Growth Strategy

Leadership and Followership

gs — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 16:40:49 +0000

It seems that corporate culture is no longer a top priority and a contributor to productivity and that individualized differentiated working styles in independent cubicles or from remote workstations is the norm. No one wants to be lead anymore nor do they know exactly how to operate as a team. In a current corporate turn around in which we are engaged, we see good people making valiant attempts at what used to be good old teamwork for the good of the entire organization. But it is a challenge. We answer to individual computing devices, we drive solitary stretches of jammed commuter roads, we find our mates electronically, we find our jobs electronically, we report our work product remotely and we conference with others via Cisco screens. Teamwork, listening and following a leader, and leaders who are solicitous and inspiring and demanding all at once are at a premium.

Leader As Healer

gs — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:35:10 +0000

A corporate body is not unlike what we call our physical, personal body. It needs a regiment of wellness. This would include good nutrition (feeding new ideas),exercise (research, brainstorming, mental mind games ) cleanliness and protection from intruders (openness, good communication and regular assessments of the relationship of the organization to constituents). The healthy body would also need regular check-ups which in a corporate sense would mean regular stress testing of all safety and other systems within the control of the organization, it’s manufacturing, engineering, and other processes and products.

Moreover, if the body becomes weakened or broken in some way it needs an advocate to address these strains. The corporate leader therefor would be the one leading the examination, determining the cause for a breakdown and proscribing the remedy. Then the effective leader will take visible responsibility within the organization to bring it back to health. With the world and individual economies in such a dynamic state, the resulting stresses in every industry will surely result in many corporate vulnerabilities or stress fractures. Then who will step into the fray? Here is when genuine leadership by someone invested in its well being is called for.

Growth and Re-tooling

gs — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 05:37:32 +0000

Every company and organization needs to be re-invented every eighteen months. Count the cost of not doing this. Audience and customers are constantly changing and shifting and you need to be nimble enough to pick up on the nuances and subtlety of consumer shifts. Customers are buffeted by economic conditions, external and internal, the manipulative media, and more. As a growth “czar” you have to swim with the customer and feel the currents yourself in order to identify with your customer. Then you can beat the customer to the service or product they will be looking for in advance of the customer even knowing it.

Strategy and The Idea Factory

gs — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:33:07 +0000

Strategy is idea-dependent. That’s why GrowthStrategy, Inc. is an IDEA FACTORY. Great strategy is fueled by creative ideas and new views. If sales or any aspect of business is not moving get a new view, stir the muddy river bed, look at your business in a new way. See you customer in a new way. Take micro-mind breaks that are fueled with creative energy. Ask questions. Ask questions of kids–they usually lead to creative answers! Devote one day per week to “new idea day.” Infuse ideation into compensation. Strategy that works is just new ideas put into play in a structured, pictorial way.

The Strategy Light Bulb

gs — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 22:39:00 +0000

The question, “What is strategy, anyway?” was answered for me this week in an exciting way. I was involved in a planning session with an engineering company that wants to exploit Stimulus money. The debate was focused on how to best coral the most funding in order to meet public sector sales targets. This is when the “Strategy Light Bulb” went off. The client’s traditional approach was to secure funding through contacts and applications. Where we landed was that the new way is to think in terms of crafting innovative projects that can win dollars–taking a more offensive position and standing up with your hand held high saying “We have an idea about how this money should be spent. We are not just going to react and take a sales approach. We are going to own this space because we are an idea generator and a project management machine that discovers and put forward breakthrough approaches.” This is the winning way in this economy and going forward.