GUEST POST from Geoffrey A. Moore

As managers, because we are always in the middle of something, we can easily forget how much our operating model depends on inertia for its success. We count on our supply chain to deliver more or less as promised, we expect our quarterly bookings to be pretty much as forecasted, and we count on our customer churn to be within its normal range. This is the world of the Performance Zone and the Productivity Zone, one we measure largely based on its financial performance, something that is made possible by inertia, the tendency of objects in motion to continue in motion, albeit with well-timed well-directed boosts from ourselves and our partners.

Disruptive innovation breaks this pattern. When successful, it can generate spectacular momentum with early adopters, but that fizzles out when things hit the chasm. The whole point of crossing the chasm is to restart the engine of inertia, first around a single compelling use case in a single beachhead target market, then building out to adjacent use cases and segments. Wherever inertia can get established, reliable supply chains, forecastable bookings, and manageable churn will follow.

But here is the thing to keep in mind while this effort is underway: the clock is ticking! That’s why we say, when inertia is not your friend, time is your enemy. As a consequence, whenever you are managing anything disruptive, be that an external offering to customers or an internal revamping of your business model, operating model, or infrastructure model, you must prioritize time to tipping point over all other variables.

The single most valuable tactic for staying on top of your time budget is establishing a cadence of weekly commits. Each commit is tied to a change in state that will be brought about within the next seven days, each change in state representing a meaningful step towards the tipping point. You can’t afford to ignore your finances, but do not let financial metrics distract you from prioritizing time to tipping point. Until you have established inertial momentum, financial performance is ephemeral, and not a good predictor of business health.

Finally, because weekly commits is a challenging discipline, it is critical to enlist your team in the higher cause that warrants extraordinary efforts on their behalf. It does no good to shame people who have missed a commit. Rather the motto is win or learn. Either make the commit and take the next step, or understand the root cause of why you missed the commit and adjust accordingly. Do not get discouraged. Be resilient.

That’s what I think. What do you think?

Image Credit: Gemini, Geoffrey Moore

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