I love a good SWOT analysis.
I didn’t always, until one high-ranking executive in a bid defense leaned back
in their leather backed ergonomic conference chair and asked,
“So, why should I choose you over these other companies?
What’s so darn special about you that I can’t get from anyone else?”
At the time I fumbled through a “good-enough” response,
Some combination of expertise and a few key partnerships.
But now, after a decade of developing strategies, I’m always ready to run into him again.
In practice, true strengths aren’t always easy to find.
Ask a handful of people at your company and you’ll likely get a handful of answers.
Everything from dissertation level responses to something like “I haven’t
really thought about it,” or “We aren’t good at anything.”
[Note: Try not to ask that person again]
In my years assessing strengths, the first thing I look at is differentiation.
What things make my company stand out in the landscape. What aspects of my company answer that
executive’s questions “What makes us unique?” or “What do we have that no one else does?”
Once I have those answers, building the story around why my company is best
choice for a client or customer gets much easier.
The second thing I look at is focus. Strengths aren’t just what my company can do, but what we choose to do.
When I know our strengths, I also know where not to spend resources, what shiny competitive objects to ignore,
And which part of the Joneses I don’t have to keep up with.
Knowing which battles to fight allows a complete focus on fully maximizing the strengths I have at my disposal.
The final piece is honesty. Strange I know. But the strengths that truly make my company different
have always required reflection and honesty. Strategy isn’t about slogans and platitudes,
and clients disappear quickly if your strengths don’t pan out or never existed in the first place.
With differentiation, focus, and honesty, strengths tell a better story. Not just what but why.
A good SWOT, even though it’s just a snapshot, opens the door to better conversations and much clearer answers to
“what makes you so damn special?”
So What JB?
When I first looked for strengths, I considered it a scavenger hunt.
I talked to coworkers, stakeholders, vendors, clients.
I walked around my company (virtually in some cases). I looked at websites, proposals we sent to
clients, marketing materials, investor decks; I even read reviews to what
employees were saying online.
[Watch out for some of those Glassdoor posts]
This allowed me to see:
I wrote them down, discussed them, and refined them. And made sure I double checked them regularly.
Strengths evolve, and strategy should follow. The better I got at identifying, tracking,
and communicating strengths, the more prepared I was to sit back in my own ergonomic
conference chair and let the story do the work.
