CHAPTER 1

New Thinking for Winning

What if we could show you a new way of thinking—a fast, sure-fire way of assessing, questioning, and determining what is important? A new way of thinking about problems and taking advantage of opportunities? A new way of quickly communicating what’s going on, what you’re going to do, and what impact your actions would have?

That would be Think to Win, a dynamic new approach to thinking simply, yet strategically. That’s TTW, Think to Win.

This book will help you think to win by giving you the same tools that the winning CEOs and senior managers use every day. They’re not likely to share them with you, but our step-by-step approach will. And TTW is so easy that strategic thinking becomes a habitual part of your life. It will help you do a better, smarter job for your company, and it can also lay out your game plan for moving up the ladder, or even reinventing yourself and finding a better position in an entirely new field.

Thinking simply and strategically matters! For the past 20 years, we have applied TTW in hundreds of situations. We’ve done it with our own companies, and with companies we’ve worked for. It has solved problems both large and small and maximized literally thousands of opportunities. Whether the organization is a Fortune 500 company, an educational or medical institution, a governmental agency, a small business start-up, a philanthropy or other nonprofit, a family wrestling with major decisions like college or retirement planning, or you, plotting out a career trajectory, TTW will point you toward the best outcomes. And it will do it quickly, as well.

We explode one persistent myth about the strategic thinking process: that it is long and cumbersome. Even if that were true in the past, it’s not now. TTW is not protracted thinking, the kind that eventually coughs up a 500-page doorstop-type plan that is shelved upon completion. We empower people to create plans that are living documents, guiding decision making on a daily basis. Strategic thinking as we practice it—Think to Win, TTW—is real, actionable and accessible. We’re talking about think-plan-act—the kind of thinking that quickly galvanizes individuals, companies, and other organizations to produce positive results.

Many companies have generated remarkable successes by creating traditions of strategic thinking. By instilling this capability throughout the organizations, companies such as Keurig, Jamba Juice, Procter & Gamble, Gillette, and New Balance have enjoyed years of dynamic growth. We have included a discussion of just a few here, but in each chapter you will find additional stories of think-to-win successes.

Trusted Everywhere

The rejuvenation of the Duracell Company demonstrates the power of TTW to totally transform a company’s culture as well as its performance. When Mark Leckie was named president of Duracell, he faced a formidable challenge. The famed battery maker was in real trouble. Market share had been plummeting for 11 straight quarters and earnings were sinking. When it was acquired by Gillette, Duracell was expected to be one of its elite brands. Instead, it turned into a disaster. As it faltered, it started dragging down Gillette’s performance with it, becoming, in the words of a leading business magazine, “the central culprit in Gillette’s fall from grace” (from “Can Gillette Regain Its Voltage?” BusinessWeek, October 15, 2000).

What was wrong? The Duracell management team was not the problem. Most team members were long-tenured pros, people attuned to all the ins and outs of battery demand. They knew, for example, that during the holidays, prominent placement of battery displays in the toy department gave sales a big boost. And that two days before a hurricane hit, consumers would rush to hardware stores and home improvement centers to stock up on emergency supplies, especially extra batteries. To spur impulse buying year round, they displayed batteries in multiple locations storewide.

There was no question that the Duracell team was dedicated. Team members’ work ethics were strong, anything but impediments to performance. Their plans were well-drawn and detailed. Their implementation approaches were well aligned with their plans, and their field resources were marshaled around the right tasks. Leckie had a lot of confidence in them.

Product quality also was not the problem. To the contrary, in an effort to one-up competitors, Duracell had introduced the Ultra, a premium battery with greater longevity, and a premium price to go with it. Designed for the newest generation of power-hungry electronic devices, the battery was supposed to lure tech-savvy customers away from its rivals. The managers who conceived Ultra had migrated to Duracell from Gillette, where trading up consumers was a long-standing strategy for Gillette blades and razors. But instead of grabbing market share from competitors, Ultra sales had come from Coppertop, Duracell’s mainstream brand. Even worse, as Ultra and Coppertop were battling for share at retail, rival brands and private label batteries swooped in to undercut them at the lower end of the price spectrum.

To get to the core issues, Mark Leckie listened intently to the presentations by each of his top-level executives. When these managers compared notes afterward, they noted a baffling pattern. All of them had spent a lot less time briefing their new president than they had expected. They had barely begun when Mark would say, “Got it. Let’s move on.”

What could he see that they could not? How was he absorbing information so swiftly? Mark Leckie was using the power of TTW. He was rapidly analyzing the input his team had given him and using a series of questions, screens, and filters that enabled him to gain insights quickly. The process allowed him to establish a framework that highlighted connections and patterns, and put them into context. TTW not only gave him the power to isolate the problem, but it also enabled him to identify a solution and to plot a series of actions to be taken.

As is true with many insights, Duracell’s core problem was obvious—hiding in plain sight—once it was identified. It was Ultra’s premium pricing. From the outset, Duracell had assumed that consumers would be willing to pay more for its high-performance battery. But would they?

Products with a premium price must not just be better, they have to readily be perceived as better. It’s easy for people to tell that a high-priced Gillette blade shaves a lot closer, more smoothly, and more comfortably than a lower-priced competitor.

Not so with batteries. To consumers, batteries are judged on how long they last. But that’s very hard to tell. Consider the AAs in a TV remote. Even bargain batteries will power a remote for about three months—long enough for people to forget when they last replaced them. In a busy household, not many consumers would notice that the Ultras lasted longer. And even fewer were willing to pay 30 percent more.

Mark Leckie realized that his team hadn’t fully explored the pricing issue. After Ultra was launched, inertia took over. And implementing the Ultra strategy was leading the company over the cliff.

Once the flawed assumption was identified, Leckie steered his team on a major course correction that had a broad and far-ranging impact on virtually every aspect of how the company operated. Duracell restructured how resources were allocated and revisited how it approached marketing, market research, and technical innovation. As pricing gaps with competitors were narrowed, unnecessary costs were removed throughout the company. Research budgets were trimmed, and the company’s efforts were redirected away from breakthrough innovations and toward new incremental ways to become more competitive. Sales repositioned Duracell with vendors to increase its presence on mainstream brand shelves. Since the Duracell brand had maintained its excellent reputation with consumers, marketing was redirected to capitalize on this brand trust.

It worked. Mark Leckie’s strategic reimagination jumpstarted a turnaround and put Duracell on a new path to profitability. Correcting course gave him the opportunity not only to reinvigorate the Duracell brand, but also to give his team a valuable analytical tool. All Duracell managers received training in TTW and were encouraged to apply the approach to issues both large and small. Now that the company was moving forward again, Leckie knew that the thinking capability he had harnessed to solve one serious problem would also empower his staff and improve day-to-day decision making.

Vital Child’s Play

Keeping an established brand fresh but familiar requires a balance that’s a challenge to maintain. Sales of Lego, one of the most iconic toys for baby boomers, started falling as the Internet revolution took hold. Children and grandchildren of boomers deserted the classic building blocks in favor of TV, movies, and online entertainment. Initial efforts to appeal to this new digital generation were not successful. And after repeated failed efforts, bankruptcy loomed.

Using a TTW precept led to the key insight. Lego realized it must focus on one vital issue. It had to capture the imagination of millennial kids without abandoning what made Lego so popular with their parents—the ability to use their blocks to tell a story. And stories need people—characters—not just buildings. So by licensing figures from Star Wars, SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and other popular shows, Lego not only invited young people to put themselves into the action, but it also opened the door so they could use their favorite characters to make up their own stories. Thinking simply yet strategically helped the company innovate while staying true to its origins. And it set the stage for the explosive growth that has made Lego a global brand.

Taking the Long, Strategic View

Keurig pioneered the single-cup coffeemaker and saw explosive growth as a result. As Michelle Stacy, former Keurig president, and her management team launched their thinking about the future of the company, their key strategic insight was the need to focus on long-term potential, not just on short-term profits. It was a choice that paid huge dividends.

Keurig had started slowly, with a small range of coffee strengths and flavors along with a high-end brewer that cost $900. In the beginning, the company marketed exclusively to offices, where the $900 price point was less of a hurdle. Keurig’s strategy included a plan to market to residential consumers eventually, but deliberately deferred action. This think-to-win mindset allowed Keurig to gain an in-depth understanding of consumer wants, learning from its experience in commercial venues. It also created consumers who understood the product advantages and wanted it for their homes. The added time allowed Keurig to cost-engineer the brewer and lower the price of its coffeemaker.

The data compilation and insights paid dividends. When Keurig started selling to the home market, the product took off. Over a five-year period, Keurig’s sales rocketed and drove Keurig Green Mountain sales from approximately $500 million to $4.5 billion, and in the process transformed the way people brew coffee—both in the office and at home. Keurig machines now sit in more than 18 million kitchens, and cost between $79 and $199 apiece. Single-serving coffee pods are available in Keurig’s own Green Mountain brand and also in Folgers, Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks, Peet’s Coffee & Tea, and many other brands.

“Programs that transform take patience,” Michelle says. “People who make great leaders of breakthrough innovation programs always ask the What if question. Speed to market, probability of quick return, and profitability mindsets have to take backseats to truly delivering a product that delights the consumer in every aspect.” Thinking that wins.

Object Lessons—Why Companies and People Fail

In contrast, many companies have inflicted great harm on themselves by failing to think strategically. While some, like Duracell, reinvent themselves and enjoy years of dynamic growth, others keep on digging themselves into deeper and deeper holes.

Doubling Down on Bricks and Mortar

When Blockbuster began, it did movie rentals better than anyone, and the market rewarded it. Families roamed the aisles of Blockbuster stores, selecting titles—and movie night snacks—to take home. But success was short-lived. Blockbuster’s brick-and-mortar model showed signs of vulnerability as soon as Netflix rolled out its more convenient direct-to-consumer mail-order service. Blockbuster took note, but failed to respond. As technology advanced and Netflix added an on-demand streaming video capability, Blockbuster again failed to react. Company leadership was certain that consumers still wanted a “real store,” where they could see—and touch—their choices. Rather than challenging this assumption with hard facts and data-based analysis, Blockbuster doubled down on bricks-and-mortar, adding more stores, which placed an even greater strain on its faltering model. Bankruptcy soon followed.

The Way the Cupcake Crumbles

Crumbs was a successful specialty baked goods company that caught the crest of the cupcake wave. Unfortunately, it assumed the wave would be endless. The company began as a mom-and-pop bakery in an upscale neighborhood of Manhattan. Its stylishly decorated offerings were so popular that customers waited in lines that stretched onto the sidewalk and around the block. Everybody loved the wide selection and innovative flavors, including red velvet, cookie dough, and caramel macchiato. On the strength of excellent word of mouth, Crumbs opened more branches in the New York metropolitan area. As cupcake mania swept the country, Crumbs went public and expanded nationally.

Food trends come and go, however, and failure to anticipate change can be fatal in any business. When the cupcake craze lost steam, Crumbs was unprepared. The fickle public began moving on to the next new thing, but the bakery did not diversify its product line to include other bakery choices. As the long lines of waiting customers disappeared, the losses mounted. Crumbs closed its doors, filed for bankruptcy, and was eventually acquired by an investment partnership.

No Longer Addictive

Smartphones get smarter all the time. Innovation is a constant, and it takes a lot to stay on top. Not long ago, BlackBerry was the most coveted cell phone in the United States, with an almost cult-like following of devotees who proudly referred to themselves as “CrackBerry addicts.” Today, most of BlackBerry’s former enthusiasts have kicked the habit.

BlackBerry’s decline was sudden and steep. On the way down, management did everything but think to win. Importantly, they never saw the big picture or connected the dots to properly assess the market dynamics. The company was so convinced of the appeal and power of its superior hardware—the actual BlackBerry mobile unit with its built-in keypad—that it completely underestimated the importance and appeal of encouraging the development of applications. The then struggling Apple company saw its importance as a key to future growth.

To add to its poor judgment, BlackBerry also downplayed the value of individual consumers, preferring to focus on large corporate accounts and bulk sales. As a result individual users were soon making their way to iPhone, Android, and others that focused on engaging the individual user with smartly designed hardware plus a vast array of apps. Today BlackBerry commands less than 3 percent of the U.S. market and is struggling to stay afloat.

These examples of successes and failures offer compelling evidence of the effectiveness and need for Think to Win and the TTW approach. When leaders think to win and invest in enhancing the thinking capability of their people, individuals at all levels and in more functions are more willing to contribute. Moreover, the quality of what they offer improves. TTW gives them new analytical skills, making their insights more relevant and more valuable. People take ownership; they take pride. They feel good about being part of an organization that has a bright future, a place that encourages them to step up, and a place where they can see they are making a difference. TTW becomes part of the new culture that represents ongoing success.

It’s a funny thing about success—it’s habit forming. Success becomes something to be expected, something people begin to count on and invest in—financially and personally. Attitudes and behaviors change when employees at all levels share a common belief that their organization is an exciting and fulfilling place to be. Everyone brings their best self to work, and the organization thrives.

That’s a key reason we’re passionate about Think to Win. It changes not just organizations, but individuals. Structured yet flexible, TTW grabs the power inherent in asking the right questions, focuses that energy on what matters most, and harnesses it to find solutions. In the process, we think you’ll become excited, engaged, and energized.

How do you begin Think to Win? We have assembled everything you need. In the next chapter, we start detailing the principles and step-by-step process that define TTW. We will also show you how to use TTW tools and frameworks and give useful examples of how TTW works in real time. We invite you to come with us as we unleash the power of Think to Win and put that power in your hands. We assure you that you’ll be surprised and excited by how quickly TTW changes your thinking and the results you’ll achieve. So let’s get started.