Evolution 4 - "Strategy and Positioning Platform"

I learn a lot from a lot of people. Mary Sicard from iGenuity posted a comment to my first "Evolution" piece and included a quote from someone named Darwin John. The quote intrigued me, I followed it to the url she provided, and I found an eloquent review of what businesses should look for when considering growth. Here's the real meat of what Darwin John wrote:

"Traditionally, businesspeople have thought of growth as entering an expanding market or adding a new product in hopes of increasing revenues. But that's only one of four dimensions of growth, and it is not the most important. What does growth really mean? Successful growth starts with being clear on what our purpose is, and on what we want to accomplish as a corporation. This is the most important dimension. The second most important is being clear on what strengths we have that we can leverage to that end. Without purpose, growth is meaningless and chaotic; without strengths, successful growth is impossible. Only when we've determined the first two should we turn to the third: what we might add in terms of new product lines, acquisitions or capabilities. The fourth dimension of growth is determining what products, product lines or companies we need to shed because they lie outside our corporate purpose or strengths." (Click on the title of this post for a link to the entire article.)

The first of John's "dimensions of growth" seems clearly descriptive of the "Strategy and Positioning Platform" we offer as the key deliverable in our ideation, or "ProjectOne," process. It is the foundation of and for a business, but you'd be amazed how few business leaders can communicate theirs.

The most interesting stuff we do is help people clarify and then communicate their company's SPP. What's yours? Need some help? It's the foundation not only of growth but also for survival.