I probably learned more from a boss and mentor at Unilever named Richard Rivers than anyone else in my career. The sharpest of brains that could see through problems and opportunities with frustrating ease, pace and elegant charm as he did so! He had great expertise in strategy but had a bugbear that he hated the SWOT. Yet back in the day, people at Unilever loved SWOTs, it was a deeply contrarian view. His argument was simple. The basic construct encourages you to make lists and think of ever more variables intellectually. In reality, one thing on that diagram could make all the difference in the world and you won’t spend any time on it because you’re too busy making lists.
That simple observation has stuck with me ever since. We’re in the business of finding and delivering untapped potential. Whenever we go into a new strategy exercise the onboarding is always intense. Our goal is to learn and test the thinking. We are looking for clarity and whether the metrics and performance facts stack up with the ambition and supposed priorities. Is there a clear strategy and does the organization live and breathe it? What we often find instead is a set of initiatives. Lots of them. Rarely in conflict, but rarer still genuinely interconnected or truly prioritized. A sum of the parts approach to value creation. Everything makes some sense, but significance isn’t the filter it should be and as a result potential is left unrealized and resources are atomized across activity.
I will talk in a later article about why Founders usually win against the big brands. David beats Goliath. It’s actually much less about agility and nimbleness and speed. It’s to do with focus. There simply aren’t enough resources or the complex organization structures and silos to create initiative overload. From clarity comes consistency. From consistency comes progress. As you look ahead to 2024 and beyond, reflect on the things that make all the difference to your business. Are they getting everything they need? Are they developing far enough, fast enough? Shine the flashlight brightly on the main thing and constantly strive to make it better.