Kicking to the seagulls means putting the ball where your competitors aren't. A rugby league coach taught it, and it's still the clearest test of a business strategy I know.
One year my local rugby club held a fundraising lunch. The guest of honour was Ray Price. He played rugby union and rugby league for Australia, won four premierships, a Dally M Medal and a Rothmans Medal, and played State of Origin for New South Wales.
Someone asked him who was the most influential person in his life.
His coach. Jack Gibson.
What did Jack Gibson mean by the seagulls?
Gibson coached his players to kick into open space, not into the opposition's hands.
Seagulls gather on the empty parts of a field. Nobody's standing there.
So that's where the ball goes.
His message was simple. Play where your competitors are not.
So what is strategy?
The definition I like best is Michael Porter's, from Harvard Business School. "Strategy is the creation of a unique and valuable position, involving a different set of activities."
And the line most founders skip: "The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do."
A plan that does what everyone else does, a bit harder, isn't a strategy. It's kicking straight to the fullback. You compete on the same dimensions as your rivals, and the only lever left is price.
How do you know if you've got one?
Ask one question. Can you and your team state your strategy simply, and is it driving sustainable growth in revenue and gross margins?
Both halves matter. A strategy nobody can say out loud won't change what anyone does on Monday. And a strategy that grows revenue while margins shrink is usually the same game as everyone else, played faster. It's one of the reasons most businesses never pass $2m.
The one thing to do this week
Ask each person on your leadership team to write your strategy in one sentence, on their own, without talking to each other. Then compare them. If you get five different answers, you've found the first job for the quarter.
If you want help finding your open space, book a 25-minute Growth Plan call.
