Choosing a Strategy: Toyota or Rolls Royce

Have you ever sat back and asked your self whether the product or service at your organization or business is a Toyota type or Rolls Royce type?

Why Toyota vs Rolls Royce?

On average, it takes 14 hours to make a Toyota car versus a Rolls Royce that takes six months to make.

Knowing this matters because your Strategy and how you execute that Strategy is different based on whether the primary goal of your product or service is in the space of offering a Toyota model of reaching the masses (quantity) or in the space of a Rolls Royce model of reaching a specific niche (quality).

The actions, marketing, Strategy and efforts of a Toyota type product or service is very different from a Rolls Royce type of product or service. What I have found is that individuals, departments and organizations have a mismatch of Strategy and actions because they don't have clarity of whether their product or service is a Toyota or Rolls Royce.

World of a Toyota

When your product or service is focused on reaching the masses, to be successful you need to operate in the world of a Toyota.

The world of a Toyota is focused on: customer acquisition, speed, price, exposure, making alot of noise, awareness

Words associated in a Toyota world: savings, sale, affordable, bulk, volume, templates, basic systems

Quote: "Always low prices." -Walmart

Company, Examples: Walmart, Alibaba, Forever 21, Dollar General, Big Conferences, Cruises, Hostels, Visa

Career, Examples: Generalist (Human Resources, Accounting, Clerk), Sales Generalist, Insurance Generalist, General Painter, Receptionist, Assembly Line Worker, Manufacturer, Customer Service

Best tools to win: social media, massive action, hustle, saying "yes" to every opportunity or invitation, blogging, paid media in publications purchased by masses (especially if celebrity or gossip focused)

World of a Rolls Royce

When your product or service is focused on reaching a specific individual or group, to be successful you need to operate in the world of a Rolls Royce.

The world of a Rolls Royce is focused on: customer loyalty, customer satisfaction, exclusivity, referrals, couture, closed invitation or invite only, service, limited edition

Words associated in a Rolls Royce world: quality, value, bespoke, craftsmanship, specialization, niche, individualization, targeted systems, unique, elite

Quote: "We aim for a quiet luxury, one rooted in exceptional materials and artisanal craftsmanship. It's about a whisper, not a shout." -Tomas Maier, Bottega Veneta

Company, Examples: Whole Foods, Neiman Marcus, Country Clubs, Private Jet Companies, Davos, Ritz-Carlton, American Express Black Card

Career, Examples: Artisans, Artists, Creatives, Developers, Specialists, Elite Athletes, Presidents (not all), Connectors, Content Specialists (not all), Concierges

Best tools to win: targeted newsletters, limited social media, thoughtful action, sponsoring exclusive events, saying "no" to non-targeted opportunity or invitation, blogging without expectation of high viewership, paid media in publications targeting exclusive clientele

Exceptions and Considerations

Let me be clear, to illustrate my point, I chose to treat a Toyota and Rolls Royce as mutually exclusive. The examples I use above aren't necessarily always present because there are exceptions, outliers and considerations that need to be made:

1. First Adopters: when there is a news product, service or technology, first adopters dictate the platform and whether the product or service will evolve as a Toyota or Rolls Royce. For example, the app Periscope is being dictated to care more about volume (Toyota) than quality (Rolls Royce). However, as the platform matures, I predict it will become more focused on the best, exclusive content (Rolls Royce) unlike YouTube (Toyota) that's filled with a ton of non-valuable content (alongside valuable content you have to search in order to find).

2. Mulitiple Product Lines: these days it's not unusual for a company to offer multiple product lines targeted at both the masses (Toyota) and the exclusive (Rolls Royce). When a company reaches a point where it can take advantage of economies of scale, it can diversify and make multiple offerings. For example, Neiman Marcus knows its core niche is the shopper with high disposable income or existing wealth where exclusivity, couture and uniqueness is important (Rolls Royce). However, Neiman's also knows there are many aspirational shoppers who are more than happy to purchase Neiman's overstocked or un-sold inventory at one of their outlets (Toyota).

3. Authenticity: I've observed this word taking on greater importance as we live in a culture that is inundated with information that can be Googled in micro-seconds. The rich, poor, middle class and and geographically diverse has access to the same information about products, services and technology. Because of this, I believe consumers, employers, and organizations are raising their awareness of quality (Rolls Royce) and the speed in which they want to get it (Toyota). The challenge is going to be how companies meet this growing demand for quality, affordability and speed. For example, the dominance of Amazon is what I think of when considering this growing expectation. I also think of Costco.

4. Economies of Scale/Scaling: there are only two ways to experience growth...development or acquisition. No matter what the core offering is of a company (Toyota or Rolls Royce), when it needs to experience growth, it either develops or acquires a product/service appealing to the masses (Toyota) or a niche (Rolls Royce). Scaling can be complex and difficult, especially if it's global (company) or new skills (individual), so what I've observed is the decision point for this consideration boils down to ease...is it easier to develop (due to excess, unused resources or competitive advantages) or is it easier to acquire (due to excess, available cash or acquisition costs lower than development costs). The decision point of greatest ease will dictate whether the new or acquired product or service ends up being a Toyota or Rolls Royce.
5. Time: in prior generations, time used to be a clear separator between low cost (Toyota) and luxury (Rolls Royce). Now, with the normalcy of technological innovations, time is no longer a clear separator or an indication of low cost or quality. For example, the private jet industry (Rolls Royce) not only has rentable time shares (Toyota model) that's more affordable to the wealthy but also, a flight can get scheduled in as little as two hours notice (Toyota speed)! I also think of high-end online retailer Net-a-Porter (Rolls Royce) who just announced a same-day delivery service for clients (Toyota speed) in the Hamptons/New York area. That's amazing!

Regardless of your product or service's primary or core offering, let these examples and considerations guide how you strategize and execute...it will save you lots of money and time in the end!

Let me know if you have any thoughts: thesupagroup@gmail.com 

Tips for Creating Ego-less Goals

I have personally never heard someone state what I'm about to share: most people do not know how to set effective and meaningful goals.

There, I said it!

Why do I know this? Not only was this me but I have observed this behavior in others my whole life! We assume people know how to create worthy goals when technically, none of us are taught how to create goals. Especially not in our school system or the way our awards system works. We are taught from birth that certain behavior and goals leads to certain rewards. This is fine for living a basic life that exists but this will not lead you to a full life.

Examples of the goals we have been pre-conditioned to accept is only to hope for these types of goals: go to college, get married, have 2.5 kids, save for retirement, take 1-2 vacations per year, etc.

The problem with this mode of operating is psychologists know that most people live in quiet desperation because not all of the things in these average, societal goals lead a person to a life of meaning.

Meaning is different than mere existence.

Meaning implies the things that have been scientifically proven to lead to deep contentment and joy: life clarity, "why" for living, purposeful goals and accomplishments, intentional activities...

And guess what, anything less than a life of meaning leads to living your life in temporary gaps of euphoria, not deep contentment and joy. Temporary gaps of euphoria includes the highs from vacations (but dealing with the reality check that comes days later), from promotion (but dealing with the reality check of increased work load and family sacrifice that eventually comes), etc. There is nothing wrong with taking vacations, getting promotions, etc, the key is to make sure these aren't tied to competition or ego.

How Does This Impact Goals?

Unless you have learned to detach your goal setting process from the noise and the pre-conditioned societal attitudes regarding goals, your ego is going to be at the forefront of the goals you set.

How Do You Know If Your Goals Are Ego-Driven?

- You set goals to compete with someone else;

- You set goals to gain the approval of an individual or group;

- You set goals based on a checklist without consideration of key variables operating in your life;

- You set goals without consideration of YOUR time and resources;

- You set goals based on how others will respond (on social media, for example) and not on whether it will fulfill you.

Why do I connect these goal setting processes with your ego? Because the goals processes above are being generated from the outside (implying the root cause of the goal is to seek approval) versus from the inside (implying the root cause of the goal is seeking fulfillment). It's about what is the primary driver for your goals: outside approval or internal fulfillment.

Tips for Setting Ego-less Goals

Tip #1: Create a "Why" connected to your goal by asking yourself "Why is this goal important to me?" This will be a way of challenging yourself and any pre-conditioned thinking. Keep asking yourself this question until you feel like you get an honest response that is free and clear of "the noise" from years of conditioning.

Tip #2: Get clarity around exactly "What" it is you really want...no general responses here such as "I want to be happy". Force yourself to be as specific as possible here. You'll know when you've answered yourself with clarity because when your emotions and mind clearly articulates the " What" of the goal, it will deeply resonate with you.

Tip #3: Create a "How" by asking yourself "How important is this goal and what am I willing to sacrifice to achieve it?" Notice, the "How" is not you figuring out how you are going to accomplish your goal(s) and each step. This "How" is you being mindful of what you are going to sacrifice to get the goal done...I highly recommend this step because most motivational speakers focus only on the fun part of achieving a goal. By you answering the "How" in what will be sacrificed, it has a way of grounding you in knowing what it will take to achieve the goal...and also, if you can't come up with sacrifices you're willing to make, it could be an indication it's an Ego-Driven goal.

You can always email me to let me know if this was helpful to you or if you have any questions: thesupagroup@gmail.com

Winning with the Blue Ocean Strategy

One of the things my firm does to set itself apart and add value to the lives of our clients and readers is connect them with tool and resources to be applied. Our world is filled with an information overload but until that information is synthesized, organized and applied, it doesn't create results.

Today I wanted to give you some tips on different scenarios in which the Blue Ocean Strategy can be applied in helping you win towards your goals.

What is the Blue Ocean Strategy?
The Blue Ocean Strategy was created by W. Chan Kim and Renee' Mauborgne, professors of Strategy and management at INSEAD and codirectors of the INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute. The strategy based on their over decade-long research on key strategic moves spanning more than a hundred years and thirty industries. It challenged the tenets of competitive strategy, the then dominant school of strategy, and called for a shift of focus from competition to creating new market space and hence making the competition irrelevant. Coming with proven analytical frameworks for creating and capturing blue oceans, the blue ocean strategic approach made a paradigm shift in the field of strategy and practice.

How Do You Use Blue Ocean Strategy?
First of all, you aren't going to be able to adopt this strategy by approaching your goal or objective like the masses. If your department, team, board or organization is solely doing what the masses or your competitors are doing, then that is a good indication that you have not created a Blue Ocean-centric mentality.

These days, clients, patrons and customers are attracted to organizations that exhibit Blue Ocean thinking, processes and products/services. The longevity of your success is highly contingent upon you adopting and incorporating Blue Ocean thinking. And as Grant Cardone, author of the "10X Rule", has repeatedly argued, your job isn't to figure out how to compete...your job is to figure out how to dominate your industry. This is a more gangsta way of applying Blue Ocean thinking!

Tips for Using the Blue Ocean Strategy
Tip #1: Exposure: while I am a fan of being obsessed with knowledge of your industry, job or life outcomes, one thing I've learned is that innovation in an industry normally comes not from someone working inside the industry but from someone outside the industry. Why? Because you can create a " crutch" in your thinking if all you've ever been exposed to is what your industry dictates.

Here are some well known examples of what I mean:

• Using his technology background and experience, Steve Jobs used some revolutionary thinking to create blockbusters for Pixar in the movie industry...no further explanation is needed. Jobs' impact on the movie industry has been overshadowed by the success of Apple but I can't emphasize enough how groundbreaking the technology used at Pixar opened up market share and innovation in the movie animation industry and created un-contested wins and revenue at the box office;
• Elizabeth Holmes,  the youngest self-made female billionaire on the 2015 Forbes 400 List, revolutionized the blood test company using a patented tool that created a way to run 39 common lab tests on blood obtained via a fingerstick. Her educational background is chemical engineering.

I could go on and on but I'm assuming you get my point. Get exposure of innovations and education outside of your industry and have the vision to translate that innovation to a solution for your industry.

Tip #2: Create a Non-judgmental Failure Loop: I'm sure you're scratching your head on this one but hear me out. I believe that one of the areas in which organizations goes wrong is defining job responsibilities, processes and systems down to the most minute detail. I understand this is necessary for less experienced staff or to be able to create a clear measurement of success (or failure). However, what I'm advocating is that you give space for your employees, board members, leaders, etc to be able to "fail"... Innovation and Blue Ocean thinking assumes that there must be some sort of tinkering or experimentation occurring. And what's imbedded in tinkering and experimentation is potential failure.

And you don't need to "bet the farm" for this to occur...I'm saying build in a failure loophole whereas you allow 10-20% of your employer's time, company resources or organizational outcomes and metrics to include space for tinkering and experimentation...your organization's greatest Blue Ocean potential will come out of this sacrificed time.

Here are a couple examples:

• Google infamously has built a company culture whereas employees get play time and tinkering time to discuss ideas, challenge the status quo and develop groundbreaking innovations. This is why Google has consistently been ahead in terms of new technologies and diversified portfolio offerings;
• One of my entrepreneur heros is Andy Frisella of 1st Phorm, among other companies. Frisella took $7,000 and with a business partner created an empire with annual revenues of $100 million about 17 years later. On a Periscope episode a few weeks ago, he said something very profound. Someone asked him a question and in answering, he said "...I think that the best way an employee can add value to their organization is to bring great ideas to the leadership. I can't tell you the last time I've ever had an employee come to my office and tell me an idea that they are seeing out in the marketplace. That's extremely valuable to a leader."

Whether you have an organization like Google or one with a culture like 1st Phorm, the tip I'm giving you is a principle that supports a Blue Ocean Strategy: build or create a non-judgmental failure loop of designated time/space in which your employees, board, advisors, etc can put forth ideas, trends, and results of their tinkering.

Tip #3: Drop Perfectionism: only when I became an entrepreneur building my firm did I understand that corporate values and policies support perfectionist thinking. That is why independent businesses are leaving large organizations in the dust because our world embraces the unique, the innovative, the creative and guess what...the products or services created by these people or organizations are NEVER perfect! 

This paradigm shift in thinking is truly why I believe most people don't make it as entrepreneurs. Our antiquated schooling system, society norms and honors/awards system embraces perfectionism. This model is antiquated because in our current Information Age, speed is what's most valuable versus the Industrial Age that valued slow quality the most.

As you are seeking to embrace the Blue Ocean Strategy, you must get comfortable with the fact that speed to market is your greatest ally and that your clients, customers and leaders will give you immediate feedback (through social media, 360 reviews, etc) that will inform the speed in which you upgrade your non-perfect first product or service. Let go of perfection.

Comment below or hit me up at thesupagroup@gmail.com regarding your thoughts about this post...Que

A Key to Success: The Hockey Puck Principle

I am the biggest advocate that when a person wants to live a life by design that maximizes their greatest potential, there is no one size fits all.

Every client that I coach and advise has a different set of variables at work, different strengths, different weaknesses, different resources (time, money), etc.

For today's post, I want to share a principle I discussed on Periscope this morning about what I call the Hockey Puck Principle.

What is the Hockey Puck Principle?
The Hockey Puck Principle is a strategy inspired by Wayne Gretzky. In an interview, Gretzky was asked what has defined his domination and success in the grueling sport of hockey. Gretzky's quote was a game changing principle:

"Most guys followed where the puck currently was whereas I trained myself to always go to where the puck was going to be so that before my competitors had time to react, I was already in the spot."

Think about that for a minute...

We are all conditioned to take the path of least resistance which dictates that like the masses, we subconsciously set goals and create action plans according to where the puck currently is...along with your competitors, team members, employees, board members, and everyone else conditioned for the path of least existence.

What if, in applying this principle in your life, you used the 80/20 rule and spent just 20% of your time studying, researching and creating a goals plan that took into account where the puck "will be".

And further more, what if you utilized this 20% day in and day out, week after week? Can you imagine for a second how lucrative this could be in positioning you, your family, your company, your department, your board, your nonprofit?

Why Only 20%?
Because we live in a world of instant gratification and also have responsibilities that must be attended to daily/weekly/monthly, I understand that we can't spend 100% of our time strategizing and applying this principle. However, the more you can work this muscle, the more lucrative it will become to making the Hockey Puck Principle "your new normal".

An Example
I was speaking to one of my tough mentors and almost bragging about my plans for my firm and life over the next six months. I was mighty proud of myself and thought my mentor would be pleased... His response was shocking.

"Quenita, that ain't shit! I just got off the phone with a multi-millionaire and we were discussing our strategies for next summer (note: next summer was more than a year away)! Shut up and keep your head down!"

My jaw was on the floor. His comment and cursing wasn't intended to be rude... His point was that if you are going to brag about anything, brag when you are able to know what you're going to be doing, how you're going to execute and the resources you'll need at least one year from now.

This is an example of the Hockey Puck Principle.

One other example comes from none other than the infamous Steve Jobs. Jobs has famously said that if he only had led Apple to create products that customers needed, Apple would have never created the iPhone, iPod, iPad or the Mac...again, the Hockey Puck Principle at work: Apple is in the business of creating products for "where the puck will be".

So my question to you is: what product or service will you create that serves humanity while maximizing your potential in where the Hockey Puck will be?

Contact me at thesupagroup@gmail.com if you need a Coaching and strategic advisory session to figure it out.

Note: I haven't posted to this blog because I honestly thought no one would read it (smile). However, the blogging platform is the easiest platform in which to serve the masses who aren't clients (yet). So I'll be posting more...stay tuned!

Where Are the Big Ideas?

You Are Destined to Be Great

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The Supa Group
thesupagroup@gmail.com

Be a Supernova!

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Take a look and let us know what you think!

Quenita Fagan
President/CEO
The Supernova Advisory Group
(aka The Supa Group)
www.thesupagroup.com