31 Jul Steve Jobs shows us the importance of well-timed strategy in your business
An effective business strategy does not just define the goals of your business.
Real strategic change comes from identifying the biggest challenges in your business and choosing to do something about them.
This may mean ignoring some of the other things you would like to do within your business, which is hard (especially if members of your team are involved in some of the things you are now choosing not to do).
But for your business to survive in turbulent times, difficult decisions have to be made.
A good strategy is about focusing your resources on the most critical issues facing your business, if you are not doing that then you don’t have a strategy.
Take Steve Jobs for example…
In 1997 Apple was just weeks away from bankruptcy. Then Steve Jobs returned. Initially, his most significant challenge was just to keep the business alive!
His coherent action was to cut 15 desktop models back to 1 model, cut all laptop models back to 1 model, cut all printers, cut development engineers and cut software development.
Jobs cut many more things to reflect the reality of having less than 4% of the personal computer market at the time.
There was a clear challenge; clear strategy and it was right for Apple’s situation at that time.
With Apple’s survival secure, Jobs then got clear on to his long-term strategy too:
“I am going to wait for the next big thing”
He knew enough about the market to understand that technology comes in waves. This was a predatory response to the situation, like a lion stalking its prey, he was prepared to lie in wait and pounce at just the right time.
The rise of MP3 players, the iPod, iTunes, and the iPhone transformed the world and Apple went from a $3billion business to a $1trillion dollar business.
Patience is a virtue as they say!
As a business leader, your most important responsibility is to identify the biggest challenges facing your business and devise a coherent approach to overcome them, just like Steve Jobs.
Click here and download the Good Strategy report (taken from the Build a Better Team Section) to learn how good strategy ensured Apple survived and thrived and how good strategy can ensure your business does the same.