FOR CEOs WHO RECOGNISE THAT INNOVATION
AND STRATEGY ARE KEY TO FUTURE PROFITS

• “Can you help us turn round years of stubborn flat growth? We have tried all the traditional ways of kick-starting growth, but they just lead to higher costs and little improvement.” These businesses have reached a point where they know they can’t cut costs any further through incremental change – but they’re held back by risk avoidance and reluctance to change, while the work environment is increasingly ruled by complexity and compliance.
• “Can you help us defend market share from a digital disruptor? We cannot compete with our traditional business model, but we cannot see how we can copy them and remain profitable.”
• “Can you help us grow market share against a larger multinational that can outspend us on marketing? We cannot compete through traditional strategies.”
• “Can you help us become relevant to our client base? Our traditional business model no longer matches our clients’ needs and we’re not growing – in fact we’re losing customers!”

These all look like different issues, but they’re linked by a single theme:

“Our traditional way of doing business isn’t working anymore.”

You can’t grow by refining a system that isn’t working. Instead you have to change to meet the new requirements, the new challenges, the new economy, the new technology…

Staying relevant to our customers: A decade ago what we offered might have been exactly what our customers needed – but times change! A common business mistake is to spend time and money trying to convince customers they need the company’s old product, when it would have been cheaper to give them what they need now. The challenge is understanding what the customer needs, because often they’re not sure themselves.

Reinventing the business process: Your staff are always busy – but how much of what they’re doing is really important? In most businesses people spend a lot of time doing things that used to be useful but aren’t now. We see managers submitting reports because it’s always been done that way, but is anyone reading them?

Don’t follow the herd to the crowded water hole: In the African bush many animals stay together in herds because they want safety in numbers. They’re a harder target for lions, but they’re competing for food and water.

Businesses also think the safer option is to follow the crowd – often by copying what others do well. The problem is you can’t stand out that way. You can’t differentiate your business from the herd and move into new markets when you’re stuck in the crowd in the old one.

Successful businesses grow by not following the crowd. They create new markets where there’s little competition, and where they can command premium prices. It’s much easier to differentiate yourself when you’re doing something unique.