Top speed is irrelevant
While contracting as GM of a Federal body some time ago, I used to travel from Canberra to Sydney's western suburbs on a regular basis. I had the choice of driving which took a predictable three hours door to door, or catch a cab to Canberra airport, wait,...
The digital unicorns’ growth secret
Question: What has enabled the geometric growth rates of Facebook, Google, Amazon, Atlassian, and other digital unicorns? Answer: Wide and deep feedback from the market enabling them to aggressively focus resources on areas that deliver the best returns....
2022: here we go!!
There are more predictions posts than you can poke a stick at written at this time of the year. This is not one of them to add to the pile. The following is a review of the forces and trends I see at work that will impact on all businesses in Australia in the...
A final New Years eve quickie
I had not intended to publish another post until 2021 was behind us after the review a few days ago. However, the decision of national cabinet yesterday, coupled with today's Covid numbers changed my mind. In the back of my memory is an early Monty Python...
The 10 most read StrategyAudit posts of 2021
At the end of the year, it seems sensible to have a look at the posts that generated the most traffic. Surprisingly, none are posts that have gone up in this most challenging year, not an outcome I anticipated. This demonstrates the long-term value of a blog of...
2021: What a shitty year!
The PM has made an absolute mess of it, bouncing from one headline to another like a clown on speed. You must give credit for the energy, pity it is expended on trivialities rather than tackling the big questions. The government has changed tack in the face of...
Transaction costs: The friction that comes from scaling.
Some great minds have worked in increasing the performance of management. Einstein is one of them, although may not have known it when he said: 'Everything should be made as simple as possible, and no simpler'. Along the same lines, 20 years later Einstein's...
How to win almost any argument
What happens if you are on the receiving end of negative feedback during a debate, or an 'executive heckle' during a presentation? How do you respond? Our natural reaction is to push back, to defend your position, which creates friction and 'heat'. That is what...
What is the right price?
A dictionary will define price as something like: "The amount of money for which something is sold' Pretty obvious. However, price can mean many different things to different people in different contexts. Years ago, I ran a food manufacturing business that sold...
Five essential features of an effective bonus scheme.
It is bonus time again, approaching Christmas. Many businesses have some sort of bonus scheme that matures at this time of year and are wondering if it is worth the effort. Does it give you a return on the investment of time and money, or is it just an expected...