This is IRG’s brochure, describing the institute as redefining strategy, structure and leadership capability for driving sustained business growth. Its argument is that over-performers are rejecting the tired formulas of the past and building a new architecture that delivers growth for all stakeholders.
The research base is more than 500 vision interviews across cultures, disciplines and levels of market development, covering unicorns and Fortune 500 companies, plus more than 1,500 survey respondents in 73 markets, analysis of LinkedIn data from 3.5 million users, and more than 3,000 publications.
Key findings
- The brochure states the problem plainly. Traditional business growth formulas are lacking, barriers to entry are disappearing, new players are breaking the rules, channels are proliferating, disruptors are themselves being disrupted, and global markets are reaching maturity.
- Each building block is presented against a myth. Against the myth that growth is about winning market share from competitors, the finding is that over-performers excel at spotting and choosing the right wave, assessing and understanding market developments at 85 percent against 33 percent.
- Against the myth that culture cannot be changed, under-performers describe their culture first as procedures, structure and quality, while over-performers describe theirs as innovation, change and entrepreneurship.
- Against the myth that anything outside the ROI model will be killed by the spreadsheet mafia, willingness to accept new business models runs 66 percent against 38 percent, and over-performers play chess and checkers simultaneously.
- Against the myth that agile forces a redefinition of responsibilities, over-performers win wars through micro-battles and score 66 percent against 14 percent on competitive agility.
The winning actions
Each block carries actions rather than principles. On markets: shift investment from explaining the past to predicting the future, and define your market so you have no more than 3 percent share. On culture: redefine career paths from a linear trajectory to a jungle gym, and celebrate and reward intrapreneurship.
On business models: make sure the investment approval process allows for multiple models, and create or participate in start-up platforms. On the organization: create multi-disciplinary teams fit for purpose for every strategic initiative, and push accountability down to consumer-facing staff.
On experience: measure and benchmark share of experience, and make sure every solution has product, service and experience components. On whole-brained working: shift focus from the what to the so what and the now what, and create whole-brain teams of equals.
On humanized growth, the seventh block and the why of the model: articulate the ambition in terms of impact on people and the world around them, and link business growth to people growth KPIs and incentive structures.
What changes in practice
The brochure states the shift as four moves: from a RACI straightjacket to freedom in a framework with fit-for-purpose teams, from rigid brand identity bibles to continuous results-based course-correction, from individual performance KPIs to results-based team KPIs, and from a top-down line of command to empowerment of consumer-facing colleagues.
The engagement runs in three steps: understand the gap through quantitative benchmarking, vision interviews and desk research, define the so what by aligning on priorities and building a roadmap, and action the now what by creating and deploying tangible solutions.
For each of the seven blocks a participating company receives a performance score with benchmarking, a progression checklist and guidance on its top opportunities.
Who founded it
IRG is described as not-for-profit and independent, co-founded by WPP, Kantar, Google, Facebook, Spencer Stuart, LinkedIn, the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford and the New York University School of Professional Studies.
The program is a series of workshops combining research, best practice case studies, expert speakers and individual coaching, personalized to the participant’s own leadership and business needs. Participants who complete it receive a Certificate in Real Growth Leadership from the NYU School of Professional Studies.
The advisory board named in the brochure includes Antonio Lucio of Facebook, Meredith Verdone of Bank of America, Yoram Wind of Wharton, Frank Cooper of BlackRock, Lindsay Pattison of WPP, Roel de Vries of Nissan, Lorraine Twohill of Google, Bob Liodice of the ANA and Peter Ter Kulve of Unilever.
Scope and limitations
The brochure labels its own figures. The percentages shown are the scores of growth over-performers and of growth under-performers, and the sample scores in the benchmarking section are illustrative of the report a company would receive.
Source
This page summarises Institute for Real Growth, by Institute for Real Growth, 2019-05-27.