Another way to look at the 8 GR8 ideas
Posted by 8gr8ideas on November 17, 2009
As I have mentioned, the 8 GR8 Ideas came about from my years in executive management in fast-growing, successful companies, primarily in high-tech. As I put together these ideas, they ended up clumping themselves into natural categories: Foundation, Differentiation, and Growth (see diagram)
The 4 Foundation ideas are the ones you need to run your business day-to-day. Plan, Plan, Plan, Watch your Dashboard Weekly, Measure by the Quarters, and Prioritize Ruthlessly are the keys to getting momentum in your business and starting to achieve some basic goals. Master these and you can be quite successful without anything else. To the extent that you are weak in one of more of these, your business will suffer and you will stunt your growth potential as well as not have as much fun in your business since you will constantly be dealing with these issues.
The 3 Differentiation ideas are the ones which will set your business apart from the crowd and really give you an edge. In my years in executive management, these are the ideas that would make or break the company. To the extent they were performed well, the company expanded quickly and profitably. To the extent the management team struggled with these, the company struggled as well. Seek out the Experts, Immerse yourself in your Audience, and Embrace Technology are the things that will catapult you ahead of your competition. Even just mastering one will allow you to take giant steps forward.
The final idea of the 8 GR8 Ideas is the one I came to after many long years of pondering why large companies re-organize constantly. Ever notice that companies will organize along functional lines—sales, marketing, operations, and then a few years later will organize along geographic lines—all sales/marketing/operations for the southeast in one unit, and then years later will re-organize again along product lines perhaps. Why?
While you are thinking about that, here is another puzzler. Why do some small businesses seem to hit a limit or ceiling? “I cannot get above 10 people no matter what I do” is something I hear frequently. Or “I cannot break $100,000 in sales it seems” is a variation on the same theme. Why? Are these 2 scenarios related?
Yes. I say they are. They are examples of companies going through the cycles of Invent…Scale…Invent…Scale. Inventing new goods and services and expanding their revenue, their reach and their top lines. Or scaling those new inventions to improve efficiency and increase their bottom line. In the first example, the larger company was merely going through these cycles and found one form of organization more helpful in each cycle. In the latter example, the smaller company needed to scale but didn’t know how.
Stay tuned for more blog posts on these topics and how to apply them to your company. Just a taste of what’s to come!
This blog does not constitute business advice. It is solely for the purpose of education. You should always carefully weigh any business decision and consult with professionals where appropriate before you make any major decision.
