One of the most important things I’ve learned about business is that it’s not as important to have the answers as it is to always be asking yourself the right questions. William Dunk Partners advises CEOs on their strategies and on his website shares “some of the questions we always have to ask”:
a. Can we state the strategy simply in fifteen words or less?
b. What kinds of people will we need to put the strategy in place?
c. Will the strategy truly grow the company? For years, strategists and consultants have focused much too much on reducing costs, not increasing revenues.
d. Does the strategy figure out what alliances will create enough leverage for us to achieve superior performance?
e. Does the strategy swim upstream against the prevailing tide? The real money will be made by finding a way of not doing things the way they are today.
f. Will the strategy remedy some big hole in the economy? Will lives really be different if the strategy gets implemented?
g. Does the strategy look for niches where there’s no competition?
Questions like these are helpful in triggering my thinking, particularly when coming from accomplished business practitioners. Increasingly, I’ll collect and keep questions from accomplished people more than settling on any particular answers. As the world changes, I find the answers less valuable than the fundamental questions.
