Outthinker Institute for Management Studies

The Power of
Strategic Thinking
to Drive Growth
and Success

Ray Kroc

Mohammad Yunus

Tata

Thomas Edison

Betsy Johnson

Height(inches)
30
0
10
20
Average Business
School
Students
Lawyers Architects
&
Engineers
CEOs CEOs
&
Exec Admins
????

Richard
Branson
Oprah
Winfrey
Elizabeth
Arden
Dhirubhai
Ambani
Bill Gates
Charles
Revson
Henry Ford
Sōichirō
Honda

Martin Luther
King, Jr.
Mother
Teresa
Mahatma
Gandhi
Nelson
Mandela
Rosa Parks Mohammad
Yunus
Margaret
Thatcher
Benjamin
Franklin

Elon Musk
CEO, Tesla Motors
Tom Adams
CEO, Rosetta Stone
Mark Zuckerberg
CEO, Facebook
Arianna Huffington
CEO, Huffington Post
Robert Keane
CEO, Vistaprint
Wayne Gattinella
CEO, WebMD
Sabrina Herrera
Cofounder, Genomma Lab
Marissa Mayer
CEO, Yahoo
Larry Page
CEO, Google
Mark Vadon
Founder, Blue Nile
Josh Linkner
Founder, ePrize
Ann Hand
CEO, Project Frog
Susan Lyne
CEO, Gilt Groupe
Cory Booker
Mayor, Newark, NJ, USA
Jeff Bezos
Founder, Amazon.com

Today’s Purpose
Step into a new mindset….the outthinker mindset
Apply the core tools to design a breakthrough strategy
Feel confident in your ability to apply what you have learned at work

Two Standard Approaches
Follow proven rules
or best practices
Rules
1. Alkdjfklsdlkj
2. Asdlkfj bou
3. Alsk boiuoidf
4. Goibjhkal dgs
5. Glijgbuu gds
6. gljgoiud
Lay out options,
apply data, arrive at
the optimal option
Option narrowing
X
X
X

Outthinker Methodology
The Five HABITS of Innovative Leaders & Teams
  

Outthinker Methodology
Finding the BIG I.D.E.A
  
Today’s
Focus

“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?”
Harry M. Warner, CEO of Warner Brothers Pictures, circa 1927
“Heavier than air flying machines are
impossible.”
Lord Kelvin President, Royal Society, circa 1895
“There is no likelihood man can ever tap
the power of the atom.”
Robert Millikan, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1923
“There is no reason for any individual to have a
computer in their home.”
Ken Olsen President , Digital Equipment Corporation,1977
“The phonograph … is not of any commercial value.”
Thomas Alva Edison (Inventor of the Phonograph), circa 1880
Outthinkers are Outliers

“First they ignore you,
then they laugh at you,
then they fight you,
then you win.”
Mohandas Gandhi

The option beyond the obvious choices;
the option others do not see, will not
consider, and will not respond effectively to.
The 4th Option®

Go home
Wait
Climb the walls

URBN Revenue History
$ Millions
Source: Bloomberg & TIAA-CREF
350 425
550
830
1,090
1,230
1,510
1,840
1,940
2,270
2,470
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

URBN Results
5
5
13
Industry
ANF**
URBN
Growth
5Y Ave.* Revenue CAGR (%)
14
12
20
Profitability
5Y Ave.* EBITD Margin (%)
* 5 years average as of October 2013
** Abercrombie & Fitch, closest peer by market capitalization
Source: Reuters

College students only
Used clothing
Artists not managers in charge
Manager freedom
Every store different
…

URBN Score
Position
Process
Physical
experience
People
PlaceProduct
PromotionPrice
0 = no difference
1 = different; competition
will catch us in < 3 yrs.
2 = different; competition
won’t catch us for 4+ yrs.
LEGEND

Position
Process
Physical
experience
People
PlaceProduct
PromotionPrice
The 8Ps
0 – no
difference
1 – 4 year
difference
2 – 5+ year
difference

Company Outthinker Score (X)
Pos.
Proc.
Phys.
People
PlaceProd.
Promo.Price
Tesla Motors (6)
Dell (8)
Pos.
Proc.
Phys.
People
PlaceProd.
Promo.Price
Rosetta Stone (7)
Pos.
Proc.
Phys.
People
PlaceProd.
Promo.Price
Southwest (8)
Pos.
Proc.
Phys.
People
PlaceProd.
Promo.Price
Vistaprint (10)
Pos.
Proc.
Phys.
People
PlaceProd.
Promo.Price
Pos.
Proc.
Phys.
People
PlaceProd.
Promo.Price
Walmart (7)
Genomma Lab (8)
Pos.
Proc.
Phys.
People
PlaceProd.
Promo.Price
Pos.
Prod
Phys.
People
PlaceProc
Promo.Price
Urban Outfitters(9)

I.D.E.A.S

You just received a $1,000. How would you allocate the money?
“Use it to buy something nice for someone special.”
“Invest it in a retirement fund.”
“Plan a fun and extravagant occasion.”
“Put it in a checking account.”
“Me Now” “Me Later”
3x

The Problem:
Envisioning ourselves in the future is so difficult that we often
think that future self as an entirely different person.

Objective: Give yourself permission to dream a different future.
I | IMAGINE

Objective: Force yourself to travel to a different future.
I | IMAGINE

Objective: Bring that future back to the present.
I | IMAGINE

Objective: Attain strategic clarity.
I | IMAGINE

What I found
most valuable
about the
IMAGINE step
was…

Group A: How Can I Produce A Good
Drawing?
Group B: What Good Drawing Can I
Produce?

Objective: Be a problem finder, not a problem solver.
D | Dissect Exercise
Pick the TWO “Ps” you
usually solve this
problem from.

Objective: Be a problem finder, not a problem solver.
D | Dissect Exercise
Pick two “P”s you are
least likely to dissect
your challenges
from.
Generate as many
questions as you can
to think about your
challenge from these
“P”s

What I found
most valuable
about the
DISSECT step
was…

Alexandra Kosteniuk
How Do Great Strategists See the
“Winning Move?”

Source: Baddeley model of short term working memory
Consciousness
Phonetic loop
Visuo-special
sketchpad
Episodic buffer

Relative number of games chess players recognize:
Grand master Master Expert

Europe & North America –
Fairy tales
Japan – Koan
India – Puranas
China – 36 stratagems

Identifying Outthinkers
Value creation
(TRS)
Revenue growth
(CAGR)
(EBITDA)
Profit margin

Core Research

Narratives to Find a Fourth Option
#7 Force two-front battle
#32 Create something out of nothing
#22 Move early to the next battleground
#34 Coordinate the uncoordinated
#33 Be good

Move Early to the Next Battleground22

Move Early to the Next Battleground22
“I just think a future in
which anyone can shoot
stuff into space is more
exciting than one which
only the government
can.”
Elon Musk, founder,
Space-X
(2003 interview)

Identify and move early to the next
battleground.
Where is the next battleground?
- Technological trends?
- Social shifts?
- Geographies?
- Buying patterns?
- Needs?
22 Move Early to the Next Battleground

Coordinate the Uncoordinated34

76

Combine and coordinate independent
elements within your environment to
orchestrate much greater power.
Who would we like to coordinate?
- Customers
- Experts
- Employees
- Real estate
- Regulators
- Competitors
- Driveways
- …

Force a Two-Front Battle7

7 Force a Two-Front Battle
Cloud
providers
Cloud
services
Retail
“There is no physical analog for
what Amazon.com is becoming.”
- Jeff Bezos

Shoes
Shoes
Customer
service

Traditional
CPA firms
Projects
Resources
(Accnts)

Force a two-front battle7
Project your unique capability into a new
area.
What is your unique advantage/
capability?
Into what new area could you project this?

Environment
Employees
Community
Govern-
ment /
country
Share-
holders
Customers
Be Good33
Corporation

33
86
Be Good

The Holstee
Manifesto

Adopt a strategy that Benefits others.
How can you profitably benefit key
stakeholders that you are not now
considering?
Be good33

Create Something Out of Nothing32

Julie Pickens

Ingvar Kamprad

Add a new piece the board.
What would you like to create/ add
to the game?
- New categories?
- New occasions or needs?
- New customers?
- New suppliers?
- New distributors?
- New regulations?
Create something out of nothing32

Find More Stratagems at www.kaihan.net

What I found
most valuable
about the
EXPAND step
was…

“Impossible is a word to
be found only in the
dictionary of fools.”
Napoleon Bonaparte

Selecting your 4th Option
High
Low
Crazy ideas Winning moves
Wastes of time Tactics
Impact
• How far would
this get me
toward my
goal?
• How long
before the
competition
responds?
Difficult Easy
• Can we do this quickly?
• Is this inexpensive?
• Do we have the capability?

Make the impossible possible
Don’t build
handsets
Risk of no
WiFi
Customer
Service too
costly
“Each of these
looked like show
stoppers”
Motorola
Early
adopters
No one
provides
service
David Morken, CEO Bandwidth.com

“It's not that I'm so
smart, it's just that I
stay with problems
longer.”
- Albert Einstein

Select ONE idea that you
want to move forward on for
your challenge.
Share it with the group.

What I found
most valuable
about the
ANALYZE step
was…

Selling your idea … think GAME
Goal Audience Message Engagement
What do I want
my audience to
do and/or
believe?
What do I know
about my
audience?
• What are they
asking
themselves?
• What are their
concerns?
• What is their
point of view?
What message
(or message
points) will have
my audience do
and/or believe?
How can I best
engage them in my
message?
• Presentation?
• Phone?
• One-on-one?
• Time of day?
• Occasion (e.g.,
lunch)?
• Where?
• Environment?
• …

Personal Example

Mr. Practical Mr. Obvious Mr. Expert Mr. What Works Mr. Cog

Ratan Tata

kk@kaihan.net
www.kaihan.net
www.outthinker.com
@kaihan
• Register for newsletter,
tools, videos
• Work out your Fourth
Option®
• Email me to get
presentation
• Contact us at Outthinker
for more support

Outthinker Institute for Management Studies

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