ClearPurpose

Built to Last is a great book. It is inspiring and challenging. It is full of good ideas that are, realistically, hard to implement. It is one of those books that, when you read it, you see many observations about great companies that should have been obvious. Sadly, you may also begin to see many things at your own company that you wish were different and that you know will be difficult to change. Even so, it is well worth the read, and perhaps, over time, you will find ways to make your own business more visionary and more successful using the lessons learned within.

The authors spent six years studying the entire lifecycle (to that time) of 18 companies that they called visionary. They compiled the list by surveying 700 CEOs of leading companies across industries. They also looked at 18 comparable companies in the same industries that had similar opportunities, but came up short in terms of their enduring impact. They then looked for the common characteristics that set the visionary companies apart from their peers. From this lengthy research, they distilled eight truths and challenged twelve myths about what makes a company successful.

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Non-profits need sound strategy just as much as for-profit businesses. 

Non-profits need to clearly define the mission of their organization and how they will achieve that mission given the realities of the external environment (opportunities and challenges) and given their internal strengths and weaknesses.

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Whether for a standalone business or a corporate business unit, the business strategy will reflect a competitive market and an envisioned future role within that market. The business strategy is typically the foundation for many other strategies that we will discuss in the coming days.

Business strategy drives investment decisions in sales/distribution, product development, and operations.

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Ultimately, the corporate strategy needs to clearly and coherently communicate a long-term vision for the corporation, the overall funding approach, the role that each business plays, and the guiding principles that enable investment decisions at the business/market level.

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There are many different types of strategies and there are significant differences between them. Starting today, I want to start looking at some of the more common types of strategies in established corporations and non-profits.

Any given organization will have one top-level strategy. This will set the direction for the entire organization, defining areas of focus and prioritizing investments.

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Although ALDI operates as two independent companies, they have both adopted and maintained the same business model.

ALDI’s generic strategy is low cost leadership. As they have launched operations around the world, and launched into very different businesses, they have maintained this strategy. That is hard to do. Even harder is the consistency with which the companies’ low-cost strategy is implemented from top to bottom within each business.

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While large corporations often have a year-long strategy development process, at small organizations, the core of strategic planning can be completed in a few days and a complete strategic plan can be completed within a month.

It’s important to note that whether at a small organization or a large and complex corporation, the process will always be at least as important as the product. Surprises happen (did someone say Covid?). A rich and robust process will provide the framework to make the hard decisions as easy as they can be, even when that means that specific plans must change.

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The strategy development tools that I talk about at ClearPurpose tend to be qualitative in nature rather than quantitative. In other words, these tools deal with qualities that are difficult to measure using precise numbers. That makes many business decision makers uncomfortable.

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Strategic projects can begin either from an outside-in perspective or from an inside-out perspective. Either starting approach is perfectly valid, but eventually, the complementary perspective must also be considered.

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