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Maximizing Your
Return on Luck:
The Key Strategic Insight
by Verne Harnish “Growth Guy“
www.gazelles.com

Maximizing Your Return on Luck: The Key Strategic Insight
www.gazelles.com
Maximizing Your
Return on Luck:
The Key Strategic Insight
Hunkering down in year-end strategic planning sessions, you and
your team are probably thinking hard about what’s next for the
economy and how that will affect your business.
In the process, stay laser focused on maximizing what Jim Collins,
in his book Great by Choice, calls your “return on luck”
(ROL) – what I consider one of the most important business
concepts ever articulated and critical to maximizing your return
on investment (ROI).
As Collins points out, great companies don’t have better luck
than other companies. Sometimes, they get a bum deal.
After all, they’re subject to the same economic forces as any
other companies competing within the same regions.
No matter what the
economy does, they will
find opportunity in it.
But what differentiates the great companies is their attention to
maximizing their return on luck. They look for opportunities in
whatever hand they’ve been dealt – and then find ways to grow
from the situation exponentially.
ALWAYS OPPORTUNITY
This point often comes into my mind when I am talking with
growth-company CEOs. The standouts among them – the folks
I consider the next Steve Jobs or Michael Dell – don’t view their
Copyright © 2012 Verne Harnish. All Rights Reserved.
vharnish@gazelles.com.
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Maximizing Your Return on Luck: The Key Strategic Insight
www.gazelles.com
companies as victims of economic uncertainty or market forces.
No matter what the economy does, they will find opportunity in it.
They think like one of my mentors, who made a fortune in
commercial real estate. He invested in an empty, commercial
high-rise in Houston during the depths of a severe recession – and
turned it into a thriving storage facility at a time when no one
could find ways to rent out commercial properties in that market.
That smart move enabled him to ride out the recession and, once
it was over, make a bundle when he sold the building.
When you’re thinking
about your goals for 2013,
it’s important to take
a look back at your luck
in 2012.
Rapid changes in the global economy can shake up your
company’s current situation at any time, so we all need to be
prepared to maximize our return on whatever lucky, and unlucky,
breaks we face. Once you and your entire leadership team start
consciously thinking about doing so, every day, you will be
surprised by how much power you can unleash by simply asking
this question.
MAXIMIZE ROL
Your year-end strategic planning sessions are an ideal place to
do this. When you’re thinking about your goals for 2013, it’s
important to take a look back at your luck in 2012. Ask yourself
and your team: Where did we maximize our return on luck
And where did we fail to do this This will give you some ideas on
what to continue doing – and lead you to untapped opportunities
to act upon.
Then look at the situations you’re facing currently. Where are
you experiencing good luck – and bad luck How can you make
the most of your current fate, and turn the situation to your
advantage By incorporating your ideas into your plans for the
year, you will find it easier to execute them rapidly.
Copyright © 2012 Verne Harnish. All Rights Reserved.
vharnish@gazelles.com.
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Maximizing Your Return on Luck: The Key Strategic Insight
www.gazelles.com
EXECUTION KEY
But strategy sessions will only get you so far. Execution is key
when it comes to maximizing your return on luck, as I’ve seen
time and time again with fast-growth companies. You’ve got to be
ready to act on your ideas for maximizing your luck all the time,
or you will miss out on valuable opportunities.
To execute your ideas successfully, however, you need to create the
right environment. I came across some great ideas for doing so in
a recent post by Sardek Love, president and founder of Infinity
Consulting and Training Solutions, on his Think2Success Now!
Blog.
LUCK NETWORK
Perhaps Love’s most
valuable piece of advice
is to create a “luck
investment account.”
Love, also a fan of Great by Choice, suggests building a
“luck network.” By bringing more successful people into your
professional network – perhaps by taking a leadership role in an
industry organization or through social media – you can add to
the pool of opportunities available to you, he explains.
Perhaps Love’s most valuable piece of advice is to create a “luck
investment account.” Often, it takes capital to invest in new ideas.
If you don’t have any cash on hand, you’ll miss out, which ties to
one of the other findings in Great by Choice – the winners had
multitudes more cash reserves than the comparable companies –
and thus had enough staying power to weather the bad luck and
capitalize on the good luck.
The time to start tucking money into your account, of course, is
long before you find yourself with a great idea to pursue. Once
you get in the mindset of maximizing your return on luck –
whether it’s good luck or bad luck – you’ll be surprised by how
quickly you can grow your company.
Copyright © 2012 Verne Harnish. All Rights Reserved.
vharnish@gazelles.com.
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