Entries by wildoakonestepahead

In the New Digital World, Catching the Next Wave is a Necessity

Last July, I suggested that well-established companies could no longer sustain competitive advantage through using their size and market reach as barriers to entry. The unprecedented assault of new waves of digital disruption have enabled companies of any size to penetrate some portion of well-established companies’ value chains. Taken together these disruptions are making what […]

In The New Digital World, You Have to Win the “Technology-Enabled” Business Innovation Game

The connected customer wants a different customer journey Technology-enabled innovation is not only disrupting the competitive landscape, it is redefining the user experience value proposition across a multitude of industries. It is also putting companies on notice that if you can’t successfully engage your customers in this new digitally mediated world you are on your way […]

In the New Digital World, Learning Faster than the Competition is the Only Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Almost every C-level executive I speak with tells me they are so busy doing their business that they have no time to think about their business. Whether it’s the back-to-back to back meeting calendars or the explosion of digital communication tools from e-mail to texting to Twitter to Snapchat, executives at all levels are completely […]

In the new digital world, you need new people in new seats on the bus

In Jim Collins’ seminal book, Good to Great, he makes a very compelling case that getting the right people in the right seats on the bus is more important than your business growth strategy. While that may seem counterintuitive, in the new digital world I think it makes perfect sense. Why? Because with the level […]

In the new digital world, barriers to entry no longer exist

Until very recently, most leaders of established businesses believed that the key to creating sustainable competitive advantage was erecting large barriers to entry through scaling the size and market reach of their companies. The reason this approach was successful was the high costs incurred to: Build product development and manufacturing capabilities Create sales, marketing and […]

Using the 4 Zone Model to Build an IT Investment Portfolio

“How much value is IT adding to the business?”             This is the one question that most CIOs I talk with struggle to answer. For many organizations, IT’s value is only measured by its ability to reduce costs and optimize the capital expense depreciation of large hardware and software licenses. […]

Implementing the 4 Zone Model Playbook

From Strategy to Implementation: Common Drivers & Expected Outcomes Like any new strategic framework and set of tools and processes, the 4 Zone Model’s value can only be realized through implementation and execution. I have outlined below how some early adopters of the model have deployed different elements of the playbook to address critical issues […]