Good Strategy Can Be Hard to Make But This Can Help

Good strategy can be hard to make.

Making good company strategy and good innovation strategy have a lot in common. Both are shrouded in mystery.

One reason good strategy is hard to make is because there’s a lot of confusion about what “good strategy” is. Fortunately, Professor Richard P. Rumelt, Emeritus Professor, Los Angeles Anderson School of Management and author of two classic books on strategy1, has given us a simple 3-point framework he calls the “kernal” of good strategy.

1) A diagnosis that defines or explains the nature of the challenge. A good diagnosis simplifies the often-overwhelming complexity of reality by identifying certain aspects of the situation as critical.

The “crux” of a strategy refers to the most critical aspect or the central issue that needs to be addressed to make a significant impact. It’s the pivotal part of the problem that, once resolved, can unlock the path to achieving your strategic objectives.

“Strategy is looking at the problem, what makes that problem hard, and seeing a way to solve it. That’s called insight. Insight is critical. Insight isn’t magical. It comes from immersing yourself in the nature of the problem and, at some point, you will have an insight into how to deal with it.”

– Emeritus Professor, Richard Rumelt, Lenny’s Podcast, February, 2024

In the Jobs-to-Be-Done (JTBD) framework, the diagnosis comes from identifying the jobs your target customers are trying to get done, how they measure success, and where their needs remain unmet. JTBD enables you to identify and rank the opportunities (important unsatisfied needs) in your market with precision and statistical validity. You can pinpoint the pain points. This gives you unprecedented insight that can be extremely valuable especially if you lead a company that makes or delivers complex products and services.

2) A guiding policy for dealing with the challenge. This is an overall approach chosen to cope with or overcome the obstacles identified in the diagnosis.

In the Jobs-to-Be-Done (JTBD) the framework, the guiding policy is to discover your target customers’ unmet needs and then develop solution ideas to address them. Knowing where to focus your creativity makes all the difference in the world.

3) A set of coherent actions that are designed to carry out the guiding policy. These are steps that are coordinated with one another to work together in accomplishing the guiding policy.

In the Jobs-to-Be-Done (JTBD) framework, you can formulate a set of coherent actions because you’ll have a comprehensive set of your target customers’ need, within jobs-based customer segments, so you can make coordinated and informed decisions and tradeoffs. It gives you both a high and yet detailed view of the market.

Additionally, because customer needs are stated as jobs and criteria statements that don’t include any solution language, you’ll have the strategic view to determine how to best address the most attractive opportunities, such as with:

•New or improved offerings

•Messaging and positioning

•Acquisitions or partnering

•Operational alignment

JTBD enables you to engineer a product/market fit – even an organization/market fit – by applying your organization’s relative advantage to the most attractive opportunities in the market.

Professor Rumult’s three elements of good strategy demystify strategy. JTBD demystifies innovation.

Reveal needs. Ignite innovation. Drive growth.

Footnote:

1 – Professor Richard Rumelt wrote two classic books on strategy:

• Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why it Matters, Richard Rumelt, 2011, Crown Business.

•The Crux: How Leaders Become Strategists, Richard Rumelt, 2022, Public Affairs

We help companies drive innovation and revenue growth without guesswork.

We do that by revealing the hidden opportunities in your market and then helping you create unique value by addressing those opportunities, using the proven JTBD process, so you can set yourself apart from the competition and drive revenue growth in a repeatable manner.