My college roommate loved inventing words. He used “fenderbergs” to describe the snow and ice that built up on the mud flaps of his ’76 Buick Regal. Great word!
Here’s a new one: What do you call that feeling when you are working from home, have less human interaction and have new priorities? Now consider that many business leaders have pivoted away from their 2020 growth strategies and are focusing instead on keeping their companies alive. Overall, there is a new focus in a new environment. I’m not sure we need a new word to describe this. I think disruption sums it up.
Coping with disruption requires that we erase the white board and start over with the basics.
As much as marketers enjoy talking with businesses about their brand and communication strategies, we need to take a step back. Stop selling. Start focusing on solving the challenges our clients will face. We need to make sure the strategy is sound before we execute.
Where do we start? Here is what I think every business leader should be reviewing:
- How should our business plan change?
- How is our business model being disrupted? (I have a favorite resource I use when formalizing business models. Let me know if you want a copy.)
- Do we need to rewrite our strategic plan?
- What value do we offer to our clients?
- What new opportunities do we see?
Here’s the thing. These ideas scream for collaboration in a time when people are adjusting to new ways to interact. We used to gather everyone in a conference room and hash these things out. My advice? Make use of this strange, quiet time. Make some one-on-one phone calls. Find partners who are more interested in learning about your business and less interested in trying to sell you something. There are brilliant people in your network that crave this dialogue as much as you do.
