Aristotle said we get the government we deserve.
Here I am in a regional NSW town, now a bit late at night, engaged by a client to assist in the strategic development of their business, and after a very long day, lifting my head to discover the premier of the state has changed, again. This follows yesterday, when...
The CEO as Brand Manager.
Building a brand is about the consistency of action thought, and expression over a long period of time, and only the CEO can ensure that this happens. The CEO must be the chief brand manager, as the brand is the business, it is not the packaging, or advertising, it...
What do we want in a leader?
The mess the liberal Party finds itself in is a sad reflection on their collective capacity to address the issues surrounding climate change in a sensible and reasoned manner, at least I think so. It is pretty clear that humans collectively carry a heavy...
Lessons from the cat.
The Victorian era threw up some extraordinary characters, amongst them Charles Dodgson, better known by his pseudonym, Lewis Carrol Here was a man who is best known for a children's story, one that has deep messages for adults together with the absorbing story for...
Marketing as a system.
Firms are successful when all the elements of strategy development and execution are 'aligned", when functional management works in a synergistic manner, and when personal best interests are best served by serving the best interests of the firm. When this...
Planning saves work
Small businesses often do not spend the time to develop strategy, agreeing priorities, developing a point of difference, and a plan to execute in the marketplace, and as a result find themselves running harder and harder just to keep up. Developing a Value...
Depth Vs width.
How do you engage with hundreds of people as "friends"? On a personal level, you may engage deeply with a few, maybe a few dozen, electronically, there may be a group with a specific interest, and you engage with them in a club-type situation, 100 perhaps,150?, but...
The only sustainable advantage.
The evolution of the commercial and legal frameworks within which we live has left us with the notion of the firm as a legal entity, responsible for its debts, its own destiny, and to its owners for a return on the capital risked to fund activities. In all those...
Forecasts are not predictions.
If you want a prediction, go to the lady in the tent at the local fair. If you want a forecast, talk to those who have an intimate knowledge of the drivers of the outcomes you are seeking to forecast. Good forecasting is an iterative process, the more you do, the...
The unanticipated benefit of experimentation.
The innovation process has many faces, the one becoming increasingly accepted is that of constant, small scale experiments to see what works in the market, and what can be learned to improve the next iteration. Sometimes when you experiment, something completely...