Strategic Planning Execution Guide

Strategic Planning and Execution
Presented By eLearning Classroom Compiled By Hardeep Kumar
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Objectives of this course

To present the strategic devices of mission, vision, goals, and strategy and demonstrate exactly how they are created. To show that the way a strategy is presented is different from the way it is crafted. To reveal the secrets of how great entrepreneurs execute strategy through the formation and organization of a great group. To provide a case that details the four tipping points of successfully implementing your strategy within an organization.
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Course Outline
1. What is strategic planning? 2. Knowing your purpose and mission 3. Defining a vision 4. Forming goals and objectives 5. The two kinds of strategy 6. Crafting internal strategy 7. Crafting external strategy 8. Presenting strategy as story 9. The secrets of organizing genius 10. Tipping point execution
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What Is Strategic Planning?
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Writing the future

The future is a mere storyalbeit a powerful one. You are either writing the story of the future or you are living inside the story of another. There can be no other possibilities. The entrepreneur has no choice but to anticipate the future, to attempt to mold it, and to balance short-range and longrange goals. To accomplish this, the entrepreneur needs to think strategicallyand this is the domain of strategic planning.
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Strategic planning is
The continuous process of making present entrepreneurial decisions systematically with the greatest knowledge of their futurity, Organizing systematically the efforts needed to carry out these decisions, and Measuring the results of these decisions against the expectations through organized systematic feedback.
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Its not a bundle of techniques

Strategic planning is not a box of tricks or a bundle of techniques. Quantification is not planning. Some of the most important questions in strategic planning can be phrased only in terms such as larger or smaller, sooner or later. Strategic planning is not the application of scientific methods to a business decision. It is the application of thought, analysis, imagination, and judgment.
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Its not about forecasting

It is not masterminding the future. Any attempt to do so is foolishthe future is unpredictable. Strategic planning is necessary precisely because we cannot forecast. Since the entrepreneur upsets the probabilities on which predictions are based, forecasting does not serve the purposes of planners who seek to direct their organizations to the future. Forecasting is of little use to planners who would innovate and change the way in which people live and work.
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It doesnt deal with future decisions

Instead, it deals with future-aspects of present decisions. Decisions exist only in the present. The question that faces the strategic decisionmaker is not what his/her organization should do tomorrow. It is, What do we have to do today to be ready for tomorrow?
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It doesnt attempt to eliminate risk

It is not even an attempt to minimize risk. Economic activity, by definition, commits present resources to the future. To take risks is therefore the essence of economic activity. While it is futile to try to eliminate risk, it is essential that the risks taken be the right risks. The end result of successful strategic planning must be the capacity to take greater risks, for this is the only way to improve entrepreneurial performance.
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The devices of strategic planning

Each device in strategic planning is meant to answer one fundamental question about your plan:
Vision: Answers the question of what. What will our future look like? What will we accomplish? What is our dream with a deadline? Mission: Answers the question of why. Why do we exist? Why is our vision important? Goals: Answer the questions of who and when. Who will do what? When will they do it? Strategy: Answers the question of how. How will we achieve our goals? How will our vision bring our mission to life?
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Knowing Your Purpose And Mission
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Mission and Vision

Though the terms are often used interchangeably, there is a vast difference between a mission and a vision. While the two concepts play-off of one another, they work in very different ways. The purpose of the next two sections is to examine exactly what makes mission and vision different and to demonstrate why you need to have both.
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Clarity about mission and vision

Clarity about mission and vision is both an operational and spiritual necessity. Mission provides a guiding star, a long-term purpose that allows you to balance the inevitable pressures between the short-term and the long-term. Vision translates mission into truly meaningful intended resultsand guides the allocation of time, energy, and resources. It is only through a compelling vision that a deep sense of purpose comes alive.
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The dynamic interplay

Mission is about preserving the core
Provides continuity and stability Fixed stake in the ground or the horizon Limits possibilities Conservative act Urges continual change Impels constant movement Expands possibilities Revolutionary change
Vision is about stimulating progress
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The eyesight metaphor

Mission and Vision are like your eyes. Each is independent of one another, yet each works together to provide both depth and breath ultimately coming together to make one in sight. The absence of one or the other (or both) is akin to looking at your organization with one only eyeor less. It can truly be said that nothing happens until there is vision. But it is equally true that a vision with no underlying sense of purpose is just a good ideaall sound and fury, signifying nothing.
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What is mission?
Mission is the purpose or reason for existence of your business. It is a general heading or directionit is abstract. A mission is what you stand for. A mission should be timeless. It should rarely, if ever, change. It should stand the test of time. Example: To increase mans capability to explore the heavens.
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The ground-rules of mission

Paradoxically, if an organizations mission is truly motivating it is never really achieved. Mission provides an orientation, not a checklist of accomplishments. It defines a direction, not a destination. It tells the members of an organization why they are working together and how they intend to contribute to the world. Without a sense of mission, there is no foundation for establishing why some intended results are more important than others.
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The missions of enduring companies

Company 3M Fannie Mae Hewlett-Packard Mary Kay McKinsey Merck Nike Core Purpose To solve unsolved problems innovatively To strengthen the social fabric by continually democratizing home ownership To make technical contributions for the advancement and welfare of humanity To give unlimited opportunity to women To help leading corporations and governments be more successful To preserve and improve human life To experience the emotion of competition, winning, and crushing competitors. To give ordinary people the chance to buy the same things as rich people.
Wal-Mart
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Being mission-based
There is a big difference between having a mission statement and being truly mission-based. To be truly mission-based means that key decisions can be referred back to the missionthe reason for being. This also gives some clue as to why being mission-based is so difficult. It gets to the core of power and authority. It is profoundly radical. It says, in essence those in the positions of authority are not the source of authority. It says rather, that the source of legitimate power in the organization is its guiding ideas.
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Power from ideas not people

Mission is therefore the belief that power ultimately flows from ideas, not people. Moreover, mission is inherently fuzzy and abstract. It is so much easier to make decisions based on the numbers, habit, and unexamined emotions. To be mission-based requires everyone to think continuously.
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Mission is a balancing act

It should not be so generic that it reads something like:
Our mission is to deliver the best quality product at the lowest price through the most knowledgeable employees for the benefit of all stakeholders.
This is simply stating best practice or the rules of the game of business itselfthe basic ticket for admission if you will. Instead, it should speak to some universal or cultural human need or condition.
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On the flipside
A mission cannot be too narrow in scope either. Saying: The mission of ACME is to serve medium-sized original equipment manufacturers by providing small power generators. This mission is a current marketing strategy, not a timeless reason for existence. The statement is far from timeless since both the customer and the products could change as the business grows.
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Now its time to write your mission

Right now on a piece of paper, write down your mission statement. Remember, a mission is the reason or purpose for the business. Write it as simply and honestly as you can. Example: The mission of CEDC is to increase the entrepreneurial capacity of our clients.
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The mission in review

Remember a mission statement should be somewhat timelessit should apply to not only today but possibly fifty years from now. It should put forth a general direction or heading stating what it is that you stand for. In essence, a mission can never really be achievedit should be ongoing. If it can be achieved and completed then it is a vision or goal, not your mission. You should think of your mission as your true north heading on your compass.
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Finally, check your mission

Your mission should
Provide continuity and stability Act as a fixed stake in the ground or the horizon Limit possibilities Be a conservative act
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Defining A Vision
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What is vision?
A vision is a specific future destinationit is concrete. A vision is a dream with a deadline. It should change over time. It must say yes to some ideas and no to others. Its about what the future might be, could be, and shouldnt be. Example: To put a man on the moon before the end of the 1960s.
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Defining a vision
In some ways, defining vision is easier than knowing your purpose or mission. Business people by nature are pragmatic; ultimately they are concerned about results and must concentrate on what and how, not just why. This is why vision matters. Visionan image of the future we seek to createis synonymous with intended results.
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The ground-rules of vision

Vision is a practical tool, not an abstract concept. Visions can be long-term or intermediate term. While an organization should exist for one, single purpose, multiple visions can coexist, capturing complimentary facets of what people seek to create and encompassing different time frames.
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Vision-based leadership
Leaders who lack vision fail to define what they hope to accomplish in terms that can ultimately be assessed. While mission is foundational, it is also insufficient because, by its nature, it is extraordinarily difficult to assess how we are doing by looking only at the mission. For this we need to stick our necks out and articulate an image of the future we seek to create. Results-oriented leaders, therefore, must have both a mission and a vision. Results mean little without purpose.
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Vision is intrinsic
Ultimately, vision is intrinsic not relative. Its something you and your organization desire for its intrinsic value, not because of where it stands you relative to another. Relative visions may be appropriate in the interim, but they will rarely lead to greatness. Nor is there anything wrong with competition. Competition is one of the best structures yet invented by humankind to allow each of us to bring out the best in each other. But after the competition is over, after the vision has (or has not) been achieved, it is the sense of purpose that draws you further, that compels you to set a new vision.
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Now lets define your vision

Remember, a vision is a specific, future destination. Its your dream with a deadline. Therefore, the first thing we need to do is establish a time frame that we want to look ahead. You will obviously choose the timeframe(s) that best fits your specific vision, but for the sake of this exercise, we are going to look out 5 years into the future.
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Ask yourself such questions as

What big, audacious goal(s) do you want to try to achieve in five years from now? What does success look like in five years? In five years time, how should your business be different than it is now? Using your own metrics of success, what must you accomplish in five years for you to consider yourself successful? Right now, on a sheet of paper, write down your vision.
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Now review what you have written

Remember a vision should be a description of a specific future destination. It should speak to what your future should be and to what it shouldnt be. It should excite the human imagination over a long period of time. It should be bold, but there must be a belief that it can be achieved. Remember: Its not what the vision is, its what the vision does.
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Finally, check your vision

Your vision should
Urge continual change Impel constant movement Expand possibilities Result in revolutionary change
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Having a vision is but one facet

Having a well-defined vision is not enough by itself to transform an organization to greatnessan organization must also have a good handle on its current reality. And so, defining the current reality of the situation in all of its gory detail is equally important. It sets the stage for the future story that is about to unfold. Truly creative organizations use the gap between vision and reality to generate energy for change.
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The formation of creative tension

If you have an intriguing and well-constructed vision that excites the human imagination, there will be a gap between your defined vision and your current reality. This gap is the source of creative energy that makes achievement of the vision possible. This gap is called creative tension. Having an accurate, insightful view of current reality is therefore as important as having a clear vision. Unfortunately, most of us are in the habit of imposing biases on our perceptions of current reality which destroys much of the energy generated by creative tension.
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Leveraging the brutal facts of reality

All successful companies began the process of finding a path to greatness by confronting the brutal facts of their current reality. When you start with an honest and diligent effort to determine the truth of your situation, the right decisions often become selfevident. Once the vision is defined and compared with an accurate, truthful map of current reality, the imagination cannot help but to begin filling in the holes created by the gapexploring scenarios, generating possibilities, and testing new ideas. But as stated earlier, many more organizations are usually the victim of an unrealistic view of current reality than the victim of a poorly defined vision.
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Your current reality and situation

Right now, on a sheet of paper, write down a description of your current reality. Make the description of your situation as truthful and vivid as you can render it. Dont hide any constraints that you believe might keep you from achieving your vision. The truly creative organization knows that all creating is achieved through working with constraints. Without constraints there can be no creation.
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Forming Goals And Objectives
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What are goals and objectives?

Goals are your definition of what success looks like. Goals are your vision in miniature. They specify what work of your vision will get done, by who, and by when. In effect, goals pose the question, What will I have to accomplish by the end of this year to consider myself a success?
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The purpose of goals and objectives

Objectives clarify what it is you are trying to accomplish in specific, measurable goals. For an objective to be effective, it needs to be a welldefined target with quantifiable elements that are measurable. Whereas your vision statement is expansive and idealistic, and the mission short, powerful, and memorable, your objectives are designed to focus your resources on achieving specific results. The purpose of well-defined objectives is to cause meaningful action.
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Types of objectives
There are many types of objectives and your plan should include a wide-variety. For many businesses the two most important categories will be the financial and marketing objectives. It is important, however, to tailor your objectives to cover the entire scope of your business, focusing on the goals that are most critical to your success.
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What targets will you aim for?

Most objectives can be broken down into the following general headings:
Financial Marketing and Sales Operations Human Resources Research & Development Manufacturing Personal
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What do you need to accomplish?

To create a solid objective you must:
1. Describe the activity required. Example: Introduce new products 2. Describe what will happen and when. Example: a book by 6/30 and a CD-ROM by 8/15
You can then wordsmith these pieces into a complete objective:

Marketing ObjectiveIntroduce a book by June 30th and a CD-ROM by August 15th.
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What works and what doesnt

Right: Obtain Oracle Named Account Status by July 2003 and SunMicro key account status by year end. (Measurable and easily understood) Wrong: Develop strategic marketing alliances with key partners. (With who? and by when?)
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What works and what doesnt

Right: Reduce overtime to maximum of 3%; introduce 401k plan by June 30th; implement recognition program by September 30th. Wrong: Increase employee morale.
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Expansive and intrinsic goals

Many world-class companies will not only set business and operational goals for themselves, but also expansive goals as well. Expansive goals are intrinsic and seek to set the standard extremely highbased upon some subjective standard of greatness. The premise of these goals is not about outrunning competitors bent on reaching the same prize. Rather, its about having ones own view of what the prize is. There can be as many prizes as runnersimagination is the only limiting factor. What distinguishes leaders from laggards, and greatness from mediocrity, is the ability to uniquely imagine what could be.
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An expansive goal example

Bill Russell, the legendary center for the Boston Celtics basketball team, used to keep his own personal scorecard. He graded himself after every game on a scale of one to one hundred. In his career he never achieved more than sixty-five. Now, given the way most of us are taught to think about goals, we would regard Russell as an abject failure. The poor soul played in over 1,200 games and never achieved his standard. Yet, it was striving for that standard that made him arguably the best basketball player ever. Its not what the vision is, its what the vision does.
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Developing your goals

Think back to your vision statement once again. If you recall, your vision statement looked five years into the future toward a specific destination that you want to arrive at. Next, read your current reality description that wrote. Now think about the activities you need to accomplish this year in order to move from your current situation toward that destination. Create 5 to 6 objectives that are critical to arriving at your envisioned future.
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Example of well-defined goals

Vision: By 2005, 50% of all revenue will occur through our own branded product line. One year objectives:
Secure trademark and other intellectual property by February 28th. Establish website with e-Commerce capabilities by March 15th. Complete 8 products by the end December 31st. Secure 10 content licenses by October 1st.
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The Two Kinds Of Strategy
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What is strategy?
People use the term strategy to describe one thing, but it is actually a bundle of insights and activities. There are fundamentally two kinds of strategy: internal and external. The concept is so simple and obvious that most managers and entrepreneurs simply overlook it. And yet, few managers or entrepreneurs are taught to craft strategy with these insights in mind.
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Why internal and external strategy?

The reason why internal and external strategy exist is based on the rules of the game of business itself. By definition, in order to fulfill a need or want, there must be an organization and a customer so that an exchange of value can take place. But each of these players in the game is seeking something different and operating under different rule-sets. Therefore, creating only an internal or external strategy (but not both) ignores the very definition of a business transaction and allows you to only look on one side of the equation.
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Thinking of the two independently

If internal and external strategy are not thought of independently, you can not appreciate the fact that they are
Created differently, Using a fundamentally different approach, Leveraging different resources, Focusing on different aspects, and Resulting in completely different outcomes.
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The two kinds of strategy

Internal
Created Fundamental Approach Leverages Focus Desired Result Inside-out Creative Assets Organization Innovation
External
Outside-in Strategic Communications Customer Positioning
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Resolving the apparent conflict

The existence of both internal and external strategy begins to explain why so many business books and consultants seem to contradict one another when talking about strategy. One school of thought says that you need to begin with your organizational vision and work outwards, while others state that you need to instead begin with the customer and work backwards. This paradox is resolved when you recognize that each school is simply describing either internal or external strategy. And since both kinds of strategy are created differently, it makes for what appears to be a contradiction.
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The kind of problem you are solving

The most common strategic planning mistake is made when you dont understand the kind of problem you are working on. In most planning sessions, little regard is given to the whether the organization is currently crafting internal or external strategyit all gets blended together. But internal and external strategy are different kinds of problems requiring different solutions solved through different means. Once you understand this basic assumption you will begin to see more clearly what to focus on, what approaches are available to you, and what outcomes to expect.
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An integrated system
The fact is your organization must think about and craft both types of strategy. You must understand how each kind of strategy is created, what makes it different, and what the desired results should be. External strategy follows internal strategy the way the left foot follows the right foot in walking. In effect, both kinds of strategy support the organization as well as each other. Each precedes the other, and follows it, except when the two move together, as the organization jumps to a new position.
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The feet metaphor

If mission and vision are like your eyes that come together in making one in sight, then Internal and external strategy are like your feet moving you forward, backward, or sideways. Each is again independent of the other, however, they work together in a complex system constantly reinforcing each other and playing-off one another in creating movement.
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Crafting Internal Strategy
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What is internal strategy?

Internal strategy is created from the inside-out. Its fundamental approach is internal and creative. It leverages assets as part of the creative process. Its primary focus is upon your organization. The desired result of successful internal strategy is innovation and the creation of new wealth.
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Strategy inside-out
Internal strategy is best summed up by Jim Collins, author of the book Built To Last, when he stated: If you did a word search across my research materials on the greatest company builders of the past 100 years, you would find almost no mention of competitive strategy. Not that those builders had no strategy; they clearly did. But they did not craft their strategies principally in reaction to the competitive landscape or in response to external conditions. Without question, they kept a wary eye on the brutal facts of reality. The fundamental drive to transform and build their companies was internal and creative.
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Crafting your organization

The philosophy of internal strategy is to think of your organization as the ultimate creationas if being crafted like a lump of clay on a potters wheel. You are the craftsman and your organization is your clay and, like the potter, you sit between a past of (organizational) capabilities and a future of (market) opportunities. It involves the constant and systematic application of the principles of creation, preservation, and destruction. As with any craft, formulation and implementation merge into a fluid process of learning through which creative strategies evolve.
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The three acts of internal strategy

Creation is about the deliberate conception of new ideas, thinking, and assets. Preservation is about remembering, infrastructure, and consistency. Destruction is about getting rid of the old and the obsoletewhether it be hard assets or the soft concepts of ideasand freeing up these resources for the creation of new wealth.
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Internal strategy is an understanding

Your internal strategy is not a goal to be the best, an intention to be the best, or a plan to be the best. It is a fundamental understanding of what you can be the best at. This distinction is absolutely critical. It comes from a particular state of mind rather than some routine process. And that mindset concerns clock-building rather than just time-telling.
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Good versus great

The essential strategic difference between great companies and the good, lay in two fundamental distinctions. First, great companies build their strategies on deep understanding of:
What they are passionate about, What they can be best in the world at, and What drives their economic engine.
Second, great companies translate that understanding into a simple, crystalline concept that guides all their efforts. Jim Collins calls this concept the hedgehog concept.
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The power of knowing one big thing

In his famous essay, The Hedgehog and the Fox, Isaiah Berlin divided the world into hedgehogs and foxes, based upon an ancient Greek parable: The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing. These words may mean nothing more than the fox, for all his cunning, is defeated by the hedgehogs one defense. From this parable it can be extrapolated that all companies can be separated as either foxes or hedgehogs. The question is which is your company.
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Is your company a hedgehog?

Hedgehogs simplify a complex world into a single organizing principle. They leverage a single, universal, organizing principle in which all that they are and say has significance. They use this principle as their frame of reference when making any and all decisions. They understand that the essence of profound insight is simplicity.
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Some sample hedgehog concepts

Sam Walton, Wal-Mart: Serving small, out-ofthe-way, rural towns. Michael Dell, Dell Computer: Sell computer, then build computer. Howard Schultz, Starbucks: The concept of the third placeits not work, its not home. Steve Jobs, Apple Computer: The computer for the rest of us.
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Or is your company a fox?

Foxes, on the other hand, pursue many ends, often unrelated and even contradictory. They see the world in all of its complexity. Their thought is scattered and confused, moving on many levelsnever integrating their thinking into one overall concept or unifying vision.
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The hedgehogs internal strategy

Hedgehogs use their single organizing principle as the lens in which they make all decisions regarding the assets they create, preserve, and abandon. This is not something that will come during the course of an afternoon planning sessiondeep understanding never does. But you must constantly be aware of the concept of your one big thing as you discover the necessary insights along the way.
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Hedgehog questions to ask yourself

Your hedgehog concept needs to be run through the following test:
Are we passionate about it? Can we be best in the world at it? Is there a sufficient economic engine to drive it?
Now ask yourself the following questions:

What are the things that we are currently engaged in right now that fail the above test? What are things that we are already doing that meet the test that we should continue to do? What are things that we are not doing that meet the test that we should seriously consider doing?
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The generic internal strategies

In a very general sense, there are only a few generic internal strategies you can employ. You can:
Create new assets Leverage the assets of another Buy new assets Abandon old assets
Of course, the imagination can dream up an infinite combination of these strategies.

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Broadening and coordinating assets

The transition of a fledgling business into a growing enterprise requires a fundamental transformation rather than a simple scaling up. Building a large and enduring company requires a considerable broadening of the companys assets and the establishment of effective mechanisms to coordinate those assets. As for their asset mix, quickly growing businesses have a broad and well-coordinated portfolio of products, relationships, know-how, and other such assets that allow them to profitably compete in large markets.
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Not just hard assets, but soft ones

Most companies know how to leverage traditional hard assets such as equipment, real estate, and so forth. But these represent only a fraction of the capabilities and advantages that companies have at their disposal. Every organization has numerous hidden assets that may include unique customer access or relationships, technical know-how, an installed base of equipment, a window on the market, a network of relationships, information, or a loyal user-community.
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Asset-based questions
Think a moment about your vision and from an internal and creative perspective ask yourself:
What old assets will we abandon? What new assets will will create? What assets can we leverage within our network? What assets should we buy?
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Internal strategy review

When crafting your internal strategy remember:
How: Who: What: Result: Inside-out, Creative Organization Assets Innovation
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Crafting External Strategy
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What is external strategy?

External strategy is about your approach to communications. It is built from the outside-infrom the customer backwards. Positioning theory provides the body of knowledge for crafting this type of strategy. Its focus is purely strategic as opposed to the creative orientation of internal strategy.
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The origins of positioning

In their 1981 book, Positioning: The Battle for your Mind, Al Ries and Jack Trout describe how positioning is used as a communication tool to reach target customers in a crowded marketplace. Not long thereafter, Madison Avenue advertising executives began to develop positioning slogans for their clients and positioning became a key aspect of marketing communications. While positioning begins with a product, its not what you do to a product. Positioning is what you do to the mind of the customer.
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Why positioning?
Ries and Trout explain that the concept is really about positioning a product in the mind of the customer. Strategy is therefore planned in the mind, not the marketplace. Marketing then becomes a battle of perception not products. This approach is needed because consumers are bombarded with a continuous stream of high-volume advertising. The consumer's mind reacts to this high volume of advertising by accepting only what is consistent with prior knowledge or experience.
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The positioning strategies

In a very general sense, there are only a few generic external positioning strategies you can employ:
Getting into the mind firstfinding the niche, Positioning yourself to the leader, or Repositioning the competition.
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The importance of being first

The easiest way of getting into the mind is to be first. As proof of this concept, answer these questions:
Who was the first person to fly solo across the North Atlantic? Charles Lindbergh, right? Who was second? Who was the first person to walk on the moon? Neil Armstrong, of course. Who was second? Whats the highest mountain in the world? Mount Everest in the Himalayas, right? Whats the second highest? Whats the largest-selling book ever published? The Bible, of course. And the second largest selling book? Who knows?
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The easy way into the mind

It is very easy to remember who is first, and much more difficult to remember who is second. Even if the second entrant offers a better product, the first mover has a large advantage that can make up for other shortcomings. However, all is not lost for products that are not the first its not about being first physically to the marketplace. By being the first to claim a unique position in the mind of the consumer, a firm effectively can cut through the noise level of other products.
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Finding your unoccupied position

If a product is not going to be first, it then must find an unoccupied position in which it can be first. At a time when larger cars were popular, Volkswagen introduced the Beetle with the slogan "Think small. Volkswagen was not the first small car, but they were the first to claim that position in the mind of the consumer.
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Positioning to a leader
Consumers rank brands in their minds. If a brand is not number one, then to be successful it somehow must relate itself to the number one brand. A campaign that pretends that the market leader does not exist is likely to fail. Avis tried unsuccessfully for years to win customers, pretending that the number one Hertz did not exist. Finally, it began using the line, "Avis is only No. 2 in rent-acars, so why go with us? We try harder." For 13 years in a row Avis lost money. After the campaign, Avis quickly became profitable. Whether Avis actually tried harder was not relevant to their success. Rather, consumers finally were able to relate Avis to Hertz, which was number one in their minds.
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You must own your space

Remember, you must own your niche and own it outright. No one else can occupy your space. If you cant own it, especially from a marketing expenditure outlay, then decrease the size of niche until you can. If somebody else occupies your chosen space you must try to reposition them.
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Repositioning the competition

Sometimes there are no unique positions to carve out. In such cases, Ries and Trout suggest repositioning a competitor by convincing consumers to view the competitor in a different way. Repositioning a competitor is different from comparative advertising. Comparative advertising seeks to convince the consumer that one brand is simply better than another. Consumers are not likely to be receptive to such a tactic. Tylenol successfully repositioned aspirin by running advertisements explaining the negative side effects of aspirin.
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Tylenol burst the aspirin bubble

For the millions who should not take aspirin. If your stomach is easily upsetor you have an ulceror you suffer from asthma, allergies, or iron-deficiency anemia, it would make sense to check with your doctor before you take aspirin. Aspirin can irritate the stomach lining, trigger asthmatic or allergic reactions, cause small amounts of hidden gastrointestinal bleeding. Fortunately, there is Tylenol Sixty words of ad copy before any mention of the advertisers product. Sales of Tylenol took off. Today, Tylenol is the No. 1 brand of analgesic.
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Repositioning Stolis Competition

Consumers tend to perceive the origin of a product by its name rather than reading the label to find out where it really is made. Such was the case with vodka when most vodka brands sold in the U.S. were made in the U.S. but had Russian names. Stolichnaya Russian vodka successfully repositioned its Russian-sounding competitors by exposing the fact that they all actually were made in the U.S. (by listing the cities they were produced in) and that Stolichnaya was made in Leningrad, Russia.
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Repositioning Pringles
When Pringle's new-fangled potato chips were introduced, they quickly gained market share. However, Wise potato chips successfully repositioned Pringle's in the mind of consumers by listing some of Pringle's non-natural ingredients that sounded like harsh chemicals, even though they were not. Wise potato chips of course, contained only "Potatoes. Vegetable oil. Salt. As a result of this advertising, Pringle's quickly lost market share, with consumers complaining that Pringle's tasted like cardboard, most likely as a consequence of their thinking about all those unnatural ingredients.
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The United States of Columbus?

As every school child knows, the man who discovered America was poorly rewarded for his efforts. Christopher Columbus made the mistake of looking for gold and keeping his mouth shut. Amerigo Vespucci didnt. Amerigo was 5 years behind Columbus. But he did two things right. First, he positioned the New World as a separate continent, totally distinct from Asia. Second, he wrote extensively of his discoveries. Both brilliant external strategies. As a result, Europeans credited Amerigo Vespucci with the discovery of Amercia and named the place after him. Columbus died in jail.
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Other positioning examples

Other positions that firms successfully have claimed include:
age (Geritol) high price (Mobil 1 synthetic engine lubricant) gender (Virginia Slims) time of day (Nyquil night-time cold remedy) place of distribution (L'eggs in supermarkets) quantity (Schaefer - "the one beer to have when you're having more than one.")
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You must begin with the customer

All successful external strategies must start with the mind of the consumer and then work backward. This is true because the answer is not contained within the product or service itself. No amount of creative thinking or analysis will result in the insights needed to successfully position your company, product, or service. The answer rests instead in the mind of your customer. You must begin with whats already there and then work backwardsoutside-into create your external strategy.
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To create your external strategy

Ask yourself, What position do I own now? External strategy is thinking in reverse. Instead of starting with yourself, you start with the mind of the prospect. Instead of asking what you are, you ask what position you already own in the mind of the prospect. Changing minds in our over-communicated society is an extremely difficult task. Its much easier to work with whats already there.
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What position do you want to own?

Next, ask yourself, What position do I want to own? Ask yourself, How can I be the first to claim a unique position in the mind of my customer. Here is where you try to figure out the best position to own from a long-term perspective. Own is the key word. Too many programs set out to communicate a position that is impossible to preempt because someone else already owns it.
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External strategy review

When crafting your external strategy remember:
How: Who: What: Result: Outside-in, Strategic Customer Communications Positioning
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Presenting Strategy As Story
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Presenting a strategy
The methods, craft, and techniques by which you present a strategy are different from those used to create it. Contrary to conventional wisdom, PowerPoint presentations, statistics, and rational argument-style methods are not the most effective ways to communicate your strategic plan. Entrepreneurial leaders know the best way to engage listeners on a whole new level is to toss the rational, statistical presentations and learn to tell good stories instead.
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The importance of persuasion

Persuasion is the centerpiece of business activity. Customers must be convinced to buy your companys products or services, employees and colleagues to go along with a new strategic plan or reorganization, investors to buy (or not to sell) your stock, and partners to sign the next deal. But despite the critical importance of persuasion, most entrepreneurs struggle to communicate, let alone inspire. Even the most carefully researched and considered efforts are routinely greeted with cynicism, lassitude, or outright dismissal.
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Persuasion using rhetoric

A big part of an entrepreneurs job is to motivate people to reach certain goals. To do that, he or she must engage their emotions, and the key to their hearts is story. There are two ways to persuade people. The first is by using conventional rhetoric, which is what most business people are trained in. Its an intellectual process, and in the business world it usually consists of a PowerPoint slide presentation in which you say, Here is our companys biggest challenge, and here is what we need to do to prosper. And you build your case by giving statistics and facts and quotes from authorities.
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The problem with rhetoric

But there are two problems with rhetoric. First, the people youre talking to have their own set of authorities, statistics, and experiences. While youre trying to persuade them, they are arguing with you in their heads. Second, if you do succeed in persuading them, youve done so only on an intellectual basis. Thats not good enough, because people are not inspired to act by reason alone.
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The other way to persuade

The other way to persuade peopleand ultimately a much more powerful wayis by uniting an idea with an emotion. The best way to do that is by telling a compelling story. In a story, you not only weave a lot of information into the telling but you also arouse your listeners emotions and energy.
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Harnessing the imagination

Persuading with a story is hard. Any intelligent person can sit down and make lists. It takes rationality but little creativity to design an argument using conventional rhetoric. But it demands vivid insight and storytelling skill to present an idea that packs enough emotional power to be memorable. If you can harness imagination and the principles of a welltold story, then you get people rising to their feet amid thunderous applause instead of yawning and ignoring you.
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What is a story?
Essentially, a story expresses how and why life changes. It begins with a situation in which life is relatively in balance: You come to work day after day, week after week, and everythings fine. You expect it will go on that way. But then theres an eventin screenwriting, this event is called the inciting incidentthat throws life out of balance. You get a new job, or the boss dies of a heart attack, or a big customer threatens to leave. The story goes on to describe how, in an effort to restore balance, the protagonists subjective expectations crash into an uncooperative objective reality.
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Dealing with opposing forces

A good storyteller describes what its like to deal with these opposing forces, calling on the protagonist to dig deeper, work with scarce resources, make difficult decisions, take action despite risks, and ultimately discover the truth. All great storytellers since the dawn of time from the ancient Greeks through Shakespeare and up to the present dayhave dealt with this fundamental conflict between subjective expectation and cruel reality.
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Humans want stories

Stories have been implanted in you thousands of times since your mother took you on her knee. Youve read good books, seen movies, attended plays. Whats more, human beings naturally want to work through stories. Cognitive psychologists describe how the human mind, in its attempt to understand and remember, assembles the bits and pieces of experience into a story, beginning with a personal desire, a life objective, and then portraying the struggle against the forces that block that desire. Stories are how we remember; we tend to forget lists and bullet points.
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Telling strategic stories

Businesspeople not only have to understand their companies past, but then they must project the future. And how do you imagine the future? As a story. You create scenarios in your head of possible future events to try to anticipate the life of your company or your own personal life. So, if a businessperson understands that his or her own mind naturally wants to frame experience in a story, the key to moving an audience is not to resist this impulse but to embrace it by telling a good story.
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What makes a good story?

You emphatically do not want to tell a beginning-to-end tale describing how results meet expectations. This is boring and banal. Instead, you want to display the struggle between expectation and reality in all its nastiness. For example:
Lets imagine the story of a biotech start-up well call Chemcorp, whose CEO has to persuade some Wall Street bankers to invest in the company. He could tell them that Chemcorp has discovered a chemical compound that prevents heart attacks and offer up a lot of slides showing them the size of the market, the business plan, the organizational chart, and so on. The bankers would nod politely and stifle yawns while thinking of all the other companies better positioned in Chemcorps market.
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The alternative pitch

Alternatively, the CEO could turn his pitch into a story, beginning with someone close to himsay, his father who died of a heart attack. So nature itself is the first antagonist that the CEO-asprotagonist must overcome. The story might unfold like this:
In his grief, he realizes that if there had been some chemical indication of heart disease, his fathers death could have been prevented. His company discovers a protein thats present in the blood just before heart attacks and develops an easy-to-administer, low-cost test.
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The story continues

But now Chemcorp faces a new antagonist: the FDA. The approval process is fraught with risks and dangers. The FDA turns down the first application, but new research reveals that the test performs even better than anyone had expected, so the agency approves a second application. Meanwhile, Chemcorp is running out of money, and a key partner drops out and goes off to start his own company. Now Chemcorp is in a fight-to-the-finish patent race.
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The resolution
This accumulation of antagonists creates great suspense. The protagonist has raised the idea in the bankers heads that the story might not have a happy ending. By now, he has them on the edges of their seats, and he says, We won the race, we got the patent, were poised to go public and save a quarter-million lives a year. And the bankers just throw money at him. Screenwriting coach Robert McKee can attest to these results: I know that the storytelling method works, because after I consulted with a dozen corporations whose principals told exciting stories to Wall Street, they all got their money.
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Character versus characterization

Characterization is the sum of all observable qualities of a person or organizationbut its not character. Beneath the surface of characterization, regardless of appearances, character answers the question: Who is the organization? The only way to know the truth is to witness it making choices under pressure to take one action or another in the pursuit of its desire. Pressure is essential. Choices made when nothing is at risk mean little.
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Business presentations and character

Most business presentations and business plans only present the characterization of an organization. For Example:
Chemcorp is a multinational manufacturer of pharmaceutical-based chemical products with revenues of $1.8 billion. This is strictly characterization or boring, rational description. Character, on the the other hand, would explain what Chemcorp would do when it discovers that a drug it has developed for river blindness was not going to be paid for by the government or other third party. It must make a choice under pressure.
This was exactly the dilemma faced by pharmaceutical-maker Merck after it had developed Mectizan. Merck chose to give the drug away free to all who needed itat its own expensethis is character.
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Positioning your problems upfront

If entrepreneurs would take the time to psychoanalyze their companies, amazing dramas pour out. But most companies and entrepreneurs sweep the dirty laundry, the difficulties, the antagonists, and the struggle under the carpet. They prefer to present a rosyand boringpicture to the world. But as a storyteller, you want to position the problems in the foreground and then show how youve overcome them. When you tell the story of your struggles against real antagonists, your audience sees you as an exciting, dynamic person.
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The problems of a positive picture

The problem with a positive picture is it doesnt ring true. You can send out a press release talking about increased sales and a bright future, but your audience knows its never that easy. They know youre not spotless; they know your competitor doesnt wear a black hat. They know youve slanted your statement to make your company look good. Positive, hypothetical pictures and boilerplate press releases can actually work against you because they foment distrust among the people youre trying to convince.
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How to discover your strategic story

The storyteller discovers a story by asking certain key questions. First, what does my protagonist want in order to restore balance in his or her life? Desire is the blood of a story. Desire is not a shopping list but a core need that, if satisfied, would stop the story in its tracks.
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Think about the antagonists

Next, ask what is keeping my protagonist from achieving his or her desire? Forces within? Doubt? Fear? Confusion? Social conflicts arising in the various institutions in society? Physical conflicts? Not enough time to get things done? Antagonists come from people, society, time, space, and every object in it, or any combination of these forces at once.
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The choices made under pressure

Next, ask how would my protagonist decide to act in order to achieve his or her desire in the face of these antagonistic forces? Its in the answer to that question that storytellers discover the truth of their characters, because the heart of a human being is revealed in the choices he or she makes under pressure. Finally, the storyteller leans back from the design of events he or she has created and asks, Do I believe this? Is it neither an exaggeration nor a soft-soaping of the struggle? Is this an honest telling, though heaven may fall?
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The craft of story

Designing story tests the maturity and insight of the writer, his knowledge of society, nature, and the human heart. Story demands both vivid imagination and powerful analytic thought. All stories must have a form, but form does not mean formula. Story is too rich in mystery, complexity, and flexibility to be reduced to a formula. There is no magic formula for you to use in crafting a story to present your strategic planthere is only craft. A wonderful book about this craft is Robert McKees Story: Substance, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting.
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The Secrets Of Organizing Genius
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The importance of execution

Having a strategic plan is one thing, but the other half of the equation is of course the implementation of the plan. For the entrepreneur, implementation is at least as important as the development of a sound strategy. Indeed for many entrepreneurial firms, superior execution can be the strategy. The next two sections examine what the best entrepreneurs know about strategic execution.
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The myth of the lone hero

There is a strong individualist bent in American culture. The myth of the triumphant individual is deeply ingrained in the American psyche. Whether it is midnight rider Paul Revere or basketballs Michael Jordan, we are a nation enamored of heroes. But the more you look at the history of business, government, the arts, and the sciences, the clearer it is that few great accomplishments are ever the work of a single individual. Our mythology refuses to catch up with our reality.
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Consider your own perceptions

Who painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel? The famous Renaissance artist Michelangelo right? Actually, this misconception is a result of our individualist cultural mythology. We know now from historical accounts that Michelangelo actually worked with a group of 13 artists in painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
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The dark side to American ideology

Our mythology continues to promote the triumphs of the great individual at the expense of the great group or team. But the group is the vehicle how the world actually gets changed today. In a society as complex and technologically sophisticated as ours, the most urgent projects require the coordinated contributions of many talented people. There are simply too many problems to be identified and solvedtoo many connections to be made for any one person to deal with.
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The need for organizing genius

Even as we make the case for collaboration, we resist the idea of collective creativity. But many great entrepreneurs throughout history have understood the limitations and dark-side of the hero mythology. Instead, they have systematically organized genius and the power of great groups in getting their visions brought to life. And this is the precise skill and discipline you must practice if you expect to bring your strategic plan to life. Your only chance is to bring people together from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines who can refract a problem through the prism of complementary minds allied in common purpose.
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The secrets of great groups

In order to study how great groups work, Warren Bennis in his book, Organizing Genius: The Secrets of Creative Collaboration, studied some of the most noteworthy of our time, including:
the Manhattan Project, the paradigmatic Great Group that invented the atomic bomb; the computer revolutionaries at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) and at Apple Computer, whose work led to the Macintosh and other technical breakthroughs; the Lockheed Skunk Works, which pioneered the fast, efficient development of top-secret aircraft; and the Walt Disney Studio animators.
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The 10 principles of great groups

Every great group is extraordinary in its own way, but a study put forth by Bennis suggests 10 principles common to alland that apply as well to their larger organizations. These principles not only define the nature of Great Groups, they also redefine the roles and responsibilities of leaders. To be sure, Great Groups rely on many long-established practices of good managementeffective communication, exceptional recruitment, genuine empowerment, and personal commitment.
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A shared dream
At the heart of every Great Group is a shared dream. All Great Groups believe that they are on a mission from God, that they could change the world, make a dent in the universe. They are obsessed with their work. It becomes not a job but a fervent quest. That belief is what brings the necessary cohesion and energy to their work.
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They manage conflict

They manage conflict by abandoning individual egos to the pursuit of the dream. At a critical point in the Manhattan Project, George Kistiakowsky, a great chemist who later served as Dwight Eisenhower's chief scientific advisor, threatened to quit because he couldn't get along with a colleague. Project leader Robert Oppenheimer simply said, George, how can you leave this project? The free world hangs in the balance. So conflict, even with these diverse people, is resolved by reminding people of the mission.
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They are protected from the "suits

All Great Groups seem to have disdain for their corporate overseers and all are protected from them by a leadernot necessarily the leader who defines the dream. This dual administration can be found in all great groups. In the Manhattan Project, for instance, General Leslie Grove kept the Pentagon brass happy and away, while Oppenheimer kept the group focused on its mission. At Xerox PARC, Bob Taylor kept the honchos in Connecticut (referred to by the group as "toner heads") at bay and kept the group focused. Kelly Johnson got himself appointed to the board of Lockheed to help protect his Skunk Works. In all cases, physical distance from headquarters helped.
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They have a real or invented enemy

Even the most noble mission can be helped by an onerous opponent. That was literally true with the Manhattan Project, which had real enemiesthe Japanese and the Nazis. Yet most organizations have an implicit mission to destroy an adversary, and that is often more motivating than their explicit mission. During their greatest years, for instance, Apple Computer's implicit mission was, Bury IBM. (The famous 1984 Macintosh TV commercial included the line, "Don't buy a computer you can't lift.") The decline of Apple follows the subsequent softening of their mission.
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They see themselves as the winning underdogs.

All successful entrepreneurs inevitably view themselves as the feisty David, hurling fresh ideas at the big, backward-looking Goliath. World-changing groups are usually populated by mavericks, people at the periphery of their disciplines. The sense of operating on the fringes gives them a don't-count-me-out scrappiness that feeds their obsession.
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Members pay a personal price

Membership in a Great Group isn't a day job; it is a night and day job. Divorces, affairs, and other severe emotional fallout are typical, especially when a project ends. At the Skunk Works, for example, people couldn't even tell their families what they were working on. They were located in a cheerless, rundown building in Burbank, of all places, far from Lockheed's corporate headquarters and main plants. So groups strike a Faustian bargain for the intensity and energy that they generate.
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Great Groups make strong leaders

On one hand, they're all nonhierarchical, open, and very egalitarian. Yet they all have strong leaders. That's the paradox of group leadership. You cannot have a great leader without a Great Group and vice versa. In an important way, these groups made the leaders great. The leaders studied were seldom the brightest or best in the group, but neither were they passive players. They were connoisseurs of talent, more like curators than creators.
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The product of meticulous recruiting

It took Oppenheimer to get a Kistiakowsky and a Niels Bohr to come to his godforsaken outpost in the desert. Cherry-picking the right talent for a group means knowing what you need and being able to spot it in others. It also means understanding the chemistry of a group. Candidates are often grilled, almost hazed, by other members of the group and its leader. You see the same thing in great coaches. They can place the right people in the right role. And get the right constellations and configurations within the group.
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Great Groups are usually young

The average age of the physicists at Los Alamos was about 25. Oppenheimer"the old manwas in his 30s. Youth provides the physical stamina demanded by these groups. But Great Groups are also young in their spirit, ethos, and culture. Most important, because they're young and naive, group members don't know what's supposed to be impossible, which gives them the ability to do the impossible. As Berlioz said about Saint-Saens, "He knows everything; all he lacks is inexperience." Great Groups don't lack the experience of possibilities.
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Getting the right people on the bus

In a similar way, research into what transforms good companies into great companies conducted by management author Jim Collins in his book, Good To Great, found many similar group characteristics as compared to what Warren Bennis found. Collins used the metaphor of getting the right people on the bus and in the right seats (and the wrong people off the bus). And only then did the good-to-great companies figure out where they wanted to drive it.
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Start with who, then ask what

In working with your vision, if you begin with who, rather than what, you can more easily adapt to a changing world. If people join the bus primarily because of where it is going, what happens if you get ten miles down the road and you need to change direction? Youve got a problem. But if people are on the bus because of who else is on the bus, then its much easier to change direction: Hey, I got on this bus because of who else is on it; if we need to change direction to be more successful, fine with me. If you have the wrong people, it doesnt matter whether you discover the right direction; you still wont have a great company. Great vision without great people is irrelevant.
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The entrepreneurial leader

In the end, the single job of the entrepreneurial leader is to instill effort with meaning. There are essentially three realms available to the leader in creating such meaning and purpose:
The realm of facts, The realm of emotion, and The realm of symbols.
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The realm of facts

The questions an entrepreneur needs to address concerning the realm of facts include:
What are the brutal facts of reality? What is your ideology? What school of thought do you subscribe? What school are you attending? How will you excite the human intellect? What is your vision?
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The realm of emotion

The questions an entrepreneur needs to address concerning the realm of emotion include:
What is your purpose or mission? How will you create emotional resonance through the unification of an idea with an emotion? What enemy are you combating and, as the underdog, how will you win? How will you excite the human imagination?
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The realm of symbols

The questions an entrepreneur needs to address concerning the realm of symbols include:
What iconography have you chosen? How have you symbolically chosen to represent your meaning? What metaphors describe your meaning and purpose?
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Tipping Point Execution
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The principles of strategic execution

How can you catapult your organization to high performance when time and money are scarce? Police chief Bill Bratton has pulled that off again and again through a method called Tipping Point Leadership. What makes Brattons turnarounds especially exciting to us is that his approach to overcoming the hurdles standing in the way of high performance has been remarkably consistent. His successes, therefore, are not just a matter of personality but also of method, which suggests that they can be replicated. Tipping point leadership is learnable.
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Brattons background
In February 1994, William Bratton was appointed police commissioner of New York City. The odds were against him. The New York Police Department, with a $2 billion budget and a workforce of 35,000 police officers, was notoriously difficult to manage. Crime had gotten so far out of control that the press referred to the Big Apple as the Rotten Apple. Indeed, many social scientists had concluded, after three decades of increases, that New York City crime was impervious to police intervention. The best the police could do was react to crimes once they were committed.
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An incredible turn-around
In less than two years, and without an increase in his budget, Bill Bratton turned New York into the safest large city in the nation. Between 1994 and 1996, felony crime fell 39%; murders, 50%; and theft, 35%. Gallup polls reported that public confidence in the NYPD jumped from 37% to 73%. Perhaps most impressive, the changes have outlasted their instigator, implying a fundamental shift in the departments organizational culture and strategy. Statistics released in December 2002 revealed that New Yorks overall crime rate is the lowest among the 25 largest cities in the United States.
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The tipping point

The NYPD turnaround would be impressive enough for any police chief. For Bratton, though, it is only at the latest of no fewer than five successful turnarounds in a 20year career in policing. All of Brattons turnarounds are textbook examples of tipping point leadership. The theory of tipping points is well known; it hinges on the insight that in any organization, once the beliefs and energies of a critical mass of people are engaged, conversion to a new idea will spread like an epidemic, bring about fundamental change very quickly.
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A four-step approach
Tipping point leadership involves a four-step approach:
Break through the cognitive hurdle Sidestep the resource hurdle Jump the motivational hurdle Knock over the political hurdle
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Break through the cognitive hurdle

In many turnarounds, the hardest battle is simply getting people to agree on the causes of current problems and the need for change. Most entrepreneurs try to make the case for change simply by pointing to the numbers and insisting that the company achieve better ones. But messages communicated through numbers seldom stick.
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Not by numbers, but face-to-face

Tipping point leaders like Bratton do not rely on numbers to break through the organizations cognitive hurdles. Instead, they put their key managers face-to-face with the operational problems so that the managers cannot evade reality. Poor performance becomes something they witness rather than hear about. Communicating in this way means that the message performance is poor and needs to be fixedsticks with people, which is essential if they are to be convinced that it is something they can achieve.
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The Transit Police case

When Bratton first went to New York to head the transit police in April 1990, he discovered that none of the senior staff officers rode the subway. They commuted to work and traveled around in cars provided by the city. Comfortably removed from the facts of underground life and reassured by statistics showing that only 3% of the citys major crimes were committed in the subwaythe senior managers had little sensitivity to riders widespread concern about safety.
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The Transit Police case

In order to shatter the staffs complacency, Bratton began requiring that all transit police officialsbeginning with himselfride the subway to work, to meetings, and at night. It was many staff officers first occasion in years to share the ordinary citizens subway experience and see the situation their subordinates were up against: jammed turnstiles, aggressive beggars, and gangs of youths jumping turnstiles. It was clear that even if few major crimes took place in the subway, the whole place reeked of fear and disorder. With that ugly reality staring them in the face, the transit forces senior manager could no longer deny the need for a change in their policing methods.
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The MBTA case

Bratton used a similar approach to help sensitize his superiors to his problems. For instance, when he was running the police division of the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA), the transit authoritys board decided to purchase small squad cars that would be cheaper to buy and run. Instead of fighting the decision, Bratton invited the MBTAs general manager for a tour of the district.
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The MBTA case

Bratton picked up the general manager in a small car just like the ones that were to be ordered. He jammed the seats forward to let the general manager feel how little legroom a six-foot cop would have, then drove him over every pothole he could find. Bratton also put on his belt, cuffs, and gun for the trip so the general manager could see how little space there was for the tools of the officers trade. After just two hours, the general manager wanted out. He said he didnt know how Bratton could stand being in such a cramped car for so long on his ownlet alone if there were a criminal in the backseat. Bratton got the larger cars he wanted.
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The internal communications case

Brattons internal communications strategy also plays an important role in breaking through the cognitive hurdles. Traditionally, internal police communication is largely based on memos, staff bulletins, and other documents. Bratton knew that few police officers had the time or inclination to do more than throw these documents into the wastebasket. Officers rely instead on rumors and media stories for insights into what headquarters is up to. So Bratton typically calls on the help of expert communication outsiders.
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The internal communications case

In New York, Bratton recruited John Miller, an investigative television reporter known for his gutsy and innovative style, as his communication czar. Miller arranged for Bratton to communicate through video messages that were played at roll calls, which had the effect of bringing Brattonand his opinionscloser to the people he had to win over. At the same time, Millers journalistic savvy made it easier for the NYPD to ensure that press interviews and stories echoed the strong internal messages Bratton was sending.
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Sidestep the resource hurdle

Once people in an organization accept the need for change and more or less agree on what needs to be done, leaders are often faced with the stark reality of limited resources. Do they have the money for the necessary changes? Most reformist CEOs do one of two things at this point. They trim their ambitions, dooming the company to mediocrity at best and demoralizing the workforce all over again, or they fight for more resources from their bankers and shareholders, a process that can take time and divert attention from the underlying problems.
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The resource trap is avoidable

The resource trap is completely avoidable. Leaders like Bratton know how to reach the organizations tipping point without extra resources. They can achieve a great deal with the resources they have. What they do is concentrate their resources on the places that are most in need of change and that have the biggest possible payoffs. This idea, in fact, is at the heart of Brattons famous (and once hotly debated) philosophy of zero-tolerance policing.
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Turning to the numbers

Having won people over to the idea of change, Bratton must persuade them to take a cold look at what precisely is wrong with their operating practices. It is at this point that he turns to the numbers, which he is adept at using to force through major changes. Take the case of the New York narcotics unit. Brattons predecessors had treated it as secondary in importance, partly because they assumed that responding to 911 calls was the top priority. As a result, less than 5% of the NYPDs manpower was dedicated to fighting narcotics crimes.
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The narcotics unit case

At an initial meeting with the NYPDs chiefs, Brattons deputy commissioner of crime strategy, Jack Maple asked people around the table for their estimates of the percentage of crimes attributable to narcotics use. Most said 50%, others said, 70%. The lowest estimate was 30%. On that basis, a narcotics unit consisting of less than 5% of the police force was grossly understaffed, Maple pointed out.
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The narcotics unit case

Whats more, it turned out that the narcotics squad largely worked Monday through Friday, even though drugs were sold in large quantitiesand drug-related crimes persistently occurredon the weekends. Why the Weekday schedule? Because it had always been done that way; it was an unquestioned modus operandi. Once these facts were presented, Brattons call for a major reallocation of staff and resources within the NYPD was quickly accepted.
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Better targeting resources

A careful examination of the facts can also reveal where changes in key policies can reduce the need for resources, as Bratton demonstrated during his tenure as chief of New Yorks transit police. His predecessors had lobbied hard for the money to increase the number of subway cops, arguing that the only way to stop muggers was to have officers ride every subway line and patrol each of the systems 700 exits and entrances. Bratton, by contrast, believed that subway crime could be resolved not by throwing more resources at the problem but by better targeting those resources.
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The Subway case

To prove that better targeting resources was the answer, Bratton had members of his staff analyze where subway crimes were being committed. They found that the vast majority occurred at only a few stations and on a couple of lines, which suggested that a targeted strategy would work well. At the same time, he shifted more of the force out of uniform and into plain clothes at the hot spots. Criminals soon realized that an absence of uniforms did not necessarily mean an absence of cops.
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The Subway case

Distribution of officers was not the only problem. Brattons analysis revealed that an inordinate amount of police time was wasted in processing arrests. It took an officer up to 16 hours per arrest to book the suspect and file papers on the incident. Whats more, the officers so hated the bureaucratic process that they avoided making arrests in minor cases. Bratton realized that he could dramatically increase his available policing resourcesnot to mention the officers motivationif he could somehow improvise around this problem.
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The Subway case

His solution was to park bust busesold buses converted into arrest-processing centersaround the corner from targeted subway stations. Processing time was cut from 16 hours to just one. Innovations like that enabled Bratton to dramatically reduce subway crimeseven without an increase in the number of officers on duty at any given time.
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Trading resources
In addition to refocusing the resources he already controls, Bratton has proved adept at trading resources he doesnt need for those he does. When Bratton took over as chief of the transit police, for example, he discovered that the transit unit had more unmarked cars than it needed but was starved of office space. The New York Division of Parole, on the other hand, was short of cars but had excess office space. Bratton offered the obvious trade. It was gratefully accepted by the parole division, and transit officials were delighted to get the first floor of a prime downtown building. The deal stoked Brattons credibility and it marked him, to his political bosses, as a man who could solve problems.
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Jump the motivational hurdle

Alerting employees to the need for change and identifying how it can be achieved with limited resources are necessary for reaching an organizations tipping point. But if a new strategy is to become a movement, employees must not only recognize what needs to be done, they must also want to do it. Many CEOs recognize the importance of getting people motivated to make changes, but they make the mistake of trying to reform incentives throughout the whole organization. That process takes a long time to implement and can prove very expensive, given the wide variety of motivational needs in any company.
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Single out the key influencers

One way Bratton solves the motivation problem is by singling out the key influencerspeople inside or outside the organization with disproportionate power due to their connections with the organization, their ability to persuade, or their ability to block access to resources. Bratton recognizes that these influencers act like kingpins in bowling: When you hit them just right, all the pins topple over. Getting the key influencers motivated frees an organization from having to motivate everyone, yet everyone in the end is touched and changed. And because most organizations have relatively small numbers of key influencers, and those people tend to share common problems and concerns, it is relatively easy for entrepreneurs to identify and motivate them.
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Putting spotlights on performance

Brattons approach to motivating his key influencers is to put them under a spotlight. Perhaps his most significant reform of the NYPDs operating practices was instituting a semiweekly strategy review meeting that brought the top brass together with the citys 76 precinct commanders. Bratton had identified the commanders as key influential people in the NYPD, because each one directly managed 200 to 400 officers. Attendance was mandatory for all senior staff, including three-star chiefs, deputy commissioners, and borough chiefs. Strategic Planning and Execution Slide 172 of 184
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Spotlight strategy sessions

At Brattons spotlight strategy meetings, which took place in an auditorium at the police command center, a selected precinct commander was called before a panel of the senior staff (the selected officer was given only two days notice, in order to keep all the commanders on their toes). The commander in the spotlight was questioned by both the panel and other commanders about the precincts performance. Indeed, a photo of the commander who was about to be grilled appeared on the front page of the handout that each meeting participant received, emphasizing that the commander was accountable for the precincts results.
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Tipping the culture

The meetings changed the NYPDs culture in several ways. By making results and responsibilities clear to everyone, the meetings helped to introduce a culture of performance. An incompetent commander could no longer cover up his failings by blaming his precincts results on the shortcomings of neighboring precincts, because his neighbors were in the room and could respond. By the same token, the meetings gave high achievers a chance to be recognized both for making improvements in their own precincts and for helping other commanders.
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Framing the challenge

Bratton also used another motivational lever: framing the reform challenge itself. Framing the challenge is one of the most subtle and sensitive tasks of the tipping point leader; unless people believe that results are attainable, a turnaround is unlikely to succeed. On the face of it, Brattons goal in New York was so ambitious as to be scarcely believable. Who would believe that the city could be made one of the safest in the country? And who would want to invest time and energy in chasing such an impossible dream?
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Framing goals for different levels

To make the challenge seem manageable, Bratton framed the enormous task as a series of specific goals that officers at different levels could relate to. As he put it, the challenge that NYPD faced was to make the streets of New York safe block by block, precinct by precinct, and borough by borough. Thus framed, the task was both all encompassing and doable. For the cops on the street, the challenge was making their beats or blocks safeno more. For the commanders, the challenge was making their precincts safeno more. Borough heads also had a concrete goal within their capabilities: making their boroughs safeno more.
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Knock over the political hurdle

Organizational politics is an inescapable reality in organizational life, a lesson Bratton learned the hard way. Even if an organization has reached the tipping point, powerful vested interests will resist the impending reforms. The more likely change becomes, the more fiercely and vocally these negative influencersboth internal and externalwill fight to protect their positions, and their resistance can cause serious damage, even derail, the strategy execution process.
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Identify the negative influencers

At the NYPD, Bratton appointed John Timoney, Miamis commissioner, as his number two. Timoney was a cops cop, respected and feared for his dedication to the NYPD and for the more than 60 decorations he had received. Twenty years in the ranks had taught him who all the key players were and how they played the political game. One of the first tasks Timoney carried out was to report to Bratton on the likely attitudes of the top staff toward Brattons concept of zero-tolerance policing, identifying those who would fight or silently sabotage the new initiatives. This led to a dramatic changing of the guard.
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Anticipating opposition
In many cases, Bratton silences opposition by example and indisputable fact. For instance, when first asked to compile detailed crime maps and information packages for the strategy review meetings, most precinct commanders complained that the task would take too long and waste valuable police time that could be better spent fighting crime. Anticipating this argument, deputy commissioner Jack Maple set up a reporting system that covered the citys most crimeridden areas. Operating the system required no more than 18 minutes a day, which worked out, as he told the precinct commanders, to less than 1% of the average precincts workload. Try to argue with that.
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Building broad coalitions

Often the most serious opposition to reform comes from outside. In the public sector, as in business, an organizations change of strategy has an impact on other organizationspartners and competitors alike. The change is likely to be resisted by those players if they are happy with the status quo and powerful enough to protest the changes. Brattons strategy for dealing with such opponents is to isolate them by building a broad coalition with the other independent powers in his realm.
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Handling opposition
In New York, one of the most serious threats to Brattons reforms came from the citys courts, which were concerned that zero-tolerance policing would result in an enormous number of small-crimes cases clogging the court schedule. To get past the opposition of the courts, Bratton solicited the support of no less a personage than the mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, who had considerable influence over the district attorneys, the courts, and the city jail on Rikers Island. Brattons team demonstrated to the mayor that the court system had the capacity to handle minor quality of life crimes, even though doing so would presumably not be palatable for them.
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Isolating and silencing the opponent

Brattons alliance with the mayors office and the citys leading media institution successfully isolated the courts. The courts could hardly be seen as publicly opposing an initiative that would not only make New York a more attractive place to live but would ultimately reduce the number of cases brought before them. With the mayor speaking aggressively in the press about the need to pursue quality-of-life crimes and the citys most respectedand liberalnewspaper giving credence to the policy, the costs of fighting Brattons strategy were daunting. Thanks to this savvy politicking, one of Brattons biggest battles was won. The courts would handle quality-of-life crimes. In due course, the crime rates did indeed come tumbling down.
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Tipping point execution at a glance

To summarize, tipping all four of the strategic hurdles leads to rapid strategy execution:
Cognitive Hurdle: Put managers and employees face-to-face with problems and customersfind new ways to communicate. Resource Hurdle: Focus on the hot spots and bargain with partners. Motivational Hurdle: Put the stage lights on and frame the challenge to match the organizations various levels. Political Hurdle: Identify and silence internal opponents and isolate external ones.
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Strategic Planning Execution Guide

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Strategic Planning and Execution

Presented By eLearning Classroom Compiled By Hardeep Kumar

Objectives of this course

What Is Strategic Planning?

Strategic Planning and Execution

Writing the future

Strategic Planning and Execution

Its not a bundle of techniques

Strategic Planning and Execution

Its not about forecasting

It doesnt deal with future decisions

It doesnt attempt to eliminate risk

Strategic Planning and Execution

The devices of strategic planning

Strategic Planning and Execution

Knowing Your Purpose And Mission

Strategic Planning and Execution

Mission and Vision

Clarity about mission and vision

The dynamic interplay

 Vision is about stimulating progress

Strategic Planning and Execution

The eyesight metaphor

The ground-rules of mission

The missions of enduring companies

Power from ideas not people

Mission is a balancing act

Now its time to write your mission

Strategic Planning and Execution

The mission in review

Finally, check your mission

Strategic Planning and Execution

Strategic Planning and Execution

The ground-rules of vision

Strategic Planning and Execution

Strategic Planning and Execution

Now lets define your vision

Ask yourself such questions as

Strategic Planning and Execution

Now review what you have written

Finally, check your vision

Strategic Planning and Execution

Having a vision is but one facet

Strategic Planning and Execution

The formation of creative tension

Leveraging the brutal facts of reality

Your current reality and situation

Strategic Planning and Execution

Forming Goals And Objectives

Strategic Planning and Execution

What are goals and objectives?

The purpose of goals and objectives

What targets will you aim for?

What do you need to accomplish?

You can then wordsmith these pieces into a complete objective:

What works and what doesnt

Strategic Planning and Execution

What works and what doesnt

Strategic Planning and Execution

Expansive and intrinsic goals

An expansive goal example

Strategic Planning and Execution

Vision is about stimulating progress

Now ask yourself the following questions:

Of course, the imagination can dream up an infinite combination of these strategies.