#strategy

For many organizations, growth seems elusive. As an approach to increase company value, it can certainly be more challenging than achieving cost savings. While cost savings have their place, they tend to limit a company’s future position and value, as they are often copied by competitors and end up in price reductions.

If your ambition is to grow your organization (and it should be), the ‘growth platform’ framework suggests addressing four key issues when growth is not achieved:

1. Unclarity of Vision
2. Issues with Proposition and Positioning
3. Lack of Capabilities: Technological or in the Team
4. Misalignment of Drive

To reinvigorate growth, simply reshuffling a few chairs on the deck of the titanic will not be enough. Addressing all these issues comprehensively might feel daunting, but every journey starts with a single step. Here are some practical steps and ideas that can help:

• Vision Unclarity If an organization does not know where to go, the chances of it ending up there are slim.

• • Vision is often constructed to reinforce the aspired points of pride in an organization, even if not recognized by the team. Such a lack of recognition might create distance between leadership and the team.
  • A good vision should create stretch, not stress.

         Practical Steps

• • A clear and concise destination for your growth is a great starting point. The vision should include ‘soft’ aspirations related to how you work and compete.  A plan with a target market, choice of autonomous vs. acquisition growth, and a sales plan will not be sufficient to guide a growth trajectory.
  • There is nothing wrong with a public presentation if a new vision & strategy.  It functions as a reference point. Taking time to work on the soft parts of the vision with the teams will increase buy-in. To make it really sink in, it is key is that you repeat the vision story in all your daily actions, to explain your choices and decisions.  
  • The process of growth and achieving your vision is not isolated from the outside world. If you become more assertive, your competitors are likely to respond. A vision should show how to sustainably compete to give more depth to the story.  It brings a higher realism and makes it easier to reinforce the story even if headwinds occur.

• Positioning Issues Underserved value pockets in your arena provide a quick opportunity for growth. Fighting for overserved value pockets with your partners reduces value for your end-customer and increases churn.

• • Day-to-day commerce tends to focus on the fight for a customer, driving expansion in the benefits of the offer to counter competitors’ USPs. In the effort to keep up with competition, a value proposition for customers often gets diluted, making it difficult to differentiate.
  • Sales pressure might drive you to do things that your customer or supplier might also do. If your role in the value chain is sub-optimal, this could lead to uncertainty with your partners and about your future position.

         Practical Steps

• • Determine the hourly rate of your customers, including all time spent in association with your product, such as finding, acquiring, using, maintaining, and waste. Add uncertainty, anxiety, and stress associated with it. This is the core value pool you can address and might point you to underserved value pockets.
  • Focus on the role your product plays for the end customer and the way to create value beyond direct functional benefits. For instance, a barbecue is not just bought to grill food; it has grown to be a transparent means to communicate your character to your family and visitors. This is the secondary value pool you can address. Especially in business-to-business, this value pool can be attractive and underserved.
  • Recruit potential partners in the value chain that could complement your offering. Mutual dependency is not always a bad thing. Ensure that any cooperation is substantial and the benefits are well-balanced to make it sustainable.

• Capability Gaps Your growth strategy might be hindered by delays in development in the team or technology.

• • Your team may lack the necessary capabilities to execute your growth strategy in the existing context. Growth often means change, and not all team members are able (or willing) to embrace this change.
  • There may be technology gaps that need to be bridged to execute your growth plans. Delays in delivering these technologies can block growth.

         Practical Steps

• • Help your teams to stop doing things. This is an opportunity to walk the talk of the vision and often is a strong signal of commitment. Even if you need to go back to your major customers or stakeholders to arrange this, it is worth the investment to simplify your organization and free up capacity.
  • Reduce regular one-to-one meetings and move to a flexible approach, responsive to the level of support needed. Regular meetings are an efficient way to manage your time, but you want to be effective with your colleagues, not just efficient.
  • As your company grows, some people might hit their limits. Before looking at replacement as a solution, realigning tasks and work outside standard job descriptions might be much faster and avoid the often lengthy disruption of replacement.
  • A strong dependency on technology development for growth in a mature company is very risky and not often successful. For any technology investment, expand the contingencies in time and money. Cut plans into smaller steps and find low-cost partners in lower-cost countries.

• Misaligned Drive A top sports team can’t win if the team members are distracted by changes in their training schedule, worry about continuity, or change focus. Growth is unpredictable, so the risk appetite and flexibility for your team as well as investors need to be aligned, to ensure longer term consistency.

• • If you are growing at a predictable pace, you are probably not growing as fast as you could. If you grow as fast as you can, you probably can’t predict exactly how fast you will grow. This dilemma should be out in the open with your financiers.
  • Multiple initiatives as pilots are meant to find out what works. But in the end, your go-to-market and growth plan execution might be scattered and lack focus.

         Practical Steps

• • A growth plan should have negative scenarios. If the negative scenarios break the bank, go back to the drawing board. Either solve it through additional investment space or de-risk your approach.
  • De-risking works two ways: Decrease your exposure to negative outcomes or decrease the uncertainty of the outcomes. A straightforward way of reducing risk that addresses both options for your growth plans is to make smaller but faster iterations.
  • Growth often consists of many initiatives that are jointly expected to deliver the growth. These initiatives might be a mix of small and fast, big and slow, and everything in between. Prioritize based on their ability to drive the transformation.
  • In your go-to-market strategy, prioritize regional expansion over portfolio expansion. Regional pilots and proof of concepts can derisk your plan but might lead to a “not invented here” syndrome, with regions focusing on their own ideas rather than successes found elsewhere.

These practical steps in four areas of attention are pointers to cut loose the buckets dragging down your growth and set a clear course for sustainable growth. If you need more ideas, refer to the Book, or do not hesitate to reach out via social media or email.