Align and Thrive: The Importance of Organizational Alignment and Agility

Align and Thrive: The Importance of Organizational Alignment and Agility

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Introduction: The Need for Alignment in Agile Growth Companies

During a recent conversation with a fellow professional, the topic of organizational alignment arose. For a company to grow and adapt, it must be aligned, with all activities reinforcing its objectives. Alignment begins with the CORE – Core Values, Core Purpose, Core Customer, Brand Promise, and Profit/X, and these elements form the foundation upon which everything else is built.

Building Strategy Around Your Core

Once the CORE is established, you can develop a strategy that includes your Flywheel, BHAG, 3HAG, and 13-Week Sprints. The strategy should be based on the CORE without contradicting any of its elements. With a solid strategy, execution then focuses on achieving the targets set out in the strategy.

The Pitfalls of Misaligned Goals

Many companies set Core Values, a five-year plan, and annual goals but fail to align these with their CORE. This misalignment can result in pursuing revenue at the expense of profitability or prioritizing profit to the detriment of essential investments in people, processes, and equipment. Such scenarios are common in Corporate America and often wrongly attributed to short-termism.

The Power of Alignment and Agility

Alignment and agility are crucial for sustainable growth. When a company is aligned, its activities reinforce its Flywheel, target Core Customers, meet customer needs, deliver products and services efficiently, fulfill the Brand Promise, and achieve the Profit/X goal.

Agility enables an organization to respond effectively to a changing world. In an ever-changing environment, decision-making must be pushed to where the information is. Proper decision-making can only happen when the decision-maker knows the organizational intent (Strategy) and the framework for making that decision (CORES).

Conclusion: Aligning Your Organization for Success

To achieve the growth and success you seek, identify your CORES and develop a strategy accordingly. Ensure that everything in your organization aligns with these CORES, and you will be well on your way to thriving in an ever-changing business landscape.

Copyright (c) Marc A. Borrelli 2023
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3 Ways Proper Long Term Strategic Planning Helps Your Business

3 Ways Proper Long Term Strategic Planning Helps Your Business

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Dreams turn into goals when they have a foundation of long-term strategic planning supporting them. They become reality when the ensuing strategic implementation plan is executed properly. With Kaizen Solutions as their strategic planning consultant, small and medium-sized business CEOs can see it all come to fruition. 

7 Attributes of Agile Growth™

People and businesses aren’t static, and neither are the obstacles that get in the way of their goals. Whether you as a CEO want to grow your company or develop a better work/life balance, the first thing you need to do is flesh out your aspirations on paper. This sets the groundwork for long-term strategic planning and makes crystal clear the mission to your team. Once clarity and alignment are achieved, a strategic implementation plan is formed and made fluid through company-wide engagement. The proven management framework of your long-term strategic planning consultant from Kaizen Solutions will coach your team on how to institute the 7 Attributes of Agile Growth™.

The 7 Attributes of Agile Growth™ is a living framework drawn from the experiences and lessons of leaders who have been in the same shoes as you. It’s practical, profitable, and proven. Following the best practices for strategic planning, it begins with strong Leadership developing a compelling strategy and a culture of accountability for disciplined execution. Scalable systems enhance the value and experience of the customer whose life cycle generates growth and profit – authenticating your talent and their process for an efficient path towards more success. 

A long-term strategic planning consultant from Kaizen Solutions enables your leadership team to engage with each other and your goals to find a customized solution to all obstacles. With coaching, a strategic implementation plan will succeed because of their instilled belief in its viability and differentiated strategies they’ve developed. Accountability for their role is measurable by metrics we also implement. 

The 7 Attributes of Agile Growth™ framework for long-term strategic planning can help your business in these 3 ways: 

1. Focus Your Efforts

Small and medium-sized businesses, especially, need a focused strategic wealth plan to succeed.  This is important for today’s business landscape of increasing competition and present and ever-looming economical pain.

2. Align All Team Members and Departments

Whether it’s a long-term strategic wealth plan or any other goal, alignment between departments is only possible when the mission is clearly stated and engaged at every level.

3. Improved Performance

Focused efforts and alignment all lead to the ultimate benefit of improved performance.

Choose Kaizen Solutions As Your Long-Term Strategic Planning Consultant

Achieving long-term goals requires planning and engagement now. Choosing Kaizen Solutions as the coach and teacher for you and your team puts you one step closer to reaching your vision. Our process utilizes the best practices for strategic planning with a proven framework for success. Learn more ways long-term strategic planning help from Kaizen Solutions can benefit your business by Booking A Call today.

EOS is just that, an Operating System

EOS is just that, an Operating System

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Welcome to those unfamiliar with EOS, the Entrepreneurial Operating System. This system aims to bolster businesses by synchronizing six key components that optimize operational effectiveness. These components include:

  1. Vision
  2. People
  3. Issues
  4. Traction (meetings and goals or “Rocks”)
  5. Processes
  6. Data

I advocate for EOS, as every company should utilize a system that enhances its performance. However, through my experiences working with clients implementing EOS, I’ve realized that it serves primarily as an Operating System rather than a business model that creates an agile growth company.

As defined by Wikipedia, an Operating System is “the software that supports a computer’s basic functions, such as scheduling tasks, executing applications, and controlling peripherals.” In a business context, I describe it as “a framework that underpins a company’s essential functions, like establishing a vision, assembling the right team, refining meetings, setting goals (rocks), and so on.” Although I risk ruffling the feathers of EOS Implementers®, I contend that EOS meets these criteria to a certain extent but often falls short of empowering companies to construct a growth engine.

Let’s delve into what is required to create a growth company.

 

The Hedgehog Concept

In Good to Great, Jim Collins discussed the Hedgehog Concept named after Isaiah Berlin’s essay, “The Hedgehog and the Fox,” dividing the world into hedgehogs and foxes. The theme is based on an ancient Greek parable: “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.” Collins found that those companies that became great followed the Hedgehog Concept. Those companies which didn’t tend to be foxes never gained the clarifying advantage of a Hedgehog Concept, being instead scattered, diffused, and inconsistent. 

The Hedgehog Concept is based on the questions prompted by the three confluences of questions. 

  • What can you be the best in the world at?
  • What are you deeply passionate about?
  • What drives your economic engine?

The EOS Model® doesn’t focus on the hedgehog concept, so many companies using EOS have goals and strategies based on bravado rather than understanding what will enable them to be great.

Knowing your hedgehog concept will keep the organization focused on something that aligns its passion with what it can be the best at. Being good at something means you are good but indistinguishable from many others. If you stand above the crowd if you are the best at something. Finally, the economic engine keeps the company focused on a metric that drives profit.

Vision

While the EOS Method® works to develop a ten-year goal, I find that it is not as compelling as Jim Collins’ BHAG. A BHAG, Big Hairy Audacious Goal, is a clear and persuasive statement and serves as a unifying focal point of effort with a defined finish line. It engages people, is tangible, energizing, highly focused, and often creates immense team effort. People “get it” immediately; it takes little or no explanation. 

A visionary BHAG is a 10–25-year compelling goal that stretches your company to achieve greatness. It should be a huge, daunting task, like climbing Everest or going to the moon, which at first glance, no one in the company knows how on earth you will achieve.

As Collins noted, the best BHAGs require both “building for the long term and exuding a relentless sense of urgency: What do we need to do today, with monomaniacal focus, and tomorrow, and the next day, to defy the probabilities and ultimately achieve our BHAG?”

Profit/X = Economic Engine

The BHAG’s economic engine is the concept of Profit/X. In Good to Great, Jim Collins defines this strategic metric as “One and only one ratio to systematically increase over time, what x would have the greatest and most sustainable impact on your economic engine?” Unfortunately, too many companies don’t have an economic engine, so they fail to deliver hoped-for profits. This metric is not easily identified; however, Collins noticed that the companies that took the time to discuss, debate, and agree on one key driver for their economic engine are the ones that went from good to great.

Profit/X is how you choose to make money; it is a strategic metric, not an operational one. This ratio is a key driver in your financial engine and when you decide how to spend money. When developing your Profit/X, you need to have one that is unique and not the industry average because if you choose the latter, everyone will be pricing and driving costs the same way to maximize it. Like the BHAG, a correctly defined Profit/X will promote teamwork as everyone can focus on their role to drive the metric, from how many people to hire, where to open new operations, etc.

Value Creation

“A Business That Doesn’t Create Value for Others is a Hobby.” So, what value does your organization create? Value creation is linked to what your company can excel at. However, businesses must identify the problem they aim to solve for their customers. Clayton Christensen defined this as “What is the job your customer is hiring you or your products to do?” Many organizations mistakenly define the job based on their activity rather than focusing on their customers’ needs. Identifying the job to be done can help target marketing and sales efforts toward addressing customers’ problems rather than simply promoting the company’s activities. The EOS Model® does not sufficiently address this essential question, which is critical for a company’s growth.

Core Customer

Understanding your company’s Core Customer is vital. If have found that many businesses cannot identify their Core Customer. Some of the key metrics of a Core Customer are one that pays on time, allows you to make a satisfactory profit, and refers you. Focusing on the wrong Core Customer can lead to misguided marketing and sales activities, reducing profitability and cash flow and ultimately weakening the company’s performance and growth.

Brand Promise

The EOS Model® does not address the question of Brand Promise, which is crucial for a company’s growth. Your Brand Promise is what convinces your target audience to buy from you, stands as a testament to your commitment, and serves as a measurable benchmark for your company’s performance. Some organizations have a Brand Promise, but if it’s not quantifiable, it becomes “valueless” because nobody knows if you’re delivering on it, rendering it useless to prospects and clients.

Value Delivery

Value delivery is essential for understanding how customers perceive your organization’s performance. While the EOS Model® discusses various metrics, value delivery does not receive adequate attention. Companies must determine whether their customers are satisfied with their performance. A CEO might assume that their customers are “Very Satisfied,” but they may be overlooking the reality of customer dissatisfaction and lack of recommendations without measuring it.

Critical Number and Counter Critical Number

The EOS Model® effectively deals with goals (Rocks) and meetings but fails to align Rocks with the long-term goals of the company, Rock should be tied to the quarter’s Critical Number, which drives the organization toward its long-term goals. Tying Rocks with the Critical Number maintains organizational focus. In addition, a Counter Critical Number is crucial to prevent the critical number from overwhelming the company and causing unintended consequences.

Focusing on a Critical Number and Counter Critical Number during the 13-Week Sprint is crucial for developing focus and alignment within the organization.

Team Alignment

While the EOS Model® effectively addresses having the “Right People” in the “Right Seats,” it does not consider alignment among the leadership team and employee satisfaction. Assessing the alignment of leadership and employee satisfaction is necessary to ensure everyone is working in the same direction and committed to the company’s success.

Conclusion

While I appreciate the EOS Model®, I believe it fails to address many aspects required to develop a healthy agile growth company. By incorporating additional elements from the Gravitas’ 7 Attributes of Agile Growth® model, businesses can create a more comprehensive system that promotes agile growth while maintaining smooth operations. The 7 Attributes of Agile Growth® focus on Leadership, Strategy, Execution, Customer, Profit, Systems, and Talent.

If you are interested in transitioning to an agile growth company with the help of a certified Gravitas Agile Growth coach, please feel free to reach out to me.

Copyright (c) 2021, Marc A. Borrelli

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Do You Truly Know Your Core Customer?

Do You Truly Know Your Core Customer?

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Who is your Core Customer?

In working with many clients on improving their business and developing a growth model, we soon get into the issue of their “Core Customer.” I have realized that many have not given this much thought and cannot easily define their “Core Customer.” Your Core Customer is the customer you are targeting, the customer that is preferred, and the one that your marketing and sales efforts are focused on. A Core Customer has the following attributes:

  • A real person with wants, needs, and fears.
  • Will buy for optimal profit.
  • Has an unique online identity and behavior.
  • Pays on time, loyal, and refers others.
  • Exists today among your customers

Not knowing your Core Customer is not a terrible problem, as we can quickly work through a session to put a definition in place. However, a more complicated issue is knowing their Core Customer but unable to define their “Economic Engine,” or profitability per customer. Lack of good data is always a severe problem! If you can’t measure something, then your performance is purely an assumption, and down that road is chaos.

Profit per Customer

If you don’t know your profit per customer, the customer you consider your “Core Customer” may generate sub-par profits pulling down the company’s performance. During a recent conversation, a CEO told me their metric was revenue per employee. While that would generate top-line revenue, it does nothing for profit, efficient customer targeting and marketing, or market differentiation. The business adage, “We are losing money on each item, but will make it up on volume,” seems to be the driving force.

Many companies I have worked with cannot tell me the profitability per customer and so work on the assumption that they are performing well, but cannot understand why they cannot scale and have profit and cashflow issues. Also, often their data is corrupted by the “Flaw of Averages.” So to paraphrase the proverb, “First get your data.” Sometimes getting good data on project costs is difficult, but without there cannot be:

  • Knowledge of performance;
  • Plans for improvement;
  • Measurement of improvement.

And “Hope is not a strategy.”

Select the Right Core Customer

Once we have data showing your Core Customer’s profitability, we can determine if they generate optimal profit. Since a requirement of a Core Customer, as mentioned above, if your Core Customer is not generating optimal profit, then there are one of two choices:

  1. Change your economic model so that they do, or
  2. Change your Core Customer.

When examining the data, many companies have found that the companies they were targeting as their “Core Customers” were their less profitable customers and ones that everyone in the market was fighting over. Targeting a different segment of customers that generated optimal profit could increase its profitability and differentiate itself from its competition, a great “Blue Ocean” strategy.

Lake Truck Lines, a Gravitas client, was focused on large customers. However, when analyzing its data, Lake Truck Lines realized that everyone was targeting those customers so there was pricing pressure and low margins. By make mid-sized customers its Core Customer, the company was able to operate with less competition and generate the optimal profit per customer. Similarly with Build Direct, focusing on young women seeking to do DIY, it was able to realize a much higher margin and operate in “Blue Ocean” waters compared to when it was focused on supplying general contractors.

The time spent analyzing your clients, their profitability, and your Blue Ocean possibilities can result in you operating at higher margins with less competition.

Profit / X

I have discussed the “Economic Engine” before, but it is the concept of “Profit/X,” Profit/X is the crucial part of your strategy, and it must:

  • Tightly aligns with your BHAG®
  • Be the fundamental economic engine of your business
  • Be a single overarching KPI to scale your business
  • It must impact revenue while controlling cost.
  • More X must be desirable.
  • It must be unique within the industry – you have to differentiate yourself from your competition.

What is critical is finding a Profit/X that is unique within your industry. If you choose the same Profit/X as everyone else, you are all competing on the same drivers, and you cannot differentiate yourself from your competition. Having identified our Core Customer, the appropriate Profit/X can be identified. Picking the wrong Profit/X given your Core Customer again will lead to sub-optimal results. These two concepts are interconnected and for you to achieve the best results, you need to determine both and have them connected.

Having the Right Profit/X

If your Profit/X is defined as profit per employee, you have only three ways to achieve this: increase the price, improve employee performance or cut the product’s quality. Since price should be driven by value creation, not employee profitability, raising prices may be difficult. We do not want to cut value delivery, and driving employees harder is no recipe for success. Thus a better metric may be profit per customer.

With customer size, if you are servicing large customers it may require longer larger projects compared to mid-sized companies. If mid-sized companies have more set up and administrative costs then your Profit/X must be different between the two.

There are many examples of Profit/X from Southwest Airlines’ profit per plane to a dry cleaner who measured it by profit per delivery truck. The key is to find the one that drives your business and will also differentiate yourself.

Conclusion

Many CEOs and Business Owners are salespeople and are not interested in digging into the financials and getting to the data I have discussed above. However, the effort is well worth it, as once you have a clear understanding of where you are, you can:

  • Target marketing towards your Core Customer;
  • Differentiate yourself from your competition;
  • Ensure that all projects, services, or products meeting your Profit/X to ensure profitability; and 
  • Position yourself for growth and profitability. 

Get your CFO, your team, and a coach and spend a day or two to determine the ideal results. The payoff will be huge.

 

Copyright (c) 2021 Marc A. Borrelli

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Does Your Financial Model Drive Growth?

Does Your Financial Model Drive Growth?

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Working with many companies looking to grow, I am always surprised how many have not built a financial model that drives growth. I have mentioned before a financial model that drives growth? Here I am basing on Jim Collin’s Profit/X, which he laid out in Good to Great. So then we have to delve into what is Profit/X. This is the key financial metric that drives profitable growth by defining some profit number per some “X” that results in:

Passion. Your employees are passionate about the “X” and excited about increasing it.
Empowerment. Your employees are empowered to make decisions to ensure the baseline Profi/X is met.
Drive. It drives behavior to generate profit and growth.
Discipline. It provides the financial discipline to ensure that the organization remains profitable as it grows.

Thus is it is your Economic Engine that will enable profitable growth.

Many people look for a quick answer in determining Profit/X, but there is no quick answer. It is an iterative process that will get there, but no something you necessarily come up with on the first try.

Profit can be:

  • Gross Profit,
  • Operating Profit,
  • Net Profit,
  • Gross Margin,
  • Operating Margin, or
  • Net Margin,

to name a few.

“X” is very variable and can be:

  • “Product/Service,”
  • Customer,
  • Invoice,
  • lb,
  • pallet,
  • truckload, or
  • plane.

For a better understanding of Profit/X, my video below may help explain it better.

Profit/X

It is well worth your time to develop your Profit/X and get your employees to understand it and embrace it. The discipline it provides combined with the drive and empowerment it delivers makes a very strong economic engine and ensures continued profitability through your growth.

 

Copyright (c) 2021 Marc A. Borrelli

 

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Do You REALLY Know Your Business Model?

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Clarity is a repeated theme of mine and The Disruption!, whether in regards strategy or how you make money. Listening to Josh Kaufman discuss his “Five Parts of Every Business” and the need to define your business model while presenting this information clearly magnified the point.

 

What Are The “5 Parts of Every Business”?

Kaufman says in every business model there are “5 Parts of Every Business,” each of which flows into the next:

  1. Value Creation: A venture that doesn’t create value for others is a hobby.
  2. Marketing: A venture that doesn’t attract attention is a flop.
  3. Sales: A venture that doesn’t sell the value it creates is a non-profit.
  4. Value Delivery: A venture that doesn’t deliver what it promises is a scam.
  5. Finance: A venture that doesn’t bring in enough money to keep operating will inevitably close.

 

Value Creation

Kaufman defines Value Creation as “Discovering what people need or want, then creating it.”

Most customers don’t know what they need or want. As has been pointed out many times, people wanted a faster horse, not an automobile. However, whatever they want, in reality, they are just seeking a solution to a problem. Therefore, the critical issue is determining “What problem you are trying to solve?” Or, as Clayton Christensen said, “What is the job the customer is hiring you or your product to do?”

Defining this is often hard, as many companies don’t know what job their clients are seeking them or their products to provide. I have discussed this before. However, as the adage says, “people aren’t buying drills, they are buying holes.” This is a vital part of your business model.

So, working with your team to determine “the job to be done” and your “Core Customer” is well worth the effort because you can better describe what you do, and all your employees will better know what you do and how what they do impacts it.

 

Marketing

Kaufman’s definition is “Marketing is defined as attracting attention and building demand for what you have created.”

In today’s digital world, with Google, Facebook, Linked In, and Instagram, marketing separating yourself from the masses is hard, especially if people don’t understand the product and service. Therefore, by focusing on the job to be done or the problem you are solving, it easier to stand out among the crowd.

Also, as you identify what the “job to be done” is, you can better identify your Core Customer. Remember a Core Customer is:

  • An actual person with needs and wants. If you sell B2B your core customer is still a person because you have to convince a person to buy.
  • Who buys for the optimal profit.
  • Who pays on time, is loyal, and refers others.
  • Has a unique online identity and behavior; and
  • A customer who exists amongst your clients today.

Build Direct started as a company supplying contractors. However, it soon realized that while contractors were a key customer component, they were not the company’s Core Customer; instead, Build Direct’s core customers were young female DIYers interested in the products and education. Build Direct focused its marketing according to that recognition and started providing much educational content for young female DIYers. This specific marketing drove much better brand recognition and engagement.

Also, South Shore Furniture in Canada identified their core customer as “Sarah.” Sarah is so vital that there is a mannequin of Sarah in all meeting rooms, so no one forgets whom they are seeking to serve.

Besides, marketing to the correct demographic is easier and more fruitful if you know your Core Customer. Without this information, the marketing section of your business model is just hope, not a strategy!

 

Sales

Kaufman defines sales as “Turning prospective customers into paying customers.”

However, as Jeffrey Gitomer, put it “People don’t like to be sold, but they love to buy.” So the key is how do you move prospects into customers? Businesses have to earn their prospects’ trust and help them understand why it is worth paying for the offer. Another way of looking at this is, “What is your brand promise?”

Companies need to know what their brand promise is. For example, Starbucks is “Love your beverage or let us know and we will always make it right.” Some organizations may have supporting brand promises to prove more definition of the brand promise. Your brand promise must be measurable, because as Peter Drucker said, “What gets measured gets managed.” So if it is measurable and measured, the organization can ensure that it meets its brand promise, which provides more assurance to the prospect. Finally, with a clearly defined brand promise that is measurable, the organization ends up saying “No” more than “Yes” to opportunities and ideas since they will damage the brand promise.

Since no one wants to be taken advantage of, Sales is about educating the prospect to identify what is essential to convince them you can deliver on your promise. A clearly stated brand promise that is measured and quantified increases the ability to persuade the prospect to purchase from you. It amazes me how many business models don’t have a brand promise.

 

Value Delivery

Here Kaufman defines Value Delivery as “Giving your customers what you’ve promised and ensured that they’re satisfied.” With this, I have no issues. Anyone who doesn’t deliver what they promised is effectively a “scam artist.”

To ensure you that make the customer satisfied, you have to exceed the customers’ expectations. A popular way to determine customer satisfaction is through Net Promoter Score scores which we see more and more (if you are looking for help with NPS surveys of your customers, contact me). You want more promoters and detractors. However, the NPS score tells you what the customer thinks after experiencing the service or product. Companies need to develop systems that ensure the service or product is exceeding expectations.

A great example is the Ritz Carlton’s policy whereby any Ritz-Carlton employees can spend up to $2,000 per incident, not per year, to rescue a guest experience. This policy ensures that the customer is getting a great experience because it empowers employees to fix problems and provides the customers’ concerns are solved quickly. As David Marquet says, “Move the decision making to where the information is.” That is what Ritz is doing, and it is empowering employees and making customers happy.

Companies that have outsourced many functions to cut costs, so any customer has difficulty reaching the people they need or have to spend five minutes going through a phone tree to contact some is already failing at this.

Ensure your business model tracks customer satisfaction and you have ways to ensure that customers are happy.

 

Finance

Kaufman defines finance as “Bringing in enough money to keep going and make your effort worthwhile.”

As I have pointed out, this is key, and many people don’t realize the situation because of flawed analysis and lousy modeling. However, the key for any organization must be a well-defined “Profit/X.”

Many organizations don’t have a well-defined Profit/X, but there is a lack of discipline that ensures good financial performance without it. Profit/X is some unit of scale, and profit can be gross profit, net profit, EBTIDA, or EBIT. Examples that I have seen are:

  • profit per airplane
  • profit per job
  • profit per customer
  • gross margin per delivery
  • profit per employee

There is no correct Profit/X, just the one that works with your business. One organization that did deliveries chose Gross Margin/Delivery, which focused on reducing the cost of delivery to maximize profit. Once Profit/X is selected, the entire organization must seek to meet or exceed it; thus, everyone needs to understand it and how they drive it. With that focus and discipline, the organization is more likely to meet its financial goals and objectives.

 

Summary

In summary, the organization needs to be able to define its business model by the following:

  • Define the problem its products or services solve or, more precisely, what job they do.
  • Who their Core Customer is so they can market to them effectively?
  • What is their brand promise, and how is it measured?
  • That their customers are satisfied, returning and recommending.
  • That they have identified their Profit/X so that they are profitable.

Doing this work is an excellent exercise for any leadership team to help bring clarity to your organization. If you need assistance doing it, contact me. Good luck, and may your business grow.

 

 

Copyright (c) 2021, Marc A. Borrelli

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