Improvise, Adapt, Overcome

Improvise, adapt, overcome is an unofficial slogan among the U.S. Marine Corp. made popular by Clint Eastwood’s character in the movie Heartbreak Ridge.?Being faced with a challenge is often the time when most people are inventive and when ingenuity and creativity thrive.

Survival expert Bear Grylls says:?“When it comes to survival, everyone has their notion of what works best, but what often trips people up is when people are unable to deviate from their plans. One of the most important things to remember in the world is that you have to improve, adapt, and overcome.

The boxer Mike Tyson said it succinctly:?“Everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the mouth.”

In Kansas City, Jack Stack BBQ operates several restaurants. Less than 2 months into COVID, they had drive-up tents adjacent to each location and converted local supermarket “temporarily closed” salad bars into Jack Stack to-go stations. As COVID was decimating the restaurant industry,?this “sit-down” restaurant opened up two new distribution channels in less than 60 days?(with staff, new operations procedures, food prep., packaging, pricing, and supply chain).??

Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome

Carol Tome, took the reins of UPS when COVID was greatly accelerating deliveries to both business and consumers. She quickly implemented?a “better, not bigger” strategy?that cut ties with Amazon, raised prices, and shifted the business from chasing capacity fulfillment to securing better customers.

Michael Porter, “the father of strategy,” would approve of Carol’s approach. Across all his writings you consistently hear?strategy is about making choices, deciding what to do, and deciding what not to do.?It’s no coincidence that whenever you turn into a televised poker game, the announcer reminds you the chip leader is the one that has been folding most.

During the last two years, the word “chaos” has become more frequent as consumers change purchase habits, governments impose rules, and supply chains break down.?The Chinese symbol for Chaos is made up of two separate words; Danger and Opportunity.?Not surprisingly, we’ve all heard some businesses say the past two years were their best ever.?

Marketing guru Seth Godin says: "You can't create change without the fear that it might not work. So when fear shows up, the answer isn't how do I drown out fear...the answer is to welcome the fear and dance with it."

Throughout my career I’ve worked with companies, big and small, that approach strategy with a “growth” mindset. The concept of a?growth mindset?was developed by psychologist Carol Dweck in her book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.

Companies that bring a growth mindset to strategy embrace a learning approach. “Crawl, Walk, Run.” “Fail Fast,” “Learning Labs,” “A/B Testing,” “Customer Panels,” and “Knowledge Loops” are part of their vocabulary.

Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome from a Strategic Foundation

• Capture customer insights –?Have conversations with your customers to capture insights.?Create Customer Advisory Panels (in person or on line) to tap into what they want changed, and unchanged.?They will tell you how to make your value proposition better.?
• Create a Knowledge Loop -?Turn data into knowledge into action.?Strategic plans that drive profitable business come out of evidence-based conclusions.?Most companies collect data; few companies successfully convert their “information overload” into actionable knowledge.
• Listen to your sales force –?Your successful sales folks are listening to your customers daily. Convert their hard-earned wisdom into smarter, sharper, customer-focused plans. Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary says the first person he has a conversation with when he acquires a company is the head of sales.
• Create “Learning Labs”?– Use 2022 to “test-drive” initiatives that can be successfully rolled out next year.?If next year’s strategic plan is built on proven-sales building strategies, your plan will succeed.
• Move things out of the “too hard pile”?by trying new approaches– don’t restrict the world to things you are sure of, get out of your company’s comfort zone and try things. Strategy often “wins” when a challenger or disruptor mindset is brought to the category. The book Blue Ocean Strategy by Kim and Mauborgne has a great Four Actions Framework tool to help you reimagine category boundaries.
• Look at the world the way it is –?don’t be in the story of how it should have been but keep finding the way life is right now. Women don’t want to purchase salads at McDonalds, but they have had tremendous success with hand-held convenience.??The Wall Street Journal in 2013 said “At McDonald’s, salads just don’t sell, they haven’t had a blockbuster since the 2003 introduction of McGriddles.

Mark Jaffe in his book “Let Me Give It To You Straight” says?“contrary to popular belief there are no success secrets, the important stuff is painfully obvious.”

My Challenge to You: Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome in 2023

1.????Forget where we’ve been pre-COVID,?address the question: “Where do we need to be” at the end of 2023.

2.????Develop a strategic road map?of “What” needs to be done, “How” it will get done, and “Who” you will win with. Go beyond the conversation of “let’s keep what’s working and kill what isn’t.”

3.????Ask what will get you to a purposeful strategy?that creates customers, value, demand, revenue, traffic, growth, and profit.

4.????Ban “we can do that too” from meetings?because it starts non-strategic projects and dilutes executive attention away from core business drivers. If you understand Why you are in business, Why your best customers love you, and What drives your business – you will be able to improvise, adapt, and overcome from a strategic foundation.

5.????Understand “where” you create the most value. If you plot your customer’s journey from a prospect who doesn’t know you to a customer that insists on you, how and where do you add value (process, product, experience, knowledge, speed, responsiveness, convenience, proximity, etc.).

Don’t update last year’s plan. Do the hard work of starting with a blank sheet of paper, define where you need to be, and connect the dots between Vision, Strategy, and Plan.

About David

Dave Patrick teaches advanced brand strategy, marketing, competitive strategies, and entrepreneurship in the MBA programs at the University of Missouri and University of Kansas.?He’s a Partner at WizeWebz (www.wizewebz.com) a business growth consultancy that helps clients get to their next stage of growth through smarter business, marketing, and technology strategies. Dave is also the CEO and Co-founder of High Performance Marketing Boot Camps which helps companies improve their marketing effectiveness.?https://highperformancemarketingbootcamps.com/

“David Patrick is legendary for two things: deep marketing expertise and extraordinary teaching skills.?My experiences as his student and collaborator have educated and inspired me.”?Jack Mackey,?Former Chief Evangelist, VP Customer Engagement, Service Management Group??

“David Patrick is masterful at understanding the strategies that unlock growth. He’s able to apply those learnings to a variety of industries and help executive teams approach marketing in a new way to achieve greater results.”?Laura Scobie, SVP Strategy, Barkley

"David Patrick's knowledge and experience in marketing is deep. I find he has wisdom and case studies for almost every conceivable situation. Always a pleasure to spend time with David and listen to his insights and perspective on business and marketing challenges. If you are considering David and his team to help with your marketing strategy you should do so with confidence."?Grant Gooding, CEO & Founder of Proof Positioning