Blindness is not about “not having eyes”, It’s something that you have eyes but “can’t see”, Why? Because you are busy seeing the spots which are already overcrowded. This is true for every context and situation of life. Sometime people are so busy to see only spots which are blockages and not the funnel or tunnel that can lead them to brighter side.
The Metaphor of blindness here is for all those leaders who are continuously using following line in some or other conversation:
“markets are really tough right now”
“demand is going down”
“we still don’t see demands equivalent to pre-covid levels”
I have been frequently hearing such statements from leaders (specifically in recent past) and I wonder “should we be really bothered with such situation?”
In order to understand the pain point – we went ahead and studied the revenue performance of some organization and the results were really “eye opening”. Here is an interesting example of one such organization which manufactures garments and supply to market via its distribution partners.
Situation
Revenue dropped close to 20% post pandemic
Assumption of leader
Demand is lower “obviously” because of the pandemic situation
Fact Check
Source 1: Market Feedback
– While talking to their key partners; we realized it was true that their sales dipped to around 20% compared to pre-pandemic
– However even before pandemic – they were hardly procuring 5 to 10% from us out of their total purchase of same product segment!
What do we learn from this?
– Yes – market dipped; but it is still (more than) sufficient for us to maintain our share
Source 2: Data
– 30% of our customers didn’t purchase anything from us in past six months
– 20% of customers procured lesser than past performance
– 40% new customers were added
What do we learn from this?
– The “lost” or “reduced focused” partners were still very much operational in the market; but they switched to different brand!
Source 3: Data
– Out of total available market we have no presence in 40% of the market
What do we learn from this?
– We still have an ocean full of opportunities!!
In nutshell; all I am trying to highlight here is please beware of getting blindsided by these “blind-spots” as possibly this way your mindset is becoming biggest hindrances to see the brighter side of Growth canvas.
Don’t get overwhelmed by the “emotions” of market – do a fact check on “spread” and “depth” of available market vs your share and you will most probably find tons of opportunity.
The only question which all leader should “ponder” upon is how to grab such opportunities?
Author:
Parth Hirani, is leading a strategic advisory practice at J.Hirani & has helped various organizations align strategies across continents. A social & collaborative sapien by nature. He enjoys being a full time “dreamer” & loves challenging “possibilities”.
Success mantra- “We believe it’s possible; while maintaining flexibility on “How” we are “Rigid” on our “Goals”
About J.hirani: J.hirani is a Strategic Transformation team which works as a growth partner for different organisations in various industries by providing services like Agile transformation, Scenario mapping, Strategic alignment, Balance scorecard, Digital transformation, Incubating new ventures, Operation excellence and Aligning human capital.
©J.hirani, “Blind-spots” of Leaders, September 2021. All rights reserved
