Zone to Win

On the row side, the challenge for GM Scott McCorkle is to creatively apply the four zones model inside his Marketing Cloud while fulfilling its external commitments to the performance zone. To do so, he must integrate and optimize social media assets that were developed on independent architectures (productivity zone), leverage his core email mark

Incubation Zone. Here things were a bit chaotic, but largely in ways one would expect.

Incomplete alignment at the executive level. In this scenario one or more senior executives simply choose not to suit up, preferring instead to direct their energies toward efforts more specific to their own interests.

1. Neutralize. 2. Optimize. 3. Differentiate.

The CEO’s second task is to sponsor a dramatic reallocation of resources, one that will put everyone’s nose out of joint.

The transformation zone is the mechanism by which an enterprise can free its future from the pull of the past.

In sum, the incubation zone represents precious real estate that should not be confused with experimentation with next-generation technologies and business models. That sort of thing can be done in a Skunk Works or a lab, a domain where learning is the prime objective and fast failure is actually a form of success.

The second principle of zone defense is to focus your R&D innovation on neutralization, not differentiation. This is the opposite of the disruptors’ strategy. They have to differentiate—it’s the only way they can win your customers away from you. You, on the other hand, do not. You are the incumbent, the default choice, with inertia on your sid

The first principle of zone defense is that you must never attempt to disrupt yourself. As an established enterprise, your number-one asset is the inertial momentum of your installed customer base. Your number-two asset is an ecosystem of partners that makes its living adding value to your established offerings.