A monthly newsletter and community round-up, shining light on the art and science of powerful market positioning.
Hello again my friend,
September seems to have been a month of renewal as the warmth has crept back in. I’ve been asked to set new business models, update positioning and help leadership teams to keep ahead of their market.
It feels like I’ve spent the weeks relentlessly asking my customers to be clearer about the reality of their current state; pushing them not just to be insightful, but also to be truthful. It’s taken me down a happy rabbit hole about truth that I think you might enjoy.
And if truth and positioning are on your mind too, my free one-hour online clinic is coming up on Tuesday (12–1pm). It’s a chance to bring your own questions, swap stories with others, and have some real conversation. More on that at the end.
I hope the winds of trade are on your back. I’ll see you all out there,
AM
Truth is the most valuable asset
At the risk of sounding pompous, I’ve slowly come to realise that truth is the most valuable asset in any business. But you all know this already, don’t you?
Truthfully describing our current-state holds us in the present, keeping our strategy and tactics sharp.
Repeating this truth motivates us to take action towards our goals, or be resilient when we’ve missed them. Then perhaps most fundamentally, sharing the truth of our own performance engenders the trust that powers high performing teams.
When truth goes missing
Blimey. As a topic it’s so profound to be rendered almost meaningless, but I’d like us all to lean in on it for a moment. Because when a business loses momentum and feels acute revenue stress, truth is often the first casualty.
I usually notice this as teams struggle to connect their performance to facts. They become more likely to explain through personal anecdotes, not by insight or with data, making it harder to reset strategy to take effective, rapid action. Conversations become noisy, not productive.
Whenever I come across this situation, I usually loop back to suggest that we’re not describing our current-state accurately (or truthfully) enough. Understandably, teams are quick to take offense yet this isn’t conscious obfuscation, but a symptom of an invisible shift in our focus when under stress.
How stress distorts reality
When we’re under pressure, our world shrinks and we become obsessed with our own performance, not the needs of the market around us. We lose touch with the nuance of our customer’s world, which quickly outdates our understanding of what they really see, need and do.
In other words, our product-market fit quietly drifts while we’re looking elsewhere. When unchecked, the problems compound; we plan without proper consideration for the customer, refusing to commit to a clear niche because we don’t know enough about the customer’s emerging needs to be confident in our decision.
When product-market fit drifts
Before long we’re relying on marketing to over explain and paper over the cracks in our market-fit. The tragedy of this outcome is that we lose sight of our real potential.
The great April Dunford reminds us that it’s possible to have a “great product masquerading as a shit one” which unfortunately is what happens when we don’t keep close to our market.
Marketing can’t fix poor fit. It only papers over the cracks.
A simple truth exercise
Perhaps this sounds familiar? Thankfully it’s easy to encourage our teams, even when under pressure, to widen their view. Remember, a business is just a group of people. Humans communicate through stories. Over time, stories become beliefs and beliefs become facts. Facts drive the behaviours that determine our performance.
So try using your product-market fit as the defining point of truth in your business. As your whole team to strip down what you know for sure about it, but be ready to be confronted by just how little this often is. The gaps in reality vs perception will be clear.
If nothing else, this one simple exercise will invite conversation about the dual role of both positioning and performance in turning around poor sales.
Every two months I hold a free one-hour online clinic - not a webinar, but an open conversation about positioning. Bring your questions, your wins, your struggles, or just listen in.
The value comes from the mix of curious minds willing to trade stories and sharpen ideas together. Would love to see you there.
Need proof that Recency Bias is a thing when writing newsletters? This month I’ve had the luxury of being in the room with Chris Boys and Alex Ball as they led step changes in leadership performance.
The book outlines how teams often fail due to a cascading set of issues: lack of trust, fear of conflict, absence of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results.
Lencioni argues that high-performing teams fail when they lack trust. Without trust, people hold back, avoid conflict, and never fully commit. It’s not the same as the “truth” I’ve written about above, but the two are connected. Truth keeps strategy sharp; trust creates the conditions where people feel safe enough to share it.
It’s an accessible, practical read for all your team. Well worth picking up when you’re ready to kick start higher performance together.
If you know anyone who might enjoy this read, feel free to pass it on or suggest they sign up here.
3Green is a Commercial Strategy Practice in Aotearoa, led by B2B market positioning expert Andy Mitchell.
If you’d like to discuss your business’s market position, schedule a free 15-minute call with me. I’d love to hear what’s happening for you and explore how I can help.
If you enjoyed this, you can find lots of other strategy waffle on LinkedIn. Come and join the conversation.
