The Productivity Pro Weekly Newsletter - October 17, 2012

Published: Wed, 10/17/12

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"Strategy renders choices about what not to do as important as choices about what to do." -- Michael Porter, business author and professor at Harvard Business School.


Sharpening the Scalpel of Strategic Focus

Business people have no time for the irrelevant. We certainly can't afford to chase poorly defined goals, so hardnosed practicality generally rules. The less important aspects of one's work must either take a backseat to the crucial or be removed altogether, leaving only the lean, profitable core.  The best tool for achieving this result at a managerial level is strategic focus. Use these tips to sharpen that focus to laser keenness:

Sharpening the Scalpel of Strategic Focus
 
Define Your Marketplace

Define Your Marketplace PositionAssess your current state, vis-à-vis items like fiscal health, market share, infrastructure, and labor costs. Can your resources keep up with current workflow? Do you have enough team members, or too many? Have you invested enough in your infrastructure to stay competitive-or do you over-emphasize infrastructure at the expense of production? Do you have any idea where you are, much less where you want to be?

 
Define Your Mission
Tightly Define Your Mission and Vision. If you can't reduce your goals to a couple of simple one-line statements, then how can you determine the best route from here to there? Until or unless you have money to burn, a single-minded approach to your work generally works best.
 
Stay Flexible
Stay Flexible. Don't be too single-minded. Keep enough of an eye on the marketplace to notice when it shifts. Back in the 1990s, AT&T took so long to develop a decent cellphone network that MCI and other companies debuted theirs first. If AT&T had monitored the competition better, they might have accelerated development instead of having to buy out competitors to regain their edge.
NEW Public Workshop in Denver on November 30

Attend an immersive, interactive workshop, based on Laura Stack's newest book, What to Do When There's Too Much to Do! This full-day experience will be facilitated by Productivity Pro master certified trainer, Bonnie Davis.

What would you do with 90 extra minutes each day? Perhaps that idea sounds impossible, but in fact, it's well within your reach...once you apply these proven and practical strategies. You'll receive the tools and tips you need to truly do less, get greater results, and maintain your sanity.
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Thanks for reading! Make it a productive day.™