Textbook business models are academically approved, intellectually rigorous and based on many years of research in larger organisations. Most of the recommended models of analysis (Porter's Value Chain, BCG matrix, Seven S's) are over thirty years old and their relevance and appropriateness to the average business unit must be questioned.
The main complaint about the modern management texts is that management 'speaking in tongues' parades as science - the tools are not helpful - they are superficial, confusing and too theoretical.
The large business is like the sluggish supertanker; smaller businesses are altogether smaller and nimbler vessels - the skills of the supertanker captain are fundamentally different from those of the surfer.
'Water-Based' Analogy
David Storey has probed the factors underlying the exceptional performance of what he calls the Ten Percenters1. Using the analogy of a boat moving swiftly down a river, Storey recognises that one of two things was going on in these growing businesses; either, there was a capable crew and/or, the boat was backed by a strong current.On the whole, the highly successful business has placed the boat in a very fast current i.e. the management of the crew is not as crucial as the placing of the boat in the right current (being in the right place at the right time).
Ten Percenters were almost always in growing niche markets (the strong current). The crews were not, however, uniformly organised. By the standards of the management textbook, a number of the crews were euphemistically described as 'not well-managed'.
In fact, Storey's recent report suggests that textbook theory is not particularly relevant or helpful - personally, I would describe most textbooks as misleading for growing businesses. The analogy of surfing, however, does help us to understand the situation and give us clues as to how to behave.
Growth = surf
Surfers come in all shapes and sizes but the really good ones are obsessive - Go to Cornwall and you'll see the beginners, the vulnerable and the plodders floundering on the waters' edge - the 'real surfers' are far from the beach taking the big waves.Surfers look after their own fitness and equipment - Real surfers have their favourite boards, board wax, wet suits and equipment. They know how much they depend on their own wits when out alone - they may look relaxed but they take their sport very seriously - one bad move could be fatal!
Surfers are always looking for the next wave - They constantly scour the sea for the next wave - they look ahead behind, beside, above and below for any clues as to where the next wave will come from. They constantly read the currents, undertows and rips of each beach. They are constantly aware and responding to minute changes in the weather and the immediate environment (including other surfers) - they recognise that their lives might depend on their ability to understand and respond to the environment. So, while they might try to plot a general course, their real interest (they have a nose for it) is in looking for the next big wave.
Good surfers are able to catch waves that others miss - They see, or rather they make, opportunities where others see none; they always seem to be in the right place at the right time.
Good surfers don't take risks but rather they do take calculated risks - Like good strategists, surfers recognise the need to not try and take every wave; they specialise, concentrate and focus their efforts to be as effective as possible - the 80/20 rule applies out with the waves as much as it does in the commercial environment.
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1The Ten Percenters - 4th Report - Fast Growing SMEs in GB, Deloitte & Touche, and Warwick Business School, 1996.