Tony Hsieh’s Strategic Pattern
As many of you know, we recently said goodbye to an amazing leader, former CEO of Zappos, Tony Hsieh. We learned many lessons from Tony, the most important one being that the key question in strategy is to ask, “What business are we really in?” On Zappos’ success, he told us, “We were doing pretty well as a shoe company, but our growth really took off when we realized we’re a customer service company that happens to sell shoes.”
Keep reading to discover three free resources to help you answer this essential question and set your 2021 strategy.
Peter Drucker highlighted this principle when he said, “‘What is our business?’ is almost always a difficult question which can be answered only after hard thinking and studying. And the right answer is anything but obvious.”
Strategy comes down to finding the answer and making decisions consistent with what business you are in. I give more examples in this free webinar.
How Microbreweries Get Customers to Drive 100 Miles
This year my family spent Thanksgiving in Louisiana. During the trip, a friend from home asked me to pick up some of his favorite beer from a microbrewery a couple hours outside of the city. I found myself journeying past swamps, farms, and alligators to visit the brewery and fulfill his request.
If he were simply looking for beer, my friend could have stopped by his local grocery store, but this craft brewery promised something more specific. Customers buy from microbreweries because they want uniqueness, local custom, and quality that is not watered-down by mass production. The hundred-mile quest for my friend’s favorite brew was not only a search for beer, but for a reminder of the taste and culture of Louisiana.
In our latest Insight to Impact Adventure, Seeing Around Corners, Rita McGrath discusses how this insight into what customers really like about your product or service will help you develop a strategy that positions you for success in an uncertain future.
If you want to learn how to identify critical needs that will motivate your customers to drive hundreds of miles to find you, join our I2I Adventure with Rita McGrath. Use code OUTTHINKER39 for a free $39 Traveler ticket (or $39 off any other ticket).
Micro-factories and Proximity
Just like microbreweries compete with their big name counterparts by meeting customers closer to the point of demand, Arrival, a UK-based electric vehicle manufacturer, is planning to produce customized commercial vehicles in “micro-factories”. These factories allow for design customization and require less capital to set up and scale locally. The company has proven its ability to meet customer requests by logging its first order from UPS at $1.2 billion for custom vehicles. As you design your 2021 strategy, ask, “How can we win through proximity to our customers?”
The examples of Zappos, microbreweries and micro-factories show us the power of organizations who are listening to customer needs and remaining agile to pivot quickly in response. Learn more about becoming agile by joining me for the 25th Human Resources Summit: How to be Agile without being Fragile. As a member of the Outthinker community, you can register free of charge with the code OUTTHINKER25.
Three Strategic Questions and Next Steps
To make 2021 a great year, ask:
- “What business are we really in?” Sign up for my free webinar and if you want to learn more, consider joining the full course, which kicks off later this month.
- “What need will make customers drive 100 miles?” Join our I2I Adventure (use code OUTTHINKER39 for a free $39 ticket).
- “How can we win by delivering value closer to customers?”
Photo by Skitterphoto from Pexels
