What Really Works : Book #5 of 5 books for 1c

By William Joyce, Nitin Nohria, Bruce Roberson

By way of short introduction, this was the book I was looking for on Amazon last year where I found that I could receive a copy of this book for 1c plus postage which was cheaper than downloading it. This inspired me to write some posts on getting awesome books really cheaply and this is the 5th post.

The 4 + 2 Idea..

While facing some challenges at work, I decided to look at older frameworks to understand where the business was failing which lead me to this excellent book I'd read years earlier. With 8 core strategies to assess, the first 4 are must haves and the last 4 are 'you need at least 2', collectively called the '4+2'.

This model was built on the back of 10 years of data and some 200 business practices that were all assessed for driving growth in business. Although some of the terminology has changed a little, I think these are still highly relevant and I've copied the outline in the paragraphs below for your easy reference.

I do think we tend to reinvent the wheel quite a bit and that despite technology developments, Moores law, cloud computing, mobile etc etc. There are some truisms that survive these technology changes that we see around us.

To find out what happened, you'll need to PM me! Otherwise, good luck with your 2017 and I look forward to reading your posts on all things business and innovation in the coming months.

Test your business against the first 4 listed and 2 of the last 4 listed. Comments welcome!

Strategy

Build a strategy around a clear value proposition for the customer. Develop strategy from the outside in. Base it upon what your customers, partners and investors have to say and how they behave.

Maintain antennae that allow you to fine tune your strategy to changes in the marketplace. Clearly communicate your strategy within the organization and among customers and other external stakeholders

Keep growing your core business; beware the unfamiliar. Devise and maintain a clearly stated, focused strategy

Execution

Deliver products and services that consistently meet customers expectations. Empower front lines to respond to customer needs.

Constantly strive to improve productivity and eliminate all forms of excess and waste. Develop and maintain flawless operational execution

Culture

Inspire all to do their best. Reward achievement with praise and pay-for-performance, but keep raising the performance bar.

Create a work environment that is challenging, satisfying and fun. Establish and abide by clear company values. Develop and maintain a performance-oriented culture

Structure

Eliminate redundant organization layers and bureaucratic structures and behaviors. Simplify, simplify, simplify. Promote cooperation and the exchange of information across the whole company

Put your best people closest to the action and keep you front line stars in place, Build and maintain a fast, flexible, flat organization.

Talent

Fill mid and high-level jobs with internal talent whenever possible. Create and maintain top of the line training and educational programs

Design jobs that will intrigue and challenge your best performers. Become personally involved in winning the war for new talent. Hold on to Talented Employees and Find More.

Leadership

Inspire management to strengthen it's relationships with people at all levels of the company. Inspire management to hone its capacity to spot opportunities and problems early

Appoint a board of directors who's members have a substantial financial stake in the company's success. Closely link the pay of the leadership team to their performance.

Keep Leaders and Directors Committed to the business

Innovation

Introduce disruptive technologies and business models. Exploit new and old technologies to design products and enhance operations. Don't hesitate to cannibalize existing products

Make innovations that are industry transforming

Mergers and Partnerships for growth

Acquire new businesses that leverage existing customer relationships. Enter new businesses that complement your company's existing strengths

With a partner, move into new business that can use the partnerships talents. Develop a systematic capability to identify, screen and close deals. Make growth happen with mergers and partnerships