When you don’t have a clear view of where you’re going and you just focus on the steps you’re taking today, those steps can lead you to a cliff without seeing the curve.
As part of our series called “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Began Leading My Company” I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Evans Baiya.
Dr. Evans Baiya is a technology and innovation strategist, consultant, advisor and speaker. He is the co-founder and CEO of The Innovator’s Advantage, and the co-founder of Optimizing Strategy. Dr. Baiya has published more than 30 peer-reviewed publications and holds several technology patents. He is the co-author of two books: The Innovator’s Advantage and Optimizing Strategy for Results.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
I am a trained scientist, engineer, and I worked in Silicon Valley. My background is in engineering and chemistry, so I didn’t know much about strategy until I started moving up the ranks. When you’re in management you’re responsible for the execution of strategy. I was constantly asking myself, “What is strategy?” This was one of the reasons I decided to get an MBA because I really wanted to understand this language of business. As I went farther up the corporate ladder, I became responsible for development of strategy. But one thing that was interesting was, I was also responsible for innovation. It was my responsibility to create new research and new products to pave the way for future technologies — which came from strategy. I quickly realized that in order to do great work in innovation, I must also have a very clear strategy.
When I began working as an innovation advisor, the alignment of strategy came up repeatedly with clients. Years ago, I was working closely with the research and development department of a very large S&P 100 company. They had a rapid-rate innovation strategy — they knew exactly what products they want to develop and what customers they want to serve. When I asked them why was this important, I was surprised that no one could tell me. We often talk so much about innovation, new customers, etcetera, but someone has to ask, “How does this fit the bigger picture?” That is what strategy is all about.
What was the “aha” moment that led to the idea for your current company? Can you share that story with us?
The aha moment was back in January 2020. Dr. Timothy Waema, Ron Price and I were colleagues who had worked together in the past, but we really wanted to work together on a meaningful project. Strategy immediately came to the top of the list because we all consult on strategy in various formats. According to Harvard Business Review, only 10% of organizations can say that they’re happy with their strategic outcomes. We realized that we have dealt with that ourselves with our clients. Part of it is because the planning and implementation of strategy can be complex, and there is often a lack of a structured approach to strategy. This gave us the inspiration to bring science into how we develop and get results from strategy.
What makes your company stand out?
We are trying to solve strategic failure. Most strategies are just a document that sits on a shelf or in a digital folder. While many organizations do a great job of having the mandated strategic retreat and completing strategy development, the results are usually lackluster. Nobody wants to be part of the 10%. This is regardless of company size, continent, or industry. Upon digging deeper, we found that the mindset around strategy and the lack of structured approach were the biggest predictors of dissatisfaction. We developed a structured and scientific approach that is repeatable across the organization. Our seven-stage approach has delivered significant results for clients.
Leaders are often asked about the best piece of advice they’ve received. Can you share a story about advice that you’ve received, that you now wish that you didn’t follow?
I was part of a small startup that was not only well funded but also had a very clear vision. Then we started running out of money, so we got some investors who invested quite a bit of money. I remember having a discussion with one of the investors who said that they didn’t care about the strategy; they cared only about the results. So we focused on getting results and on day-to-day operations.
We were so myopic and narrow-minded that opportunities were passing us by because we were not paying attention to why we were running the business. There was no strategy and no ongoing review. It was all about operations. What ended up happening is we did pretty well in the day-to-day, but when we started thinking about growth and scaling, we were lost. The project did not accomplish what it could have.
We were not able to create strategy because we were all over the place, desperately trying to bring in income. This happens to large and small companies. When you don’t have a clear view of where you’re going and you just focus on the steps you’re taking today, those steps can lead you to a cliff without seeing the curve.
You are a successful business leader. Which three characteristics do you think were the most instrumental to your success?
The first one is that you have to have a knack for looking for opportunities. This is a skill and also a natural trait that I think I’ve been blessed to have. Another one is to be a student of creativity. I’m always trying to think and work creatively, particularly during conversations with my team. The last one is the most important for me and my team — being willing to learn. It can be hard to be humble and to take the stance that I don’t have the answers. I see every opportunity as a learning opportunity.
Even when I think I know what the answer is, I know I’m only probably 50% right. Someone else has 50% that I need to learn from. This helps me to be able to stand in front of a team and say, “This is where I’m thinking we should go. This is all the data. This is my creativity. This is how we can solve this problem. My creativity is always at work but, at the same time, there is a whole room here that says I may be wrong. I may be wrong, but I invite you to help me to be better and to achieve whatever we want to achieve.”
I think those three characteristics have been wonderful for me, and they also help me have great conversations with anyone within our organization. I can talk to somebody in an entry-level position and have a very creative conversation. I can also sit in front of a CEO who is thinking about a billion-dollar revenue opportunity and we can become very vulnerable, very creative, and solve some really big problems. So, those three are the skills that I have learned over the years that have helped me continue to progress positively.
Can you think of a story or an example of where you’ve utilized these character traits?
I had a client who came to us and said, “Our industry is being decimated and there’s a lot of competition and disruption. (This was in agriculture by the way). We need you to help us think about the future.” They wanted us to help them look into the future, into the next 40–50 years of their business. It was a multigenerational family business.
As I was listening to the client tell me about all the things they had been trying. I thought to myself that there was an opportunity here, but I wasn’t sure yet what it was. I was ready to be creative, but I didn’t even know where to start. I remember looking at the customer saying, “You know what? I am willing to work with your mess, but I don’t have any answers right now.”
The client looked at me and said, “You are the guru. You are the consultant. You should have the answers.”
I said, “My job right now is not to give you the answer. My job is to understand your problems.”
That changed the conversation. The client said, “If you told me that you had all the answers when we first met, I would never have trusted you.” That’s because we were dealing with a big problem that required multifaceted, creative solutions — not just one. Therefore, by saying that I didn’t have the answers but was willing to dig deep with them to look for opportunities, this gave them confidence that they had the right person. From there, we created high-quality solutions and they were a happy customer for many years.
What tips would you recommend to your colleagues in the industry to help them thrive and not burn out?
This is a serious issue among consultants and business leaders. Burnout is a real thing that we see within our own teams. I’m still doing my own complete analysis of what causes burnout. A personal leadership trait that I have been working on is the ability to not only delegate but to be humble. I’m referring to being humble enough to say, “You know what? The sun will shine with or without me tomorrow; therefore, I should only work on what is most important for the day.” Having that mindset says it’s OK not to be in control of everything. That is hard for us as leaders because we believe that the world revolves around us. We have to create clear boundaries, clear guidelines, and clear expectations.
Please trust your teams! Just a quick story on this: I had a team that I didn’t get a chance to see every day. I looked at the leader of that team, and I said, “I trust you.” I was saying that I trusted him to bring the results and great outcomes. I trusted him enough to hand over the responsibility that I counted it as a privilege. A couple of years later, he came to me saying, “The reason we get great results is because we would hate to disappoint you, because you told us you trust us.”
That is what happens to us humans when somebody tells us they trust us. We work very hard to not let them down. So, if you want to have less burnout, trust yourself and trust your teams as well. Once you do that, you can be comfortable acknowledging that you can only do so much.
What are the most common mistakes that CEOs and founders make when they’re starting a business? What can be done to avoid those errors?
I have seen many mistakes but also seen some great successes. The biggest mistake when founders start a business is they think of strategy as an event — like going to a weekend retreat to create a strategy for your organization. Rome was not built in one day. It wasn’t planned in one day either. We always talk about the building of Rome, but we forget all the planning that happened before the building started.
That’s what strategy is all about. When you think of strategy as an event, you may go out once a year, bring the board, and talk about strategy. But usually you’re not even talking about strategy; you’re talking about work tasks. You’re basically regurgitating what you did or did not do last year. You should instead be building, envisioning, and strengthening your strategy as you’re executing it.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this!
Originally published by Authority Magazine via Medium. You can learn more about Optimizing Strategy for Results: A Structured Approach to Make Your Business Come Alive here and purchase the book on Amazon. | Header Photo by Peppershock.
