Remember when I mentioned a CFO will tell you that implementing the Blue Ocean Strategy will involve the four mathematical operations? This step is where the operations come in:
➗ Eliminate Cost, preserve Value with the perspective of Key Partners, Key Activities, Key Resource, Cost Structure.
➖ Reduce Cost, preserve Value with the perspective of Key Partners, Key Activities, Key Resource, Cost Structure.
✖ Raise Value exceeding Cost with the perspective of Cost Structure, Customer Relationships, Channel Distribution, Revenue Stream.
➕ Create Value exceeding Cost with the perspective of Cost Structure, Customer Relationships, Channel Distribution, Revenue Stream.
With all four steps done, you have your strategy of diving into the blue ocean clearly identified. Just take action as you have planned, and you are good to go!
The Blue Ocean Strategy does seem a little more complicated compared to Micheal Porter’s generic competitive strategies, but both exhibit the same business mindset, i.e. “differentiation”. Rather than just competing with others in the red ocean, wanting to be in the blue ocean is challenging in the sense where you must think of ways to make you stand out, come up with something outstanding that makes you unique and convincing in the eyes of your customers. Humanness is, therefore, the key element of the Blue Ocean Strategy. Establishing humanness involves the change in mindset in people, in this case, bosses like you and your top management, to not only shift processes, but to also help you develop the confidence to act.
Humanness involves atomization, firsthand discovery, and fair process. Atomization is a process of breaking the challenge down into smaller actions so that you have more confidence in executing them, in a step-by-step manner. This is similar to what is being done in the coaching process. Next, firsthand discovery is allowing you to see things you have never seen before, making you realise that “hey, it is time for a change!”. Lastly, fair process, or a method of communicating through action to recognise your people for their intellectual and emotional worth. Fair process is the key to building trust and inspiring your people to voluntarily corporate throughout the process of implementing the Blue Ocean Strategy. Overall, making your way into the blue ocean is a process that goes one step of a time, but I could guarantee you that it is worth the effort.