The Pearl: Finding the “Stumble Upon” Strategy
A financial consulting organization, working with business owners who had commingled business and personal assets, was frustrated by clients’ inability to move ahead with estate or investment strategies. Their situations were so complex it was difficult to intuitively understand all the implications of the recommendations their advisors would make. Clients would get stuck. Time would pass. Often, nothing was done.
What their clients needed to see was a year-by-year picture of what would happen if they adopted a certain strategy. Without over analyzing the situation, the consulting organization started putting together spreadsheets that showed the relationship of the personal and business assets. They compared scenarios and showed the year by year comparison stretching out in time to retirement and beyond.
The consulting organization was so focused on the solutions they were proposing, they didn’t at first recognize the value of their spreadsheet tool. It took some customer research during a strategic planning process for them to realize how much clients valued the financial models they created.
The financial models were what we call a “pearl” that had formed in the organization. The frustration they felt over clients’ inaction was like the irritating grain of sand that enters the oyster and eventually becomes the pearl. The organization responded to the irritation by creating a new tool.
Upon discovering this pearl they had created over 15 years ago, the company was able to use it as the basis of a national expansion into new markets. This pearl has been a consistent source of strategic advantage as their business has evolved through many market changes and economic cycles.
This is what we call a “stumble upon” strategy. It’s something already present in the organization that is working well. However, in many organizations the lenses through which members see their own organization are different than the lenses through which their customers see them.
What is the pearl that’s hiding in plain sight in your organization?
Tags: brand, business, marketing, strategic planning, Strategy
