“Five common strategy mistakes,” Joan Magretta, Harvard Business Review, 12/8/2011.
Mistake No. 1: Confusing marketing with strategy
“A value proposition isn’t the same thing as a strategy.”
- A value proposition is the unique value a business offers its customers.
- A strategy is the value proposition + the value chain.
- A value chain is the “unique configuration of activities that best delivers the value proposition.”
- “A company must deliver distinctive value through a distinctive value chain".
- “Must perform different activities than rivals, or perform similar activities in different ways.”
The value proposition of most agencies is the Gospel (although that’s not really unique). Some might urge focusing on this: share the Gospel in any way possible, any where possible, as often as possible. But for a team or agency to endure, it must develop a distinctive value chain—the “configuration of activities that best delivers the value proposition.” This value chain must be focused, understood, developed, refined.
Wycliffe’s value chain has to do with everything in the language process—learning a language, documenting a language, translation, literacy, etc.
A Bible Society’s value chain is similar to Wycliffe’s but different. Both have to do with the Bible: but Wycliffe’s proposition is on translation and literacy, whereas a Bible Society’s value chain is focused on publication. Neither value chain is “more important” than the other. By understanding and focusing your value chain, you can find areas of cooperation with complementary groups.
The lesson is: understand your strategy and don’t be afraid to focus. Focus leads to refinement—the difference between a white light and a laser.
Mistake No. 2: Confusing competitive advantage with “what you’re good at.”
“A real strength for strategy purposes has to be something the company can do better than any of its rivals.”
Yes, I know that we are all good Christians, we love our brother and sisters, and we’re not in competition. And while I’m not saying that we need to be “rivals” who dislike or hate each other—at the same time, you should be striving to be not just “good” at your strengths, but “great” or “best in class.”
For continuous improvement purposes you can measure yourself against where you were. But at the same time, you ought to be measuring yourself against your peers, and asking how you can do better. What are they doing better than you? What lessons do you have to learn?
If there is a part of your value chain at which you stink, but someone else is better—could you potentially make some kind of agreement, form a partnership, or outsource?
Mistake No. 3: Pursuing size above all else, because if you’re the biggest, you’ll be more profitable.
We NGOs are of course non-profits. But we do “profit” in a way. The bigger we are, typically the bigger the evangelistic projects we can run, and the bigger “results” we can publish. Not just 1 leader trained, but 10, or 100, or 1,000 or a million! Not just a handful of Bibles placed, but millions!
“General Motors was the world’s largest car company for a period of decades—a fact that didn’t prevent its descent into bankruptcy… BMW, small by industry standards, has a history of higher superior returns.”
“Often big enough is just 10% of the market.”
We can’t take on the world by ourselves. Taking on one particular niche of the world doesn’t necessarily require being the biggest. Figure out what the most likely “right” size is, and try to get there.
Mistake No. 4: Thinking that “growth” or “reaching $1 billion in revenue” is a strategy.
“Don’t confuse strategy with actions (grow, acquire, etc) or with goals (reach X billion in sales)”
Strategy is the positioning (or process) you choose that will result in achieving the goal; actions are the path you take the realize the positioning.
A good strategy is one that achieves the goals as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Swarmish strategies are built of five things, typically:
(1) plausible promise (goal),
(2) values (overarching strategic processes that choose what we will or won’t do),
(3) teachable behaviors (specific actions, like grow/acquire/divest/etc)
(4) modular strategies (specific configurations of actions, like how to acquire and inculturate new recruits)
(5) measurable milestones (how we measure our progress)
Mistake No. 5: Focusing on high-growth markets, because that’s where the money is.
You’d think only for-profit organizations do this, but mission agencies are often very susceptible to this trap. So are churches. We go “where the fields are white unto harvest”—e.g. where it’s seemingly easy to make converts. Where there is a hint of “revival.” Where the fish are “leaping into the boat.”
“Growth is no guarantee that the industry will be profitable.”
“Growth might put suppliers in the driver’s seat, driving up costs and limiting profitability.”
Better to head into deep waters. Like Paul, go where no one has gone before. An enormous spiritual movement might be waiting for you there—waiting for the adventurous pioneers who will be brave for the sake of Christ.
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