Once you have identified your objective, you are ready to begin researching the “problem” preventing

you from reaching your objective. Typically, research is the first step to gaining the knowledge

needed to understand the problem. But, more than research alone, you must also diagnose the

situation to get the information you need to solve the problem. Why?

Research is a process of gathering, analyzing, and interpreting information to

gain new knowledge. Its purpose is to contribute to your existing body of knowledge. 

Diagnosis is identifying the cause or nature of a specific problem or condition.

It’s about determining what is wrong or why something is not functioning as expected.

A McKinsey study showed that prominent company CEOs made the right decision 52% of the time.

This blog post on why research and diagnosis are crucial to getting the correct information will

help you get the right information to make better decisions more often.

Much of the strategy is asking what is going on here. The fundamental question

is not just deciding what to do but comprehending the situation.

  Navigating Business Challenges: Research vs. Diagnosis 

In a dynamic business landscape, making informed decisions is paramount. Two essential processes

that drive these decisions are research and diagnosis. While they share commonalities, they serve distinct

purposes when addressing business problems or seizing opportunities. 

Much of the strategy is asking what is going on here. The fundamental question

is not just deciding what to do but comprehending the situation. 

In this blog post, I explore the differences between conducting research and performing 

diagnosis in the context of solving business challenges and capitalizing on opportunities.

The Art of Research

Research is a systematic and comprehensive exploration of subject matter, often involving data

collection, analysis, and interpretation. Business research is used to understand markets, industry

trends, customer behavior, and competition. It’s a tool for acquiring knowledge to shape strategic decisions.

Following is an outline of this discovery process.

Scope: Business research can be extensive, aiming to understand a particular area comprehensively.

For example, a company may conduct market research to assess consumer preferences and industry trends.

Objectives: The primary objective of business research is knowledge acquisition. It seeks to answer

questions and uncover patterns that can inform strategy, product development, marketing campaigns, and more.

Data Collection: Researchers gather data from various sources, such as surveys, interviews,

market analysis, and historical data. This data is analyzed to extract insights.

Outputs: Research outcomes are often reports, market analyses, whitepapers, or data-driven recommendations.

They contribute to the body of knowledge and guide future actions.

Nature: Research is an ongoing process that only sometimes leads to immediate solutions.

It lays the foundation for informed decision-making and can be used in various business contexts.

The Science of Diagnosis

Diagnosis is a focused inquiry to identify the root cause or nature of a specific problem or opportunity.

In a business context, diagnosis is instrumental in pinpointing issues within an organization, product,

or process that help determine the cause of the situation or problem.

All of this enables you to determine how you might solve the problem.

Scope: Diagnosis has a narrow scope, concentrating on a specific issue or opportunity.

For instance, a business might diagnose operational inefficiencies affecting production output.

Objectives: The primary objective of diagnosis is to uncover the cause of a

problem or the nature of an opportunity. It seeks to answer the “why” behind a situation.

Data Collection: The data collected in a diagnosis is tailored to the specific issue or opportunity

under investigation. It may involve examining financial records, conducting performance audits, or assessing workflow.

Outputs: The output of a diagnosis is a precise determination of the problem’s cause or the

nature of an opportunity. It serves as the foundation for implementing targeted solutions.

Nature: Diagnosis is action-oriented, with its findings directly influencing decisions

and solutions. It is typically problem-focused and aims to drive immediate improvements.

Both research and diagnosis are invaluable tools in the business toolkit. Still, they serve distinct roles in problem-solving and opportunity seizing. 

Research provides the knowledge and context necessary for informed decision-making, offering a broader perspective.

 Diagnosis, conversely, narrows the focus to identify specific issues or opportunities and is instrumental in implementing targeted solutions.

Successful businesses often employ a combination of research and diagnosis, recognizing that a holistic approach

Decision-making involves understanding the broader landscape and addressing specific internal challenges.

 By knowing when to research and when to diagnose, organizations can navigate the complex

terrain of business with confidence and agility, turning challenges into opportunities for growth and success

.

 What are the benefits of researching and diagnosing when

confronted with a complex problem or risky opportunity?

Combining both research and diagnosis when confronted with a complex problem or a risky opportunity

offers numerous benefits that can significantly enhance decision-making and problem-solving processes:

Comprehensive Understanding: Research provides a foundation of knowledge and data while diagnosis

It adds depth and context. Together, they offer a more comprehensive understanding of the situation, enabling a more accurate assessment.

Enhanced Problem Framing: Research helps identify the core elements of a problem or opportunity,

while diagnosis allows for a deeper exploration of its underlying causes, contributing factors, and implications.

This process leads to a well-framed problem or opportunity statement.

Informed Decision-Making: The combination of research and diagnosis equips decision-makers

with the information to make well-informed choices. It reduces the reliance on guesswork, particularly in complex or risky situations.

Risk Mitigation: Diagnosis helps identify potential risks and challenges that might not be immediately

evident through research alone. This proactive approach allows for risk mitigation strategies to be developed.

Innovative Solutions: Diagnosis provides information that encourages creative thinking by uncovering

hidden connections and perspectives. It can lead to innovative solutions that are not apparent solely through research.

Resource Allocation: Research and diagnosis assist in identifying where resources should be allocated

for the most significant impact. This allocation ensures that efforts focus on the most critical

aspects of the problem or opportunity.

Efficiency: While research provides a wealth of information, diagnosis helps sift through the data to

extract what is most relevant. This efficiency saves time and resources by concentrating efforts on critical areas.

Adaptability: Combining research and diagnosis allows for flexibility in decision-making. New insights

or changes in the situation can be accommodated more readily, ensuring that strategies remain relevant.

Clarity in Communication: A combination of research and diagnosis results in more precise and

compelling communication of findings and recommendations to customers, stakeholders, or team members.

Continuous Improvement: Integrating research and diagnosis fosters a culture of constant improvement.

Organizations and individuals become better equipped to tackle future challenges and opportunities effectively.

Alignment of Objectives: Research and diagnosis help align objectives and strategies with the underlying

issues or goals. This alignment ensures that actions taken are directly relevant to addressing

the problem or seizing the opportunity.

Long-Term Sustainability: Solutions derived from a combination of research and diagnosis are often

more sustainable because they address root causes and consider long-term implications.

Confidence in Decisions: Decision-makers can have greater confidence in their choices

based on a thorough understanding of the situation through research and diagnosis.

Minimized Guesswork: The blend of research and diagnosis reduces guesswork and assumptions,

reducing the likelihood you will make decisions based on incomplete or biased information.

Better Problem-Solving Culture: Organizations prioritizing research and diagnosis foster a culture

of evidence-based decision-making and critical thinking, leading to better problem-solving capabilities.

Example:

According to Edward de Bono, diagnosis can transform one’s view of the situation, bringing a radically

a different perspective to bear—for example, IBM. 

IBM was struggling in the computer market in the 1990s. Many products were involved in complete

computer systems, and many companies specialized in selling each. Competition for each of the products

was intense. When Lou Gerstner became CEO in 1993, he examined how IBM struggled against the competition.

His research and diagnosis concluded that IBM was the only company that could deliver large, fully customized

computer systems. He changed the company from focusing on individual products to a company focused on a completely

integrated computer system company. IBM was the only company in the market that could do that.

That insight turned the company around and made it the premier company in the market.

Conclusion

Combining research and diagnosis enhances decision-making, mitigates risks, fosters innovation, and ultimately

leads to more effective solutions for challenging problems or risky opportunities. This holistic approach ensures

that decisions are based on a deep understanding of the situation and its underlying dynamics.

Strategy: The Secret Sauce Behind Every Remarkable Business Succes

Business Success is a continuum; to reach the pinnacle of success, you need a formula of leadership and strategy.

While strategy is the secret sauce behind every remarkable business success, It also takes effective leadership. 

Leadership provides the guiding force behind a company’s strategic direction and the ability

to get every employee to buy into and support the execution of the strategy.

Strategy is a powerful weapon for the future of your business. An integrated business

and marketing strategy is required to make your company successful.  

However, you need to start with your business strategy. That’s why this blog post explains why business

strategies are critical to your success.  I cover creating a marketing strategy in a different blog post.

According to  McKinsey, over 80 percent of CEOs believe a business strategy is essential, but few have one. Why? 

Because business strategies offer a critical tool to create value for your targeted audience

or even reshape your market if your market is now growing. Your business strategy is your story.

Think Apple, Wal-Mart or Nivida.

Also, as the pace of change accelerates, it doesn’t matter what industry, market, or niche you are in; 

You need to innovate your strategies and stay agile or get left behind.

Do You Have a Goal or a Clearly Defined Objective?

Unfortunately, many business leaders believe they have a strategy when what they have is a goal.

Goals are essential aspirations, but a goal without a strategy is simply a wish. 

To reach your goal, you need to turn that goal into a single, reachable, and measurable objective.

Then, you can create a strategy and pathway to achieve that objective. 

This Strategy could be –in descending order–a corporate, business market, functional, or product strategy.

Then, focus and concentrate actions and resources against those objectives. You achieve what you focus on.

Strategy: The Secret Sauce Behind Every Remarkable Business Succes

 A brief description and example.

An innovative business strategy can be summarized as a clearly defined plan a person or team

must perform to achieve the company’s growth and future sustainable goals.

While all innovation strategies are different, they should outline your organization’s innovation activities and objectives to help you achieve them.  

The Harvard Business Review describes creating a strategy as determining how innovation will create value

for potential customers and ways to capture that value. Plus, which types of innovation to pursue?

Product designs must evolve to stay competitive, and innovation strategies must evolve as the environment changes.

Good business innovation strategies must be simple, straightforward, and easily understood by all participants.

You want everyone on the same page. And remember, if it is a product or marketing strategy,

your innovation strategy must sync with your overall business strategy.

If you maintain your traditional business strategy because “that’s the way you have always done it,”

That strategy will get you in trouble sooner or later.

Think Kodak and their inventions of digital photography or Blockbuster’s unwillingness to give up their retail stores and go to streaming.

The Difference Between Tactics And Strategy 

 These terms are not interchangeable. 

Strategy and tactics are very different, although they are often used interchangeably.

Strategies are solutions to problems (objectives) and refer to long-term goals.

Tactics refer to the specific actions required to achieve those objectives.

Three Levels of Strategy That Drive Sales

The process is the same, but the levels must be coherent.

Strategy has three levels: Corporate, business (units), and functional (departments).

Corporate: Senior management determines the company’s mission and long-term performance.

They guide decisions about growth, acquisitions, diversification, and investments.

Business:  These strategies integrate into the corporate vision but focus on specific companies.

They focus on turning business objectives into Strategy and how the business will compete in the marketplace.

Functional. These strategies determine how the functional departments like production,

marketing, R&D, H.R., and other departments will support the corporate and business Strategy.

The Key Elements Of Strategies That Drive Sales

The process of analyzing and creating a strategy 

Strategies vary in depth and complexity depending on their objective.

The following are the critical components of most strategies. There are many different ways to analyze and create a strategy.

For this blog post, I use a description and explanation from Professor Richard Rumelt’s book Good Strategy/Bad Strategy

that is easy to understand and use. They offer a simple understanding of a complex subject. 

One: Start with your vision, aggressiveness, and key objective or problem.

You also might check out “Getting to an agreed definition of the problem.”

 Two: Diagnose the problem or obstacle that is preventing success.

This research will be extensive and include many types of analysis, such as SWOT analysis,

market analysis, potential customer analysis, competitive analysis, industry analysis, and much more.

This analysis also includes trends, opportunities, and potential issues that will or could impact the market positively or negatively.

I prefer the term diagnosis to research because the solution could be hidden anywhere, so you don’t rely on just backward booking research

like analytics. Yes, this does take time, but the return on your investment is huge!

A few examples are design and engineering (BMW), chain-link systems (Walmart), and anticipation (Toyota and hybrid technology).

Ignoring trends can be harmful also; think Kodak or Blockbuster.    

Three: Insight and Innovation. Analyses look backward from yesterday’s data, which is necessary.

But, you also have to look forward to where the diagnosis can lead to creativity, insight, and innovation to solve the problem.

Our minds are wired for creativity; many techniques help create “out-of-the-box ideas.” There are many creative techniques,

and we cover those in our Insight/Innovation in other blog posts and our Insight/Innovation module in the ClickVisor module.

You might also check out the “Creating and Sustaining a Continuous Advantage.” blog post.

Four: The Guiding policy. The guiding policy evaluates and decides which innovative ideas

you will use from the many ideas and concepts created in the insight/innovation process.

You have to decide what the company will do and what it will not do because no company

has unlimited time, talent, and financial resources to do everything.

So you will have to make some difficult decisions. However,

your choices will jump-start your company in the right direction.

 Five: Coherent actions. You can’t stop once you have defined your guiding policy.

You must take the coordinated actions required to carry out the guiding policy.

These actions have to be integrated with your Strategy and are what give your strategy power.

These monitored and measured actions will validate your strategy or give you the necessary

information to make adjustments and changes. They help you achieve the result you want.

   7 Benefits of Your Innovative Strategy

Significant benefits of having an innovative strategy to drive sales.

Think about this. What if you didn’t have a strategy and were making decisions based on impulse?

How would you compete in the marketplace if you didn’t have a strategy?

Answer: Having a strategy is critical to a company’s success. Following are some of the benefits

you will enjoy doing and keep you motivated because you will be building the results you want.  

 One: Creates A Competitive Advantage. An innovative strategy enables you to improve every aspect of your business model.

Your strategy allows you to maximize your resources, reduce unnecessary costs, improve your value proposition,

and create a competitive advantage that would be difficult for the competition to copy. 

Two:  Improves Your Financial Success. A strategy requires you to review your costs and

eliminate any unnecessary charges. It also requires you to look for ways to enhance y

our offering, add premium pricing, create new offerings, or even enter new markets.

Three: It enables You To Make Better Decisions. Because you are analyzing your current situation

and creating a vision for the future, You will use your experience and critical and creative thinking skills to

broaden your perceptions of the company, industry, markets, products, and services.

This type of analysis will enable you to make better decisions. 

Four: It Helps Build Your Distinctive and Memorable Brand.

Because of all your work in preparing and creating your strategy, you will know who you are and your audience.  

Five: Plan For Today And The Future. To create a strategy, you must identify the key steps to reach your goals.

This process requires you to define and evaluate your company and your offering (value proposition)

strengths and weaknesses to determine what, if anything, has to improve or be eliminated.

It also helps you plan and allocate resources more efficiently and anticipate resource requirements

needed in the future. You will have to challenge some entrenched assumptions to do this.

Six: Improves Your Organization And Processes. A strategy helps you organize the company

to support your values and help you reach your goals. It can get your entire organization on board

and focused on helping execute the tasks needed to reach your goals. 

This focus is vital because the execution of your strategy is as important as the strategy itself.

Poor execution — rather than the strategy — is the primary reason a plan fails.

You need all team members aboard and sold on the strategy.

Seven: It gives Management Control and Reduces Risks. A strategy gives you control

over all activities affecting your goals and lets you measure progress toward those goals.  

Conclusion

About 80 percent of companies believe business strategies are essential, and many believe they have

a strategy. Unfortunately, few do. What they have are mission statements and goals. 

But goals are broad aspirations and wishes unless you have an innovative strategy to define a pathway

to achieve those goals. A creative approach describes how the company will capture

the new or additional ways to create value and which innovations to pursue.

There are also three innovative strategy levels: corporate, business, and functional (department responsibilities).

A business model canvas is a conceptual structure that explains the viability of the business through

the company’s essential nine components. Companies use many different business models—

many of which you are familiar with – like E-commerce, subscription, and direct sales.

While business models are essential for both new and established businesses, they must be updated

with market changes and customer values. If not, you could miss future trends or challenges.  

The way to approach business model innovation depends on the company’s situation.

Does it have a significant problem preventing it from achieving its objective, or does it need to break out

of the competitive market, or the company’s market is slowing down, and it needs to find new buyers?

In short, it creates a competitive advantage, improves financial success, enables leadership to

make better decisions, help build your brand for the future, enhance the function of your

organization gives management better control and reduces risk.

The First Five Steps To Create Your Business Strategy Journey.    

Go through the five steps below and begin to question and probe for answers to each question.

Preparing an overview of how you will assemble your business plan will take some time.

However, this will be time well spent. On the other hand, set a time limit for getting this done.

Take all the benefits that result from a business strategy. 

Step One: Establish a plan to keep up with the constant pace of change in your marketplace.

Involve your team. If you have three people, you will get three different answers to the questions and other responses

to future suggestive ideas. It would be best if everyone were on the same page when you executed your proposed strategy.   

Step Two: Determine the overall objective of your future strategy.

How aggressive do you want to be? Do you have a specific problem to solve or an opportunity

you want to achieve? Are you looking for an incremental or radical program?

Step Three:

1. Go through the first three steps in creating your strategy.

2.  Define your objective – which has to be the most critical one, achievable and measurable.

3. Diagnose the problem/opportunity– you only need information that

4. helps you solve the problem; you don’t have to write an encyclopedia.   

Step Four: Determining your general policy. This step is difficult because it means saying “no” often.

You have a concept you want to implement and limited time, talent, and money to do everything,

so saying no to additional ideas is challenging. Then, put your plan together on how you will execute this strategy.  

Step Five: Monitor and measure the results of your programs and adjust as often as necessary.

This strategy program is a work in progress, so there will be many starts, stops, and rewrites.

Stay positive and believe you can accomplish your objective. If you do, you will get what you focus on.