When you decide that you need a website stop for a moment and think.
- Do you understand the aim of your company?
- Do you know what you want to be recognised for?
- What is the most important product or service you want to sell?
Hierarchy of Ideas
In order to do the above you must have a hierarchy of ideas like shown on this chart.
This admittedly simplistic diagram breaks down an enterprise into four layers and can help diagnose thinking malfunctions.
Identity or Culture
The top layer deals with the Identity or Culture — I use the two terms interchangeably as one determines the other.
Goals
One level down, we have Goals; where the group is going.
Strategies
Then come the Strategies or the paths to those goals.
Plan
Finally, we have the Plan, the deployment of troops, time, and money.
The arrow on the left is a diagnostic tool. It reminds us that as we traverse the diagram from Identity to Plan, the number of words that we need to describe each layer increases. It should only take a few words to define a company’s identity (Schlumberger, oil services; Disney, family entertainment), describing the company’s goals will be just a tad more verbose (“in 5 years’ time we’ll achieve $X EPS, Y% revenue growth and Z% market share”), and so on.
The arrow also tells us that the “rate of change” — the frequency at which a description changes — follows the same trajectory. Identity should change only very slowly, if ever. At the other end, the plan will need constant adjustment as the company responds to rapidly shifting circumstances, the economy, the competition.
Using the old Microsoft as an example:
- Identity: The emperor of PC software
- Goals: A PC on every desk and home – running our software
- Strategy: Couple the Windows + Office licenses to help OEMs see the light; Embrace and Extend Office competitors.
- Plan: Changes every week.
No matter how big or small your enterprise is you should always be able to answer these four layers. If you cannot, it means you do not fully understand your enterprise and I am afraid no website will help you to be as succesfull as you would otherwise.
Stop and think, then let us talk how we can make your plans step forward, your strategy is followed and your goals are reached, while your identity stays intact.
