Business Strategy Assessment Tools

A strategy is not the same as a plan. It reflects a business logic, an integrated set of choices. To understand what this means, there is now the 6M Framework. Absorb it and use it. As explained in a recent post, a plan is not a strategy. In sum: → A strategy is a LOGIC that describes how an organization creates and captures value. It is the starting point from which goals can be derived. → A plan is a PROCESS that describes the steps an organization intends to take in order to achieve its goals and thereby realize its strategy. We know planning and plans, but despite the wide usage of the term, there’s still a lot of confusion about the term strategy. Therefore, I’ve created a framework to help you better understand (and design, formulate and implement!) strategy, the 6M Framework. The 6Ms are: M1: Magic. The products and services that you offer and what they do for your customers M2: Market. The customers whose needs you serve and the alternatives you compete against M3: Means. The assets and capabilities that you and your partners can bring to the table M4: Money. The way and amount of revenues you generate versus the costs and risks you have M5: Meaning. The things that you find most important and to which you most aspire M6: Momentum. The factors outside your control that help or hinder you in what you do. This is not just a list. There is a LOGIC, which is reflected in the image. The heart of your strategy is your Magic (the value you create). It is the linking pin between your Means (how you do this) and your Market (where and for whom you do it). It is also the linking pin between Money (how you capture value) and Meaning (why you do what you do). And around that there is Momentum (your environment) which is working for you or against you. Finally, as reflected by the other arrows, a good strategy is an integrated set of choices that all align so that all 6Ms fit well together as one coherent whole. While complex by definition, strategy can be radically simplified with this framework. As simple as possible, but not simpler. — If you want to help your organization or clients develop and implement better strategy along the lines of this framework, then the Certified Strategy & Implementation Consultant (CSIC) program may be a good fit for you. Registrations for our second cohort are open. See Strategy.Inc for more information and registration. Want more of this? Subscribe to my Soulful Strategy LinkedIn Newsletter and receive it once a month directly in your inbox.  You can read it here: https://lnkd.in/e_ytzAgU #strategicplanning #changemanagement #problemsolving

Stop loading data into ChatGPT and asking for insights. It is lying to you. An LLM cannot find "truth." It does not know your business context. It does not understand your data. It fabricates plausible narratives and reinforces your confirmation bias. You don't need an insight generator. You need a sparring partner. The LLM's true power is in stress-testing your ideas. This is how you shatter bias. This is how you find the real insight, not just the one you were looking for. Use the "Challenge-Code-Verify" cycle. - The Challenge: State your hypothesis. Command the LLM to act as a skeptical statistician and find 3 ways you are wrong. - The Code: Direct the LLM to produce the exact code (Python/R) or formula (Excel/Sheets) to test its counter-argument. - The Verification: Run the code. Look at the chart. Make the call. This is how you partner with the LLM to sharpen your human abilities -- intuition, creativity, novelty. Asking your LLM for insights is like asking your sparring partner to fight for you. It will get knocked out. Its job isn't to win the match. Its job is to reveal your weaknesses, sharpen your skills, perfect your form, and force you to be better. Spar with your LLM so that when its showtime, you are the one who lands the knockout. Art+Science Analytics Institute | University of Notre Dame | University of Notre Dame - Mendoza College of Business | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | University of Chicago | D'Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University | ELVTR | Grow with Google - Data Analytics #Analytics #DataStorytelling

Had an insightful conversation over the weekend with a colleague about a common pitfall in CX programs: relying solely on surveys and ignoring other valuable insights. Here are some key takeaways: Ease of Implementation Surveys are easy to deploy and manage, providing quantifiable data that’s simple to analyze. This makes them an attractive option for many organizations, especially those with limited resources. Tradition and Comfort Many companies stick to surveys because it’s what they’ve always done. Changing this entrenched practice can be challenging, especially if the leadership team prefers traditional methods. Resource Constraints Surveys can be cost-effective, making them appealing for smaller organizations that may not have the budget for more sophisticated tools. Organizational Silos Feedback often gets trapped within departmental silos, preventing insights from being shared and acted upon. Lack of Ownership Without clear ownership of the feedback loop, survey results can end up being ignored. It’s crucial to have designated teams responsible for analyzing feedback and driving action. Inadequate Analytics Capabilities Many companies lack the analytical capabilities - people and tech - to turn survey data into meaningful insights. Cultural Resistance Taking action on feedback requires change, which can be met with resistance. Companies need a culture of continuous improvement to effectively address feedback. Short-Term Focus Organizations sometimes prioritize short-term gains over long-term improvements, leading to reluctance in making significant changes based on feedback. Here is where we ended in terms of actions to take: 1. Integrate Multiple Data Sources: Combine survey data with digital analytics, social listening, and customer journey mapping for a comprehensive view of the customer experience. 2. Foster a Customer-Centric Culture: Encourage leadership commitment, employee training, and recognition programs that reward customer-centric behavior. 3. Invest in Analytics: Enhance analytics capabilities to turn data into actionable insights. 4. Close the Feedback Loop: Implement a closed-loop feedback system and communicate changes to customers. 5. Design Thinking and Customer Co-Creation: Use design thinking methodologies to deeply understand customer needs and co-create solutions. 6. Cross-Functional Collaboration: Promote collaboration across departments to discuss feedback and develop action plans. 7. Measure Impact and Iterate: Continuously measure the impact of changes and iterate to improve further. What are you doing to get out of the CX-as-a-survey (CXaaS) trap? #customerexperience #cx #surveys #analytics #designthinking #customercentric

Hate doing Competitor Analysis? Here is how to do it, without overwhelming yourself 👇🏽 While competitor analysis is a super critical part of any market research and differentiation strategy, most folks don't know how to do it rightly. I have seen people filling up a gazillion of slides and pages with every detail of the competitors, this leads to a popular PM disease called: "Analysis Paralysis" This also demotivates a lot of professionals from pursuing market research, because it gets overwhelming quickly. Here are the 4 questions (+ tools) I would suggest you start with in your next competitive research: 1. What problems do they solve, are they relevant for our users? 2. What are their strengths? (Check their website lingo, check their ads from Facebook/Google/Linkedin Ads Library, use the product by yourself, and observe customers to find this). 3. What are their weaknesses? (Check their social media, and customer conversations, use the product by yourself, and make a quick need-gap analysis). 4. How do they acquire and retain users? (This will help you identify channels, communication, and product strategy). Start with these basics, and then build upon this foundation. The best resources for competitor analysis: 1. Google keyword tool: Find your keywords, and Discover who else ranks on your keywords. 2. Google/Facebook/Linkedin ads library: To understand their communication strategy and maybe star features. 3. Quora, Reddit, and Google reviews: For understanding customer voice and experiences. 4. Website: Probably the best resource. Will help you understand How they position themselves, who are top customers, and benefits. Always remember: Customer Obsession >> Competitor Obsession. Work backward from customer needs. Which is your favorite tool for competitive analysis? P.S. This is a slide from our detailed module on GTM strategy at HelloPM. Check out https://hellopm.co to find what we have in store to supercharge your Product Career ⚡️ #productmanagement #competitor

Stop Guessing Your Edge Last week, I revisited a classic framework that’s surprisingly effective for today’s VUCA & BANI world VRIO Framework. It made me pause and ask: Are the things we’re good at actually helping us win? Or are they just... things we’re good at? VRIO stands for: # Valuable # Rare # Inimitable (Hard to Copy) # Organised to Exploit Each one is a checkpoint to figure out whether a resource, skill, or capability is giving you a sustainable advantage Or if it's something your competitors can easily match. Here's how I used it: ✅ We mapped out what we believe are our key strengths ✅ Then ran each one through the VRIO lens ✅ The results were eye-opening: a few things we thought were unique turned out to be industry-standard. But others? True differentiators we weren't leveraging enough. Key takeaway: Sometimes, your biggest advantage is already in-house . You just haven’t packaged or scaled it right. I’ve started recommending VRIO to founders, strategy leads, and even solo consultants who want clarity on their true differentiators. If you want to stay ahead in a competitive market, this simple framework is a solid place to start. #Corporategovernance #Independentdirectors #Strategy #LessonsLearned

You want more pipeline. You want to grow your organisation. Are you willing to make the hard choices that drive real growth? Sometimes, the fastest way to grow isn’t adding more opportunities. It’s saying no to the wrong ones. Niching down isn’t glamorous. It’s not a flashy hack. Many teams think they're already focused. But many more lack the discipline to be. (it happens to the best of us). Every unqualified lead drains your team’s time, energy, and resources. It creates the illusion of progress while pulling focus away from the customers who’ll see the most value from your product - and drive the most value back into your business. The solution is simple (but not always easy): That’s where the FOCUSED framework comes in. This framework ensures you’re targeting the right companies, aligning your teams, and delivering maximum value to your customers. → 𝗙 - 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀: Understand your target’s fiscal dynamics. Are they tightening budgets or investing in growth? What’s their buying cycle? → 𝗢- 𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗲: Can you realistically generate opportunities here? Does the industry align with your resources and timing? → 𝗖 - 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Where are your competitors vulnerable, and what’s your unique advantage? → 𝗨 - 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀: Do you know your users? What do they need, and how will they adopt your solution? → 𝗦 - 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: What’s the buying process? How many decision-makers are involved, and how do you navigate them? → 𝗘 - 𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁: Is your market already problem-aware, or do you need to educate them? → 𝗗 - 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮: What internal or external evidence can you leverage to validate your strategy? Continued in the comments....

Campaign selection paralysis is killing your growth. Every founder faces the same dilemma: 10 potential campaigns, limited resources, pressure to choose right. Most founders pick based on what's trending or what competitors are doing. That's expensive guesswork. Here's the 3C Framework I use with portfolio companies to cut through the noise: 🎯 Check strategic fit 📈 Calculate financial impact 🛠️ Confirm resource capacity 🎯 Check strategic fit Does this directly support our primary objective? If your goal is immediate user acquisition and you're running brand campaigns, you're wasting money. Alignment first. Everything else second. 📈Calculate financial impact Estimate returns using: Reach × Conversion × Value Simple math beats complex models Rough estimates beat no estimates. If you can't calculate potential return, don't launch. 🛠️Confirm resource capacity Rate campaigns by resources needed vs. available The best campaign you can't execute properly is worse than a good campaign executed well Resource reality trumps campaign dreams. I've watched founders chase trendy channels with terrible ROI while ignoring proven channels simply because they weren't exciting enough. TikTok isn't always the answer. Email might be boring, but it converts. LinkedIn ads might be expensive, but they reach decision-makers. The 3C Framework forces you to be honest about what actually drives your business forward. Use it before your next campaign launch. Which C do you struggle with most - check strategic fit, calculate financial impact, confirm resource capacity? ♻️ Found this helpful? Repost to share with your network. ⚡ Want more content like this? Hit follow Maya Moufarek.

Large language models (LLMs) can improve their performance not just by retraining but by continuously evolving their understanding through context, as shown by the Agentic Context Engineering (ACE) framework. Consider a procurement team using an AI assistant to manage supplier evaluations. Instead of repeatedly inputting the same guidelines or losing specific insights, ACE helps the AI remember and refine past supplier performance metrics, negotiation strategies, and risk factors over time. This evolving “context playbook” allows the AI to provide more accurate supplier recommendations, anticipate potential disruptions, and adapt procurement strategies dynamically. In supply chain planning, ACE enables the AI to accumulate domain-specific rules about inventory policies, lead times, and demand patterns, improving forecast accuracy and decision-making as new data and insights become available. This approach results in up to 17% higher accuracy in agent tasks and reduces adaptation costs and time by more than 80%. It also supports self-improvement through feedback like execution outcomes or supply chain KPIs, without requiring labeled data. By modularizing the process—generating suggestions, reflecting on results, and curating updates—ACE builds robust, scalable AI tools that continuously learn and adapt to complex business environments. #AI #SupplyChain #Procurement #LLM #ContextEngineering #BusinessIntelligence

Unlocking Sustainable Growth: A One-Stop Checklist for Business Owners Growth is not just an aspiration; it's a necessity. For both living beings and businesses, growth is the driving force that ensures sustenance, relevance, and long-term success. However, in today's fast-paced, ever-evolving business environment, growth often feels like a challenge. Navigating through the wealth of books, research papers, and frameworks designed to guide businesses on their growth journey can be overwhelming. That’s why I’ve created something simpler yet powerful - Growth Assessment Checklist for business owners. Why This Checklist? As a business consultant, I've spent years helping companies scale efficiently. Over time, I noticed that many business owners struggle with assessing their current state of growth and identifying the next actionable steps in their journey. The complexity of scaling is made more difficult by the sheer volume of resources available. Instead of reading a dozen books or research papers, I wanted to provide a one-stop solution that gives business owners a practical, actionable framework to assess where they stand, where they need to go, and how they can get there. This checklist is inspired by the timeless principles found in some of the most respected business books ever written, including "Scaling Up" by Verne Harnish, "Exponential Organizations" by Salim Ismail, and "Good Strategy, Bad Strategy" by Richard Rumelt, among others. It combines concepts from strategic planning, leadership, execution, and market innovation to guide businesses through their growth journey. What’s in the Checklist? The Comprehensive Business Growth Checklist contains 9 key sections, covering all critical areas for scaling up: 1. Vision & Strategic Clarity. 2. Leadership & Culture 3. Market Potential & Growth Strategy 4. Financial Strength & Funding Strategy 5. Operations & Process Scalability 6. Talent & People Management 7. Innovation & Competitive Edge 8. Execution 9. Bonus Section - Innovation & Growth Mindset This checklist is designed to help you assess your business today, identify the gaps, and set clear milestones for your growth journey, all in one document. How Will This Help You? This checklist helps you step back, take a strategic look at your business, and ensure you're not just surviving but thriving. It offers a holistic approach to scaling, providing clarity, direction, and actionable steps that you can immediately implement. By using this checklist, you can: - Identify weaknesses and address gaps in your business strategy. - Set milestones for growth that are achievable and measurable. - Refine your business model to ensure scalability and sustainability. - Align your team and track progress towards your growth goals. Join the Conversation and Connect Feel free to reach out if you’d like access to the checklist. Just share your email with me in the comments or message. Subodh

Outsmarting Competitors Starts With Understanding Them Knowing what your rivals are doing isn’t enough. To stay ahead, you need to understand why they act, how they think, and what they’ll do next Enter Porter’s Four Corners Analysis—a strategic tool that goes deeper than surface-level competitor tracking. ☑ The Four Corners of Competitive Insight: 1️⃣ Drivers (Motivation) ↳ What are their long-term goals? ↳ What internal or external forces are pushing their strategy? 2️⃣ Current Strategy ↳ How are they competing today? ↳ What’s their positioning, focus, and resource allocation? 3️⃣ Capabilities ↳ What resources, skills, and strengths do they have? ↳ Can they realistically achieve their ambitions—or are there gaps to exploit? 4️⃣ Management Assumptions ↳ What beliefs guide their decisions? ↳ Are they making flawed assumptions about the market or competitors? ☑ Why This Matters: ↳ Predict moves before they happen—and respond proactively. ↳ Spot weaknesses between ambition and ability. ↳ Make smarter strategic bets on pricing, products, and market entry. The real advantage isn’t just tracking competitors—it’s understanding their logic so you can outthink them. P.S. If strategy and competitive intelligence interest you, follow me for more insights.