Identifying Where the "Center Pin" Is

Masanori Kanda’s concept of the
"Center Pin Theory" is likely quite widely known
by now, isn't it?

To review its content just in case,
you cannot get a strike in bowling by aiming for the end pins, but

if you accurately hit the center pin, the impact travels to the second, third, and so on,
resulting in knocking down all ten pins
—just like that,
in business as well, by hitting the most important point that can be called the "center pin," other problems are automatically solved

—that is the logic
behind it.

As a concrete example, let's first cite the case of
Amazon.

To capture an overwhelming share in online retail,
the strategy Amazon adopted was to achieve an overwhelming product lineup and delivery speed
.

By investing in those to the point of being ridiculed as "excessive" in the initial stages
,
customer satisfaction exploded, and as a result,
it is said that repeat customers became endless without having to be desperate about attracting customers or sales promotions
.

Secondly, let's introduce the case of QB House.

In the previous barber industry, which tended to be over-serviced, QB House challenged it with a strategy of

"thoroughly eliminating time other than cutting", and while firmly capturing
customers seeking "time performance"
, which was not yet a common vocabulary at the time, they
suppressed capital investment in things like shampoo stations, establishing a business model of high turnover and low cost
.

In this way, a point where you can attract success by pressing one spot is called a

"leverage" point, or a
"center pin".

The other day, because I am an organizer for the basketball club alumni association of the high school I attended, I had the opportunity to hear from a key person in the rugby club alumni association of the same high school.

It is said that our organization is also relatively successful, but there was a rumor that the rugby club was even further ahead, and since they actually achieved the brilliant result of

appearing at Hanazono
, we decided that we definitely wanted to learn from them.

If you ask what the
most important KPI is for a high school club alumni association, it would be
"fundraising ability". How much
financial cooperation
you can draw from alumni members is the most important thing.

In realizing that, what is the
"center pin"? The answer for the rugby club was
"becoming strong"
.

The fact that the younger high school students work hard to become strong and leave behind brilliant results
is what gives alumni
courage, activates
communication
among alumni, and as a result, is directly linked to raising the fundraising ability.

Although there were twists and turns before reaching that realization,
ever since noticing it,
they set the goal of "participating in Hanazono" and
focused all
the alumni association's activity resources
on that single point.

They increased investment to achieve "strength", and as that gradually took effect,
their performance recordimproved
, which led to
more funds being raisedto firmly support the club's activities.

Ultimately, various other positive factors beyond just funding combined, and they successfully
achieved the goal of participating in "Hanazono"
.They made such a significant contribution that it could be said it would not have been possible without the alumni association
.

I was once again reminded of the effectiveness of always searching for, pursuing, and aiming at where the "center pin" lies

.