“Differentiation is not a tactic. It’s not a flashy advertising campaign; it’s not a sparkling new feature set. It’s not a laminated frequent buyer card or money-back guarantee. Differentiation is a way of thinking. It’s a mindset. It’s a commitment.” - Youngme Moon Differentiation is a commitment to innovation. Period. The difference between a tactic [...]
No strategy is foolproof
Posted on February 19, 2013 // Leave a Comment
Anytime I meet with Presidents, VP’s or just the business owners of a company, I come in with no expectations whatsoever. I aim to be surprised. So, last week when I met with the President of an innovative construction company in Mexico, I was surprised. I consider this company to be innovative because they developed [...]
Why it’s very hard to say no…yet very important
Posted on February 6, 2013 // Leave a Comment
#Strategy is a choice. No company can be all things to all people and still win. – @rogerlmartin — Jorge Barba (@jorgebarba) February 6, 2013 I firmly believe that strategy is about making choices. I didn’t have to read it in a book or sit down with Michael Porter to come to this conclusion. [...]
Your strategy should help tell a story
Posted on January 23, 2013 // Leave a Comment
A leader’s most important responsibility is identifying the biggest challenges to forward progress and devising a coherent approach to overcoming them. In contexts ranging from corporate direction to national security, strategy matters. Yet we have become so accustomed to strategy as exhortation that we hardly blink an eye when a leader spouts slogans and announces [...]
Focus on the principles not the examples
Posted on January 21, 2013 // 3 Comments
“All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.” – Sun Tzu We all use examples to explain our ideas. Some people use examples from the same category, and a small percentage of us use examples that fall outside those categories. [...]
Be Original
Posted on January 15, 2013 // 1 Comment
Last week I gave a social media workshop to two mexican companies. On the topic of blogging, a person from Business Development asked me about the name of my blog. Frankly, no one had ever asked me this question: How did you come up with it and why did you choose it?
What term comes to mind when you hear the word strategy?
Posted on January 8, 2013 //
Cynthia Montgomery, Professor of Strategy at Harvard University, asks her students what terms come to mind when they hear the word “strategy.” This word cloud illustrates their typical responses, which tellingly lack the word “leader.” Why is that? More of the same leads to more of the same.
