ClearPurpose

Over the past several months, I’ve written extensively about how categories help buyers (consumers and business decision makers) make sense of an increasingly complicated marketplace. When we, as buyers, see something new we try to place it in a category already established in our head so that we can figure out whether or not we have any interest in it.

So, what do you do when your product doesn’t really fit in any existing category? You must create a new category. This is hard; it can be expensive; and it requires a commitment to invest for years in establishing the category and your company’s leadership in the category. But the payoffs can be significant. 

A couple of months ago I described how to go about defining the category. Over the coming weeks, starting with the article linked below, I will describe how to establish and own the category. 

Establishing the category culminates in the official launch of the category, often with some kind of launch event. This is sometimes called the “lightning strike” that suddenly, brilliantly, and impactfully makes the world aware of the new category. 

Owning the category builds off of that category launch and continues for many years. I like to think of this phase as a “rolling thunder” campaign where “thunder claps” continue to repeat the story behind the original “lightning strike.” Each of these “thunder claps” remind the world that there is a new category, further embedding it in their minds, and even extend it in new and exciting ways. Most importantly, by investing in this “rolling thunder” campaign your company firmly establishes its position as the creator, leader, and owner of the category. When people think of the category, they think of your company first.

These two phases are very complementary and both are structured around a compelling story that completely changes how potential customers think. Before hearing the compelling story they did things the old way using the old categories of products. After hearing the compelling story their eyes are opened to how the world has so clearly changed and they now need to operate differently using a new category of products.

Read the full article here.

In 2012 T-Mobile USA was the distant 4th place player in the U.S. wireless market and was bleeding subscribers and revenue. Today the company is the fastest growing in the industry and has moved into 2nd place, closing quickly on Verizon. The company’s market cap has increased from around $3B at the beginning of 2012 to about $180B at the beginning of 2023. What changed?

A lot of things changed at T-Mobile starting in 2012, but taken as a whole, those changes tell the story of a category creator. In the article linked below I break the story down into five important steps:

1. Understand how the world is changing.
2. Identify the potential compelling story.
3. Define the category.
4. Launch the category.
5. Sustain category momentum and leadership.

In 2012, T-Mobile wasn’t the only wireless carrier struggling to pull out of a steep dive. At the time I was vice president of corporate strategy at Sprint which was the #3 player in the market. We similarly were falling farther and farther behind Verizon and AT&T. Our stock price had taken a similar beating. At Sprint we did some things right, but we failed to follow the category-creator roadmap, and as a result, after I left the company, I watched T-Mobile catch and pass Sprint and eventually acquire my former employer. In this article as we move through the steps that T-Mobile took, in the article I point out where Sprint made right steps, stumbled, or skipped steps altogether.

Read the full story here.

Unconventional Business by Rick Boxx is one of the best books I’ve read on a biblical approach to business. It is short and easy to read and yet it covers the full scope of business management. It doesn’t simply challenge us to manage our businesses in a God-honoring way and counter to conventional wisdom, but it also provides practical guidance on exactly how to do so.

The book teaches biblical approaches to leading your business based on five key principles: develop a God-centered plan; prepare yourself as a leader; cultivate and mature your team; grow the top line; and enhance the bottom line. These five principles provide the framework for the book’s 14 short chapters. Unsurprisingly, the book is biblical — often referencing examples or admonitions from scripture. It is also very practical, often laying out the specific steps you can take to implement the concepts being taught.

For over 20 years Rick and his ministry have been a blessing to me. I strongly recommend this book and Rick’s ministry to any Christians in business.

You can read my full review of Unconventional Business here.

This week Rick and his team are hosting their annual Unconventional Business Summit in Olathe, Kansas. You can check it out here: https://unconventionalbusiness.org/summit23/

When I was about 12 years old, my family joined the Green Hills Golf & Swim Club and my dad started teaching me how to play golf. Two words he often said to me as we were playing have stuck with me and have shaped many aspects of my life: “Ready Golf.”

Technically, the term “ready golf” refers to an agreement among players that whoever is ready to hit their shot should do so.  I remember my dad’s use of the term slightly differently. As a pre-teen boy I’m guessing I was easily distracted. From my father’s encouragement, I knew that as soon as I hit a shot I was to begin preparing for my next shot.

My dad had to repeat the phrase to me often. It did not come naturally to me to stay focused and be prepared. I’m sure that our earliest rounds of golf were much slower than they needed to be because of my youthful fidgeting, misdirected energy, and lack of focus. I imagine that my father, more than once, wondered whether this idea of joining a club and teaching me golf was such a great idea. But in time I learned.

From my dad’s repeated reminder with those two words I developed a mindset to always be thinking ahead, always being prepared for the next action, wasting as little time possible in whatever I was striving to do. I see that in everything I do in my work and my life. Sometimes it’s a blessing. Sometimes it’s not. But it’s a part of who I am.

Although I don’t remember focusing on the formal definition of “ready golf” during those Green Hills days, I do think I’ve practiced those additional aspects of that concept throughout my career. There have been several times when I have “hit out of turn” because it didn’t make sense to wait any longer. Entrepreneurs don’t wait to be asked before they develop a solution to a known problem. Star employees don’t wait for a role to be added to their job description before stepping into an obvious gap. They do the work that needs to be done and maybe they’ll even get credit for it. Being always ready, looking ahead, and being sensitive to changing conditions positions you to move the game forward. Sometimes you even win.

Are you playing ready golf? Maybe you should give it a try!

Read the full article here.

Brothers Chip and Dan Heath wrote one of my favorite books of all time, Made to Stick, so when I saw their follow-up book, Switch, for a bargain price at Half Price Books, it was a no-brainer to pick it up. Their books are fun to read, well researched (those two attributes don’t often go together), and teach us how to do something hard in a way that, well, sticks.

Switch did not disappoint.

Change is hard and so we are naturally resistant to it, some of us more than others. The authors introduce a 3 part framework that helps explain why it’s hard to get people to change. They then use that framework to explain how to overcome the challenges and help people to change for the better. The three parts of their framework are the Elephant (our heart), the Rider (our head), and the Path (our environment).

The book is fun to read because it is full of encouraging stories that not only demonstrate the approaches being taught, but help us see that people like us really can lead change, even when it looks almost impossible. By the time you finish the book, you may realize that the authors have used their own framework to change many of us readers from those “skeptical that change initiatives work” to those “ready to lead the charge”. 

Read the full review here.

I first encountered Lowell Busenitz while serving as Entrepreneur in Residence at Oklahoma Christian University. Each year I would mentor student teams competing in the statewide business plan competition. Our teams were blessed with success in the small schools division, but the teams from the University of Oklahoma dominated the large schools divisions. Busenitz was co-founder and director of OU’s entrepreneurship program. At that time, I didn’t realize that we shared our faith in Christ.

Before earning his PhD and becoming a college professor at a research-focused university, Busenitz spent six years in christian college ministry followed by several years running his own construction business. He brings all of these experiences to Soul Work. The book takes scriptural truths and applies them in practical ways to real life just as a campus minister would with the students under his care. Busenitz uses stories from his own business and those of others he’s mentored to show what the lessons he’s teaching look like in real work situations. The book also relies on research to support some of his conclusions.

Although written by a recently retired academic, Soul Work is not an academic treatise filled with big technical terms and dozens of references to scholarly papers published in vaunted academic journals. Rather it is a practical and accessible guide for anyone seeking to integrate their faith with their work.

Read the full review here.

Gaia Bernstein is a law professor who has experienced the addictive dangers of technology and has feared the impacts on herself and her children. After many years of battling this monster, she has reached the conclusion that the solution does not lie in self regulation (either individuals mastering their habits, or the tech industry implementing prominent but ineffective solutions) but rather in forcing the tech industry to stop abusing its users. 

In her new book, Unwired, she teaches about these abuses, the impacts they have on individuals and families, and how the battle to stop them will likely play out.

Read my full review of Unwired here.

One of the great things about being a consultant is that I’m always learning. What I learn from working with one client often becomes a blessing to another client. 

Recently I’ve been working with a fabless semiconductor company and learning much about the industry. Last week, The Lion’s Den DFW invited me to share some of what I’ve learned. You can watch a video of my presentation at their website (look under Practice Pitch under Events) or you can click on the link below to read what I said and see the slides I presented.

In the article linked below (and the presentation I gave), I quickly fly through the fascinating 70+ year history of the industry leading up to the Covid era, talk about the real causes of the semiconductor supply chain chaos we saw during the pandemic, and then talk about what has happened on the backside of that chaos to try to correct (and at least in some cases overcorrect). The entire talk is meant to be a basic layman’s introduction to the industry. Experts will undoubtedly chuckle at some of my oversimplifications and may wonder why I left some things out. Feel free to provide your perspectives and corrections in the comments below (I do love to learn).

By the way, the annual Lion’s Den DFW pitch competition is coming up in a few weeks. If you haven’t already made plans, I recommend you consider registering to attend either in person at Dallas Baptist University or virtually online. The Lion’s Den DFW provides Christian investors and entrepreneurs an environment to connect and collaborate that results ​in the creation of wealth while having a meaningful kingdom impact. Hopefully I’ll see you “there” (I’ll be online).

Read the full article here.

The Ecosystem Economy makes the case that the entire structure of the global economy is changing from one defined by clearly delineated industry sectors to one of sector-crossing ecosystems. Thisis an ambitious book. It begins with bold claims and then proposes major changes that large corporations should make to every aspect of how they operate. Clearly, such changes will be challenging without the help of a consulting firm like McKinsey, the firm that the authors represent. 

As a strategy executive for Fortune 500 companies, I have worked with all of the top-tier consulting firms. Every few years, these firms like to come up with a big idea that their brightest thought leaders can then write a book about. This book becomes a very effective marketing tool. When a partner gives the book to a client (or potential client), it provides something meaningful to talk about and another opportunity to propose an engagement related to the topic of the book.

In the review linked below, I describe how 20 years ago, when I led strategy at a F500 company, we built our entire strategy around the hypotheses in a similar book. I describe the positives and challenges of doing so. I also share specifically what The Ecosystem Economy is about and why you might want to read it.

Read the full review here.