Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM OCTOBER 2023 46 I 've been working with three organizations whose identities and brands have become household names. As you might expect, they have an abundance of great ideas. Two of the companies are heavily involved in strategic planning, and all three have so many ideas that even with their monster budgets, thousands of team members, and global reach, they couldn't possibly pursue them all. Each of the companies is facing a challenge that is not unlike one most businesses face regardless of their size: the "middle gap." Let me explain. The leadership sits at the highest level and sets the company's strategic directions. Just below, there's an extremely busy, hard- working team of loyal workers who are often overwhelmed and must often call upon the clarity and support of the leadership to guide them. Which puts the ball back in the leadership's court: which of the countless ideas should the team pursue? Extinction is a dangerous-sounding word. When a species makes the "endangered" list, it gets the focused attention of scientists and caretakers – and rightly so. Today, we stand on the precipice of a possible, perhaps even likely, mass extinction of skills, products, services, and types of work, thanks to the widespread and growing adoption of AI, even with all its blatantly unknown effects. It may be helpful to remember that some things are absolutely destined for extinction, even when they aren't AI-related. In the 1800s the United States Military Academy at West Point required all cadets to take an art class. At the time, the art of cartography was in its infancy and good skills at hand-drawing maps could make a life-or-death difference on and off the battlefield. Without mocking the still-valuable skills of visual depiction, the same skills aren't needed in today's military, thanks to GPS. Among the most common questions I'm asked in my consulting work are: "How do we decide what to let go of and what to keep?" "How do we stop doing certain things?" And a very common question: "How can we do more with less?" The seduction of "doing more," which many consider a driver of innovation, might actually point us in the wrong direction. The answer to these questions isn't complicated, but it also isn't easy. The skill to know what to stop doing and when to stop doing it may be one of the most overlooked and under-utilized yet essential skills in our workplaces and our lives. How can we learn to do better? First, get to know, with crystal clarity, what the very best experiences and results might look like for you and your team. Looking deeply is the root of creative understanding. It will help you decide what matters and what's merely an energy-robbing distraction. Next, make judicious choices about what to stop, start, continue, and do differently, based on your hoped-for best outcomes and past experiences. This will serve you as a framework to help you understand the trade-offs. • Stop doing. What would happen if we simply didn't do this? What are we doing that's standing in the way of our success? How would stopping affect our available bandwith and our strategy for success? • Start doing. What have you not been doing as a team or company that you must start doing now in order to succeed? What innovations, practices, tools, or trainings do you need to initiate? • Continue doing. What are we already good or even great at? And what should be doubling-down on? What unfinished projects, progress, or programs are holding us back? • Do differently. What could we reshape, rescope, and reframe? What innovations might free us to design and deliver at twice the speed or half the cost? Can we make it smaller, faster, or more efficiently? You might also consider what to delegate and what to delay. In delegation you would look for someone else, including potential external partners, consultants, or agencies, that you can delegate to. In delaying, you would recognize that all things have their season, and that you might be able to uncover constraints on your time, money, and expertise by asking if now is actually the best time to be doing this. Finally, you might ask your team where you need to be playing offense and defense. Some strategic initiatives will protect what you've earned and gained, while others will help you gain new ground. In your decision-making, it's good to know which is which. As you go forward, be disciplined. Keep returning to your ideal outcomes and experiences, and keep creating extinction for anything that might distract you from your goal. (Do this again and again.) When we allow outside influences to distract us from our true goals, we are giving others the power to prioritize our world, our work, and ourselves. We won't achieve big things if we're continuously allowing ourselves to be distracted by small things. WHEN EXTINCTION IS GOOD Framework for strategic planning Steven Morris On Brand Steven Morris is a brand, culture and leadership advisor, author, and speaker. Over his 25+ years in business he's worked with 3,000+ business leaders at 250+ global and regional companies. Discover: https://matterco.co RO

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