The Oxford Dictionary defines a factoid as an item of unreliable information that is repeated so often it becomes accepted as fact. Too often in product development, what we view as a fact is just a factoid. Its fine to have assumptions, but make sure they don’t dress up as facts. What you think you know is more dangerous than what you know you think.
View video, De-risking Transformational Projects
The vitality index—percent of sales from new products—is a metric you should keep using. But it’s not predictive, prescriptive or precise. Consider 2 leading-indicator metrics from The AIM Institute: The Commercial Confidence Index (CCI), and the Growth Driver Index (GDI)… both quite easy to run.
Use this free diagnostic to find out your CCI and GDI, and benchmark your growth capabilities.
If you expect your business to be around in 10 years, why are you focusing so much of your energy on this quarter? Especially since less than 10% of your company’s stock value comes from current earnings… while the rest comes from the market’s expectations of your future earnings. Sure, this is what most leaders focus on… but not leaders like Jeff Bezos or Steve Jobs.
More in article, The Inputs to Innovation for B2B
I think this rule should be on every business leader’s desk, and perhaps stamped on their paychecks. Should we be impressed if they pumped up the stock price during their tenure? Not if they did it by mortgaging the company’s future with short-term moves, perhaps chasing away top talent in the process. Glory lies in building something of lasting significance… not in pillaging it.
More in article, How to become a great business leader
When you drive at night with just your low-beam lights on, you may observe small animals as you run over them. But you can’t avoid them. To do that, you need to have your high-beams on. Same with all those short-term financial reviews: You can only observe the bad results. To change the results, you’d need to build growth capabilities for the future. Run your business with your high-beams on.
More in e-book, Leader’s Guide to B2B Organic Growth (Lesson 7)
Your market is growing at 3% and your operating plan says you’ll grow faster than this next year. Of course, your competitors have similar plans… meaning everyone plans to grow faster than the market served. As TV psychologist Dr. Phil would say, “How’s that been working for you?” Could it be time for a different approach… e.g. understanding customer needs far better than competitors?
More in Leader’s Guide Videos Lesson 1, Recognize your growth challenge
In the long-term stockholder and employee interests align. This is also true of customer and community interests. In the long-term, it’s in the best interests of everyone—except your competitors—for your business to develop high-value products, sustain strong growth, provide stable employment, and increase market capitalization. Given this alignment, doesn’t it seem odd that many business leaders seem so fixated on the near-term?
More in e-book, Leader’s Guide to B2B Organic Growth (Lesson 30)
Developing B2B customer insight skills for this growth requires a commitment your competitors may be unwilling to make. Good. You need them to remain shortsighted. As you gain insights, you may enjoy a bonus: Customers are impressed with suppliers that listen to them… and often offer near-term adjacent opportunities.
More in white paper, Catch the Innovation Wave (page 15).
A market segment is a “cluster of customers with similar needs.” Most B2B companies fail to focus their resources on those segments that are winnable and worth winning. They don’t follow the #1 lesson of war: “concentration of force against weakness.” Instead, they spread their forces too timidly and evenly.
More in article, How’s Your Market Segmentation?
“Market Growth” is the tide that lifts all boats… your reward for being just average. “Inherited Growth” comes from great products developed long ago. These are the gifts that keep giving… until they don’t (when you’ve been commoditized). The only one you control is “Earned Growth,” when you understand and meet customer needs better than anyone else.
More in article, The Inputs to Innovation for B2B
Any champion—a golfer, chess master, or rock climber—focuses on building their capabilities. Yet, many business leaders obsess with “results,” hit the reset button at year-end, and start all over again.
Use this free diagnostic to benchmark your growth capabilities, and chart a multi-year improvement plan.
I’ve come to believe two principles: A) The only way to create customer value is by improving their important, unmet outcomes. B) A supplier’s only path to profitable, sustainable organic growth is in creating customer value. Do you agree? If so, you might want to place a very high priority on understanding which customer outcomes these are.
More in article, The Inputs to Innovation for B2B
This original research by The AIM Institute investigates 24 possible growth drivers… and the views of over 10,000 years of professional B2B experience on their growth impact. Bottom line: Most companies want to put more emphasis on understanding customer needs in the front end of innovation.
More in research paper, What Drives B2B Organic Growth?
Decades ago, Stephen Covey explained we need to balance “P” (production) against “PC” (production capability). Today many companies just focus on this year’s results (P), without building the capabilities needed for future growth (PC).
There is a natural law of harvesting: sowing and reaping. And the sowing must come before the reaping. When we don’t understand this, the “P PC Balance” will make that profitable future difficult to achieve. Jeff Bezos has taught that this year’s profits have to do with the work done years ago. Further, we know that we need our PC to contain the core components of tools, processes, and people.
“P PC balance” must consider the tools required. Tools increase efficiencies. They reduce errors. The modern B2B firm must understand how to leverage tools to its advantage. From voice of the customer software to web conference services, this is not a place to pinch pennies. Let’s also get more sophisticated about the language of finance, which is how success is measured.
“P PC balance” must consider the processes. For example, we must know how to allocate resources. That is, we must optimize the risk between risk and reward with our portfolio management system. We need our stage-and-gate system to keep development marching along. And we need processes for pursuing riskier investments, or, we’ll look at our new initiatives – and find that they are all incremental in nature.
And last, but certainly not least, “P PC balance” must consider people. They are the most important assets a firm has. And yet, how often, during tough times, do we see massive layoffs? How often to we watch knowledge and experience literally walk out the door. Fail to maintain the talent level and bigger failures are sure to follow. And don’t just keep them, but invest in their learning and careers. There should be a high degree of alignment.
There is no doubt that there’s tremendous pressure on executives to perform. But don’t just hit the reset button and start over again every year. Sell the vision, sell the process! Build the future that you (and your firm’s investors) want.
More in article, B2B Leadership: Time for Greatness