Shouting doesn’t work
You can no longer win by shouting, there is always someone who can should louder, longer, and more effectively. You win today by being genuinely useful. Those on the receiving end will tell others, who will tell others, and so it goes. My kids call it social media...
Business half-life.
The speed at which things can happen is halving, and halving again, the wider implications of Moore's Law at work. In such an environment, where is the value in static annual planning cycles, bi-annual sales meetings, 3 and 5 year plans when we cannot forecast what...
Pitching an idea
The most powerful way to get someone to agree with your idea is to ask them the leading question, and have them tell you. Ronald Regan used this technique a lot. He did not tell the American people “your economic situation has deteriorated over the last 48 months”,...
Lest we forget
Today is ANZAC day, 2013, a day Australia stops, and remembers. We remember those who fell and amongst the detritus of hyperbole that seems to multiply every year, there are tales of courage, endurance and perseverance that should not be forgotten, along with hard...
Cognitive productivity.
At a simple level, cognitive productivity is just using the brainpower at your disposal to deliver the optimum outcome, weather that brainpower be resident between your ears, or between the collective ears of many in a group. However, it is also much deeper than that....
The “Twitter Pitch”
Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) famously said "I do not have time to write you a short letter, so I have written you a long one". This statement is a pitch for twitter 100 years before it was conceived, as the sentiment of clarity through brevity is the same. Writing to...
A Private note to the chairman: or 6 reasons to quit.
It is always intriguing to get into a debate with one of my director peers about the way forward for an enterprise. Opinions vary, and the "chat" can become animated, as one did a few weeks ago. As a result, I jotted down a few points to email as a follow up,...
A measure of brand maturity.
Ever noticed that people who seem to "really have it all together" are able to poke fun at themselves, take negative feedback as an opportunity to learn and improve, and surprise with their capacity to be absolutely, selflessly, honest? It is often the same with...
Brand ambiguity will be terminal
In a world of homogenisation, being different is both dangerous and necessary. Standing for something of value is absolutely essential, ambiguity is death.
C21 Moments of Truth.
Former CEO of Scandanavian Airlines, Jan Carlzon write a book in the eighties called "Moments of Truth" which reflected the journey of SAS from its commercial deathbed to being the most admired airline in the world. It was a best seller, articulating the then...