Passion Nook

The lessons taught in great books are misleading. The commerce in life is rarely so simple and never so just.

--Anita Brookner

By 2002, it was clear that the most adept and successful CEOs shared one common element: They had prospered by repeatedly upgrading their business models (these seven elements of their commerce: who, what, when, why, where, how, and how much) every three to five years. With increased global competition, the correct frequency of such business model innovations would undoubtedly increase.

Since some types of business model improvements can be much less disruptive than others (such as adding complementary offerings), there is no obvious limit to such increased frequency.

This observation about continuing business model innovation is also significant for world progress. If organizations began to focus on rapid business model innovations, performance improvements could be added more rapidly. Without this improved leadership capability, the sources of many prospective benefits from the 400 Year Project might lie fallow, waiting for leaders to get around to working on them.

The real barrier to continuing business model innovation is that most organizations do not have this most important task on their agendas. Instead, leaders and the rank and file focus on doing the old tasks better and better.

The fact that these old tasks are obsolete doesn't seem to occur to anyone (if it did, they kept quiet lest someone would shoot the messenger). What perspectives on continuing business model innovation success would people like to learn about? Three applications are most important: small companies (including one-person operations), nonprofit organizations, and organizations that had passed along business model innovation as a core task to a new generation of leaders.

Fortunately, there are memorable, thought-provoking examples everywhere that would help business owners and CEOs see more ways to apply continuing business model innovation into their organizations. Many people, however, wanted to see examples codified rather than searching for the examples themselves.

Part of the advantage that one-person companies have is that the path from strategy development to implementation is just a few inches of grey matter apart in the brain. The spread in education and experience in the one-person businesses is quite impressive as well, ranging from a golf caddy who grew up on the Isle of Man to Peter Drucker.

The good news is that there are so many ways to succeed with this important task that anyone can find more than they can possibly use. What should business and organizational leaders do?

Focus on the simplest, most available, and most productive opportunities -- increasing value without raising prices or costs; adjusting prices to increase sales profitably; and eliminating costs that reduce customer and end-user benefits -- and to provide a process for continuing innovation.

If you focus on those three opportunities, you'll be well matched to outperform others, too. Are you ready to start creating your next business model?

About the Author:

Donald Mitchell is an author of seven books including Adventures of an Optimist, The 2,000 Percent Squared Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise, and The Ultimate Competitive Advantage. Read about creating breakthroughs through and receive tips by e-mail through registering for free at http://www.fastforward400.com

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