Strategy as Stretch and Leverage
Brian Siegel
Capstone: Daewoo
Strategy as Stretch and Leverage
Lessons Learned
“Drink more water and stretch more”
After reading the Harvard Business Review article, “Strategy as Stretch and Leverage”, it brought to mind simple steps and metaphors towards improvement. Simple such as taking care of things, managing your resources, and respecting and playing the game fairly with hard work and integrity. If you take care of your “health” by drinking water, stretching, and working out to find your strengths, weaknesses, and improving on them. It is a 360-degree interacting amoeba. You must assess the consumer to business, B2B, B2C, and find other niches. Utilize resources, and leverage them to the maximum efficiency. It’s a “total body and package” workout. A continuously changing, interacting, and growing process.
Improve and grow distribution channels
NEVER compromise quality for cost
Improve bottom to top and top to bottom communication
Humility and hunger override a full stomach and arrogance
Be diverse, innovative, build on core competencies, have balance, and multidimensional
Recycle
Challenge the dominating powers, yet with respect and intelligence (with “Judo Strategy” – leverage momentum, resources, speed, size, territories, and strengths)
Measure and analyze obstacles to penetrating larger, different, and better niches
Diagnose, understand, and improve attributes
Find your competencies, strengths and weaknesses, and improve on all
Developing human talent, tech skills, distribution channels/access, manufacturing facilities, and brands are key to success
Ambition with resource leveraging and utilization are key (commitment to long term) to core competencies, continuous learning, and continuous improvement
Just because you are “large” doesn’t mean you won’t make “large” money
Find untapped markets, create niches, do more with less, utilize guerrilla warfare
Restructuring is not a strategy, but an action towards strategy (don’t rely on “image” moves to drive your long term growth, but utilize as capacity, response, and team improvement)
Resources doesn’t make the company, how they utilize them does
Other comparisons that came to mind:
Business and “health” are related by similar issues:
Diagnose correctly
Preventative maintenance and upkeep (take vitamins, keep up energy by “working out”, stretching, balanced meals, portion control, etc. -- balance)
Find a way to address and cure problems (“medicine”)
Find good frames of reverence to model after, but also improve on
There are consequences for your actions you do to your business
Allocate resources strategically and intelligently (like the way you eat, sleep, drink)
“Stay hungry, don’t starve, nor become desperate” – don’t let scarcity lead you to bad decisions
Absorb, digest, and rejuvenate through relationships (vendors, internal, external, suppliers, etc.)
Business and “reality shows” have a lot in common
“Survivor”: form and build alliances, and form a strong segment on your “island”
Leadership can emerge through action, and proper planning
“Dare to be different”: find your fit: People say one thing at one time, and take different actions at another for self promotion (careful what you say, despite people saying they like “hearing the truth” and “straight shooters”, it usually shoots you in the foot
Behave as if you have less than you do, and figure out ways to connect and leverage relationships, customers, suppliers, employees, and other resources
Capstone: Daewoo
Strategy as Stretch and Leverage
Lessons Learned
“Drink more water and stretch more”
After reading the Harvard Business Review article, “Strategy as Stretch and Leverage”, it brought to mind simple steps and metaphors towards improvement. Simple such as taking care of things, managing your resources, and respecting and playing the game fairly with hard work and integrity. If you take care of your “health” by drinking water, stretching, and working out to find your strengths, weaknesses, and improving on them. It is a 360-degree interacting amoeba. You must assess the consumer to business, B2B, B2C, and find other niches. Utilize resources, and leverage them to the maximum efficiency. It’s a “total body and package” workout. A continuously changing, interacting, and growing process.
Improve and grow distribution channels
NEVER compromise quality for cost
Improve bottom to top and top to bottom communication
Humility and hunger override a full stomach and arrogance
Be diverse, innovative, build on core competencies, have balance, and multidimensional
Recycle
Challenge the dominating powers, yet with respect and intelligence (with “Judo Strategy” – leverage momentum, resources, speed, size, territories, and strengths)
Measure and analyze obstacles to penetrating larger, different, and better niches
Diagnose, understand, and improve attributes
Find your competencies, strengths and weaknesses, and improve on all
Developing human talent, tech skills, distribution channels/access, manufacturing facilities, and brands are key to success
Ambition with resource leveraging and utilization are key (commitment to long term) to core competencies, continuous learning, and continuous improvement
Just because you are “large” doesn’t mean you won’t make “large” money
Find untapped markets, create niches, do more with less, utilize guerrilla warfare
Restructuring is not a strategy, but an action towards strategy (don’t rely on “image” moves to drive your long term growth, but utilize as capacity, response, and team improvement)
Resources doesn’t make the company, how they utilize them does
Other comparisons that came to mind:
Business and “health” are related by similar issues:
Diagnose correctly
Preventative maintenance and upkeep (take vitamins, keep up energy by “working out”, stretching, balanced meals, portion control, etc. -- balance)
Find a way to address and cure problems (“medicine”)
Find good frames of reverence to model after, but also improve on
There are consequences for your actions you do to your business
Allocate resources strategically and intelligently (like the way you eat, sleep, drink)
“Stay hungry, don’t starve, nor become desperate” – don’t let scarcity lead you to bad decisions
Absorb, digest, and rejuvenate through relationships (vendors, internal, external, suppliers, etc.)
Business and “reality shows” have a lot in common
“Survivor”: form and build alliances, and form a strong segment on your “island”
Leadership can emerge through action, and proper planning
“Dare to be different”: find your fit: People say one thing at one time, and take different actions at another for self promotion (careful what you say, despite people saying they like “hearing the truth” and “straight shooters”, it usually shoots you in the foot
Behave as if you have less than you do, and figure out ways to connect and leverage relationships, customers, suppliers, employees, and other resources
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