“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.” Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
When I’m working with clients on how to find the growth plan for their business, I first help them step outside of their organization to see the entire landscape that’s available to them so that we can pick the most powerful place to invest. The second phase is to help them describe the growth business model in three dimensions: visual, narrative and financial.
These three dimensions are critical because together they turn an idea into a prototype. These dimensions are key to the magic ingredient in any growth plan: clarity. Only then can we move to the third and final phase of action.
When you make your vision of the future clear, one of two things will happen: your stakeholders will either have an immediate contribution to make in support, or they will offer a question or change that will prove equally helpful.
Clarity is a Growth Magnet
Clarity draws people into the conversation. When you are crystal clear in your descriptions — visual, narrative and financial — they can engage with the facet that is most relevant for them.
Other ways that clarity is magnet-like in its power:
- It creates alignment. Those organizations, both internal and external, that join your program don’t have to spend time and energy figuring out what they were really hired to do. They can immediately find their place and start contributing.
- It draws great talent. There is an axiom that goes something like this: great challenges attract great leadership. In any environment, the best talent has more opportunities than they can take advantage of. If yours is well defined, it will stand out as the place they will want to be.
- It attracts partners. Clarity and momentum are like catnip for partners — everyone wants to be part of something that is going somewhere. The best partners have more inquiries than they can handle, and when you show up with a well thought out opportunity, you will get to the top of the stack.
Getting Clear to avoid the Big Miss
In her book, Discovery Driven Growth, Rita McGrath suggests that you start with a very clear financial frame for a project that includes these elements:
- A profit plan
- A revenue plan
- The expected returns either in ROI or ROA
- A scope
- A rough NPV
I have found that this kind of planning avoids confusion downstream, and avoids what I call the Big Miss. By doing the thorough planning work, you can pre-sell the scope, intent and delivery of the project to your executive team and avoid having to constantly negotiate your charter at every operational review.
This kind of planning gives you agility. You can form a planning team, set the plan, and build the asset base using either internal central service organizations or external organizations that sell access to assets as a service.
Clarity is a gift.
Finally, in these days of incredible distraction, clarity is a gift to those who are stakeholders on your team, and who want to help you. It takes a lot of energy to sort things out and reframe questions, so by doing this pre-work, you will pass right through many peoples distraction filters and get to the good stuff.
Remember, if you can’t see, smell and taste it — no one else will, either. If you have a thought or comment, please drop me an email or tweet me.
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