"...keeping you great"
HEADLINES:
Gazelles' New Website -- rebranded the "Four Decisions
for Driving Growth" company, we're committed to bringing you the educational,
coaching, and technology resources to dominate your industry while helping you
manage the chaos that comes with growth. It's been amazing to continue to talk
with long standing participates in our programs and hear how they are thriving
during these turbulent times -- it's what it's all about! Please take a look at
the newly designed website -- we welcome your
feedback.
One-Page Strategic Plan Resources -- and check
out the new link in the upper right hand corner of the website -- we heard you
and we've responded -- you no longer have to log-in and link through My Gazelles
to access resources supporting the One-Page Strategic Plan -- now there's a direct link
via the homepage.
One-PHRASE Strategic Plan -- as I
mentioned Tuesday, RIM, the famous makers of the Blackberry, is the fastest
growing public company in N.A. according to Fortune
-- and their Curve outsold Apple's (#39 on the list) iPhone. Almost every year
since they launched, pundits have been predicting the demise of RIM, most
recently given the launch of the iPhone. However, they just keep growing faster.
Why? A profoundly simple strategy. I still remember Jim Balsillie, co-founder of
RIM, sharing with a group of us (at a YPO Alaska event) that "if you can't state
your strategy in a sentence, you don't have one!!" And RIM's? "Easy in,
impossible out" i.e. RIM makes it very easy for a corporation to
install, but because the way the technology spiders its way into the main
systems, it's almost impossible to extract. So even though a whole host of
executives would love to get iPhones, its impossible.
Southwest
Airlines' One-PHRASE Strategy -- for them it's simply "Wheels
Up" -- if that expensive hunk of metal is in the air more than the
competition, then they are going to make more money. And notice this is
different than a Brand Promise (though aligned), which is just one aspect of the
business model. This one-phrase definition of strategy is more in line with
Michael Porter's (Harvard's famous strategy guru) definition of strategy -- that
it's the difference in underlying ACTIVITIES from the competition that makes for
an effective strategy. And the one-phrase provides a focus for those activities.
In Southwest's case, no advanced reservation seating and using the same aircraft
are two key activities they do different than all the other airlines AND are key
to getting the "Wheels Up" on their aircraft faster.
Rackspace's
One PHRASE Strategy -- in their case the One-Phrase Strategy is in line
with their brand promise of Fanatical Support -- "it's not about the servers,
it's about the support." BTW, their stock price is 12% ahead of their offering
price last August -- impressive in this market.
Congrats to Alan
Trefler's Pegasystems -- and number #19 on the fastest growing company
list is Gazelles' angel investor Alan Trefler's firm which has seen
its stock skyrocket 125% in 2009 -- I suspect it will be one of the fastest
growing stocks in the U.S. And I've always maintained that the first company in
any industry that deploys Pegasystems' "Built for Change"
software engine will dominate their industry. BTW, their tagline captures the
One-Phrase Strategy Alan has been pursuing since 1983 -- to make it easy for
business managers to change the software underlying their systems -- changes
that can be made in minutes instead of months which allows a company to be much
more agile in the marketplace. Pegasystems is also an example of a firm
providing a product companies need more of in a recession. I have no doubt Alan
will get the company to a $1 billion soon
Indian Firm Funds
Dreamworks -- indicative of the future, Anil Ambani's Reliance ADA
Group sunk $325 million into Stephen Speilberg's movie studio this week. I
remain bullish on India -- you'll continue to hear more from their global
companies -- and hope you're finding ways to connect with business leaders in
this amazing country.
Australia Next -- my next workshop
tour is Australia Sept 15 -- 17 (Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney). Our
partner in Australia, BusinessConnect, is offering a $100 discount for my
insight readers -- just use the promo code Gazelles when registering online. I'll be sharing
my Five Strategies for Driving Revenue material as part of the updated Go For
Growth workshops.