Ensuring {profitable} Growth Rich Stillman The Upswing Group

© 2008 Upswing Group LLC My objective this morning Help you think about how to ensure continued growth Suggestions for a growth “toolkit”

© 2008 Upswing Group LLC Couple of questions Are you satisfied with your company’s ability to identify the big opportunities that will drive your growth for the next 5 years? Do you know who the visionaries are that can help you uncover your growth opportunities? How confident are you about the degree of total company alignment around your strategy?

© 2008 Upswing Group LLC Helping to ensure growth Gather data all the time Define your key opportunities in a disciplined way Make your key stakeholders co-creators of your future Think in terms of a portfolio of offerings Make annual strategic planning an on-going process Gain alignment by having a “playbook” developed ahead of time

© 2008 Upswing Group LLC What about the opportunities? DoPlan CheckAdjust

© 2008 Upswing Group LLC Edison’s definition of genius 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration BUT Without the right inspiration, all you’ve got is a bucket of sweat Edison’s concrete houses for example

© 2008 Upswing Group LLC Working on the right opportunities? Edison devoted nearly as much time and effort (and millions of dollars) to concrete homes as he did to any of his better-known discoveries.

© 2008 Upswing Group LLC Gather data all the time Analyze your competition all the time Talk to your customers all the time –Beyond sales people Analyze market trends and developments all the time

© 2008 Upswing Group LLC Take the linear approach Markets New sell existing products to new customers modify products and sell to new customers design new products to sell to new customers Modified sell current products in new geographic areas modify products and sell to new geography design new products and sell to new geography Existing sell existing products to existing markets modify current products and sell more to current customers design new products and sell to current customers ExistingModifiedNew Products

© 2008 Upswing Group LLC And the non-linear approach Employees Suppliers Customers Outside Help Peers Board of Directors

© 2008 Upswing Group LLC Listen with your third ear You have to get to the “music behind the words” Rarely will one person have the answer Customers won’t always be able to tell you what they really need

© 2008 Upswing Group LLC Take a portfolio approach No matter how small the company, think in terms of a portfolio of offerings Don’t wait for core growth to start slowing before identifying the next big opportunity Growth rate Market share ? $

© 2008 Upswing Group LLC View planning as an on-going activity DoPlan CheckAdjust Employees Suppliers Customers Outside Help Peers Board of Directors

© 2008 Upswing Group LLC Gain alignment by planning ahead Prepare a “playbook” ahead of time for getting total company understanding of and commitment to the plan Put your plan on a single piece of paper Use the Plan-Do-Check-Adjust model to reinforce key strategic themes and build alignment –Real alignment is hard to achieve, and most executives overestimate employee commitment

© 2008 Upswing Group LLC A3 Template Heading / Theme Plan Actual vs goal: this year Key learning Key themes for next year Do Key Goals Strategies Tactics Timelines/Due Dates Check Actr/ Adjust Footnotes / Sign offs

© 2008 Upswing Group LLC Implement PDCA DoPlan CheckAdjust

© 2008 Upswing Group LLC The Goal: Up and to the right Start planning here To get here

Where do we go from here? What’s the right strategy? How do we encourage full alignment?