By Ken Rosen
Of course your organization matters to you…but when an organization matters beyond its walls, good things happen:
- You get a chance to frame the criteria of value and competition
- You stop competing on price (unless you choose to)
- Rivals are forced to compare themselves to you
- Your services or products get brought up as options…by other people
- You attract the best people
- Branding stops being cosmetic: it becomes your (well-known) core promise
- Your reputation can withstand a mistake or two
- Employees see a future for the organization…and for themselves in it
- Your ecosystem grows as others see you as the partner of choice
- Setting operational priorities becomes dramatically easier
- Alignment among functions becomes radically easier
Companies who work hard to follow this path come quickly to mind: Apple, Grameen Bank, Virgin, The Body Shop, Google, Geico, Microsoft in the 90s, La Brea Bakery, Toyota through 2009. And those who took a less-differentiated path: Dell, Sears, American Airlines, Travelers Insurance, Microsoft in the ’00s. Will Toyota once again become the beacon of quality and desire? Will Microsoft regain its position as the company setting the agenda in technology?
Our ongoing Higher Ground series discusses how to create organizations that matter. We hope you’ll join us in the discussion.
Takeaways:
- Dedicate yourself to building an organization that matters…and inspire your colleagues to do that same.
- If colleagues do not see the importance of the effort, remind them of the list above.
