We've reached the point where you know a lot about the blue ocean. If you're a regular reader of My Notebook. I've described each of the Blue Ocean tools, how they work, what they're good for, and when the time is right for them. But there's still something missing. A framework. Putting it in context...
Strategies.
You can't do it without her. And if you follow me, you know that a detailed strategy is the basis of everything. So today is about that. How to connect it to the components and start implementing it so that the whole thing makes sense.
Blue Ocean goes for it with the triangle. And it's not a love triangle, it's an effective one. Each corner of it represents one essential component without which the transition from the unprofitable red ocean to the blue waters full of business opportunities cannot be made.
So what is needed? The right perspective, the right tools and a human approach. Let's look at each of these points in more detail.
Look at the market with different eyes
Companies often cling unnecessarily to established procedures. Sure, they are proven, but some can be even more proven. If you start thinking like a blue ocean strategist, you'll soon see what you can have. You'll find that the market isn't just a rat race with the competition. That you don't have to constantly look back and watch who's breathing down your neck.
And most importantly, if you embrace the blue ocean perspective, you will begin to ask different questions. You will see and understand opportunities in new and innovative ways. You'll start to think of different types and levels of value-added product to offer customers. It's a value that competitors either don't see at all or consider irrelevant.
Like someone seeing their school choir at an international competition. Or inventing a machine to make healthy fries without oil. Or combines the best of circus and acrobatic talent and sells it for big money. Or invent a CRM for small businesses that now rules the world. That's the perspective of a successful blue ocean strategist.
Use the tools and create your own market
Perspective is the first thing. It may still be quite abstract. It's the conviction, the determination and the setup in the mind of the business person. Or businesswoman. But how do you put it into practice? You can't solve for a better product and new markets with just perspective. And that's the obstacle I encounter most often with companies.
You need tools. I'll give you a few examples of the kind of tools that will turn the blue ocean perspective into a commercially attractive proposition. I've written about all of them, so let's recap:
Product selection. For startups, this is their main product or service; companies select the product through portfolio analysis.
Competitor mapping. The value curve is used for this purpose.
Market and customer mapping. There is a great map for this too, a buyer's utility map.
Reducing costs but maintaining quality. Here you already know what the market wants and what it doesn't want. Then go straight to the ERRC matrix.
If the right perspective is a matter of changing your strategic thinking by asking different questions, market-making tools will point you to the right questions. And, more importantly, to understand the meaning of the answers. You will discover what others don't see. You will avoid what others are holding back.
Include people in the process
The third key element is the human approach. One that inspires and builds trust in people.
You want partners and employees who will take ownership of managing and implementing your ideas, right?
Sometimes it is difficult to motivate employees to make unexpected or unexplored changes. Sometimes it's hard to motivate investors to do the same. But it can be done. Strategy creation and strategy implementation are not separate and successive activities. One comes up with it and the other implements it? No. Collaboration, collaboration, collaboration. And, lest I forget, explaining.
In implementation, most of the time and attention is usually invested in structural changes. And the carrot and stick method is also very popular. But this does nothing to build people's trust, which is essential to creating transformational change. People need to own the strategy, understand it and want to implement it. What is the key? Understanding their fears and concerns. You're asking them to give up the familiar. Nobody's comfortable with that. Be human to your people. Whether there are five or a thousand.
Go on a journey
These are the three basic things you need to reconcile if you're aiming for a blue ocean. Moving from red to blue ocean doesn't happen overnight. But it also doesn't take years. Once you start seeing tangible results, numbers of new customers and their positive feedback, KPIs met and new business opportunities, it will come easily.
So where are you now? Are you already filling in the ERRC matrix or talking to your staff?