Use the information wisely

Just like the spider that monitors her web, you should monitor your information web on a constant and regular basis, not just once a year. The interrelated information from the four key categories (the four outside ovals in the previous image) will present you with logical, and hopefully successful, options for the strategies you can create.

The spider diagram is a useful graphic for managers. It compels you to examine the current information in the marketplace and in your company, and it reminds you that this information may require that you change your strategies.

We suggest that you use this diagram frequently and regularly to assess your situation constantly. Doing this also has another significant benefit. Because you are collecting and analyzing information regularly to create adaptable strategies, you need not expend nearly as much time as you previously did on those once-a-year planning retreats.

We suggested earlier that you ask yourself and your team this question:

What has changed in these four categories?

Now you can ask a second question:

In light of any changes in the four categories, what should be our strategies?