Is your transformation system documented and understand by leaders?

80% of CEOs believe their business models at risk. They are right; they are at risk.? Several examples will explain why they should be concerned. CivicaRX is a different business model that is eroding the generic drug bad actors' business models! An age-old model disrupted by a new business model. The medicine is the same; the business model is the difference and reason for winning. In the "virtual visit" world we are seeing United allocate $5 billion to enable free virtual visits for its members. That is a major change in the definition of what is considered “revenue” for the business model and will absolutely hurt other “virtual care” companies.? Amazon is weaving together virtual, medications, and a referral path to remove friction in access; they are changing the business model. Costco, by offering $29.00 virtual visits to its members, just changed a key piece of the business model to enable a better option for consumers. And remember, Costco has a robust pharmacy business! UBER, at its pure core, is no different than a taxi, a scooter, a train; they simply move people. They renovated a business model by being the largest transportation company in the world that doesn't own a car; that is just one key change. Nestle changed the business model of coffee with Nespresso. So what in the world are these companies doing that the ones they are beating aren’t?

A few examples may help. P & G once had a consumer is boss effort that became their Superiority Strategy https://us.pg.com/blogs/superiority-innovation-products-you-love/. In 2007, Intuit started its Design for Delight program, which eventually became its Customer Obsession system. Amazon has customer obsession at its core and makes it come alive through its Customer Back program. IKEA has Life at Home as its consumer-driven system. Each of these companies had great leaders but the leaders didn't have the answers; the leaders worked closely with those around them and designed systems that would continually refresh their value propositions and business models. These are companies that have figured out what Rita McGrath effectively described as Transient Advantage. From my perspective these organizations never thought they were building a sustainable competitive advantage; they were implementing systems that would ensure that their advantages never eroded to the point that their customers would leave. In addition, these companies track their consumers' measures of progress. A consumer’s behavior is the ultimate measure; what is causing them to choose or not choose the product or service. ?

Organizations need to determine their measures of transformation. We hear phrases such as we are going to transform the company! What does that mean? What will it look like when it is transformed? What will the new consumer measures be to prove we are transforming what the consumer wants us to transform? If we haven’t done the deep consumer/customer homework to understand what transforming would look like and be in their lives, then we aren't designing our organizations to transform.? We will not have a system that can give our organizations the ability remain in lock step with changing consumer preferences.

I propose that a documented and clear transformation system driven by deep consumer insights, market trends, etc. must be clear and understood by leaders. Deming once said "if you can't describe what you are doing as a process, you don't know what you're doing". If you are a CEO or C-Suite member and one of the 80% worried about your business model and don’t have a documented transformation system, you have a right to be concerned. However, a system can be designed and scaled across your company. Would enjoy learning how others are thinking about this.