Advice for CEOs

Here’s an idea that has become commonplace in recent years: an entrepreneur should restrict the scope of their company to the core capabilities that provide it with competitive differentiation and strategic advantage. And here’s another best practice, described in detail in the book Exponential Organizations: companies that want to achieve exponential growth must leverage assets that they don’t own. The authors posit that even critical activities can be outsourced as long as there is no scarcity of suppliers. But how do we apply these guiding principles in practical ways that accelerate growth and profitability? A recent experience of mine provides an example.