Several weeks ago, I found the above image in twitter published about how basketball has changed over the last twenty years, comparing the most common shot locations in the NBA. Surprising results, don’t you think?

As you can see, and forgive me about the nomenclature since I’m not a basketball fan, basketball has became a game based on two shots: the three-point line and inside the lane line, while 20 years ago was far more diverse and based on field goal shots mainly.

Like basketball, business has also changed during the last years. Let’s see some figures:

• More than half the world—or 4.7 billion people—is now online. Most connect via mobile devices.
• The average person today is more than four times richer than in 1950. 
• By 2021 e-commerce constituted 15 percent of all retail sales, and it should grow to 22 percent by 2023. Even my mom buys in Amazon.
• 50% of buyers say that working remotely has made the purchasing process easier.
• For sales organizations, data is more crucial than ever.
• A World Economic Forum report notes that following the pandemic, internet use climbed more than 70 percent, use of communication apps doubled, and some video streaming services saw daily use rise twentyfold.

Still, some businesses hold on to the same strategy as they had when they started years ago.

Confront it. Any strategy older than two years is now obsolete.

So, how can you review your strategy in an effective way?

• First, observe accurately. Observation is about looking critically at your business and yourself. What are you aiming? Are you enjoying it? How is your company doing right now? Be honest. Open your eyes and see what’s happening not only in your industry, but also in your surroundings. How your clients make buying decisions? What people look for in a job opportunity? Are your friends still happy with remote work? Are your neighbours spending less or more than before? Have your values and beliefs changed? Is your ideal client the same? 
• Second, diagnose effectively. Take the information you gathered before and analyse it thoroughly to find the cause. Be aware of success bias, and watch those ideal clients who rejected your proposal, not those who accepted it blindly. For example, the managing director of a medium-sized accounting firm complained to me about the lack of people to hire in their industry. When I told him to pay more to their employees he told me that he had never had a complain from his employees. The question is not what do your employees think about their salaries, but why the accounting industry is not attracting prepared people who prefer to go to other industries.
• Third, prescribe wisely. Define clear priorities to zero in on, and prepare a roadmap to execute them effectively. When prescribing, be precise and clear about what to do and how to do it. Gather your executive team and push them to lead the implementation of your strategy, creating joint accountabilities and freedom to execute them. No decision can be made without priorities, so be ruthless with sticking to them and flexible with how to approach them.
• Fourth, take action. I know it’s easy to say it but hard to do it, but that’s the key issue in change: it happens because you promote it, not because you react at it. Action is not about decision-making but about priorities, so if you stay still be prepared to being surpassed by the world and your industry. Therefore, create a action plans, review them regularly, and stablish team rewards based on profit, satisfaction and delivery.
• Finally, visibly lead. You, as the CEO, are meant for making decisions and getting people to take action, not to do so yourself. So let your team understand (and accept) your role, by being visibly leading every decision, offering enough resources to make it possible, and guiding them into action. That’s your role, don’t forget it.

Basketball, as we’ve seen in the image above, has changed. That’s why some sports have changed their rules during the last decade: to try to keep it interesting enough for their fans.

Business in general, and your industry in particular, has also changed. Then, if you want to improve your results and quality of life, you should keep your business interesting for its stakeholders: team, clients, suppliers, partners and society.

Do you want us to work together on improving it?

© Oriol López 2022

Are you interested?

• La remor és vida
• Apuja els teus preus un 1%
• La trampa de l’eficiència