Competitive Strategy 101: Beware of Cheaper Alternatives
For decades, management studies have sought to identify the qualities that distinguish the truly great companies from the rest.
In 2013, after five years of vigorously studying 25,000 companies in an attempt to provide accurate answers to:
– Which companies are worth studying?
– What sets them apart?
– How can we follow their examples?
Michael E. Raynor [Director] and Mumtaz Ahmed [Chief Strategy Officer] of Deloitte, identified 174 companies that were exceptional in terms of their long standing high performance. They nicknamed these 174 companies The Miracle Workers. After repeatedly trying and failing to isolate measurable behaviors that were consistently relevant to the Miracle Workers’ success, they shifted their emphasis away from what the companies did, to hypotheses about how they thought. Then they discovered something startling:
The many and diverse choices that made the Miracle Workers great were consistent with just three seemingly elementary rules:
Rule 1. Better before cheaper—In other words, compete on differentiators other than price.
Rule 2. Revenue before cost—That is, prioritise increasing revenue over reducing costs.
Rule 3. There are no other rules— Change anything/everything in order to abide by the first two rules.
Case study: When The Boeing Company enthusiastically embraced outsourcing (the cheaper alternative), both locally and internationally, as a way of lowering costs and accelerating development, the global aircraft manufacturing giant violated Rule 1 and went at least seven billion dollars over budget!
Common Cheaper Routes to Avoid:
1. 
Written errors can bankrupt your organisation or shipwreck your career! Never send out written correspondences without proofreading. Proofreading may take some time, but it will safeguard you.
2. Schedules are tight and time is short. But skimping on the time required to prepare, practice and perfect your presentation is a costly mistake. Poor public speaking impressions are hard to erase. Prepare well.
3. A leader with low emotional intelligence is a ticking time bomb. Anger issues can be mastered. All that is needed is coaching. Invest in becoming emotionally intelligent.
4. Hiring compromises is a counterproductive move. If you hire only the cheapest hands you can find, you will end up spending more- in terms of training costs and lost time. Find and hire only the best.
5. What if we train them and they go? What if you don’t train them and they stay? An organisation is only as good as its Human Capital. Invest in your people!
6. Personal development maybe expensive; but in the long run, your competence and the value you add are your only means of securing your job.
Immortalise your Next Speaking Occasion with these 3 Public speaking Gems from the Oscars
From the eloquent speeches of John Legend and Laura Poitras we found gems that are sure to improve your ability as a presenter or speaker.
Excel at your next speaking occasion by:
1. Making use of Storytelling
Your audience wants solutions to problems. They want guidance and sources they can trust and learn from. They want to hear stories that illuminate a world of greater possibilities. So, whether it’s a business presentation or speech, use a story.
Hint:
a. For business presentations, use compelling empirical data.
b. For informative, persuasive or motivational speaking, source for captivating stories (it could be yours or borrowed).
2. Maximising the power of punchy catchphrases
The buzzwords: “this bridge” and “Selma is now”, as used by Common and John Legend, promise to be an equivalent of the “I Have a Dream” refrain that people in the audience will remember far beyond the Oscars. Memorable and inspiring refrains are a powerful tool to use when speaking. Watch Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OteoFQvQczc
Hint: Find a way to package your most important message in a dramatic catchy phrase.
For example: In a presentation designed to motivate the Board of Directors to make a change, the following phrases, used well, will do:
Our competition lurks close!
A tidal wave of change is upon us!
We cannot afford to wait one more day!
3. Digesting your message
Two important political messages were given during the Oscars. One by Patricia Arquette, on pay and equal rights for women and the other by Laura Poitras, on the dangers of government surveillance.
Of the two messages, however, only one resounded: that of Poitras. Why?
Poitras’ message came from the heart. She had no notes in front of her and she delivered it with a deliberately paced sense of genuine passion. Her message hit the emotional bulls-eye. On the other hand, Arquette pulled out a sheet of loose leaf paper (folded multiple times) and proceeded to read it at a breakneck speed.
Hint: If you want to look professional, put in the extra time to memorise your content so the audience sees the message in your eyes instead of the top of your head because you’re looking down at your notes.
Final words:
We hope that you have found this newsletter useful. We are eager to hear from you; please feel free to send comments or contributions. Who knows, we could publish your insights in our April edition.
Until next month, always remember that: continuous improvement is the only personal value that can keep you ahead of the pack.
See you in April!
Best regards,
Modupe Marc-Dawodu.