Avoid Plateaus to Keep Your Competitive Edge

When you’ve just been through a period of intense change or innovation, it’s tempting to take a breather. Our instinct is to let things settle into a steady state. We reach a plateau of learning and wish to enjoy the fruits of our labor. This is dangerous.

Knowledge calcifies. People begin to believe that the status quo is the only logical way to do business. When presented with ideas for change, they mostly see obstacles.

When you are stable and stationary, you are a sitting duck, easy to copy and vulnerable to commoditization. You quickly lose your edge.

To achieve quantum leaps in capability, your company must be able to move to the next phase of learning and innovation—the next S-curve—the moment you’ve achieved each level of success, rather than allowing yourself to plateau. For this to happen you must create a culture of fast and continuous learning.

Below is an illustration that explains this strategy:

Here are a few of the benefits:

• You will create more differentiated product and service offerings. Competitors will be less able to copy you. You’ll be protected from commoditization, and you will enjoy higher margins.
• Because you can adapt fluidly to changes in your business environment, such as changes in customer behavior, technology, and regulations, your offerings will be less likely to become obsolete, outdated, or irrelevant. (BlackBerry, Blockbuster, Kodak, and Nokia all led their industries for years, and have each become irrelevant or shrunk to a small fraction of their former size.)
• You will find and realize new avenues for growth. When entering a new market or offering a new product, skills and knowledge are often a bottleneck to growth. In a fast-learning organization, however, employees across every function break through these barriers fast. As a result, you will increase your odds of success and will ramp up revenues faster.
• You will be better able to attract top talent because people who are smart, creative, and courageous want to work for companies that try new things and have a robust outlook for growth.
• Your work will be more fun and rewarding. You’ll certainly avoid boredom!
• You will shape your own destiny as a company, and as individuals within that company.

Most great strategies are not arrived at through analysis, market research, and PowerPoint presentations. They are arrived at through trial and error. They evolve as the result of constant experimentation, getting out there and seeing what customers are really willing to pay for, what the real value is to them, and how strong their loyalty really is (read more on how to gain extraordinary customer insight here). No amount of analysis can substitute for constant testing and learning in the real world.

Please contact me at [email protected] to discuss how we can help you create strong strategies that’ll improve your business growth.