Fitting or Stretching

whatever your business, you can never afford to stand still

Your strategy is defined by the macroeconomic and market forces that continually act upon your organization. Doing nothing to respond to these forces is not an option, because without action their impact will ultimately destroy you. You have a choice: to "fit" within these forces, or to employ a "stretch" strategy that could lead to growth in the future.

Picture your organization surrounded by its competitors and forces in the market, and by the macroeconomic forces that impact on all organizations. These forces push at your organization form all sides and can, in time, crush it. If your organizations responds by making decisions and taking actions--such as selling new products or moving into new markets--it will push back against these crushing forces. It will become stronger and if its forces are equal to the forces pushing it, then it will maintain itself and we can say that it has achieved "fit." This means that effectively standing still requires active management; and achieving "fit" cannot happen by doing nothing. The concept of "fit" reflects the fact that all organizations operate in a dynamic, environment. If you decide to begin work at 9 am, for example, there is not reason why your competitors cannot decide to start at 8 am.

Even if you decide that you want your team or organization to remain roughly the same, at the very least your costs will grow every year, which means you need to earn more to cover them; and in addition your competitors and your markets are likely to change. So, whatever your business, you can never afford to stand still: a strategy for achieving "fit" is the minimum requirement.

ACTION POINT: Don't stand still.