Clarify your thinking, Transform your performance

COMPONENT 1

Purpose or Predicament

Dr Martin Luther King Jnr lived in a society that enslaved and discriminated against African Americans.

This uncivil predicament in childhood catapulted him into the Civil Rights Movement and shaped his life’s purpose. ‘I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land’ (3rd April 1968, Mason Temple, Memphis, Tennessee).

His predicament found his purpose. Your predicament can have the same motivational effect on you and your business.

COMPONENT 2

Unique Not Best

You may know Michael Porter, a Harvard Business School professor. Porter has brought economic theory and strategy concepts to many of society’s most challenging problems throughout his career.

So, when he says, ‘Most companies don’t have a strategy’, is it worth considering if you have one?

Porter explains that the general problem is how we think about competition. It’s not your job to compete to be the best. Porter says ‘It’s the wrong way to think about competition. Your job is to create a unique company and deliver something your competitors can’t offer.’

COMPONENT 3

Explain Yourself

Rosser Reeves, an American advertising executive, pioneered the use of television in the late 1950s. He introduced the idea of the Unique Selling Proposition (USP) to explain why you should buy.

Anacin is one of the earliest and best examples of a concerted television marketing campaign created by Reeves. The campaign tripled product sales.

‘Tension-Pressure-Pain’

The reasons for buying are simple. ‘Relieve yourself of your headache fast.’ Does your unique selling proposition relieve your headache?

COMPONENT 4

Tell A Story

Translating your strategy into a story can influence and persuade your staff and customers in a way that logic and analysis cannot. Let me explain.

Historical brain descriptions discuss how your left and right hemispheres process words or pictures. And much of the emphasis is still on your prefrontal cortex – sometimes called your executive brain. But this narrative leaves out the mid-brain, which is your solution.

Your mid-brain connects to your heart through your central nervous system. And it likes stories like Othello, Star Wars, and Harry Potter! A story can take you where your executive brain cannot go. And that’s a lot of money for your brain to ignore. Stories tug at your heart and recruit your mind.

COMPONENT 5

Be Specific

This idea might sound obvious to you. But specific goals measure your progress! And it might sound easy to do.

But I am surprised at the number of organisations that don’t do it. It takes discipline and personal courage as you will hold specific people accountable for individual projects and performance objectives in a regular rhythm.

If you have the appetite for this, everyone benefits.