Core Strengths and Simple Management
Once what is winning is clear, and the coordinated choices about where to play and how to win (the heart of our business strategy) are made, then we need to turn our attention to choices about core strengths and simple management systems.
For small businesses, small nonprofits, and independent worker situations, the core strengths to address first are those of the small-business owner, the nonprofit CEO or managing director, and the independent worker or freelancer.
A good place to start
Do a personal inventory of what you believe you do best and what you wish you could do better. Try to be as dispassionate and objective as you can.
Often, it is helpful to get feedback or input from a spouse, partner, or close friend. It’s almost always helpful to get feedback from your biggest and most important customers. Other sources of input might be your banker or financial backers, your professional advisors (accountant, attorney), or even business associates who work in and around your industry. Feedback helps you focus on where and how to improve.
If you are not a solo operator, and even if you’re a micro business with fewer than 10 employees, it will be constructive and productive to get feedback from the managers and employees you work with every day who know you best at work.
What’s the best way to get this feedback and input?
It depends. Sometimes, it’s as simple as having an informal conversation with one or two of your employees whom you respect and whose judgment you value.
Getting in the habit of asking for input and feedback on a regular weekly and even daily basis creates an atmosphere and company culture that supports collaboration. It also provides the kind of informal constructive and productive feedback to help everyone perform better individually and the group perform better as a team.
Simple, clear questions can get the conversation going. What you and your employees as a team want to understand is: What individual and team capabilities are required for winning in your specific business with your most important customers? Which capabilities, which practices, give you competitive advantage?
What are we doing that matters most? Are we doing what matters well enough? Are we doing it better than our best competitors? Are we sure? How do we know?
Just as you as an individual want to play to your strengths, so too do the organization and the work teams. In most businesses, two or three capabilities and strengths make the decisive difference with customers and ultimately the success of the business.
One incredibly important organizational strength for small for and not-for-profit businesses is Sesame Street Simple management and operating systems. Small organizations don’t have the manpower, time, money or energy to deal with any complexity, confusion or unnecessary bureaucracy, meetings, paperwork and the like. This approach to managing and operating is critical… keep it simple!
A.G.’s Perspective: Fair assessment
Every year I served as CEO of P&G, I received detailed, broad-based feedback not only from the organization but also from outside stakeholders—retail customers, suppliers, analysts and investors, business and consulting partners, and more. This process was led by a capable, experienced, professional psychologist who personally solicited all of the feedback, summarized it, and joined with the head of HR and the Lead Director when it was shared with me. A written report focusing on key opportunities and expectations for improvement was shared with the board of directors. Believe me, the feedback was thorough, direct, and actionable. It didn’t always feel good at the time, but for the most part, it was not only helpful but also essential to my professional (and personal) development and growth.
About the author
A.G. Lafley is the former CEO of Procter and Gamble, who worked for decades in and with large public companies. Over the last 15 years, he has turned more of his attention, energy, and time to small businesses and nonprofit organizations. He currently serves on the boards of Omeza, Snapchat, Tulco, Hamilton College, and as the founding CEO of the Sarasota Bay Park Conservancy. A.G. is the author of two best-selling books, The Game Changer about innovation and Playing to Win about strategy, as well as numerous articles on leadership, management, and strategy for Harvard Business Review.