Assuming you’ve figured out your Flywheel – what truly creates power and drives the growth engine of your business – it’s time to look into how to increase its strength and power.
If you haven’t, check out these links:
Podcasts:
Five Ways to Ensure Your Flywheel Will Build Momentum
Articles:
The Flywheel Concept – Is It Working For or Against You?
Simple Strategies Relentlessly Executed
Powering Up Your Flywheel
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Dot your KPIs
Make sure you have KPIs for each part of the Flywheel and have defined an owner(s) for each one. It’s one thing to have an opinion about how effective each part of the Flywheel is, it’s another to let data tell you so that you can measure and manage it.
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Rate the strength or effectiveness of each area, quarterly or annually.
Ideally, colour code each area red, yellow or green against your KPIs, and get the team to agree on the current level of strength and performance.
If you don’t have full KPIs, to keep it simple, you can literally just colour each area red, yellow or green.
In some cases, you may want to evaluate the Flywheel for a division, a location or geography of the business. Be careful not to do a separate Flywheel because that creates too much complexity. Just rate those other parts of the business to the Flywheel.
When we reviewed the Flywheel of a real estate developer with whom we work for the overall business and their different geographies, there was a shocking correlation between the health and performance of the Flywheel, in each location. We use it as one of the main diagnosis tools then understand what that location needs to succeed. This works best when we work in conjunction with that location head to both do the assessment and then the identification of the strategies to improve.
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Brainstorm what needs to be done to get each piece to 10/10 or green.
Sometimes, the weakest link in the Flywheel holds everything back, like a malfunctioning brake that keeps a car from going fast enough. You need to focus on fixing the problem to free up the entire system.
One company we work with had an incredible epiphany when we did this exercise. They saw that their weakest link had been created when they had under-invested cash, and under-hired people, for a couple of years, in an ignored part of their Flywheel. While a disappointment, they could immediately see what needed to be done.
The Flywheel is a tool to help you see your business and prioritize the most important things. With so many things and so much noise going on all the time, it’s easy to get lost.
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Decide & focus on your investments and goals
Decide what you’re going to do over the next quarter year, and three-to-five years, to notably strengthen those key areas of the Flywheel.
Drive towards the outcomes with goals or objectives to which specific people are accountable.
The Challenge
- If you and your team are already aligned around what needs to happen to get your Flywheel to all green or 10, congratulations!
- If you’re not there, yet, what can you do to help spool up the core power of your business?
For more, listen to Episode 118 of The Growth Whisperers.
Our team has helped many companies with their Flywheel, so if you need help, please let us know.
Lawrence & Co’s work focuses on sustainable and enhanced growth for you and your business. Our diverse and experienced group of advisors can help your leaders and executive teams stay competitive through the use of various learning tools including workshops, webinars, executive retreats, or one-to-one coaching.
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