May 31, 2009 | Management, Marketing, Strategy
Sometimes you come across a web site that intrigues, informs, and attracts you again and again. For me, TED is such a site, and within these sites, there are things to which you return for all sorts of often personal reasons.
On the TED site (amongst many fantastic presentations) is a presentation by Sir Ken Robinson, which is thought provoking, funny, relevant, and informing. I was prompted to watch it again this morning when considering the impact of the $ being spent by the Australian Government on the appearance of Australian schools, (gates, painting, new halls, etc) and the political debate surrounding the spending of this money, summarised as necessary short term stimulus to the economy, and doing something useful with the money. Hard to argue, but most of the money appears to be going to contractors who use it to buy units on the Gold Coast (this assertion came from a real conversation in a pub with such a person, but a sample of one in politics makes a truth, we all know that).
Long term we need to be thinking hard about the sort of education we want our kids to have, and how best to deliver that outcome. A painted class-room is useful, but it does not address evolution of the underlying philosophy of what we are delivering, just the delivery mechanism.
Sir Ken, if I may call him that, asks some questions I would like to see answered. In addition, when you have watched it, you will have seen a sublime example of how to use personal presentation skills at a public forum as a way of making an argument. Not a Powerpoint in sight!!
May 28, 2009 | Management, Marketing, Strategy
Tough times generally favor making changes that would not be possible, or be very difficult in good times.
People are far more inclined to buy into the notion that “we cannot continue doing it the way we have been doing it” when they can see for themselves that the results that have been coming are not sustainable in a tougher environment.
Use the downturn as an opportunity to reallocate resources to higher return activities, review products, markets, brands, relationships, capital spending, development projects, recurrent expenditure, and yes, people.
Think about a crisis as an catalyst to “commercial triage” and use the opportunity to improve in anticipation of better times to come.
May 4, 2009 | Strategy
All of my four kids were elite athletes, petty unusual in one family, particularly as the sports they excelled in were different.
Apart from being naturally very good athletes, and being prepared to work very hard, they have one common trait: They all visualised the “finish line”, and the route to get there.
My daughter, a gymnast would close her eyes, and physically move through the whole routine on the floor, before mounting the apparatus, my youngest a butterfly swimmer, would stand behind the blocks, eyes closed, and get the rhythm of the stroke going, (looked a bit weird) and the other two, in their way would do the same for their sport.
Try the same thing in your business, visualise the end point, think and “feel” your way through the steps, do it again and again, and succeeding becomes the normal state of affairs, rather than something unusual.
May 2, 2009 | Strategy
Many businesses bring in new blood from time to time, particularly when crises hit. If this is because the “old blood” is not up to the challenge, OK, but usually it is not because the new people are smarter, or more motivated than the “old blood” but because the weight if the status quo prevents the “old blood” from doing what needs to be done, and “new blood”, unaffected by the status quo, indeed often with a brief to change it, can get on with it.
It is interesting to consider where the responsibility for this failure rests, and often it is not with those who pay the price for the failure, but those who failed to display leadership when it was required, when the existing management could have executed the changes necessary.
Apr 22, 2009 | Demand chains, Strategy
Interdependence drives successful collaboration, and collaborative arrangements never survive without clear areas of interdependence.
When individual collaborators judge their actions in the context of the best outcome for the group, rather than their own short term best interests, you have a collaboration that is sufficiently robust to survive and add value.
In other words, interdependence emerges when an individuals best interests are best served by serving the best interests of the collaboration.
Inevitably, this involves some sacrifice of independence, sometimes hard to do, but usually very profitable.
Apr 21, 2009 | Strategy
Yesterday I got a telemarketing offer for a half price newspapers subscription, delivered to my door from one of the major dailies. Of course I signed up, beats walking to the newsagent and paying double!
The other major daily in Sydney is giving away free copies of its paper with any “value Meal” purchase at a major fast food restaurant.
There are few examples of such substantial value add at such a deep discount, is this canny marketing, or desperation?
The power of newspapers is in the value their distribution offers advertisers, but most people buy newspapers to be informed and entertained. The alternatives emerging over the last 5 years to be informed and entertained have profoundly altered the economics of newspapers.
The ABC seems to be grappling with the digital media, perhaps better than the commercial media, perhaps because it does not have to worry as much about the distribution and advertising revenue.
The business model of newspapers is going down the gurgler, could it be that these offers are the death throes, or are they just being nice, and saving me a walk.
