Steering Your Organization Through Turbulent Waters

No organization stays in one place on the archetype grid forever.  It will be pulled in a variety of directions by both internal and external forces.  Most organizations that enter the pioneer quadrant, for example, do not stay there very long - normally from a few months to a few years.  The wise leader knows both where their organization is on the grid and in what direction it is moving.  They can then take steps to influence that direction and/or to prepare the organization for the market situation it will soon encounter.

One helpful way to use the archetype grid is to divide it into zones that indicate where the smoothest sailing and greatest likelihood of success will occur, and where there is most likely to be danger or disaster.  You can then take the necessary steps to steer your organization toward calmer waters.

The archetype grid can be divided into twelve market zones, three in each archetype.  Each zone - the safe zone, the danger zone, and the disaster zone - represents a different level of risk for organizations that do business in that market environment.  In each case, the zone closest to the center represents safety and the one at the furthest edge represents potential disaster.



As a leader, part of your job is to steer your organization into the safest zone you can.  Unfortunately, the market will not always accommodate you.  You may sometimes find yourself in risky environs no matter what you do. 
If your organization is in - or moving into - the disaster zone, then one of your top priorities should be to find those mechanisms that will help you steer out.  These might involve changing the market dynamics by offering new or different products or services; merging or aligning with another organization to stabilize the market; and/or finding some new distribution channel or activity that puts competition on a more even keel. 

Each zone in each archetype has its own unique set of characteristics.  The following chart indicates the kinds of circumstances that characterize each zone in each market archetype.  Using your organization's grid position previously discussed, you can identify where your organization currently is within these market zones.

Market Zone Characteristics

Market	Organization	Safety Zone	Danger Zone	Disaster Zone
Kingdom	Ruler	Sufficient margins to support the needed superstructure; able to meet and control customer demand	Excellent profit margins to support superstructure and research; demand is uncontrolled but  able to be met; somewhat indifferent to customer needs	Outlandish profit margins; over-investment in the superstructure; organization has lost sight of customer needs
Battleground	Warrior	Small but adequate margins; limited hierarchy; very few competitors; price equality; control of the market	Very small margins; very little hierarchy; very lean, with limited agility; facing other powerful competitors with battle instincts	Minute margins; almost no hierarchy; able to operate only in a very limited sphere; excessive competition
Jungle	Hunter	Adequate margins to support extensive customer service and research for new products or services; some competition	Small margins; many competitors; high demand for research and continually new products or services	Shrinking margins; too many competitors; very complex and unpredictable buying patterns; no real product/service research going on
Frontier	Pioneer	Enough financial investment and profit to support substantial research and market development; limited or no competition; customers are easy to sell to	Sufficient resources, but difficult market arena; customers are hard to find and convince; complex and costly technology	High financial investment; very resistant market; customers are not accepting the product or service; very complex and costly technology

Although in general it is best to be in the safest zone possible, occasionally there will be times when deliberately and briefly moving into a danger zone can create (or be the result of) new opportunities, possibilities, and commitment.  Examples might include buying out a larger competitor, expanding into a country with a somewhat unstable political situation, or cutting prices drastically for a short time to drive out some of your smaller competitors. 

As should be obvious by now, every new-to-the-world product or service, and every startup organization, by definition begins its life at the edge of the grid, in potentially disastrous waters.  One of leadership's biggest responsibilities is to steer the organization toward the center of the grid - as quickly and in as straight a course as possible.

Much of any market's behavior is outside of your control.  Surprises from competitors are the norm, not the exception.  Organizations can be pulled into the danger zone quite easily, and a good deal of leadership strategy often involves finding ways to keep from sailing into it further.

The figure below demonstrates a typical path taken by a product or service - in this case, personal computers - as it moves through three of the market archetypes over a period of several years.  Its journey begins in the lower right, in a frontier.  As more and more organizations begin selling it, improving it, and offering more and cheaper variations of it, it gets pulled into a jungle.  Eventually a few major players emerge, driving out most of the smaller competitors, and taking the product or service into a battleground, where it remains today, as a commodity produced by a handful of very large competitors.

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