Can you describe your strategy in ONE WORD OR PHRASE? For most leaders, It’s not developing a strategy but COMMUNICATING it that’s the problem. In my work with CEOs and boards driving a new direction, I often hear:
o “Why don’t they get what we do?”
o “They don’t seem to understand why we’re different.”
o “We need a better message.”
Here’s the hard truth: Even the BEST strategy will FAIL if people are confused, skeptical, or not aligned. And it starts with COMMUNICATING.
The best way to start is to answer “WHY”: What problem are you solving?
Then the challenge is to distill that idea down so that people understand it. There are a lot of people who need to know: your funders, employees, customers, suppliers, partners, and even your community.
If everyone “gets” your WHY, they can understand HOW to do their part. And they can tell others.
My favorite story of a one-word strategy is FedEx.
When writing a paper in college in the 60s, founder Fred Smith saw a problem: Getting time-sensitive goods somewhere FAST (think replacement parts for critical machines, or medical supplies). The mail was slow. Private delivery services were expensive and iffy.
The WHY was clear: “Deliver packages reliably overnight.” HOW to do that would require lots of new ways to align people and trucks and systems. But the WHY was clear –- and everyone “got it”.
But that wasn’t simple enough.
After he formed his company, Smith wanted to make sure everyone was on one page to execute the strategy. He wanted every person on the team to understand and be able to confidently take action to do their part.
The story goes that he distilled the WHY down to one term “10 AM”.
This was disruptive: Not just delivery “overnight” but delivery ANYWHERE by 10 AM the next day!
What’s the goal? “10 AM”
What’s the strategy? “10 AM”
What’s my part in it? “10 AM.”
Every employee, every supplier, every partner and investor, and every customer “got it”. There were still LOTS of unknowns and risks to figure out — but every person was able to understand the goal and could work on their own part of HOW.
Today, FedEx is a $93B company.
And it all started with being able to explain WHY in a simple phrase.
Do you know your own WHY? How can you explain it simply so people “get it”?
The impact can be powerful.
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
