Successful growth companies:
- Find the next S-curve
- Lean on customers
- Think like a designer
- Passionately lead the way
Find the next S-curve
Best products, markets, businesses go through predictable cycles of growth, maturity – S-curves. Diminishing returns set in as most attractive customers are reached, price competition emerges, current products lose lustre, customer service challenges emerge, operating models become obsolete.
Unfortunately, leaders can be blinded-sided by predictable speed bumps. Once reality of S-curve becomes apparent, may be too late to design next growth strategy. Time to innovate is when 1st growth curve hits an inflection point. How do we know we’ve hit an inflection point? We never know! Best companies make innovation a continuous process.
Steve Jobs understood when he returned to Apple. Decided to break out of mature computer industry. “I would rather compete with Sony than Microsoft.” 3 years later, iPod, iPhone, iPad, a game-changing retail channel claimed victory. Apple is one of largest mobile devices companies. Larger than Sony, Samsung.
Lean on customers
Successful leaders have deep insights of customers issues. Many are embracing tools like customer empathy maps to uncover new opportunities, create value, brand affinity. Customer insight builds lean approaches to product innovation, rapid prototyping, design partnerships, pivoting to improve products, business models. During IBM turnaround, Gerstner launched Operation Bear Hug to get back in touch with customers. IBM’s top 50 executives had to visit 5 customers per week, deliver write-up.
Designer think
Managers are trained to make decisions, but don’t always have great options. Innovation is creating new possibilities. Design thinking requires a different set of tools. Growth strategists search for uncontested spaces to make competition irrelevant.
Passionately lead the way
Unless CEO makes passion, innovation a priority, it won’t happen. Requires a level of risk-taking impossible without executive air-cover. Schultz decided Starbucks had lost it’s way. Flew in every store manager to re-design cafe experience. Google encourages employees to spend a day per week on new ideas. P&G actively tracks % of revenues, margins from new products. Gray Advertising gives a Heroic Failure Award to boldest ideas. Bezos told employees, shareholders he cared less about profitability, more about planting good seeds to pay off in 3 years.
Think different, stay hungry, stay foolish…