I wrote an op-ed for Mashable this week about how to fix Best Buy.

As I wrote in one of the comments there, it strikes me that Best Buy is still operating on the same principles that made it a world-class operation 10 years ago. The problem, of course, is that the world has changed, and has, in fact, passed Best Buy by. The article is my take on the urgent and critical steps Best Buy needs to take to save itself.

There six steps listed in the piece. Here is the first one:

Focus on the Stores

CEO Dunn stated earlier this month that Best Buy has expanded the products available on BestBuy.com and has launched a new online marketplace. This is the wrong approach. You don’t out-Amazon Amazon. I’m constantly telling my clients that they must build on their strengths, not try to overcome their weaknesses.

For example, Research In Motion spent a year of resources developing and marketing a tablet device instead of focusing on its major competitive strength, the Blackberry smartphone. Best Buy needs to focus on the asset that separates it from the competition — its physical stores.

This is urgent. For the next year, the majority of Best Buy’s investment, attention and marketing budget should go towards improving the customer experience in its retail stores.