ERRC Grid
Eliminate, reduce, raise, and create factors on your strategy canvas.
The ERRC Grid translates strategy canvas moves into four actions: Eliminate factors the industry competes on but buyers do not value; Reduce below industry standard; Raise well above standard; Create factors never offered. It operationalises divergence.
Without ERRC, Blue Ocean curves stay theoretical. ERRC forces cost and delivery implications — what you stop doing matters as much as what you add.
After drafting a strategy canvas curve and before roadmap or pricing changes. Pair with buyer utility map to validate create/raise choices.
- List competitive factors from your strategy canvas.
- For each, decide E, R, R, or C with rationale.
- Estimate cost and capability impact per action.
- Sequence implementation — eliminates/reduces often fund raises/creates.
- Link to initiatives and messaging changes.
- Every action ties to a named factor.
- Eliminate list is bold, not empty.
- Create items are novel to buyers, not rebrands.
- Cost trade-offs explicit.
- Empty eliminate quadrant.
- Raise everything — no trade-offs.
- Create = marketing spin without delivery change.
- Ignoring partner dependencies for eliminates.
Northvale Systems ERRC: eliminated duplicate vendor re-registration per plant; reduced custom email workflows; raised API sync with ERP; created supplier-facing compliance score.
PulseWell eliminated 24/7 counselling hotline (partnered instead), reduced wellness content library size, raised manager team dashboards, created burnout heatmaps by site. Savings funded analytics hires.
Harbor Consulting eliminated generic lean certification prep, reduced slide-heavy reporting, raised on-floor time, created client video SOP library — differentiating from slide-deck consultancies.
Clearwater Initiative ERRC: eliminated NGO-only data entry; reduced workshop length; raised SMS literacy; created committee-led repair budgets.
Rendered via /strategy on errc-grid with IDs ERRC-E-01, ERRC-R-01, ERRC-Ra-01, ERRC-C-01. Links to Blue Ocean canvas (BOC-).
Related techniques
Sources & further reading
- Kim, W. C., & Mauborgne, R. (2005). Blue Ocean Strategy. Harvard Business Review Press.