Winning Moves Blog

CEOs spend a great deal of time in meetings, according to research described in a February 14, 2012 Wall Street Journal article “Where’s the Boss? Trapped in a Meeting”. The article conveys the message that, as a result of so much time in meetings, CEOs have little time to think. In fact, “Little Time to Think” is in the subtitle of the article. But, the way the article seems to paint meetings as the enemy of thinking can be misleading. Continue reading “CEOs, Time to Think, and Meetings” »

Unlike what has been fairly typical for the airline industry, Alaska Airlines actually makes money, according to a Wall Street Journal article (An Airline That Makes Money, Really, February 4-5, 2012). The article described Alaska Airlines’ great success in an industry where many others landed in bankruptcy court. Alaska Airlines and its CEO Bill Ayer are to be commended Continue reading “Can Profitable Companies Make Better Strategic Choices than Struggling Companies?” »

The business world often expects us to decide and act fast. Yet, books describing newer research challenge the effectiveness of speedy decisions and actions. So, there seems to be a conflict. Does the newer research actually imply that fast paced executives should slow down and become more deliberate in their thinking?

Executives who decide Continue reading “Does Speed Kill? The Choice Between Making Fast Business Decisions versus Deciding More Slowly” »

Strategic reversals are essentially a U-turn that attempts to undo grossly ill-fitting strategic moves. According to a January 3, 2012, Wall Street Journal article titled “Year of the Oops: Firms Spent 2011 in Reverse”, several companies made reversals last year. This “Oops” article describes last year’s U-turns at Netflix, Hewlett-Packard and Cisco as “high profile reversals from poorly deliberated strategic moves”.

All of these high profile U-turns involved attempts at undoing the consequences of a major shift in business direction. And, these “Oops” reversals clearly fit the patterns I identified in my 25+ years of researching business success and failure, studying the moves that companies make. By paying more attention to the patterns, the three strategic reversal companies most likely could have prevented their major strategic missteps, the subsequent U-turns, and the devastating consequences.

All three reversal companies in the “Oops” article seemed to lose sight of the following key principles that emerged from my study of business success and failure patterns:

• Building on strengths is crucial for success, so avoid throwing away the business that’s based on those strengths–except in rare circumstances.
• Don’t be too quick to think that your circumstances are a rare exception to the above–most of the time they are not, so take a good hard look at your situation if you are inclined to think they are.
• Success in new areas generally requires a series of evolutionary steps, so do not expect rapid success when you quickly make major shifts into new areas–unless you have already gone through those steps.
• Violating the above can be costly, and depending upon the circumstances, it may be difficult to regain what you threw away.

Principles like this are ever so important when considering a major change in direction. Yet, when business conditions get tough, it can sometimes be tempting to think the above principles do not apply. It can be tempting to pursue radically different markets or to make other major changes. But, if you want to do so, do not ignore the patterns. Those patterns are very powerful. And, the three companies that needed “oops” strategic reversals are good examples of what happens when the patterns are ignored.

So pay attention to the patterns. Put more effort into assessing your situation beforehand when considering major shifts. Identify where your company can take, or has already taken, those gradual evolutionary steps. And, you’ll be on the road to making Winning Moves that do not require costly strategic reversals.

The Winning Moves patterns of business success repeat over and over again. If you understand these patterns, they can be a valuable guide to successful strategic choices. Based upon my 25+ years of research, these patterns result from studying strategic moves to identify differences between the successes and the failures. As time progressed, I kept adding more information, and it has indicated that the patterns had staying power.

My method of studying a large number of moves differs from the approach used by many other researchers. Yet, my findings are often confirmed by and/or are consistent with the findings of prominent researchers in academia and in industry. For example, much of the research in Jim Collins’ current best-selling book Great by Choice, co-authored with Morten Hansen, confirms the patterns that I identified and have been discussing here on my website over the last several years. Additionally, work on adjacencies by Zook ties in with my findings. So does work in academia, such as research at the University of Virginia.

The extensive and ongoing nature of my research into business success patterns led to the development of an overall framework, put together by examining a number of diverse, but highly interrelated pieces. By understanding these interrelationships, my research not only identifies the patterns, but it also does a great deal to explain them. Similarly, my work has offered explanations of the findings of other prominent researchers. And, when other prominent researchers seem to disagree with one another, my framework can sometimes offer insights showing why their studies do not actually conflict if you more deeply understand their findings.

To recap, the Winning Moves patterns are powerful, recurring, look at both success and failure, have received some outside validation, can offer meaningful explanations, and are a very valuable tool when companies are making strategic choices. That’s why this website is created around a philosophy based upon the Power of Patterns. And, as I discuss companies and current business news in this blog, in my newsletters, and in my reports, I illustrate how applying these patterns brings superior results. For example, in my
previous blog post, I discussed how Macy’s success with Black Friday entails Winning Moves that adhere to the patterns. But, I’ll also share examples of other situations where ignoring the patterns leads to failure.

Finally, it is important to remember that, while these patterns are so integral to business success, the patterns are not necessarily obvious to everyone, especially in light of business practices that have been widely accepted relatively recently, but may not be based on these patterns. In fact, several of these patterns are still unclear to many. So, the patterns are often misunderstood and misused. As the understanding of these patterns becomes more widespread, there is greater potential for them to be used effectively. The patterns are not a magic bullet. But, once you see how powerful these patterns are, you’ll know why they are so essential for business success.