Strategy is about asking great questions, consistently and deliberately. Great strategies come from asking questions your competitors aren’t even thinking about yet.
In the article “What Strategy Questions Are You Asking?” Roger Martin introduces a dynamic perspective on competition, likening it to a journey through various conceptual “rooms,” each presenting distinct challenges and opportunities.
In Martin’s framework, companies operate within metaphorical rooms defined by key questions about the market, customers, technologies, and competitors. Progressing through these questions allows companies to gain valuable insights and move on to the next room. Success is attributed not just to creating innovative products and services but to addressing questions that competitors haven’t even considered.
The metaphorical curtain that separates a company’s current room from the previous one is the crucial protective element. Competitors breaching this curtain pose a significant threat, companies need to stay vigilant and continuously move forward to the next room.
Competitive advantage is depicted as an ever-evolving concept rather than a static moat. The strategic focus is on asking new questions that your competitors haven’t even considered yet, pulling back the curtain and moving into the next room whilst your competitors are still working on earlier, less sophisticated, questions. The bank of questions come from active interaction with customers, systematic data collection, and an openness to anomalies as potential areas of interest. In turn these are supported by a culture that promotes customer focus, agility, data analysis and curiosity.
For help with aligning culture and strategy contact me at Sarah Robertson Consulting or book a discovery call
