Comments for Cross Wires Blog

Comment on What’s Your Core Business? by What Market Are You Really In? « Cross Wires Blog

What Market Are You Really In? « Cross Wires Blog — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:07:10 +0000

[...] wrote a week or so ago that Apple didn’t see itself in the computer market, but that the mobile communications market [...]

Comment on Are You Reactive Or Proactive? by Twitted by DavidWLocke

Twitted by DavidWLocke — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:37:14 +0000

[...] This post was Twitted by DavidWLocke [...]

Comment on Are You Reactive Or Proactive? by David Locke

David Locke — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:30:52 +0000

AsIF is also proactive. In AsIF thinking, as defined by some DARPA research on meta-cognition, you assert a partial model from your current model. You gain proactivity via AsIF thinking, when you use it to walk through the thinking of people you have to influence to get what you want. This helps you minimize the lags in their processes that deliver what you need.

Thanks for the this list. It will help people see when they have become reactive, so they can escape it, and design ways of staying out of it.

Comment on Top 10 Strategy Pitfalls by Tweets that mention Top 10 Strategy Pitfalls « Cross Wires Blog -- Topsy.com

Tweets that mention Top 10 Strategy Pitfalls « Cross Wires Blog -- Topsy.com — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:04:16 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Charles H. Green, Christian Maurer. Christian Maurer said: RT @CharlesHGreen: Top 10 Strategy Pitfalls by @stuart_cross who's 1 of the best I know at integrating strategy & mgmt http://ow.ly/YwCp [...]

Comment on Top 10 Strategy Pitfalls by Stuart Cross

Stuart Cross — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:11:41 +0000

Thank you Martyn. I agree!

Comment on Top 10 Strategy Pitfalls by Martyn Drake

Martyn Drake — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:49:03 +0000

Great post Stuart. Spot on insights.

Comment on Play Your Own Game, On Your Own Pitch, And To Your Own Rules by Stuart Cross

Stuart Cross — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:43:56 +0000

Martyn, I agree that new needs can be ‘discovered’ as well as analysed, but in both cases it won’t happen by accident. Even when the opportunities are discovered, there is a requirement for the ‘discoverer’ to be looking out for something. An ex-boss of 3M once said that the company had stumbled on many of its great innovations, but, importantly, in order to stumble you first had to be moving.

I agree entirely that many/most large companies are too defensive to make these changes, often until it’s too late.

Comment on Play Your Own Game, On Your Own Pitch, And To Your Own Rules by Martyn Drake

Martyn Drake — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:34:14 +0000

Excellent article, well observed and well written. It’s easy to see the potential for rule-changing in retrospect, but at the time it’s usually a shot in the dark, and a big risk. That’s why the bigger players struggle to do it - they have more to lose, more conservative ambitions, and tend not to feel the flames of failure licking at their feet (until it’s too late).

I’d submit though, that point 1 is generally “discovered” rather than analysed out, and that 2, 3 and 4 follow like dominos. The key I think is point 5. Sustaining an advantage from setting new rules means relentlessly pushing the envelope, expanding the market, and continuing to revolutionise the model. That becomes more difficult as the business becomes more successful. It relies on the drive of leaders like O’Leary, Dyson and Grove, the people they surround themselves with, and the culture they generate. If BA bought and integrated RyanAir, how long would it take before it lost its lead in the budget sector?

Comment on Agreement Isn’t Alignment by Phil

Phil — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:33:33 +0000

Hello Stuart,

It was interesting that the person who was the furthest from home was the first person to be aware that we were traveling in the wrong direction!

This shows your skills at helping your clients determine when their strategy is heading in the wrong direction.

Although companies might take risks in innovation and strategy development, they shouldn’t take them in implementation. Otherwise, they just might be on a cab ride to Mars.

Great article!

Phil
(with the lighter wallet after the cab ride)

Comment on Ground Level Strategy by Stuart Cross

Stuart Cross — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:53:15 +0000

Libby, I agree you need the emotional strength to reach out and communicate, but you also need clarity of direction and purpose. If you want success, people must understand the organisation’s objectives. A rocket needs to be fired up, for sure, but it also needs the right trajectory if it is to escape earth’s gravitational pull!