10

DEVELOP STRATEGIES

There usually are half a dozen right answers to “What needs to be done?” Yet unless a [person] makes the risky and controversial choice of only one, he will achieve nothing.

—PETER F. DRUCKER

NoW that you have a vision, you have a set of goals leading to your vision, and you have determined what areas have priority in pursuing your goals, you need a set of strategies to take you to your goals.

Your strategies should meet these criteria:

• They must specify actions to be taken.
• They must specify the person or persons who is to take the actions.
• They must establish a time for beginning the actions.
• They must establish a deadline for completing the actions.
• They must establish criteria for determining when the actions have been satisfactorily completed.

WHAT HAS TO HAPPEN?

How do you decide what actions to take? First, look at the goal you have set for yourself and ask, “What has to happen if I am to reach this goal?” Put your logical left brain to work and make a list of the things that must happen.

This may require some research on your part. If your goal is to open your own business, you’ll need to answer questions such as:

• How much capital will I need to get started?
• Will I need to employ a staff, and if so, how many?
• What legal requirements must be met?
• What is the potential market for my products and services?

You may find answers in your public library or at your local chamber of commerce. You may have to consult a lawyer and accountant. It’s wise to consult someone who has succeeded at a similar undertaking to learn what opportunities and pitfalls are out there.

Make a List

Acquire as much information as possible, then make a list of the things that must happen if you are to open your own business. Your list might include:

1. Acquiring the necessary capital
2. Finding a suitable location
3. Recruiting qualified staff
4. Acquiring a starting inventory
5. Developing a marketing plan
6. Planning the grand opening
7. Advertising and promoting the opening events

Now go down the list of things that must happen and ask, “How can I make it happen?” You have now posed a problem, which can be solved through a simple problem-solving process.

State the Problem

You begin moving toward the answer to your question by stating the problem: “I need two hundred thousand dollars in capital in order to start my business.”

Now look for alternative ways of stating the problem: “I need to obtain a delivery truck, a small warehouse, a showroom, and some office equipment and furniture.”

You may be able to pick up a good used delivery truck and some surplus office furniture and equipment at bargain prices. Leasing instead of buying the office and warehouse space may reduce the amount of start-up capital you’ll need.

Another way of stating the problem: “I need to find a way to expose my merchandise to potential customers and to deliver it to them.” The answer could be to use your garage or basement as warehouse space, using color brochures to introduce the merchandise to prospects, and letting your family van double as a delivery vehicle until you have grown your business.

List Alternative Approaches

Restating the problem in this way can suggest alternative approaches. After you’ve stated the problem to your satisfaction, your next step is to list as many alternative approaches as you can. Here is where you may want to go into the creative right side of your brain. Let your mind wander over the possibilities. They might include:

• cashing in or borrowing against your insurance policies
• going into your savings
• borrowing against the equity in your home
• borrowing from parents or in-laws
• borrowing from the Small Business Administration
• going into partnership
• taking on silent partners
• incorporating and selling stock

At this stage, don’t worry about the practicality of what you’re proposing. Just get as many alternatives on paper as possible. If a few far-out ideas occur to you, write them down too. You never know when a crazy idea might provide the seed for a more rational and workable idea.

Brainstorm for Ideas

You don’t have to tackle the problem alone. Ask your family, friends, and associates to help you brainstorm. Brainstorming can be a highly productive way of developing creative ideas. The basic ground rule for brainstorming should be that “anything goes.” No suggestion should be too far out to land on the table. Ridicule should be banned so that everyone feels free to submit ideas without being considered ridiculous.

At this stage of problem solving, you’re relying solely on the creative right brain. The logical left brain should come into play only when it’s time to decide which alternative is best.

Build and Combine

Members of the brainstorming group should look for ways to build upon and combine the suggestions of others. The best suggestions are those that can be visualized. Then it’s possible to let the imagination play around with the suggestion.

One way to initiate creative thinking is to list all the assumptions made about an idea or an object. Take the simple case of a ball. What assumptions do we make about balls?

• Balls are round.
• Balls are thrown.
• When balls strike the ground, they usually bounce in the direction in which they have been thrown.

But suppose we change one or two of those assumptions:

• Balls are oval, not round.
• Balls may be kicked as well as thrown.

How does this affect other assumptions? If the oval ball lands on a pointed side, it may bounce in an unpredictable direction—even the direction opposite from the one in which it was thrown or kicked. Now we have the makings of a great American sport. By changing two basic assumptions, we have sown the seeds for the New Year’s bowl games and, ultimately, the Super Bowl.

Use a Storyboard

Another way to trigger creativity is through the use of a storyboard. The method was pioneered by Walt Disney. You can use a blackboard or a bulletin board. Start by writing or posting a description of a problem you need to solve or a challenge you need to confront. Now let your family, friends, and associates post their suggestions for ways to solve the problem or meet the challenge. Each person can post a suggestion that builds upon the previous suggestion.

Summon Your Left Brain

Whether you’re brainstorming, using a storyboard, or following some other creative problem solving process, you eventually reach the point at which it’s time to summon your logical left brain. Its job is to evaluate the alternative solutions and narrow them down to the workable ones.

At first, the left brain should apply dynamic judgments. In making a dynamic judgment, you don’t ask, “Will this work?” Instead, you ask, “How can we make this work?”

Certain responses should be ruled out from the beginning. They include:

• It’s never been done before.
• It’s too far out to be considered.
• Our customers (or employees) are not ready for that.
• It’s against company policy.
• That’s not the way things are done around here.

After carefully examining the proposed alternatives, ask these questions about each:

• Is it implementable?
• Is it cost-effective (in terms of time, effort, and emotional expense, as well as dollars)?
• Does it move me toward my goal?

LIST ALTERNATIVES AND ACTION STEPS

Arrange the alternatives in the order of their effectiveness in taking you toward your goal. Then list the specific actions that must be taken to implement the solution.

If the action involves others besides yourself, designate the individual responsible for each action and set a starting date and a deadline for completing the action. Make clear the criteria you will use in deciding when an action has been completed. If the action involves finding a suitable location, the criterion might be the securing of an oral commitment, the signing of a lease, or the completion of any steps needed to enable you to move in.

In this chapter we’ve used the example of a person whose goal is to start a new business. But the same procedure can be followed to attain any goal. Just follow these steps:

1. Decide what has to happen if your goal is to be attained.
2. Ask what you need to do to make it happen, posing the question as a problem to be solved.
3. Restate the problem to gain perspective.
4. Make a list of alternative actions, using creative techniques such as brainstorming and storyboarding.
5. Use dynamic judgments to ask of each proposed action, “How can I make it work?”
6. Compare the proposed actions and rank them according to their effectiveness in taking you toward your goal.
7. Choose the most effective course of action.
8. Assign responsibility for each individual action, setting a starting date, a deadline for completion, and the criteria for determining when the action is completed.

When you have completed these steps, you will be ready for Step Four on your stairway to success: preparation to act.

Figure 10–1