Focusing on your core is weak strategy

Improving the core of a business is “a weak strategy”

This is not where the exceptional value lies.

You easily out-innovated by others

“Strength” lies in an indirect innovation strategy.

Here’s what happens If I make the core my focus:

Focus on one cause, fix it, and see little progress.

Let's take this example:

Challenge: redesign a logistics company’s delivery process.

Core strategy approach: Optimize routes, upgrade trucks.

Results:
Every now and then, you come back to improve, costing more time, money, and resources—leading to slow progress while others move ahead.

But if you…use

Indirect strategy approach

Identify indirect nodes: rising cowork spaces, AI, gig economy drivers.

Innovation: partner with coworking spaces as pickup hubs (Consolidating deliveries at coworking spaces), use crowdsourced drivers, integrate AI for smarter route and inventory optimization.

You go far by:
- Enhancing operations,
- Improving customer experience,
- Cutting costs and aligning with market demands

Here is my indirect strategy:

1. Ask, “What unrelated trends could reshape this project?”
2. Brainstorm Indirect Levers
3. Understand HIDDEN connections
3. Map ALL components
4. Rapid Prototype
5. Iterate

→  Solve it systematically.

I saw a retailer who added cars and drivers as a core part of their e-commerce, then transitioned to platforms like Instacart and Uber.

Your long-term success lies in network thinking that amplifies your niche.

Is it hard that hard to find hidden gems?

Thanks for reading, we will talk in the next letter.

Ahmed

By the way, here is:

1. A fun way to connect with people that leads to opportunities Toilet Mind

2. A new way to innovate and solve business challenges Neo Strateje