Entries Tagged 'Getting Things Done' ↓
January 9th, 2010 — Getting Things Done
A bunch of people checked out my article on SWOT Analysis and asked me for more examples of this powerful strategic planning tool.
It turns out that it’s not easy to find free SWOT Analysis examples (many are listed on the Web but cost money (anywhere from $10 to $500 apiece!).
I found over a dozen examples of SWOT that are free to review…and listed them below.
Enjoy!
SWOT Analysis Examples
If you know of any other SWOT Analysis examples, please let me know by just linking to them in the Comments field below — thanks!
November 9th, 2009 — Getting Things Done
You can put all your eggs in one basket (just watch the basket!)
We’ve all heard the saying that you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket. While sometimes wise, I think there are many exceptions.
Mark Twain wrote that you should “put all your eggs in one basket and watch that basket.” I agree in many circumstances, including for business.
If you are super-selective and focus on one business (whether as investor or founder or employee) at a time, you can reap huge rewards. Look at Bill Gates of Microsoft (who loves using the word “super” by the way) — he invested purely in Microsoft for 30 years.
I had the good fortune of meeting Bill Gates a few times and I recall how reporters and other people were highly critical of the fact that he was reinvesting his Microsoft profits in Microsoft and not, for instance, in Philanthropic endeavors.
He told me that he believed his most valuable contribution at that time was focusing on Microsoft and that he would later focus on investing his money elsewhere.
Well, in 2000 Bill and his wife Melinda French (who I also had the pleasure of meeting once) created what is now the largest charitable foundation in the world and Bill turned his focus to investing in creating value elsewhere (specifically, helping solve many of life’s diseases).
So, Bill had his Microsoft basket for 30 years and now has his Foundation basket.
Similarly, Warren Buffett, who has created more wealth investing than anyone to date, has focused primarily on one business — Berkshire Hathaway — most of his life.
If the stock in Berkshire were to tank, Warren’s net worth too. But it probably won’t, because Warren is watching his one basket!
It’s no coincidence that when Warren finally decided to put his eggs (his money!) in a second basket, he chose to put them in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation basket – one that he trusted would be watched closely for years to come by his younger friends Bill and Melinda.!
November 8th, 2009 — Getting Things Done
Gap Analysis is a strategic planning tool to help you understand where you are, where you want to be and how you’re going to get there.
Here’s a simple Gap analysis chart:
Gap Analysis Template: Profit
Here’s the Gap Analysis process:
Step 1: Decide the topic you’re going to do the Gap Analysis on? This is the challenge you’re trying to tackle.
Gap Analysis sample topics include:
- Revenue
- Profit
- Market Share
- Product Functionality/Features
Step 2: Identify where you are right now based on metrics or attributes.
Examples:
- Revenue — We’re at $10 million in annual sales right now
- Profit — We’re at $1.5 million in annual profit right now
- Market Share — We have 7% of the market share right now
- Product Functionality/Features — Our product has was just launched so it has limited features
Step 3: Identify where you’d like to be over a specific time frame?
Examples:
- Revenue — We’d like revenue to grow to $35 million in annual sales by 2012
- Profit — We’d like profits to grow to $12 million per year by 2012
- Market Share — We’d like to own 15% of a particular market by 2012
- Product Functionality/Features — We’d like our product to have industry leading features by 2012
Step 4: Identify the gap between where you are and where you want to be.
- Revenue — They gap is $15 million per year in annual sales by 2012
- Profit — The gap is $5.5 million in annual profit by 2012
- Market share — The gap is 8% market share by 2012
- Product Functionality/Features (let’s use Web site as an example) — The gap is that you’d like to have the following features by 2012: a blog, a sign-up form to let visitors follow your business on Facebook and Twitter and a way for customers to buy products directly.
Step 5: Determine how the Gap should be filled.
- I recommend using the “6 M’s” from my Fishbone Analysis Article:
- Manpower — The people resources you need.
- Methods — The processes you need.
- Metrics — The measurements you need.
- Machines — The automation or technology you need.
- Materials — The material items (such as physical goods or marketing collateral) you need.
- Minutes— The time you need.
- Or you could use a SWOT Analysis and simply list out your:
- Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats related to filling your Gap.
Some other related Gap Analysis definitions:
- Usage Gap = Market Potential minus Existing Usage
- Product Gap = The part of the market that your missing because of your product features.
Fore more on the Gap Analysis model, check out Gap Analysis Wiki.
October 29th, 2009 — Getting Things Done
A lot of people have checked out my article on SWOT Analysis: Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats (amazingly, an estimated 300,000 people Google “SWOT Analysis” each month, according to Google’s own Keyword Tool).
If you want a variation on an exercise for strengths, opportunities, etc., there’s another simpler one called D.O.S.
DOS stands for Dangers, Opportunities and Strengths.
DOS Exercise
It’s very simple to learn DOS. Here are the steps:
1) Pick a new that you’re considering taking on.
2) List out the dangers of taking on such a project.
3) List out the opportunities of taking on such a project.
4) List out the strengths of taking on such a project.
I’ve been using DOS for a few years and I’ve learned it’s important you go in the order of danger, opportunity, strength because psychologically it’s best to end on a positive — this is one advantage the DOS model has over the SWOT model (in SWOT analysis you START positive with strengths and END on a negative with threats).
Here’s a DOS example on a new challenge a friend of mine’s business is having with fundraising (she needs to raise some money to fund her new startup).
Dangers (of raising money)
- She’ll take her eye off the ball of a new product launch.
- She’ll be distracted from managing her newest hire (an engineer)
Opportunities (e.g. what the opportunities for her to take advantage of to raise money)
- She has 100+ “friends and family” who might be able to invest
- She has a new advisor she could add to her advisory board who is well connected and has raised money for a couple of different startups.
Strengths
- This woman is very persuasive and can make a great pitch!
- She has a superb team
- She has an amazing product
That’s the DOS exercise.
October 11th, 2009 — Getting Things Done, Leadership
I’m a big fan of using Colonel John Boyd’s OODA Loop strategy for reacting to events in business.
I’m so into the OODA Loop theory that I once chanted “OODA, OODA” (like “Toga, Toga”) at a strategy session!
OODA stands for:
Observe — As in collect the inputs/data of the situation.
Orient — Analyze the inputs/data to determine your position.
Decide — Determine your course of action.
Act — Execute your decision.
It’s called an OODA Loop (or OODA Cycle) because the event/situation taking place may be changing and so you may have to change your decisions as new data/inputs are gathered.
While Col. John Boyd’s OODA Loops were created in military situations, he made recommendations on their use in business (and OODA Loop Theory is widely used in business today).
For example, Boyd recommended that decisions/actions be distributed throughout a business organization so that decisions and actions are made by the people who are directly observing and oriented to a situation (as opposed to an isolated commander/CEO who is only indirectly involved).
Colonel John R. Boyd is no relation to famous businessman John Boyd Dunlop who founded Dunlop the tire company or peace nobelist Lord John Boyd (United Nations, nutrition).