Leveraging The Power of Value Discipline Thinking
From the list of, “Books that I truly wish had updated editions” comes one of my top 10 favorites, the 1997 book, “The Discipline of Market Leaders,” by Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersma.
I re-read this book…or at least parts of it every year and I still carry through the concepts in my academic and client strategy work. While the examples are brutally dated and some of the companies have moved from good to great to gone, I find the framework of Value Discipline thinking to be a powerful tool that is easy for students and clients to digest and one that is useful in guiding strategic choices.
If you’re not familiar with the framework or the book, or it it’s been a decade since you’ve picked it up, I encourage you to add it to your reading list. You will come away with some good insights and I suspect some very challenging questions about how your activities, investments and resources are properly aligned around your firm’s true value discipline.
The Basics:
Treacy and Wiersma submit that no firm can be all things to all people and that a firm’s managers must clarify the value proposition (in my terms, why people buy), select a value discipline from one of three major choices and then build the right value-driven operating model to support that discipline. The three value disciplines that Treacy and Wiersma outline are:
- Operational Excellence-where firms focus on price and convenience.
- Product Leadership-where the emphasis is on creating products that consistently push performance boundaries.
- Customer Intimacy-where firms cultivate deep relationships with their clients.
The authors also appropriately highlight that the choice of a discipline is not a goal or a program or a campaign, but rather “a central act that shapes every subsequent plan and decision a company makes…”
The Power of the Value Discipline Framework in Promoting the Right Discussions:
- It’s always fascinating to watch a group of executives flail over what their value discipline is or is not. Rarely does a team immediately agree on their true value discipline. Some of the debates are nearly comical, although out of regard for clients, I will refrain from highlighting the narratives. Let’s just say that they often align very closely to the particular functional role of the executive.
- The discussion around Value Discipline forces a critical discussion about “value proposition.” Once again, many firms don’t truly understand why clients buy and what their core value proposition is for their customers. They are most definitely not Tuned In (another of my favorite strategy and marketing books in my took kit.) This “gap in corporate consciousness must be closed to improve strategy selection and execution effectiveness.
- Once the debate over “What are we?” distills down to a dull roar and reasonable selection (of which it cannot be all 3!), the framework requires management teams to assess whether their operating model, infrastructure and resource and investments all support the discipline. This is an important part of selecting the right activities and importantly, saying “No!” to the wrong activities.
Value Discipline Thinking is Important for Independent Consultants/Solopreneurs and Small Firms:
While the content is geared towards larger firms and business units, challenging yourself to think through and focus your value proposition and operating approach is critical for your marketing, messaging and business development activities. Run, don’t walk to define a value proposition that resonates with your target audience, differentiates your from competitors and integrates with the services or products that you are providing.
Sidebar: B-School Educators Can Use the Framework as a Tool to Promote Conceptual Thinking
This book and framework offer a great way for B-school educators to create a powerful and practical classroom learning experience. A simple exercise is to ask students to categorize some of their favorite companies into one of the three disciplines and to explain the reasons and evidence behind their choices. It is commonplace for firms like WalMart, McDonald’s and Starbucks to end up in multiple categories.
As part of the discussion, you have a great opportunity to introduce that lofty phrase, “value proposition” into the discussion and make it real for the students as they drill down further into why they actually buy or frequent the various firms.
Last and not least, just as in corporate discussions, the framework provides an easy way for you to delve into the operating models of various firms and to study how activities and investments are aligned to support the Value Discipline.
Great stuff for a rich and practical classroom learning experience!
The Bottom Line for Now
There is no expiration date on “Value Discipline” thinking. While no book and no framework will provide you with the silver bullet for success, spending some time assessing your value proposition, value discipline and supporting operating model is an important exercise for everyone and every firm, from solopreneurs and consultants to global firms.
So, what’s your Value Discipline?
Marketing Yourself Part II: Defining Your Professional Value Proposition
Filed under: "To Do" List, Marketing, Marketing Yourself, Professional Growth, Strategy
Job search is a hot topic right now, and I received a number of notes from individuals who read my Irreverent Opinions of a Resume Hobbyist post the other day, asking for input about how to craft a Personal/Professional Value Proposition to support their job-hunting activities. In essence, people want to know how to stand out in a crowd. A well-developed Professional Value Proposition is an essential tool for differentiating yourself from the herd, the pack and the flock!
I said in the post that I view this as the hardest task in developing an effective resume and self-marketing strategy. This is where you will spend the most time creating content and agonizing over wording. Many people struggle to effectively articulate how they have created value in the past and how they will do it again in the future. You need to get this right!
After receiving the inquiries, I spent some time thinking about how to help by offering some guidelines and suggestions for navigating the slippery slope of defining your own Professional Value Proposition.
A quick health warning. I’m neither a resume writing pro or career coach, although a lifetime of hiring, developing and leading professionals along with many years leading marketing and strategy initiatives at least give me a license to fly here. Part of Management Excellence includes effective career development, so I don’t feel like I’m too far afield with this important topic.
Please feel free to add in your thoughts and comments below or use the “Suggest a Topic” box in the far right column of this blog.
What is a Professional Value Proposition?
Don’t let the fancy strategy and marketing words get in the way of a straightforward concept. Your Professional Value Proposition (PVP) is simply a central message that that describes how you as an individual uniquely create value for your customers, companies, co-workers and stakeholders.
When do I reference my Professional Value Proposition?
In short, all of the time. Your PVP is the core message that needs to come through in your marketing materials—your resume, cover letter and other supporting materials. It also defines the core message that you will reference and support during interview processes.
OK, I still don’t get the Value Proposition part. What is it?
In strategy terms, a simple explanation of the concept of “Value Proposition,” is: Why people buy. Firms and hiring managers will buy you because you very uniquely solve complex problems for customers and stakeholders. Of course, the devil is in the details of describing why you are unique and providing evidence to substantiate your claim.
Another way to relate to your PVP is as your personal elevator pitch. If given the chance to pitch yourself for a job during a ride from the lobby to the 14th floor, how would you effectively communicate why the hiring manager should consider you.
Last and not least, your PVP is not a single sentence statement, but rather a concise message map with a core message at the center and supporting messages and evidence hanging off of that core message.
How do I Develop my PVP? Questions about you.
I’ll offer a series of questions for you as thought prompters. By thinking through and answering the questions, you will have the materials needed to finalize your PVP.
What is it that you do that creates value for your organization?
For example:
As a leader, I am uniquely gifted at identifying and developing talented professionals and teams that fuel growth and create positive change in organizations.
I connect strategies to execution and guide teams to innovate, experiment, learn and adapt tactics and strategies to better solve client problems.
As a sales manager, I create operationally excellent and innovative sales teams that work relentlessly on developing high quality business by solving specific client problems.
What evidence supports your value-create statements?
This is the part where you need to clearly and succinctly substantiate with numbers and examples. Include answers to what you did that drove results, how you did it and how you impacted your team and organization.
PVPs Can’t Just Focus on History…You Need to Look Forward
While your past experiences define where you have come from and what you’ve accomplished, the hiring manager is looking at today and the near future at that need solving. A good PVP will incorporate both the historical examples and data points and then offer a forward-looking component. You need to connect the dots on how your past adds up to creating value in the future. Otherwise, you’re just offering a personal biography.
What qualities, skills, approaches, and outcomes can you describe that show why you are unique and different from typical candidates?
Remember, I didn’t say this was easy. What are your unique skills and experiences and how do they help you create value? If you reach this point in your exercise and you cannot confidently state why you are unique and distinct (talents, skills, successes, evidence, go forward abilities etc.), then you need to keep working. If you get stuck, ask a valued professional colleague for help.
Who’s Your Buyer? Tailoring Your PVP to Your Buyer:
This sounds dirtier than it is. It’s actually good marketing. The CEO seeking an executive hire has one set of needs, HR another and prospective peers have their own. Your absolute core message does not deviate, but you may emphasize different skills and experiences to better match with the needs of your immediate customers.
The Bottom-Line for Now:
Describing who you are and what you bring to a firm and a team is remarkably important to your search success. Ideally, your Professional Value Proposition will be a Resonator (thanks, Tuned In authors!): something that shows how you so perfectly solve unresolved problems for your buyers that they have to have your services. Creating the genuine message about you that resonates with hiring managers require a lot more effort than constructing the typical run-of-the-mill chronological/functional resume.
So, tell me about yourself. Why should anyone hire you?
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