The ‘problem’ with visionaries is that vision is not quantifiable. Conversely, key decision makers substitute quantifiable data for a lack of vision. So when an idea is in bloom, a company immediately finds itself at an impasse. As a result, when this visionary foresees the need for, let’s say, a product to service a market that does not yet exist, the pursestring-guarding decision makers say precisely what they’ve been trained to say, “Build me a business case.”

The obvious problem here is, as Clayton M. Christensen explains in “The Innovator’s Dilemma,” markets that do not exist cannot beanalyzed. The visionary’s idea stagnates, while the market emerges and your competitors seize your market share.

Worse still, this paralyzing reliance upon business cases and ROI forecasts stifles the creative spirit where it’s needed most: at the visionary level. rest assured that your visionary’s next idea won’t find it’s way to R&D because either a) he won’t share it, or b) your visionary now works for your competitor.

Worse than that? The company is now missing out on an emerging market, forcing it to enter the market later (if ever) as a follower rather than a leader thus labeling it as a late-blooming follower lacking in vision. And while that characterization may be harsh, that does not make it inaccurate. That is because during the short term, to the customer and industry media, perceptions drive and solidify  long term reality. As such, all that will ultimately matter to the customer and the industry media is a) who makes it cheapest, and b) who makes it best.

Now leap forward and recognize that what began as Vision vs. Bureaucracy has become an entire company (perhaps industry) forced to make either a) price or b) quality their sole position. Neither presents a winning nor a sustainable advantage; price point alone being an indefensible position.

There is, however, a time for being methodical. Case in point, a few years back I was working as the Strategic Projects Manager for a medium-sized industrial manufacturer that wanted to a) go global, b) defeat three competitors, and 3) branch out from solely b2b into b2c. It also wanted to simultaneously transform its image from an industrial manufacturer to a “design & engineering” firm.

These are audacious moves, and ones which require sound market research & analysis, thorough strategic planning, and calculated tactical implementation. So when the Company’s president asked me to draft a marketing plan to cover the next few years, I asked for typical input data: the Company’s business plan and  Q&A time with he and the Director of Sales & Marketing.

“No can do,” he told me. “The plan doesn’t exist, and we don’t have time to chat. Just write the plan,” he said.

What. The. What?

Knowing that company’s president, were he to read this he would say, “We proved successful, even without your plan and that input data.”  He has my congratulations and best wishes; I’m not here to make myself seem indispensable or infallible.  However, I would ask a) is the scale of success maximized, or was it curtailed due to lack of research, and b) lacking foundational research upon which strategic decisions are to be made, how sustainable is that success and growth?

Listen, when an industry and its respective markets exist, the data to draft a thorough strategy exists. And when you want to make an audacious leap in markets and image, you make expert use of that data. To not have and use that data is inexcusable. Worse, it also means no one bothered to investigate the answer to the most obvious question: How do we successfully get from here to there?

It seems obvious, but many people forget: businesses are operated by PEOPLE; as such, businesses do not make poor choices, PEOPLE do. The most base human elements; i.e. pride, greed, and a fear of change and lack of control are quite often what ruins a company. Case in point: Rising gas prices, increased global competition, and the housing market collapse did NOT bring ruin to The Big Three. No, they had everything the required to succeed: An existing market. Example technology. Market research. What’s worse was, these critical inputs were handed to them for free. All they had to do was 1) pay attention, 2) act on it.

The Airlines? They aren’t failing for a lack of money or customers. Like The Big Three, the airlines have [our] money, an existing market, example technology, and market research. And, once again, it’s all free. But what did they do with it? That’s right, they ignored it. So, tell me, what’s killing the airlines? That’s right, incompetence.

Banks. Newspapers. Manufacturers. Non-profits. Universities. TV Networks. And on, and on, and on.

What is killing American business is the American businessman. And in regards to business, we are in the midst of what is possible the most target-rich lessons learned opportunity of all time. Never in the history of mankind has there been a clearer example of how interrelated global economics truly are. Economics tie back to business, which tie back to people and the decisions they make.  Question is, is anyone paying attention? And what will happen next? The devil, as they say, is in the details:

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