Chapter 3 · Explain this like I'm a manager

SWOT Analysis

30-second explanation

SWOT joins the inside and outside view: internal Strengths and Weaknesses, external Opportunities and Threats. Strengths and weaknesses are things you control; opportunities and threats come from the environment.

Example

A family taco shop: strength is a loyal neighborhood following; weakness is no online ordering; opportunity is a new office park nearby; threat is a chain opening two blocks away.

What a manager should ask

Is this inside our control or outside it?

Common mistake

Listing items in the wrong box ('the economy is a weakness') and stopping at the list. A SWOT is only useful when it leads to a strategy that uses strengths to grab opportunities.

Use it at work

Do a two-minute SWOT for your own job search. Which strength can you pair with which opportunity?

Test yourself

A competitor going out of business: strength or opportunity?

Show the answer

Opportunity. It is external. Your strengths are what let you capture it.

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