I've come to the conlusions that it’s not luck but leadership with the right philosophy supporting an open and enquiring culture that makes a successful company.
So when you look at how your company or your clients’ companies work, what characteristics should you expect to see:
- Over-arching an insatiable curiosity about the worlds in which the company does business and recognition that change is the way of life driven by these worlds.
- Commitment to innovation as a way of life driven by the worlds in which the company lives and controlling the way the company responds
- Recognising that your customers choose to buy because you offer them a reason to buy that is relevant to them
- The company is right-sized to be part of any of the communities in which it lives and that people in the company are also part of the community
- Processes and structures within the company are only relevant as long as they serve the needs of the customers and the wider communities.
5 comments:
There is no doubt your list is valid, but for me the key to success is a clear understanding of the 'essence' of the business, i.e. why it exists. This keeps the focus on the product/service the company was created to provide and helps to keep the right balance between an outward and inward focus and so shape the values and behaviours.
Hmm, there is no chance of success without the appropriate context. No point in focusing on the what the company "was created to provide". The key thing is to recognise the demand and serve it in a unique way. That, at least for a time, will provide a competitive advantage. Without the competitive advantage you may as well be yet another pebble on the beach :-)
I agree with Martin's point. Proof of which being the IOD's research findings that 50% of SME's gave no, or inadequate. consideration to what the future environment looked like.
Picking up David's overarching point (and Gill's reference to small comsultancies)the capacity to enquire is indeed key. Warren Bennis's book "Geezers and Geeks" refers to neotenic(puppylike inquisitiveness)geezers which keeps us frsh and alive.
Roger, Neotenic Geezer.
Thank you for your feedback.
I agree with Martin about competitive advantage. However my starting point was the need for companies to be outward-facing and to have a culture that supports this out of which comes an understanding of uniqueness and the opportunity to create competitive advantage.
Roger, thank you for the new word to me - neotenic; I'm not certain whether its meaning would be appreciated by some high testosterone directors I know! Also thanks for the book reference.
Zealise- I think you put your finger on a real problem. Time and management change can result in loosing that 'essence', failing to recognise the loss.
I suspect that a great deal could be written simply on how do we define 'successful.' However, for me there are two key elements: knowledge comes first. This is market centred. Secondly, having worked with companies in 25 countries, I believe (this is going to seem rather basic) that the larger more successful companies have made the choice. To put it another way, most companies are directed by a 'keep your head down' culture whereas the better ones have someone who looked up one day, knew they had the knowledge and got his colleauges to look up too.
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