast service to consumers while providing income for people with a car and no particular place to go. AirBnB has done the same thing for lodging. I have a spare room or a vacant apartment, you are visiting where I am and don’t want to pay ridiculous rates (and “resort fees“) to stay in a so-so hotel. They add value by putting us together.

In both of those cases, as in others like Etsy, the business has not changed. Someone needs a room or a ride or a scarf. They want them to be fairly priced. They want them to be of great quality and dependable and delivered on the customer’s own terms (timing, etc). These companies have not changed the business. They’ve changed how they made the business happen. The “how” is new, not the “what.”

We need to stop thinking of transforming into “digital” companies.  There are too many of us trying to serve the technology rather than making the technology serve us. Maybe it’s the old guy talking but I don’t see much difference now in the business world I entered in the late 1970’s.  Find people with problems and help them to solve them.  It may be a need to get somewhere or to be better informed or to be in two meetings in two different cites an hour apart.  We’ve solved those business problems with technology.  My business – media – has been among those most affected by this and there is no doubt that the next two or three years will see even more change as people migrate to more over-the-top viewing.  But the business hasn’t changed, really.  People want to be educated and entertained and are willing to pay – either through attention or through their wallets – to see content that does that.  Boy, how the “how” has changed, but at it’s core the “what” is that same as it was when Uncle Miltie made America laugh.

Make sense?

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April 17, 2015 · 9:04 am

Cooking On The Road

Foodie Friday, Myrtle Beach edition.  I’m on the annual golf trip with my buddies (our 21st, thank you) and as you might expect I get to do a good chunk of the cooking while we’re here.  That’s not a complaint.  This area has a serious lack of high-quality restaurants and over the years our group has figured out that staying  in and spending the money on high quality ingredients trumps paying for mediocre food dining out.  I certainly don’t mind cooking.  There is lots of willing and competent help here and those who can’t cook are eager to clean up the mess.  Perfect!

There is one thing I have learned over the years that actually is a pretty good business thought too.  If you’ve ever been on vacation and tried to cook in the rental’s kitchen you know that you are facing a serious challenge.  I think the same company puts the identical dull knives, glass cutting board, and crappy pans into rental condos everywhere.  I don’t mind the mismatched dinnerware nor the 2 slice toaster (ever made toast for 12 in a 2 slicer?).  I do mind the ridiculous – and dangerous – other equipment.  What do we do?

We bring our own.  A couple of good knives, a full-sized rubber cutting board, some serious BBQ tools, a large pot and/or non-stick pan with a lid can make all the difference.  It also requires some smart meal planning choices.  You have to accept that you’re going to stick to basics that don’t require a lot of pans and hopefully very few steps.  Roasted large cuts of meat and better than individual steaks and braises are better than sautes.  You plan your product based on conditions as well as your ability to support it.  Which is the point.

Different conditions, a changed situation means you need to plan ahead, figure out the appropriate resources, and adjust your strategy.  Doing hat you’ve always done and which has satisfied your customers in the past might not have a chance in the situation you’re facing.  No one starves on this trip – we eat quite well, actually – but I don’t even think about making the stuff I’d prepare at home in my fully stocked kitchen.  I don’t try to make it all perfect; I do try to keep the boys fed and happy.  You can think about that the next time the marketplace puts you in a strange business kitchen.

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