Michael Porter on seduction

"The pursuit of operational effectiveness is seductive because it is concrete and actionable."

Are you being seduced? Are you so caught up in the day to day that you're missing the radical changes in a marketplace that has been revolutionized by an abundance of choice and a limitless amount of information?

Here’s why I’m asking. About a year ago, I was brought in to work with an executive staff and their board on a new, strategic initiative. After some lengthy sharing of information, insight, and debate, we created a powerful new purpose and identity. So far, so good. About a month ago I called to see how the new strategy had improved their operating performance. And what do you think I heard? Right. They had not even begun to implement.

There are two elements necessary to long-term business success: strategy and operational effectiveness. The latter bogs most leaders down. The mistake they make is that they see all of the change and all of the new technology, and they get caught up in it and start implementing like mad. They forget that if you don't have a solid strategy, if you don't have something emotionally powerful and distinctive, you’ll never win. Right? What do you think?