The Road to Value (Part 2)

Thomas Butta — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 20:16:56 +0000

In The Road to Value (Part 1) I revealed a powerful way to lead a changing or emerging industry by developing a roadmap that delineates the way to create and capture value in that industry. The post showcased market-based benefits to doing this leading work. It also referenced the internal value that could be gained inside the company architecting the roadmap. Internal value is the focus of this post.

Infographic by Dennis Michael Dimos

A value roadmap can provide a number of sustainable benefits inside the company that invests in the effort.

The capabilities section of the value roadmap showcases the gaps between what the roadmap says is needed and what the company can actually provide. The gap analysis showcases exactly where the company needs to improve its own capabilities in terms of people, process, solutions, and services.
The gap analysis becomes a decision tree for what, when and how a company needs to fill the gaps. It sets up decisions that need to be made regarding
1. Priorities
2. Timing
3. Investments
4. Methodology – build, buy or partner
The effort to develop the value roadmap can motivate a company. Let’s face it. The work is highly strategic. It’s about creating an innovative yet functional form of intellectual property that can help catapult the company to category leadership. It represents a significant value opportunity, and everyone involved knows it.
The roadmap team is a reflection of how powerful a company can be when it aligns its critical assets. The construction of a value roadmap requires the active participation of a cross-functional team from Product Management, Sales, Services, and Marketing. Input in = input out. Smart, committed people supported by executive sponsors will produce a really good result.
The roadmap identifies what each department needs to do
1. Product Management needs to fill gaps in the product portfolio while continually improving existing products that are core to what’s needed
2. Services can elevate its game from simply supporting customers to strategically guiding customers through a new consulting practice
3. Marketing must leverage the thought leadership value of the roadmap, first with influencers like analysts and the media, then as a vehicle to drive higher value engagements with customers and prospects
4. Sales needs to be trained on how to leverage the roadmap content in two ways: to create a new narrative with current customers; and to be able to have a credible conversation with senior executives who heretofore have eluded the company’s reach
The content of the roadmap can be repurposed into other thought leadership forms, such as keynote addresses, Point-of-View booklets, executive seminars, workshops, articles, and the like. For one company, we even formed a partnership with a top business school to create an executive education series off of the content of the roadmap. We received money (nice), valuable input (good), access to executives (really good), and the pedigree of partnering with a leading institution (invaluable).

As you have seen in these posts, a value roadmap is a highly worthy endeavor for those companies looking to lead a changing or emerging category. It has clear and sustainable benefits within the marketplace and within the company doing it.

But, it’s not easy. Not in the least. To be successful you have to be willing to commit to the hard work of doing it properly. Here are some tips.

– You have to stay firm with a skeptical sales force used to selling from demos

– You have to test the content of the roadmap as it’s forming with real customers in real sales situations as often as you can

– And, you have to be willing to take to heart what one of my executive partners in one of these efforts said when he admonished a Services team for not fully committing to the roadmap as it was forming. He said, “Get with the (expletive) program! If you’re not on the roadmap you’re off strategy!!!”

That was … and very much is … the point. A value roadmap is the strategy that can make all the difference. It has for the many companies with whom I’ve done this. It certainly did for the company and executive in the above story. Now, 10 years later, the company is leveraging version 6 of their roadmap as the clear leader of their market space. And that passionate executive is the CEO/President of the company!

Thomas Butta

Does Transformation Motivate You?

Thomas Butta — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:20:00 +0000

Most people we poll answer ‘Yes’ to this question. On the surface, an affirming response makes perfect sense. Almost everyone is open to doing something new or doing better. Some are even open to doing things differently. The reality is most reasonably motivated people have the natural desire to improve.

And why not? There is an enormous ecosystem of products and services available to support our desire to change. You know the list. Personal trainers, foreign language discs, self-help books and tapes, music instructors, dance teachers, art classes, nutrition experts, executive coaches, sports coaches, clutter buddies, etc. The resources available to help people drive personal change are endless. You’ve probably tapped a number of these resources yourself. The change industry conservatively generates more than $11 billion a year (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-help). It attracts 108 million hits on Google. And it grows larger and more varied every day.

Our desire to change, to grow is innate (http://pcs100.com). And our commitment to try to change is as predictable as the calendar itself. Each January 1, millions of people go through the same ritual of renewal by writing down their resolutions for the New Year. Then on or about April 1, the original list first committed at the start of the year is replaced by something less ambitious or more focused.

What happens? What gets in the way? Why do we fail ourselves? There are a number of plausible excuses. Most people simply lose interest. Others don’t see results fast enough. Some are too easily distracted.

But the real reason people can’t see change through (if they were completely honest with themselves) is they lack conviction, fortitude, and courage.

Change is hard. And transformation of any reasonable magnitude is damned hard. For all its possibility for a better way, the process of making change happen can be enormously frustrating, debilitating, even infuriating when you encounter the obstacles that are always there.

What forces have the strength to derail or stop the transformation train? There are two: Inertia and time.

The power of inertia is relentless. It will wear you down. Find your weak spot. Shine the light on an escape route which most people all too often are willing to run to. This is a common behavioral trait that is integral to the human condition. How many times have you heard someone say, “but we don’t do it that way.”

Time is our most valuable commodity, yet we treat time like it’ll always be there for us. Time waits for no one. Nor do marketplaces or our competitors. Which means every day is a lost opportunity to do something better. Lost time is our most shameful opportunity cost.

How then do companies manage to transform themselves if they are populated with people who can so easily fall off the grid of change?

The answer lies in finding people who don’t just say they are motivated by transformation, but people who actually are completely motivated by transformation and all that it brings. These people are leaders. They are at once the architects, drivers and ambassadors of the new way. These people are strong and in a hurry. These are people that will not be put off by inertia or an entrenched culture or the fear of commitment. These people are rare. But they exist. This is what they look like:

·
· They are in a hurry, have a plan, and know the stake of the enterprise is greater than the sum of its individual parts/departments

·      They push the boundaries
·      They go beyond most people’s comfort zones
·      They have a commitment to speed
·      They are willing to be bold
·      They won’t settle
·      They seek out others who share the same conviction and commitment
·      They are passionate
·      They motivate in their actions and words
·      They have the commitment from the board and/or the executive leadership team
·      They put in a place a structure that will enable change not slow it down as we wrote in our last blog
·      They are entrepreneurial
·      They communicate often

Do you know people like this? Are you one of them? Does transformation truly motivate you?

Organizations need people like this — now more than ever. How else will our companies fulfill their highest level of potential? How else will we identify and capture new markets? How else will we challenge the big dogs? How else will we get our MOJO back? How else will we instill pride in our workforce and in what we do? How else will we realize our true enterprise and shareholder value? How else will we accelerate through our opportunities?

How else indeed.

21Weeks » Shareholder Value

The Road to Value (Part 2)

Does Transformation Motivate You?