The Islands Problem

What the paper argues

Almost every business runs on good digital tools, and each of them covers a part. When the leadership team reviews the pipeline, agrees the forecast or checks the strategy, the meeting is still prepared in spreadsheets. The business is one, but its management runs on islands.

• The missing foundation. Before a lead enters a CRM: knowing the market place, choosing where to win, and a sales management method built into the system everyone works in.
• Steering on islands. Pipeline reviews, forecasts and follow-ups each rebuilt from extracts, so time is lost and decisions rest on numbers already out of date.
• Strategy on its own island. Formulation, implementation and feedback disconnected from the work, the pipeline and the books.
• Not only a small-company problem. The same islands exist in multinational groups with tens of thousands of employees, only bigger.
• A holistic view. One chain from market place to dynamic strategy implementation, covering people, internal and external resources around the clients served.

What it covers

1. Executive summary
2. The digital paradox: more tools, less overview
3. The missing foundation: before the lead enters the CRM
4. Steering on separate islands
5. Strategy on its own island
6. Not only a small-company problem
7. A holistic view: TotalBusiness™ 360
8. Inside the system: module by module
9. What changes in practice
10. How we work, and questions for leadership teams
11. References

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