The most farsighted enterprises have mastered five unconventional practices for building and using distinctive capabilities.
| Conventional wisdom |
The unintended consequences of conventional wisdom
|
The alternative: unconventional acts |
| Focus on growth | Getting trapped on a growth treadmill: chasing multiple market opportunities where you have no right to win
|
Commit to an identity: Differentiate and grow by being clear-minded about what you can do best |
| Pursue functional excellence | Striving to be world-class at everything but mastering nothing; treating external benchmarking as the path to success
|
Translate the strategic into the everyday: Build and connect the cross-functional capabilities that deliver your strategic intent |
| Reorganize to drive change | Falling into a habit of organizing and reorganizing: trying in vain to change behaviours and create success by restructuring alone
|
Put your culture to work: Celebrate and leverage your cultural strengths |
| Go lean | Cutting costs across the board: starving key capabilities while overinvesting in non-critical businesses and functions
|
Cut costs to grow stronger: Prune what doesn’t matter to invest more in what does |
| Become agile and resilient | Constantly reacting to market changes: shifting direction in the misguided conviction that if you listen hard and act fast, you will survive | Shape your future: Reimagine your capabilities, create demand, and realign your industry on your own terms |
Source: Strategy That Works
