The Weekly Minute - Feb. 17, 2023
What I’ve Read This Week
What Can We Learn from Barnes & Noble's Surprising Turnaround? (via Ted Gioia)
Here’s the surprise: This company has been a failure at digital media, and has succeeded by embracing the most antiquated technology of them all: the printed book. A look at their turnaround:
Strategy 1 - New CEO Daunt refused to play the game where promotional dollars dictated which books took prominent placement. He wanted to put the best books in the window and the most exciting books by the front door. Even more amazing, he let the people working in the stores make these decisions.
Strategy 2 - Daunt also refused to dumb-down the store offerings. The key challenge, he claimed was to “create an environment that’s intellectually satisfying—and not in a snobbish way, but in the sense of feeding your mind.”
From Gioia, “Barnes & Noble opened 16 new bookstores in 2022, and now will double that pace of openings in 2023. In a year of collapsing digital platforms, this 136-year-old purveyor of print media is enjoying boom times.”
Put Purpose at the Core of Your Strategy (via Harvard Business Review)
Companies need to put purpose at the core of their strategy in order to succeed in today's business environment. Purpose is defined as a company's reason for being – beyond making money – and it can serve as a powerful motivator for employees, attract customers, and guide decision-making. This article suggests several ways for companies to embed purpose into their strategy, including:
Defining and communicating the purpose clearly
Aligning the organization around the purpose
Measuring progress towards purpose-driven goals.
The authors argue that purpose-driven companies are more successful in the long run, and that companies that fail to prioritize purpose risk losing relevance and sustainability.
One Quote
"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” - Steve Jobs
One Framework
The GROW Model
The GROW model is an acronym that stands for Goal, Reality, Options, and Way Forward. This is a simple but effective framework that can be used to guide your personal development and help you achieve your goals.
Goal: Define a clear and specific goal that you want to achieve.
Reality: Take a realistic look at where you are now and what challenges you may face in achieving your goal.
Options: Explore various options and strategies that could help you overcome the challenges and achieve your goal.
Way Forward: Create a plan of action and commit to taking steps to achieve your goal.
The GROW model can be used in a variety of contexts, including personal growth, career development, and goal-setting. By using the GROW model, you can break down your goals into manageable steps and develop a clear plan of action for achieving them.
Parting Thought
Netflix just dropped ‘Full Swing’, an 8-episode docu-series focused on the PGA Tour (specifically, last season). As an avid golf fan, this is a must-watch and I’m excited to get after it. This was created by the producers of ‘Drive to Survive’, the famous Netflix series that covers Formula 1.
See you next week.
