Welcome to the July 4th, 2019 holiday weekend. Coincidently, this holiday also occurs right after the 
end of the second quarter which means we are at the midpoint of the year. This is the point of the business year where we now have good insights into what has just happened with the business during the first 6 months, and what we think is going to happen over the next 6 months.
In our Business Acumen workshops, we provide leaders with a strategic thinking tool that presents the concept of defining a strategic process based around analysis of:
- Where are we now?
- Where are we going?
- How are we going to get there?
As you get ready for the holiday, I am suggesting that you take a few moments during the long weekend to keep your brains fresh and to take some time to step back and think about your business, your roles, your accomplishments, and your challenges ahead.
This blog provides you with five thought topics for exploring where you are and where you are going.
Check in on your value proposition to customers
Your value proposition is the products/services you are offering to your customers and a compelling reason for them to want to buy them for you. At this time of year, it’s very important to re-visit that value proposition. A few thought questions:
- Is it well defined?
- Is it understood by your customers?
- Is it understood by your employees?
Example
In July, 2019 there are several great examples of companies who are doing a great job of focusing on their value proposition to customers. Let’s take a look at the best-selling laundry detergent, Tide. Earlier this year, the Fabric Care leaders of P&G launched an innovative business expansion strategy that includes laundry and dry cleaning services where the value proposition includes third party organizations doing the work and delivering the cleaned good directly to happy customers. In other words, they have redefined the value proposition from just superior quality laundry detergent to laundry solutions for busy customers.
Focus on the Big Picture
It’s too easy to get stuck in the daily grind of endless meetings, infinite emails, too many voicemails, and non-stop text messages. This is a great time to stop, slow down, and look at the big picture. This is a great time to:
Have a deep, open, and honest conversation about where you are. This is a great place to conduct a classic SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis. The most critical part of this is making sure you are being open and honest. Using inaccurate data and not facing reality is the recipe for business disaster.
In the example of Tide, P&G was able to see things like Uber, Uber-eats, and other disruptive services to build a big-picture plan.
Use Data, Not Emotion
As you go through your analysis, it is critical to use data and facts. Anecdotal data and data that is based on emotion won’t get you where you need to go. Great leaders do two things here; make sure you have real and valuable data and teach your people to use data when planning and decision making.
The Tide leaders have great data to understand the social and lifestyle changes happening around the world and the mega-trend of providing quality services and convenience.
Plan for the next steps
Once you go through this assessment process, you must now plan your next steps. What are you going to do differently? What are you going to stop doing? What are you going to do more of? It’s critical to be able to understand your data and then build plans that are the next steps to success.
Take the next step
Great plans fail without execution. My final suggestion is to make sure you are executing on the plan. Do you have the right people? Support staff? Systems? Have you appropriately delegated the action steps and created an environment of change?
In summary, this is a great time of year to step back and look at the big picture. To do this, you want to focus on making sure you are aligned around your value proposition and that your team is aligned around execution.
Have a safe and enjoyable holiday!
