Our business worlds are filled with constant noise, disruption, and increasing complexities. It feels 
like every day it gets harder and harder for business leaders to the create focus and alignment around the things that are going to enable their organizations to execute their strategies and deliver value propositions to their targeted customers to generate profitable revenues.
With so much noise, it is easy for organizations, leaders, and contributors to get lost and off target. So, what can leaders do to create innovative work environments that have clarity and alignment? During the past few weeks, my travels have taken me around the world for clients in several industries including healthcare, chemicals, technology, and consumer goods. I’ve had the chance to speak with many leaders and understand how they do things so I can share and provide a forum for continuous learning. One executive leader I recently worked with shared an interesting concept that keeps him grounded on executing the strategy of his business that I wanted to share; the skill of “Focusing on the Heart of the Business Ecosystem.”
Defining the Heart of the Ecosystem
Every business organization exists in multiple business ecosystems that revolve around designing, developing, and delivering products and or services to customers willing to pay a price over the cost to produce. Suppliers, manufacturers, shippers, retailers, and other entities round out a delicate ecosystem and balance of relationships that enables organizations to function and make profits.
Take the mobile device industry as an example; if you choose to be a manufacturer of mobile devices, there are a plethora of component suppliers you need to work with, manufacturers to outsource production to, software companies to gain licenses from, app companies to set up agreements with, cellular providers to work with, distribution companies to use for shipping to retailers, retailers to sell to consumers, and of course the consumer who buys the devices loaded with software and applications.
This concept proposes that the secret to long term success is understanding the heart of your ecosystem and focusing on the most important elements while not focusing on the elements that have less value to the system.
Three Important Components of the Heart of the Business Ecosystem
To fully understand the heart of your business ecosystem, there are three key components to focus on:
- The level of interdependency of the participants in the ecosystem
- The strengths of relationships they have
- The critical drivers of the value exchange
The level of interdependency of the participants in the ecosystem
The first element of understanding the heart of the ecosystem is determining the level of interdependency of each participant in the ecosystem. The metric to use here is Low Interdependency vs. High Interdependency. Low interdependency means there is little important integrated processes while high interdependency means processes are integrated and you can’t live without them.
In the mobile device example, most of the players have a low level of interdependency and for the most part are interchangeable. The closest you can get to a high level of interdependency is the provider of the operating system that runs the infrastructure.
Thought question: Can you map the players and level of interdependency at the heart of your ecosystem?
The strengths of relationships they have
In competitive business ecosystems, the strength of your key relationships can mean the difference between success and failure. Are you getting the best quality, products, and services from your ecosystem partners? Who are the partners that you absolutely have to have the best relationships with to win?
In the mobile device example, it turns out that the relationship with the retail channel is the most important relationship and the key to success. Strategically, what should providers do to strengthen the heart?
Thought question: Openly and honestly grade out the score of your most important relationship within your ecosystem. If it’s an “A”, what are you going to do to maintain it? If it’s not, what are you going to do to get it there?
The critical drivers of the value exchange
The critical drivers of the value exchange are the elements each player in the ecosystem care for the most. The easiest example are customers; they want a good quality product at a relatively good price. But what about the other pieces? What are their critical drivers?
In the mobile example, the contract manufacturer may value keeping their plants utilized. The components providers may value putting their innovative parts into the most innovative mobile devices.
Thought question: Do you know the critical drivers of the value exchange for your most important parts of your business ecosystem?
In summary, by understanding these value drivers, you understand the heart of your ecosystem and can create better alignment.
