An NFL player doing a Haka on a cricket pitch? This guy is confused and unlikely to be able to compete at a high level. What game are you playing?
We need to play to our strengths to stand out and compete. Once you are clear on how it is you are going to compete many decisions become so much easier and you and your team will be able to focus so much better.
3 main areas of focus outlined by Treacy and Wiersema in their book "The Discipline of Market Leaders" are as follows;
- operational excellence - lowest total cost is the game
- product leadership - best product is the game
- customer intimacy - best total solution (including service) is the game
These are referred to as 'value disciplines' by the authors.
The authors argue that trying to compete across all three of these areas will mean you are not outstanding in ANY of them. To dominate in a market you need to be REALLY good at one and good at the other 2.
So, decide who your customers are, which 'discipline' to emphasise that will match their needs and centre your decisions, time and energy around that as a focus point. Core processes, culture, assets, management systems, organisational structure and IT will all be adjusted to suit
"if you decide to play an average game, to dabble in all areas, don’t expect to become a market leader.” Treacy, M., & Wiersema, F.
"if you decide to play an average game, to dabble in all areas, don’t expect to become a market leader.” Treacy, M., & Wiersema, F.
To implement remember the golden rules of each discipline;
- operational excellence - variety will kill efficiency (eg: EasyJet)
- product leadership - make you own products redundant with your own better products (eg: Microsoft)
- customer intimacy - work backwards from solving your customers total problem, using a combination of product and service (eg: Qantas Club)
If you are having trouble making a breakthrough it may be because you are not outstanding across any of these, just good across them all. Once you pick an area of focus, you can align your business to suit and then stand out.
For example a request for variation to the menu may be turned down in a culture of 'operational excellence' (McDonalds) but welcomed in one of 'customer intimacy' (a fine dining restaurant).
- Which are you supposed to be?
- Are you operating this way consistently?
Being focussed and knowing exactly which game you are playing will give you a better chance of being outstanding.