November 21, 2022

How the competitive herd runs and why it will destroy you

How the competitive herd runs and why it will destroy you.

Competition, regardless of the industry, is increasing with blazing speed. Fuelled by disruptions caused by the internet and hard-technology innovation, the number of competitors entering ANY space is increasing at a breathless rate.

You would think that in the face of relentless competitive pressure, organizations would get more proficient at carving out a differentiated position in their market. Creating a Value Proposition that is crystal clear and unique.

But, it is not happening. In fact the opposite is occurring.

Un-differentiation is the norm.

Business is infatuated with copying.

Best in Class and Best of Breed are targets for comparison.

Benchmarking is the key driver of ‘innovation’.

Follow the Leader is played with the belief that somehow a Stand-Out competitive claim will evolve. It just does not happen.

Products and Services end up on most organizations’ infatuation list. Me-too capabilities are promulgated in the market with the hope and prayer that a miracle will happen and THEIR solution will end up being the winner.

Product features and benefits are stressed as the panacea to the customer’s wants, desires and cravings.

Mass markets are catered to, driven by a one-size-fits-all marketing mentality.

Product corners are rounded, believing that incremental changes will make the product appeal to more people. Problem is, this strategy results in the product appealing to no one.

Businesses rush to offer lower prices than their competition. Everyone is in this game to a degree. It seems to be all about a race to the bottom on price for The Herd.

The Bottom line… The world is burning with a growing competitive flame yet organizations are NOT very good at establishing a clear, relevant and unique claim that clearly distinguishes them from their competitors; that makes them Stand-Out from everyone else.

The solution?

Build your business around my Strategic Game Plan process and use The ONLY Statement to carve out your unique position in the markets you choose to serve.

Cheers,
Roy
40+ Podcast Shows I’ve done that unpack my work.

Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

‘Audacious’ is my latest…

• Posted 11.21.22 at 03:17 am by Roy Osing
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November 14, 2022

11 easy ways to be different in ways people care about

11 easy ways to be different in ways people care about.

Being different is NOT about being different for the sake of being different.

Before talking about what being different IS, I need to clarify what being different is NOT, because there are misconceptions that must be dealt with.

▪️Being different is NOT about self expression—‘Who you are’—rather it’s about CHOOSING to express yourself in a unique and different way in order to accomplish a task or meet a challenge.

▪️Being different is NOT about your DNA—what you were born with—rather it’s about what you choose to do with the gifts given to you.

▪️️Being different is NOT about ‘doing your own thing’; rather doing what’s required in a unique way, in a one-of-a-kind way, in a way that ONLY you do.

▪️And, being different is NOT about ‘following your own direction’; rather choosing a direction that creates value for people in a way no one else does.

What is being different?

Being different is being truly unique in the way you improve the performance of your organization, advance your career and enhance your life.

Being different IS about standing out in a compelling and relevant way that people CARE about.
Applying your skills and competencies in a way that is relevant within a context—frame of reference—given to you. You’re given a problem to solve, and you look for a different way to solve the problem.

There is no formula for being different in a way that matters to people; every person must find their own way.

But the one prerequisite is that you have to WANT to take a different journey. You have to WANT to make a difference in a one-of-a-kind way. And you have to be prepared to absorb the pain—and push forward—you’ll feel along the way as you struggle to step away from the crowd and repel the forces and people that want you to conform with the common herd.

Tools I used to BE DiFFERENT

#1. Remind yourself. — Look at every challenge you’re facing through a ‘BE DiFFERENT Lens’. Ask yourself “How can I do this differently?”.
You will be amazed at how this simple tactic opens up your mind to atypical ways of doing things; after a while, stepping out becomes second nature.

#2. Create, don’t copy — Purge benchmarking from your tool kit.
Being different is about creating something unique (new), and you can’t do that when you’re in the copying mode.

Here’s a secret on how you CAN use copying to be different…

Copy them and morph, change, revise a ‘best in class’ idea into a breakaway idea that is something truly unique that people CARE about.

#3. Ditch the Manual. — Throw the manual away on the traditional ‘normal’—theoretically based—ways of addressing specific types of challenges.

If you use a textbook approach to solving a problem, you’re simply increasing the ‘sameness herd’ by one person.
And you’re perpetuating the inherent problems with the prescribed methods (academics don’t always get it right because they’ve rarely built a competitive business TO A $BILLION in annual sales.)

How I threw away the book on defining competitive advantage

Literally every organization uses traditional methods to define their competitive advantage and produce such CLAPTRAP competitive advantage statements as
“We are better…”; “We are the best…”; “We are the market leader…”; “We are number one…”; “We are the most…”
Examples:
“Canada’s largest and most reliable 5G network”

“We work hard every day to make XXX the world’s most respected service brand.”

These statements deal more with what the organizations produce, rather than declare their uniqueness, and they are at best aspirational.
They can’t be proven and don’t answer the question “Why should I do business with you and not your competitors?”

To address the deficiencies in this rote approach, I created The ONLY Statement to address the issue.

“We are the ONLY ones who…”

“Roy Osing is the ONLY author, entrepreneur and executive leader who delivers practical and proven ‘Audacious Unheard-of Ways’ (no one else talks about ‘Audacious Unheard-of Ways’) to build high performing businesses and successful careers.” Proof point: I took a startup to A BILLION IN SALES.

So, consider standard methods as a base for your work, but always be looking for ways to BREAKAWAY from them and create a unique more meaningful solution.

#4. SURPRISE ‘em. — Ask yourself “What would surprise people in the way I solved a problem or delivered what was expected of me?”
Sure, be guided by standards to produce a standard solution but take the extra step to look for the SURPRISE Factor. Do simple things; it doesn’t have to be complicated.

I created a ‘Cleanse the Inside’ program to reduce internal bureaucracy and delete the policies that customers hated. The two specific projects that surprised and captured the imagination and curiosity of people who had fun with them were:
Kill Dumb Rules and Cut the CRAP.

#5. Have a theme. — I was obsessed with finding new ways to enhance the performance of my organization, and I used EXECUTION as my guide to BE DiFFERENT.
I was constantly looking for different ways to improve the execution of our strategic game plan… to Take a Startup TO A BILLION IN SALES.
Elements of my different approach included:
— ‘Head West’ Plan. Abbreviating the front end planning process and enhancing back end execution.
— Line of Sight Leadership.
— Established the Strategy Hawk role to oversee and own the execution of our strategy.

I stayed clear of looking for different ways of THINKING, and looked for different ways of DOING.

#6. Try. Try. Try. — Be a ‘trier’. Try—and fail—more than the next person. You need a ‘tries funnel’, loaded with opportunities to be different.

#7. Be imperfect fast. — Don’t look for perfection. IF you are obsessed with finding the perfect solution (which doesn’t exist anyway) you don’t DO anything.

The desire to be perfect keeps people from getting stuff done. And it’s doing stuff that earns you the reward for being different.

#8. Look at your toes. — Take a short term view to be different. “How can I solve this problem differently NOW so improved results will be realized NOW?”
Being different in the moment has power for you and those around you. You will realize very few benefits of being different if your energy is spent on looking for uniqueness 5 years from now.

For example, my Strategic Game Plan process has a 24-month planning horizon as opposed to the traditional 5-year planning period.

What can I do differently TODAY to improve outcomes is always my drive to kick performance to another level.

#9. Oppose the flow. — Be contrarian minded. Observe where the herd’s going—based on conventional thinking—and take the opposite approach. Do a 180 to the way everyone else is doing it.

These are a couple of examples of my ‘go against the flow’ tactics:
— Do-it-yourself strategic micromanagement. Putting the leader’s—my—‘fingerprints’ on key strategic activities that have a critical impact on the performance of the organization. I got personally involved with architecting the customer engagement process to ensure there was no ambiguity in what was required to create memorable customer experiences.
— Hiring for Goosebumps as the way to recruit people who ‘liked humans’.

#10. Inject practical juices. — Redefine a commonly accepted approach with ‘a practical eye’. Looking at principles and common beliefs and practices through a practical lens. What outcomes do the standard methods expect will result? Do they produce expected outcomes?

“My objective is to inject some ‘practical juice’ into the standard way of thinking to actually deliver better performance and outcomes.”

One example of how I put my practical twist on a common practice is leadership, and in particular, servant leadership which has this common definition:
“Servant leadership is a leadership style and philosophy whereby an individual interacts with others—either in a management or fellow employee capacity—to achieve authority rather than power.”

I chose to look at how this common view of servant leadership could be morphed into something that had more of a direct impact on the results of my organization which was related to how effectively our strategy was being EXECUTED.

I created a new leadership concept, Leadership by Serving Around—LBSA—designed to help people do their jobs more effectively, thereby enhancing the execution of our strategy.

My key practical elements of LBSA are:
— Wandering around asking people “How can I help?”
— It’s a personal question, not an organizational one.
— LBSA is NOT a style of leadership, it’s a strategic move targeted at determining what’s preventing people from executing the game plan of the organization — it’s a means to THAT end.
— It’s a ‘Cleanse-the-Inside’ of the organization process to enable people to do their jobs easier and more effectively and to eliminate barriers—‘Dumb Rules—to customer satisfaction.

A key LBSA question I ask is “What’s preventing you from saying ‘Yes’ to customers?

#11. Find a do-it mentor. — Cast aside the traditional mentor with a string of 9 letters behind their name recognizing their academic achievement, and find a stable of MBA’s—Masters in Business Achievement, people who have a distinguished track record of leading teams to unheard of levels of performance.

As I’ve said before, the context for being different is adding value and performing at breathtaking levels of performance. Mentors who have consistently done this are your target.

Some of my favorite examples of being different:
▪️The Grateful Dead
▪️Lady Gaga
▪️The Heart Attack Grill

Remember, being different isn’t about what you were born with; it’s about using the gifts you’ve been given to achieve remarkable things that benefit others.

Cheers,
Roy
40+ Podcast Shows I’ve done that unpack my work.

Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

‘Audacious’ is my latest…

• Posted 11.14.22 at 05:09 am by Roy Osing
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October 31, 2022

Why competitive advantage, as taught by most ‘experts’, is usually (mostly) wrong

How to declare a competitive advantage, as taught by most ‘experts’, is usually—mostly—wrong.

This article is typical of how people are taught to create a competitive advantage for their business.

“Crafting Your Statement — Your statement of competitive advantage has four components: your name, your company, a statement about a problem in your market, and how you and your product solve that problem.
Essentially, it is a 30-second statement explaining what differentiates your company in the marketplace.”

This author teaches us that if we have a solution to a problem, it—our solution—defines our competitive advantage. And in the last sentence it concludes that this four component statement “…differentiates your company in the marketplace.”

BOOM. PROBLEM SOLVED. EASY-PEASY.

WRONG.

This approach is not only an oversimplification, it’s misleading.It DOESN’T establish competitive advantage in any way, shape or form.

And, unfortunately, the approach is not an isolated example of how businesses are being coached on how to define what makes their organization unique and special among their competitors.

And I would say 99.9% of the ‘experts’ out there promulgate the same type of gibberish.

If I come up with a solution to the distracted driving problem does that automatically mean my solution gives me a competitive advantage?

“YES”, the previous ‘experts’ would say.

“NO”, Roy says it’s gibberish.

All it means is that you figured out ONE solution among many to the distracted driving problem. Your solution doesn’t give you ANY advantage, for example, unless it’s unique in some way compared to what other solutions are out there.

Where is the notion of solution comparison to the competition in the gibberish? It is MIA. Not mentioned. Not important apparently.

Look, the gibberish is helpful to a point. It correctly advises that you must find a solution to a problem that someone has if you want to have a chance for success.
Find out what’s keeping people awake at night and find a solution to their dilemma and help them rest.

That’s a good start. But it’s not the end which the gibberish implies.

You need to determine HOW to make your solution DiFFERENT from everyone else’s solution in a way people care about if your solution is to ‘have legs’ in the market.

So, let’s transform the gibberish advice into something meaningful and relevant.

“Crafting Your Statement — Your statement of competitive advantage has four components: your name, your company, a statement about a problem in your market, and how you and your product solve that problem in a way no one else in the market does.
Essentially, it is a 30-second statement explaining what differentiates your company in the marketplace.”

Your takeaway from a guy who took an early stage internet company to A BILLION IN SALES — create solutions that standout and are unique among the competitive hordes if you want to be honest with yourself that you really DO have a competitive advantage.

Ignore the gibberish.

Develop The ONLY Statement for your solution.

“Our solution (brand it, like ‘Distracted Driving Resolved’) is the ONLY real solution to the distracted driving problem killing the lives of millions of children, parents, grandparents and friends each year.”

Cheers,
Roy
40+ Podcast Shows I’ve done that unpack my work.

Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

‘Audacious’ is my latest…

• Posted 10.31.22 at 05:16 am by Roy Osing
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October 17, 2022

3 audacious moves you can make when you don’t have a business plan

3 Audacious moves you can make when you don’t have a business plan.

Some organizations don’t have a Business Plan to follow.

They’ve simply decided for whatever reason not to devote the time to develop one. Some business leaders say they don’t have the time to do the work and others say it’s too expensive.

Whatever the reason, their business is left rudderless.

Of course, I try to encourage every business to create strategic context—my Strategic Game Plan—for themselves to steer their ship; to determine the actions they take to achieve their goals and attain superlative performance levels.

But if you’re determined NOT to invest the minimal time and resources to build your strategic game plan, there are some simple things you can do to enhance the performance of your business.

There are a number of ’Out-of-context Moves’ that will help you build your business. They were incredibly successful for me and will definitely work for you.

#1. Focus on the customer experience.

It’s a proven fact that people don’t repeatedly buy on the basis of a product, they are loyal buyers because of how they feel—the experience—when they engage with the organization and make the purchase.

I deal with a particular retailer not necessarily because they have a unique product line (in reality most retailers in a given space all provide the same thing); rather I deal with them because I FEEL GOOD when I engage with them.

Think about yourself in the ‘experience’ business not the product business if you want a consistently high level of performance.

Product suppliers are a dime a dozen and flogging products won’t make you special.

Everyone flogs products; few are amazing experience creators so play in that space.

To get started, define how you want your customers to feel when they engage with you and pick 3 behaviours you need to consistently demonstrate to invoke these feelings.

Practise with your staff and make sure they are clear on the outcomes expected.

#2. Recruit ‘human being lovers’.

If you don’t provide epic customer service you’re simply not in the game. If your customers don’t like the experience they have when they engage with you, they are less likely to do business with you (and they tell all their friends and family how shoddy your service is).

And the key ingredient of a memorable service experience is the individual engaging with and taking care of the customer.

If the care provided is thoughtful, kind, respectful and empathetic, the service experience for the customer takes their breath away. But if the experience is impersonal, cold, rude, discourteous, disrespectful and indifferent, the customer is frustrated and annoyed and has no desire to ever engage with you again.

Hiring people who ‘give a damn’ about others is the right thing to do regardless of your business plan.

So, make a point of hiring people who have the innate desire to serve others. Make this requirement THE most important consideration when hiring someone. You can always teach them the business and specific skills they need in your particular line of work, but you can’t teach them to ‘love’ others.
You can teach them to ‘grin’ and ‘have a smile in their voice’, but you can’t teach them respect and empathy.

Breakaway from the traditional way of recruiting people and hire for goosebumps.

#3.  Draft your ONLY Statement.

Determining how your business is different from your competition (in a way your customers care about) is critical to business performance.

The usual way organizations do this is by using meaningless (to the customer) CLAPTRAP expressions like ‘We are better’, ‘We are the best’ and ‘We are the leader’ to define how they are different from others.
But they’re not helpful in answering the question ‘Why should I do business with you as opposed to your competitors?’. Who defines what ‘best’ is? How can you prove that you’re ‘better’?

The truth is, using CLAPTRAP to try and differentiate yourself from others is narcissistic; it’s YOUR view of yourself as opposed to the objective proven facts that customers tell you about why they chose you over your competitors.

My solution to CLAPTRAP is to use my ONLY Statement as the simple way to declare how your business is different.

‘We are the ONLY ones who…” is the killer way to define your uniqueness.’

ONLY is always a draft, so don’t be concerned to get it 100% right (because you never will).

Draft your ONLY based on how you uniquely deliver the value your customers expect from you.
Test it with them (does it address what they really care about, and is it true?), start using it and revise it on the run as you learn how it’s working.

The bottom line: business plan or not, these three actions will establish your business as a contender for superlative performance and the rewards that go with it.

Cheers,
Roy
40+ Podcast Shows I’ve done that unpack my work.

Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

‘Audacious’ is my latest…

• Posted 10.17.22 at 05:39 am by Roy Osing
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