Cutting Out to Climb Up
Strip Your Strategy to the Bone
“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”
Peter Drucker
Could you intentionally stop selling your most profitable product tomorrow morning?
Sometimes, the best strategic decisions look like this.
Strip to the bone: Two stories
In September 1997, when Steve Jobs returned to Apple, its product lineup was a mess. The company tried to be what Samsung became a decade later.
It offered a wide range of computers, and customers saw little difference. It sold printers, peripherals, and Apple Newton MessagePads.
Steve Jobs stripped the company to its core. He cut all the desktop models back to one. He cut out all the printers and peripherals. He cut out distributors and most of the company's resellers.
He made a big spring cleaning and won. Apple has become a legend.
In September 2006, when Alan Mullaly joined Ford as a CEO, the company was deteriorating rapidly and losing money.
Mullaly also stripped the company to the core. H…