How Good is your Competitive Game?

Posted byedstillmanPosted inMy perspective

Shared this with my members and Alumni tonight. As a business owner, or senior executive if you haven’t seen BCG and HBR consultants share their current beliefs read on, that said at the very least listen to Martin Reeves Ted Talk “building a business that lasts 100 years” and Brian Beaulieu’s article at the end of the 2nd section. They believe 2021 is shaping up to be a strong recovery year. Ask your leadership team…how good is your competitive game? Are you shaping or controlling your future? Would be interested in your thoughts?

The Hundred Year Company


Boston Consulting Group’s strategy leader Martin Reeves warns that planning often produces plans that look pretty much like what you did before.  One way he offers to avoid this tap is by making strategy creation a game.  His thoughts are shared in an Ideas.Ted.Com blog post  “Why  you should play a game that manages your company’s demise.    Two of the counterintuitive games that Mr. Reeves recommends have a somewhat “dark” quality to them in that participants are asked perform “pre-mortems” and to write their company’s obituary.  (See also this article from HBR with additional insight on “pre-mortems”.) Once you have a plan to prevent your company’s death, Mr. Reeves offers a way to build a plan for something that can last for the long run.  (These plans are not mutually exclusive and his stats on the ever decreasing corporate life span are alarming).  In a 15 minute TED talk he advocates an analogy to a system you already possess and use every day.  Check out how you can use this system to  “build a business that lasts 100 years.”  

Econ Recon

Bubble Watch: One of the Pandemic paradoxes is how well the equity markets have done in the face of the challenges and economic uncertainty presented by Covid.   On the one hand, to the extent that the market is “forward looking.” the ongoing strong performance of stocks is reassuring. On the other hand,  the crash of 2008-2009 is still relatively fresh in many minds. Add to that the recent turbulence created by the Gamestock and AMC short selling leads many to ask if  a bubble is building  Dr. Brian Wesbury explores the current situation and offers a one page analysis as to whether the stock market is near bubble territory. Heat or Light?:   

During any election cycle (and certainly in 2020)  both parties make dire predictions of what lies ahead for the economy if the other side wins.  Many on the right feared that the Democratic Party capture of the White House and the Senate, and continued control of the House, would impair the recovery from Covid. It’s important to try to separate “the heat from the light” in such times. In a recent blog post, Brian Beaulieu of ITR Economics offers a very interesting and concise, data backed,  unpacking of politics and economics. He advises that the “current political party alignment does not mean you should assume slow growth is ahead.”  His comments on the stock market are also worth reading.  Check out What the Political Alignment Means for the Economy. 

Published by edstillman

I grew up in Carlsbad, north San Diego County, lost my dad as a teenager, went into the USAF for four years and hired on with 3M in 1969. Received my AA from Santa Barbara City College, BA and Masters from Redlands University and after 33 plus years, I retired from 3M in 2002. As I look back on my life, I have been creating myself and developing my skill sets to be a business coach and a Vistage Chair. I am president of SEOT, a "personal improvement" consulting firm spending most of my time working with Central Texas executives running small to medium size for-profit companies who are focusing on improving their profitability greater than their competition. My area of interest is assisting senior executives in creating a better balance between business commitments and personal relationships. I also facilatate three leadership labs each consisting of a dozen owners, presidents and CEOs. We meet monthly both in a group setting as well as in a 1-to-1 coaching session. Our focus is to sharpen each others' skills in becoming better leaders, making better decisions and taking ourselves and companies to that next level. Who are we? My members are experienced top executives who recognize that they don’t have all the answers and who actively seek the company of successful peers—both to give and receive insights and ideas. My members mine the 200 plus years of chief executive experience that comes together in our monthly meetings and members are eager to offer their own experience and insights in the process. As a group, we spend our time exploring topics members can't discuss anywhere else. My members have many other places where they can engage in idle, "cocktail party" chatter. Our mission is to provide the setting for discussing the "undiscussable." Where or who can you go to for confidential, honest feedback to assist you in minimizing your personal "Worry List"?