It’s not a poor strategic vision in itself that kills most new growth strategies. Nor is it your ability to manage major initiatives. Most companies and management teams are able to identify and deliver growth projects given the opportunity to do so.
In the end, it’s usually an inability and unwillingness to face into the necessary trade-offs that pulls the plug on your future success. That means, for example:
- Failing to clarify your #1 goal, and, instead, adopting a range of different goals that encourage a much larger range of growth projects
- Failing to determine and clarify your target customers – and trying to be all things to all people
- Failing to specify how you want to be famous to those target customers – and trying to be all things to all people
- Failing to agree a small number of objectives that support the delivery of your strategy
- Failing to put your best people in charge of your most important projects
- Failing to stop the pet projects that clutter up your organisation but add little to your performance
- Failing to effectively resource your major growth programmes
- Failing to say ‘No!’ to new ideas – particularly when you’re already struggling to deliver your existing initiatives
- Failing to stop poorly performing initiatives early enough and, conversely, failing to double down on those projects that are showing great results
What trade-offs are you avoiding and how could you drive higher levels of growth if faced into them?
© Stuart Cross 2016. All rights reserved.