How to Compete in Tough Times

  

While crawling around the Web for news and advice about navigating through current economic conditions, I found my way to a write up on a particularly useful presentation given by high-level partners at Sequoia Capital, an international venture capital firm, on that very topic.

Essentially, what they had to say can be boiled down to a few points.!@! Some of their ideas were intuitive, while others were somewhat contrary to the prevailing view of the market right now:

1. First, get your organization into a lean, survival mode, not just for the next year, but perhaps a decade or even longer. This is accomplished by — what else? — cutting unnecessary spending, reducing risk and preserving capital.
2. Economic turbulence notwithstanding, this is the best time to get competitive. Be aggressive with proven marketing messages and techniques. Promote your best attributes heavily, and pummel rival organizations for their failings. However, if an either/or choice must be made between gobbling up more market share or protecting existing capital, choose the latter.
3. Be true to your organization, focusing on what really matters to it and what it does really well. Forgo anything even slightly extraneous.

These tips can be applied both within the learning function and in program content targeted at managers and leaders within your enterprise.

While we’re on the subject, what other steps do you think will be necessary for organizations to survive right now? How can learning contribute? Let us know in the Comments section below.