The Power of Knowing Where to Play

Positioning sounds like one of those words that belongs in a workshop with too many Post-it notes.

It's become one of those business terms that's easy to dismiss. Somewhere along the way it found itself sitting alongside messaging frameworks, purpose statements and value propositions. Useful, perhaps. Important, apparently. But not something that feels like it has much to do with growth.

I think we've accidentally done positioning a disservice.

Most leadership teams aren't short of opportunities. New markets, new products, new partnerships, new technology. Growth has a habit of creating more options, not fewer. Which is a good problem to have. Until it isn't.

At some point, every organisation reaches a stage where choosing becomes harder than finding.

That's where positioning quietly starts to earn its keep.

It has a habit of turning up in places you don't expect. It shapes which opportunities get a second meeting and which don't. It influences where investment goes, the partnerships you pursue and the ideas that never quite make it off the whiteboard. None of those decisions feels particularly significant on its own. Collectively, they shape where an organisation ends up.

There's another reason I think this matters more now than it did even a few years ago.

Boards are making decisions in a world that's becoming harder to predict, while more and more of the value organisations create sits in things that don't fit neatly on a balance sheet. Trust. Reputation. Intellectual property. Relationships. Brand. They're harder to measure, but they have a remarkable influence on long-term growth.

Waiting until everything becomes clear isn't really an option (if only).

What helps is having something that makes the next decision easier. That's what good positioning does.

It gives people a shared understanding of where the organisation is heading, what deserves attention and what can wait. Not every decision becomes straightforward. There are still judgement calls, difficult trade-offs and the occasional leap of faith. Easier said than done.

Looking back, the organisations that grew most consistently weren't chasing every opportunity that came along. They simply became very good at recognising the ones that deserved their attention.

Growth has a habit of following.