Stretch The CEO’s Thinking

2. Stretch The CEO’s Thinking

Tool Preview: This tool helps the leader/leadership team create opportunities by shifting the frame of reference used in the operating assumptions made about the business. How would you structure the business if you started it today? This is a good way to challenge outdated assumptions and create opportunities for growth.

“Starting Out Today” – A Stretch The CEO’s Thinking Exercise
Introduction: This is a very simple exercise that can generate powerful results. The players should be any senior (family or business) leaders, but particularly those who are feeling the press of the next generation, pushing them to change – to modernize the way the company does business.
Instructions: As the CEO, consider the way the business ran when you started it, or when you assumed the helm. (Once you’ve worked through the questionnaire, take your leadership team through the same exercise.)
Think about what was different then from the conditions that exist today. Work through the questions when you can make some time to think and play with different ideas. Take time to truly think about your answers - don’t just be flip or hurry through with quick retorts.
If You Were Starting Out Today – A Worksheet

Remember when:

What were your goals when you started out?

What conditions have changed?

How has the work changed?

How have the people changed?

How have the tools and equipment changed?

How has communication changed?

How have customer expectations changed?

How have your competitors changed?

Recreate those days in your mind and appreciate the differences between then and now.

Now: Imagine yourself starting your business today. Pretend that you are starting at the beginning with a business idea, but that you don’t yet have the organization/business you currently have.

How would you start?

How would you set yourself up to take your idea to the marketplace?

What capabilities do you think are crucial?

What expertise do you need (for yourself, and within the organization)?

Create a business plan for gaining a foothold in your market.

What value would you promise your customers?

How would you work?

Going forward: Consider the ideas your people have generated in relation to the results of your own thinking exercise.
You don’t have to decide to embrace their ideas, but can you relate to their thinking? Have they come up with any ideas that enhance yours? How have they surprised you?
Are there any modifications you may want to make to your thinking, now that you’ve considered their input? What assumptions have been updated that may change how you do business in the future?
Lead another discussion with your people, in which you talk about how your thinking has changed, now that you have gone through this exercise independently, and with them.

Now: Look at what you would do, were you starting your business fresh today, and compare and contrast that with how you currently run your business (two columns of bullet points can be a helpful format to use).
In the good faith spirit of the exercise, write down what you’ve learned in doing this. Were there any surprises? Fleeting thoughts or insights that are worth pursuing in depth?

Bringing in your team: Lead a discussion with your people, which goes through the questions you’ve just considered independently, to get their thoughts.
Let them know you value their contributions, and will discuss your own thoughts with them, after you have had a chance to consider their input as well.

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