SWOT – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats. It’s an analysis tool frequently used for formulating strategy. Unfortunately, it is simplistic, random, and misguided. Typically, members of a strategy team collaborate to fill the four quadrants of a double axis chart, two reflecting the internal state of the company (strengths and weaknesses), and two reflecting the external world (opportunities and threats). From there, a strategy is supposed to emerge. But is this a good approach for aligning the company’s strengths and resources behind the greatest opportunities? No. SWOT as an approach to strategy formulation is flawed for many reasons. The Customer is Conspicuously Absent There is no C in SWOT. No V either. And yet, creating value for the customer is the name of the game. How can you not start with the customer? Market need, desire, and change, the most important factors, are merely a subset of one of the four SWOT boxes. That is too little too late.
Listen with respect or you won’t hear anything at all. What does that mean? It means: You must care You must believe you have something to learn You must believe the other person has something to teach you
Whether you are managing a corporate giant or a small business, you need to track progress. For some, that means tracking key results, for others, it means tracking endless detail. Here are 7 tips for maximizing results and minimizing effort. Don’t just track results, track assumptions. If your sales are increasing exactly as desired, but you are growing because existing customers are buying more and not because you are successfully penetrating a new market as planned, you have a problem. Your luck is masking failed insights, decisions, efforts, and investments. Be clear about underlying assumptions and ask, “Are our assumptions still valid?” Define milestones that reflect major decisions and vital learning, not just the completion of tasks, especially fairly predictable tasks. Keep asking, “What don’t we know? What obstacles must we overcome?” Don’t let a growing list of checked off milestones give you false confidence. It’s the ones that aren’t checked off that can sink your ship. Keep asking, “What could go wrong?”
If you saved an hour a day, that’s 365 hours per year. 365 hours /12 productive hours in a day = 30 days. If you save an hour a day, you gain 30 days each year. That’s an entire month. Imagine what you could do with another month in the year. Another month to play, spend with family, or complete significant projects. What are you waiting for? Where is that hour that you could dispense with each day?
Secretly now, do you cringe when you hear people talk about missions, visions and values? Do you feel like the business world got lost in the semantic twilight zone years ago? Ever seen a company spend tons of time, energy and money trying to navigate the mumbo-jumbo of strategy development while the obvious was neglected? I’ve felt it and I’ve seen it so I know just how you feel. Somehow, the entire process of developing a strategy, which is a completely natural process to many, has been derailed and obfuscated. There is more focus on the quality of the vision statement than the value of the vision it is meant to express. Your mission statement may be in limbo because it is said to be missing a critical required component even though your personal sense of mission may be strong and clear as can be. Books and speakers seem to differentiate themselves by promoting yet another set of definitions and process handcuffs. Bright people are silenced by their embarrassment at having to ask repeatedly for clarification.
“59% of American high school students say they cheated on a test during the past year. 21% say they stole from a parent or other relative, and 80% say they lied about ‘something significant’ to a parent. Still, 92% say they’re satisfied with their own personal ethics and character.” (As seen in The Week magazine. Data from the Josephson Institute of Ethics.) It’s shocking, yes. Disturbing. Might make you worry about the future of our country. But maybe you should worry about the present. In what ways are you kidding yourself?
PRESS RELEASE February 23, 2011 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Ann Latham 603-784-5727 Uncommon Clarity®, Inc. EASTHAMPTON, MA – Ann to Present Workshop at Bentley College in April Ann Latham, president of Uncommon Clarity, Inc., will present a workshop for the PMI MassBay Professional Development Day on April 30th in Waltham, MA. The title of her workshop is “Sometimes a Great Project – 8 Uncommon Secrets to Repeatable Excellence.” For more information and registration, visit the PMI Mass Bay Chapter website.
Announcing a Special Limited Time Offer! Receive a complimentary copy of The Meeting Clarity Handbook – 7 Quick Tips for Better Results in Half the Time., a powerful little e-book that will change the way you plan and run meetings! How? If you do not receive our Clear Thoughts™ newsletter, just sign up and you will receive an email providing a link to your free copy of The Meeting Clarity Handbook. If you already receive our Clear Thoughts™ newsletter, simply use the “Forward newsletter” link at the very bottom of your February or soon-to-be-received March newsletter and forward it to three people whom you believe will find it of value. Don’t worry, submitting those email addresses does not sign them up for anything, it only sends them a copy of the newsletter. If they decide to subscribe, they too will receive a free copy of the e-book, The Meeting Clarity Handbook. Our Clear Thoughts™ newsletter is appreciated by readers worldwide. If you find it valuable, your colleagues, customers, suppliers, and friends probably will too. Don’t delay. This offer will not last long.
I visited a jewelry store this week in search of a replacement chain for a necklace. The owner was wonderful. She quickly put my pendant on a series of chains and put them on me so I could see how each looked. She offered a range of options in both style and price, and was incredibly effective in reacting to my cues but also using her aesthetic sense. Before I knew it, I was wearing the perfect combination. That is great customer service and great service creates loyalty. But wait! There’s more! When I asked the price of the winning chain, she read the tiny tag at the back of my neck. I said yes and told her I would wear the necklace home. She clipped off the tag and then realized she had read it wrong. The correct price was higher. She insisted on honoring her original reading despite my protests. The difference meant more to her than to me. Yet, she did a smart thing. Because now I owe her. My entire experience was quick and pleasant. My purchase was perfect. And on top of that, I owe her in a little way that I will not forget. I have every reason to return.
Delegating focuses the right people on the right things. It also helps employees to grow. But it is hard. Why? Three reasons: it involves trust or the lack of it, it creates fear of poor outcomes, and it requires clarity. As a result, we typically resort to one of three approaches: “It’s easier to do it myself,” which neither frees us to do more suitable tasks, nor gives employees the opportunity to grow “I must learn to delegate so here goes,” and then we throw the task over the wall with gritted teeth, crossed fingers, and little faith We delegate and micromanage, driving everyone nuts All of these approaches are unproductive, ridiculous, and unnecessary.