Bringing your Vision to life

I’ve written about upgrading your business on many occasions. Next question—upgrade to what? This is a good time to think about bringing your vision to life.

We could all fill our calendars with Strategy sessions, and meetings with people who are ready to help run them. Envisioning the future is a must if your business is to grow, but no vision comes to life until the rubber hits the road. The challenge is to hit that road sooner rather than later.

After helping hundreds of business leaders to define and realize their vision, I’ve seen some patterns that don’t appear on enough plans. Here’s my favourite path to early success.

Step 1: Pull out the list of opportunities that you’ve identified for your business.

Step 2: Consider ANY companies you admire—competitive or not. What have they done that could translate to breakthroughs for your customers, your industry—and you? Add to your list.

Step 3: Scrupulously assess the list you now have—after carefully selecting your criteria.

Step 4: Cue your team up for success by building an action plan with the greatest chance of early wins. Get to first base, maybe hit a double. Don’t rely on any home runs.

Step 5: Reproduce success by recreating the patterns that won those early wins.

Lots to discuss under each of those steps. Watch out for more in the coming weeks.

Trusting Technology is a book about forming ideas, exploring opportunities with customers and colleagues, and building your future together. Order your copy here.