4 ways to rethink your strategy

Unpredictable change and disruption are constants in enterprise right this moment. As leaders, we should relentlessly rethink our understanding of the place markets are headed, methods to alter on the fly, preserve and purchase clients, construct the appropriate groups, and make fast selections. 

The proper path stays eternally foggy in a world of ambiguity and contradiction. C-suite leaders fear continually (or a minimum of ought to) about the place new progress will come from and what it’s going to take—this time—to attain it. 

What labored yesterday seemingly gained’t work tomorrow. That’s very true in a hypergrowth client packaged items firm akin to Liquid I.V. the place all the things from inside processes to client tastes are continually in flux. 

Whenever you pioneer a class, develop practically 400%, and evolve from “hunter” to “hunted” in three years, as we have now, getting technique proper is one thing that each retains you up at evening and energizes the begin to every day.    

What’s technique?

Most likely the only largest technique slipup just isn’t understanding what “technique” actually is. 

Richard Rumelt, among the many world’s most influential thinkers on technique and administration, nailed it. In his e-book Good Strategy/Bad Strategy, he laments the unlucky tendency for company leaders to equate fluffy packages of buzzwords, motivational slogans, and monetary targets with “technique.” Rumelt, a professor emeritus of technique at UCLA Anderson College of Administration, assures us they’re not.  

Technique isn’t a easy want listing of lofty targets. So, what’s it? “An excellent technique is a selected and coherent response to—and strategy to overcoming—the obstacles to progress,” Rumelt says.  

Sounds easy sufficient. However firms wrestle to get technique proper, typically to disastrous ends. For instance, few individuals know that Kodak was first to invent the digital digicam. However in an obvious technique to guard its thriving movie enterprise, Kodak determined to not launch it till some 15 years later. Too late. 

Options for technique success

Consulting agency EY Parthenon suggests a very good place to begin a method rethink is by redefining your organization’s goal. Our goal at Liquid I.V. is “To raise the vitality of individuals and the planet.” Figuring out this helps us set strategic directives that align with continually shifting client and market dynamics. 

We constantly spend time creating and honing technique. But 85% of govt management groups spend lower than an hour monthly on technique, in response to research by Robert S. Kaplan, a professor of management growth emeritus at Harvard Enterprise College, and David P. Norton, founder and director of the Palladium Group. 

Listed below are 4 different strategic practices which have helped Liquid I.V. turn out to be a hypergrowth model. We’re continually modifying them to remain forward of modifications within the market and ever-increasing aggressive pressures. 

1. Embrace “enterprise uncommon”: As a scrappy, fiercely aggressive firm dedicated to profitable and giving again, we are likely to zig the place others zag. We name it pursuing “enterprise uncommon.” We try to be distinctive as a result of today it’s a must to be distinctive to be an business chief. Setting a purpose to think about a minimum of one new possibility every time strategic selections are made will assist.
2. Construct in-house capabilities: Reaching and sustaining fast progress typically requires unconventional organizational design. For instance, to attain most flexibility, we determined to construct in-house capabilities for a number of features that others typically outsource, together with artistic design, influencer relations and partnership growth. Launching new product improvements would take months longer if we relied on outdoors businesses for all the things.
3. Innovate your method out of restricted budgets: With restricted budgets early on, we leveraged influencer advertising and marketing—nonetheless a nascent channel on the time—as a part of our technique to determine credibility and stretch every greenback. This continues to be one in every of our most worthwhile advertising and marketing efforts. We now have a big North American community of people who advocate for us and create natural engagement with customers.
4. Make “impression” a strategic pillar: As a core element of technique, we’ve made our impression initiatives a model differentiator. Our packages are based mostly on a deep understanding of our personal values and our customers’ values. Over 1% of firm income—leading to thousands and thousands of {dollars} to this point—funds impression packages to assist guarantee entry to wash, plentiful water for individuals worldwide. 

There’s by no means been a higher want for firms to adapt and evolve. Rethinking your strategy to technique could also be your greatest transfer. 

Mike Keech is CEO of Liquid I.V.