Strategy Archives - Mind Tools: Recent Episodes
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For five years at the end of the last century, my grandfather delighted in being the oldest living All Black. The All Blacks are New Zealand’s national rugby union team, often regarded as the most successful sports team in history.
As it happened, my grandpa only played one match for them before injury put paid to his rugby career. That was in 1921, but he wore this affiliation like a badge of honor right up until his death at the age of 99.
The All Blacks were revered a hundred years ago, and they still are. This makes them a perfect case study for Professor Alex Hill, co-founder and director of the Centre for High Performance, a collaboration between Kingston University London, Duke University, London Business School, and the University of Oxford.
Building Centennial OrganizationsFor more than a decade, he’s researched organizations that have outperformed their peers for over 100 years. In addition to the New Zealand All Blacks, he’s studied NASA, Eton College and the Royal Shakespeare Company, among other household names.
Hill has identified 12 habits they share, looking at how they analyze success and failure, recruit great talent, and create new products and ideas. He lays these out in his new book, “Centennials,” and offers advice for others who aspire to such longevity today.
In this clip from our Expert Interview, Hill reflects on how corporate behavior can embed itself from generation to generation. (You can stream the audio clip below or read a transcript here.)
The How and Why of Centennial OrganizationsHill acknowledges that not all organizations are in it for the long haul. Some don’t want to last 100 years, so for them, a focus on short-term returns is appropriate.
“A lot of management thinking comes from business, and actually those principles and ideas are great if you want to burn bright, but then disappear,” he says. “But if you don’t want to do that and you want to build something that’s going to last, then you have to think in a very different way.”
And this is a worthy goal, he believes, as “centennial” organizations deliver benefits for communities and society as a whole, as well as for themselves.
“They help us solve bigger, more complex questions, things like climate change or poverty or health or education, where actually you’re building a collective knowledge in an institution that is growing over time. And you’re solving a problem which can’t just be solved quickly, where actually it might take many decades or many generations to actually work out how to fix it,” he explains.
The 12 habits in Hill’s book provide a framework for organizations with such ambitions. The first six help to build a stable core, identifying a strong purpose for the work, developing stewardship, and fostering an open attitude toward the world. The last six focus on what he calls the “disruptive edge.” These habits encourage new ideas that propel organizations forward.
The Power of Performing in PublicI was particularly struck by habit five, “perform in public,” about harnessing the power of strangers. Within an organization, it’s hard to see what you’re doing well – or not so well. Whereas, if you perform to a trusted stranger, you can learn a lot from their feedback, which may include fresh ideas from the outside, too. And of course, when we’re being watched, we almost always raise our game.
“They’ve done lots of different studies around this, [and] they found that if you have a stranger present in a group, the group feels that they need to perform better,” says Hill. “So they will often be more rigorous in their discussion or their debates, they will explain things more clearly, they make [fewer] mistakes, and they often perform at a higher level because of that.”
As a freelance producer, I’ve seen this firsthand. Often, I’m the stranger, going into organizations to record a podcast or interview employees. In these situations, I’ve noticed that people do tend to make an effort to act as professionally as they can.
A few years ago, I produced a series of educational podcasts for a U.K.-based university. Each episode consisted of a roundtable discussion between academics teaching on a particular degree course. As soon as the microphones were set up, all the participants switched into “performance” mode.
They listened attentively to one another, articulated their views with clarity and verve, and sometimes asked to redo something if they felt it could have been expressed better. If I hadn’t been there, the discussion may have been a bit more relaxed. But it might not have been as useful for the audience of students.
Outside Observation Brings Centennial ResultsHill says he’s seen performance work in all sorts of situations.
“You start to realize that every high-performing organization has a performance, and sometimes it happens very naturally, like an Olympic Games or a World Cup or a moon landing – this moment where they have to really perform,” he says.
“But other organizations where it doesn’t happen naturally will artificially create it. So, like the Royal College of Art has open studios, where strangers can walk through, or they’ll get students to do shows where people can come.”
It’s an effective way for organizations to practice the mindset they need to last for 100 years.
The post The Centennial Mindset: My Expert Interview With Alex Hill appeared first on Mind Tools.
How would you answer the question, "whose job is strategy?"
Do you arrive at a straightforward answer, or is it tricky to come to a clear view?
I confess, I have been pondering this for some time and have come to the conclusion that assigning the responsibility of strategy is more complex than I first thought. I started by considering what strategic leadership involves.
What Is Strategic Leadership?A strategic leader is an individual within an organization who possesses the vision, foresight, and capability to guide the organization toward its long-term goals. This type of leader not only focuses on the day-to-day operations, but also on the larger picture and future direction of the organization. They're responsible for shaping and implementing strategies that help the organization to adapt to change and to excel in a dynamic and competitive business environment.
If that wasn't enough, strategic leaders need a clear vision of where they want the organization to be in the future. They must anticipate market trends, technological advancements, and other relevant changes, enabling them to prepare the organization for the future. Effective strategic thinkers conduct thorough risk assessments, and then focus on long-term planning and are able to set realistic and achievable goals that align with the organization's mission and vision. However, these plans can’t be set in stone: strategic leaders are open to change and can adjust strategies and plans to respond to evolving circumstances, whether within the organization or in the external environment.
Considering all that’s involved with being a strategic leader, it is clear that they play a crucial role in setting direction, inspiring teams, and ensuring the organization remains relevant and competitive in a rapidly changing business environment.
Strategy as a Collaborative JourneyThese days, good strategic leaders take people on a journey rather than telling them where to go. It's about fostering a shared understanding of an organization's vision and purpose. Leaders must communicate the "why" behind strategic decisions, making it easier for team members to align their efforts.
In today's fast-paced and ever-changing business landscape, the concept of "being strategic" has arguably gone through a bit of a make-over. The global pandemic forced organizations to re-evaluate their strategies, and as we emerge from this crisis, the question arises: whose job is strategy now?
Pre-Pandemic vs. Today: the Evolution of StrategyBefore the pandemic, many of us would have experienced strategy largely at the hands of top-level executives and managers. They would craft long-term plans and communicate them down the hierarchy. However, today's dynamic environment demands a more inclusive approach. Strategic leadership is no longer a top-down process but a collective effort involving individuals at all levels.
Empowered Team MembersTo make strategy a collective effort, team members need to provide their input. They are the ones on the front lines, interacting with customers and experiencing market shifts first-hand. Their insights can be invaluable in shaping and refining strategies. To achieve this collective effort, creating an environment where ideas are welcomed and valued is absolutely crucial.
Influencing Strategy Without Being a LeaderNot everyone holds a formal leadership position, but everyone can influence strategy. Regardless of your role, you can contribute by staying informed and interested in where the company is heading, being proactive in problem-solving, and sharing your insights. Take the initiative to propose innovative solutions and collaborate with colleagues to implement them. Your contributions can make a significant impact on shaping the organization's direction.
So, Whose Job Is Strategy?My conclusion is that strategy works best when it’s a shared responsibility. No longer confined to the boardroom, strategy happens at every level of the organization. It shouldn’t happen to you; it should happen with you. By empowering team members to provide input and encouraging a collaborative approach to strategy, organizations can adapt more effectively to the ever-changing challenges of our times. Whether you hold a leadership position or not, you have the power to influence and shape the strategic direction of your organization. Embrace this opportunity, and together, we can navigate the complexities of the post-pandemic world.
Strategy ResourcesYou may like to take a look at the following Mind Tools resources, then join the coaches’ events to share your thoughts, ask questions and learn more.
The Line Manager's Role in Strategy Video
What Is Strategy?
Strategic Leadership, With John Adair
Creating Successful Strategic Plans
Creating a Culture of Collaboration Infographic
About the Author:Sarah is an experienced and qualified leadership, culture and conflict coach. An author, skilled trainer, facilitator, manager mentor, and workplace mediator, Sarah has over 30 years’ experience to draw on. Following a career as an HR leader and consultant, she now loves coaching leaders and teams to improve their results through developing better workplace relationships and creating savvy conversational cultures. Away from work, Sarah can be found in her garden or perhaps writing her next book.
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In turbulent times, mid-to-long-term planning lets you and your organization focus on the things you can control – and at least be aware of the things you can't. Get it right, and you'll keep a handle on who you are as a company, what you want to achieve, how you’re going to do that, by when, and with what effect. And you'll spot some of the difficulties and dangers ahead.
The post What's the Point of Planning? The Benefits of a 5-Year Business Plan appeared first on Mind Tools.
Sometimes it feels as if we're living in a science fiction or fantasy movie.
We've become accustomed to digital assistants that recognize our voice to conjure up information on demand. And we're as comfortable to use fingerprint scanners to unlock our phones as to accept facial recognition technology to cross a border or to catch a criminal.
The pace of technological change is fast and phenomenal. But how afraid should we be that it will run away with us, creating a world where our identities are swallowed up and reshaped for profit and control?
This is a question for a futurist – someone like Tracey Follows, the author of a new book titled "The Future of You: Can Your Identity Survive 21st-Century Technology?"
When I spoke to her for the latest Mind Tools Expert Interview, she stressed the importance of engaging with the march of technological progress, rather than ignoring or resisting it. Each of us, she says, has to "operate as a digital persona" to function in today's world, whether we like it or not.
Below is an audio clip from our conversation. You can download a transcript here.
As Follows emphasizes, "if our identity is being digitized, then we want to be in control of it."
Technology: Possible, Probable or Preferable? According to Follows, members of the "futuring community" can be divided into those who think you can predict the future, and those who think you can't, but you can do some useful preparation for what might come. She's the second kind.
"Obviously, anything societal or cultural is a lot more difficult to predict, and so that's really more about preparing," she explains. "So you're preparing for different possible outcomes or different possible futures, as we would call them, not just the probable future."
In her book, she brings together research and insight about several aspects of our identities in the 21st century, in chapters that indicate their focus. There's "Knowing You," about data collection; "Watching You," about digital surveillance; "Creating You," about our online personas; and "Connecting You," about communication. The others are "Replacing You," "Enhancing You," and "Destroying You."
This builds a mostly dystopian vision of the future, where governments and companies can influence who you are and what you do. I asked Follows if people can opt out of this by simply not using technology. After all, not everyone has an online life. Her answer? It's not that simple.
"It doesn't really matter how much or how little you're using technology. Society is using technology and the state certainly is using technology. And that obviously has ramifications for not only who you are, but how you are treated and how you are assumed to be someone you are," she says.
Creating "You" Through TechnologySo what can we control? Our social media personas, for one. We can curate a digital image of ourselves that is close to the reality, or very far from it. Or something in between – a better version of ourselves, if you will. And while this may be fun, it can also have a fascinating impact on our day-to-day lives, back on Planet Earth.
Follows explores this in the chapter "Creating You," in a discussion about avatars. This stood out for me, with its logical and tantalizing upside.
She cites research by Jeremy Bailenson at Stanford University, looking at how people represented by avatars behave in virtual environments.
"What he found was that their own behavior was very much affected by the avatar they thought they were. So how they thought they showed up affected their own behavior," she reports.
"If they thought they were a really tall person in a virtual reality space, they might be much more confident. He found that they were, I think, better negotiators, because they felt like they were more imposing when they were taller. And if they felt like they were very small avatars, they acted differently. Likewise, if they were more 'attractive,' they would be much more confident."
Follows encountered a similar effect among people in Tokyo who spent a lot of time on live social media feeds. The avatars they chose allowed them to be "discovered" – and in more ways than one.
"Sometimes when they are themselves on some of these social platforms, they are less confident," she says. "And if they can take on an avatar suddenly, they're able to turn up in these environments and sing their heart out or play the piano, and they've found these amazing talents."
Tech to Hide Behind or to Shine ThroughAn avatar can be a mask that hides a person's identity, but it can also enable people to adopt a new identity, with the power to draw out new strengths. It's an intriguing idea, particularly since we increasingly communicate online.
"Who we turn up as, who we represent ourselves as, how we profile ourselves, is obviously having a really fundamental and quite profound effect on our communication and our interaction in lots and lots of different ways," Follows reflects.
Granted, there are moral dilemmas and even mental health risks if "we build ourselves a wardrobe of avatars" for different situations, or to deal with different people in different ways. But on the positive side, unlike some of the other scenarios presented in Follows' book, this is one technological advance that we can manage – and benefit from – ourselves.
Transhumanism and Transparent GovernmentMind Tools Club members and Mind Tools for Business licensees can listen to my full 30-minute interview with Tracey Follows. In it, she also touches on the use (and abuse) of technology for democracy, physical and mental augmentation, creativity, and more. It comes with a complete transcript.
If you're not already signed up, join the Mind Tools Club now to gain unlimited access to 2,400+ resources, including our back catalog of 200+ audio Expert Interviews. And to find out more about Mind Tools' enterprise solutions, you can book a demo with one of our team.
Meanwhile, you can read more from me, Rachel Salaman, by searching the Expert Interview blog topic.
Your Turn!How do you use technology to enable your life? How in control of your identity online do you feel? What should businesses do to manage the risks while not stifling innovation? Share your thoughts and queries in the Comments, below!
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This blog is guest written by Margaret H. Greenberg and Gina Greenlee, executive coaches, organizational development consultants, and the coauthors of "The Business of Race."
If you think racism is a U.S.-only issue, think again. If you believe solving racism is best left to governments, think again. If you're under the impression racial equity is just a new twist on racial equality, think again. And if you think racial equity is just another training program to roll out, then, yes – think again.
Every society has centers of influence, such as education, religion, healthcare, and government. The workplace is another of these centers. From the industrial revolution to the digital revolution, the workplace has been where we experience change in the making.
Business leaders around the globe are now leading another transformation: creating a workplace that reflects the multicultural world in which we live.
Business Leads ChangeFor several decades, the global communications firm, Edelman, has conducted an annual trust and credibility study. They call it The Edelman Trust Barometer. Last year's results (of 38,000 respondents from 28 countries) found that "business," once again, is the most trusted source. Sixty-one percent of respondents said they trust business, ahead of NGOs at 59 percent, government at 52 percent, and media at 50 percent. This puts business leaders in the best position to advance racial equity in the workplace, and in turn, society.
What Is Racial Equity?Through our own exploration, we define equity as a measure of diversity and inclusion, which together make DEI (or EDI). Neither finite nor absolute, "E" measures how and to what extent "D" and "I" are embedded into an organization’s business strategy and every business policy and practice. An organization's "E" perpetually monitors and, as necessary, recalibrates "D" and "I" to stay ahead of potential relapse and continually advance toward an antiracist workplace.
When something is a little tricky to understand, sometimes it's helpful to describe what isn't. Racial equity is not a Black Lives Matter statement on your company's website; it's not an addendum to your company's values statement; it's not checking a box for Human Resources that confirms you sponsored or attended a workshop on unconscious bias; it's not writing a check to your favorite non-profit organization. It takes more than that to embed equity in your organization.
Equity Versus EqualityWe are often asked, "So what's the difference between equity and equality?" We believe that the Annie E. Casey Foundation describes it best:
"Equity involves trying to understand and give people what they need to enjoy full, healthy lives. Equality, in contrast, aims to ensure that everyone gets the same things in order to enjoy full, healthy lives. Like equity, equality aims to promote fairness and justice, but it can only work if everyone starts from the same place and needs the same things."
The Racial Equity ContinuumBefore you can embed racial equity into your business strategy, you must define what racial equity means for your organization specifically. Equity is a relative newcomer to the diversity and inclusion space. Many DEI professionals and business leaders alike are still wrestling with what it means and how to implement it.
Two internal DEI professionals, from two different global companies (one tech, one research), recently shared with us how their organizations define equity:
- When there are no systemic biases that impact the employee lifecycle.
- When race is no longer a predictor of our outcomes.
Notice how the first definition does not mention race, while the second one does.
By not specifically mentioning race in its definition, it may signal that this organization is “race tentative,” to use the term the Annie E. Casey Foundation uses in its learning continuum for race-focused work (see figure below). The continuum shows the stages an organization goes on in its journey toward embedding equity.
[Figure 1: A learning continuum for race-focused work. (Courtesy of the Annie E. Casey Foundation.)]After decades of work, some organizations have moved from "color-blind" (avoids or shuts down conversations about race, believing it will only create unmanageable discord), to "diversity-only" (proposes universal strategies that are presumed to work for all employees), to "race-tentative" (employees or management has gone through antiracism or unconscious bias training, but the organization is still unclear about what to do next), and now to "equity-focused"(measures are in place for management accountability). This transformation doesn’t happen overnight. It requires intention, commitment and resources.
Conversation Is KeyAnother DEI professional we interviewed for our book, The Business of Race, was Nereida Perez, from the global spice company McCormick. Perez believes that understanding workplace racial equity surfaces from cross-functional conversations about how your company will measure progress, like you do for any other strategic business priority. "What I've seen in the industry is the term 'equity’ being introduced, but these deeper conversations are not happening," Perez told us.
We agree. Your definition of racial equity will only surface through deep conversations – and not solely with your most senior team. One of the resounding themes from the more than two dozen business leaders we interviewed was that you cannot do this work in a vacuum: you must engage your employees and other key collaborators.
Racial Equity in ActionOnce you commit to having deeper conversations on what racial equity means for your organization, you can then begin to examine your policies and practices to see how racially equitable they are. But don't try to tackle every policy and practice at once.
Instead, pick one. Then create a diverse, cross-functional team to examine the current state, define the desired state, set specific goals with clear accountabilities, identify measures, and then report on progress – just like you do for other strategic priorities.
Want to take it a step further? Tie a percentage of executive compensation to the achievement of your racial equity goals, like Starbucks, Prudential Financial, and other companies have done.
Closing the Wage GapLet's take a closer look at one thing that we can all relate to, regardless of where we sit in an organization: compensation.
A September 2020 report by the global banking and financial services company, Citigroup, found a plethora of inequities between Black and White communities in the U.S. Specific to the workplace, the economists found income levels peak for Black men sooner and lower (ages 45–49, $43,849) than for White men (ages 50–54, $66,250).
Pay inequities related to race are not unique to the U.S. According to the Resolution Foundation, Black male university graduates are paid 17 percent less than White male university graduates in the U.K. – the equivalent of £3.90 an hour, or £7,000 over a year. And Black female university graduates are paid 9 percent less than White female university graduates, or £3,000 less over a year.
Fixing Pay Inequity To combat this trend, we recommend organizations conduct a pay equity analysis, that includes a focus on race, to establish a baseline. Be transparent in your reporting of where you are today and identify steps with clear accountabilities to close the gaps. Repeat the process annually to measure progress, just like you would for any other strategic priority.
What will you gain by ensuring your pay is racially equitable? A competitive advantage. You'll be more likely to attract and retain talent when they know there is fair compensation.
A growing number of U.S. federal states and local municipalities have passed laws requiring employers of a minimum number of employees (some as few as one) to disclose salary ranges or minimum/maximum wages for open positions and in some cases, current positions. Some innovative companies, like software development firm Truss, implemented pay transparency long before it was mandated. Why? Because they knew it would attract and retain more diverse talent.
If the state or city you do business in has not enacted pay transparency laws, get ahead of the curve and begin this work now. Competition for talent continues to be at or near the top of the greatest business challenges list of nearly every executive we work with.
The Journey to EquityEmbedding racial equity into your business strategy is a journey. A journey that will be both exciting and daunting. One that is fraught with missteps and filled with surprising giant steps. A journey that is both self-reflective and other-focused. What's one actionable step you can take to advance a more racially equitable workplace?
About the AuthorsMargaret H. Greenberg and Gina Greenlee are executive coaches, organizational development (OD) consultants, and the coauthors of "The Business of Race: How to Create and Sustain an Antiracist Workplace and Why It's Actually Good for Business" (McGraw-Hill, 2021).
They recently added two more cohorts of their 6-part, live series, Embedding Racial Equity into Your Business Strategy. One cohort kicks off January 19th 4:00-5:30 pm EST (UTC -5) and the other on January 23th 7:00-8:30 am (UTC -5). See their website to learn more and reserve your virtual seat.
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"Get yourself a notebook. Every day, write down three problems that you observe. This can be the place where you drive and foment your own change."
The post "Become an Observer Every Day!" Lorraine Marchand on Innovation appeared first on Mind Tools.
"Stop thinking of all older adults as just one type of person. It's more important to think about what stage of life they're in."
The post “Don’t Call Me Senior!” Susan Wilner Golden on Age, Work and Product Design appeared first on Mind Tools Blog.
"People in the performing arts don’t reach the top of the tree by crushing the opposition. They do it by being creative," - Steven Edwards
The post What Would Michael Porter Say – Be the Best or Be Unique? appeared first on Mind Tools Blog.
Nudging people's decisions with their own instincts can be a powerful tool. But one that should be wielded carefully and ethically
The post How Instincts Rule Our Choices: My Expert Interview With Matthew Willcox appeared first on Mind Tools Blog.
"They felt like they were tackling the problem. The truth is they weren't even addressing it: they hadn't figured out what it really was."
The post When You Can’t See the Real Problem: My Expert Interview With Kristen Cox appeared first on Mind Tools Blog.
Big Data is seductive. It promises that if we know enough, our lives will be more efficient. Margaret Heffernan thinks differently.
The post Beating Prediction, Charting the Future appeared first on Mind Tools Blog.
In this month's Expert Interview podcast, David Weinberger talks to Mind Tools about how we can understand and navigate the growing complexity of our interconnected world, and shares his positive message for the future
The post The Promise in Everyday Chaos: Our Expert Interview With David Weinberger appeared first on Mind Tools Blog.
Holidays are rarely all they’re cracked up to be. The promise of endless golden beaches and glorious sunny days. A band of happy people just waiting to share the good times with you… When you’re planning and booking it all looks so enticing, but it too often leads to disappointment – the picture-postcard slice of […]
The post Customer Service – Now I’ve Experienced the Best, I Want More! appeared first on Mind Tools Blog.
What is corporate culture? Ask a random group of people and you’ll likely get vague and varying answers. “It’s the atmosphere in the office,” someone might say. “It’s just how work gets done around here. It’s HR policies and procedures.” Ask organizational expert Karen Jaw-Madson, though, and the answer gets more specific. “[Culture] is a […]
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“We are not born with abilities. This comes from practice, persistence and perseverance.” – Debasish Mridha, American physician and author About This Week’s Chat We moved into a new house recently, after having lived in an apartment for nine years. Long before the move took place, I told my husband that as soon as the […]
The post Perseverance and Persistence – #MTtalk Roundup appeared first on Mind Tools Blog.
You’ve been working hard for months, putting in the extra hours, and taking on additional tasks. You can see several opportunities for promotion, and you really feel that you deserve that step up. But nothing seems to be happening. Your career feels like it’s hit a bit of a plateau. Sadly, working hard and having […]
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Have you ever noticed how differently people work when doing the same task? For example, two colleagues can be both putting together similar presentations. One finishes the project in a day, the other takes three weeks. The quality of the work is the same, but one is able to work better. Morten Hansen has personal […]
The post How to Work Better by Doing Less appeared first on Mind Tools Blog.
Think, just for a moment, about your favorite brand or product. Once upon a time, it was the brainchild of a struggling startup. It may have started out as someone’s “crazy idea” or “pet project.” But now, you use it regularly, perhaps even every day.
So how did it get to you?
After all, it overcame the odds to get to where it is now. Nine out of 10 startups fail. So what did it do to ensure that it was part of the 10 percent that achieved business success?
Most likely it was a combination of the right idea at the right time, backed by the right people, with the right amount of investment. But for many companies – even super successful ones – it’s not always “plain sailing.”
Why Do Startups Fail? The fact is that most startups fail, and even the most successful businesses have mishaps from time to time. Remember Google Glass? What about New Coke?
No? It probably comes as no surprise, then, that the main reason startups fail is because they make products that no one wants. This accounts for 42 percent of startup collapses, according to CB Insights.
Other key reasons startups fail include running out of cash (29 percent) and not having the right team in place (23 percent).
Successful Entrepreneurs Who Didn’t Give Up The road to success, however, is rarely straightforward. Just look at the success stories of some of today’s most famous entrepreneurs.
FedEx founder, Fred Smith (whose net worth today tops $5.3 billion), revealed that his college professor labeled his concept for Federal Express “interesting, but not feasible.” And, Walt Disney once got fired from his role as cartoonist at a newspaper because, according to his editor, he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.”
Steve Jobs was ousted from Apple Computer in 1985. But he soon turned his luck around after founding a new firm, NeXT (which eventually merged with Apple) and acquiring The Graphics Group (now Pixar).
Jobs later revealed that being fired pushed him to do more. He said, “The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.” At the time of his death, Jobs’s net worth was estimated to be $10.2 billion.
Another famous entrepreneur, Elon Musk, narrowly escaped bankruptcy after his electric car firm, Tesla, lost money and his space exploration company, SpaceX, suffered a series of rocket launch failures. He later labeled the year “the worst of my life.” Since then, SpaceX has won billion-dollar contracts from NASA. Musk’s net worth is now estimated to be $19.7 billion.
And, finally, have you ever heard of the Amazon Fire phone? This massive flop was once touted as being crucial to the company’s future. But sales failed to take off, even after Amazon cut its price to just 99 cents! It’s proof that even the biggest companies can still make mistakes.
Eventually, CEO Jeff Bezos wrote off his company’s $170 million phone business, saying, “If you’re going to take bold bets, they’re going to be experiments… Experiments are by their very nature prone to failure. But a few big successes compensate for dozens and dozens of things that didn’t work.”
Female Executives, Entrepreneurs and the Struggle to the Top There is a distinct lack of highly successful female entrepreneurs out there, with only 14 of the 1,011 self-made billionaires in the world being women.
But in recent years, a greater focus on gender equality on boards, as well as the ongoing #metoo campaign, has helped to shine a light on the difficulties facing business women, and how they can be overcome.
Just look at the success stories of people such as Katrina Lake, Adi Tatarko and Anne Wojcicki. Their example, along with a more concerted effort to increase opportunities for women in the workplace, has undoubtedly contributed to the rise in the number of female, self-made billionaires recorded over the last year.
Eight Steps to Business Success So, what does it take to achieve business success?
How did Amazon go from an online bookseller to the global e-commerce giant it is today? What did Apple do to become the largest tech company in the world? How did Sergey Brin and Larry Page take Google from a two-man, dorm-room operation to the most-visited website in the world?
There are six things that startups can do to increase their chances of business success:
- Don’t be Afraid to Take That First Step!
If you have a great idea, don’t be afraid to take a chance on it. Do some research, explore its potential, and brainstorm the things you’d need to do to get it off the ground.
As Facebook friend, Scanner Joe, explains, “…getting the courage to get started is the biggest challenge an entrepreneur has. Everything else is not easier though, but the first steps seems to be the longest one.”
- Have a Perfect Product Ultimately, people need to like what you do, and want what you produce. This is what will gain you sales, market share, and a loyal customer base.
But, remember, just because you like your idea, it doesn’t mean that others will. You still need to do the groundwork if you want to achieve business success. Get feedback from customers, carry out regular product tests, do market research, and set up focus groups. Most importantly, listen to your customers and use their feedback to change, innovate and perfect your product.
3. Grow, and Grow Fast! Growth is the only way to get potential investors interested. Being profitable gives you more money to plough back into your product development, manufacturing processes and staff. It also makes you an attractive investment.
But small amounts of growth won’t do: you need to achieve double-digit growth. If this doesn’t happen early on, chances are it will never happen.
- Be Versatile Startup teams must be responsive and resilient. When things go wrong, which they can do very quickly, people need to be able to jump in and deal with problems there and then.
It helps if you’re multi-skilled, too. You’ll need to be able to turn your hand to product development, marketing, negotiation, compliance, and strategy.
- Don’t Get Overloaded Trying to get a startup off the ground is no easy feat. There’s no doubt that it’s going to monopolize much of your brain power. But, immersing yourself in work completely, will likely lead to fatigue, stress and burnout.
As LinkedIn follower and small business owner of New Noise Audio, Stacey Hollis explains, “…make sure you keep your work/life balance in check. Running your own business can consumer a lot of your time and energy, so making sure you schedule in breaks, exercise and also time with friends and family is just as important. If you don’t have your health and well-being, you won’t have a business at all!”
- Get a Business Partner Some of the most powerful companies in the world have co-founders. For example, Google (Sergey Brin and Larry Page), Apple (Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs), and Microsoft (Bill Gates and Paul Allen).
When you’re at the helm of a budding startup, it can be scary. But, as the old saying goes, “Two heads are better than one.” Having a partner can help to ease the pressure and stress that comes with running a business. He or she may have complementary skills, provide emotional support, and be on hand to help out with the day-to-day. And an alternate perspective may help to broaden your vision and avoid the risk of mistakes being overlooked.
- Know That Failing is Part of Business Success Sometimes, it doesn’t matter how much time, energy or money you throw at a product, it still ends up being a “dud.”
Perhaps you launched it at the wrong time (in an economic downturn, for instance), it was too expensive, the marketing campaign was terrible, or customers simply didn’t like it. Unless you can see a different route, or you have the funds to change the product significantly, it’s probably best to quit while you’re ahead.
Product failures can be notoriously expensive and damaging to your brand. Consider Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7, for instance. The phone, which launched in 2016, was lauded for its superior storage, design and usability, and may well have been a hit if it weren’t for the fact that it occasionally caught fire and exploded. It was soon banned outright from flights, and Samsung had no choice but to recall the entire model. The ordeal reportedly cost the company $1 billion, and a further $17 billion in lost sales.
And Samsung is not alone. Google has had a number of “flops” in the past, too. Its virtual world, Google Lively, lasted just six months before being pulled, and its augmented reality eyewear, Google Glass, was withdrawn from the consumer market in 2015.
- Persevere A failure doesn’t have to spell the end, though! One thing that all great entrepreneurs have in common is that they have failed multiple times – and they bounced back.
Take Sarah Blakely, founder of shapewear brand Spanx. She credits her business success specifically to her failures. “I’d get kicked out of buildings all day long,” she remembered. “People would rip up my business card in my face. It’s a humbling business to be in. But I knew I could sell and I knew I wanted to sell something I had created.” Spanx is now worth just over $1 billion – not bad for a company that Blakely started with just $5,000.
So, if something doesn’t work, try something new. Don’t give up, no matter how down on your luck you feel. As Thomas Edison once said, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
Do you work in a startup? How do you deal with failure? And, what do you think are the key ingredients to business success?
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