Peter Drucker once wrote: “So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work.” That’s a pretty damning indictment of management but it may be close to the truth. Continue reading “An Engaging Vision Will Engage Your Stakeholders”
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Take a quick look at the future of our profession at work
This month Ryan Niedoba a 24 year old team member at Niedoba & Associates in NJ presented three webinars on behalf of Principa. He talked about his success in using some of our tools and resources, coupled with a huge dose of his own common sense and sheer talent, to turn a couple of businesses around. Continue reading “Take a quick look at the future of our profession at work”
Why you (and your clients) need outside help to change
Automaticity means the ability to do things without thinking about it. It’s usually the result of learning, repetition and practice. Much of what we do in life, including what we do at work, is automatic which is why our habits reflect a type of unconscious competence. For the most part automaticity is a good thing but it becomes a significant barrier if we want to change our habits because they’re no longer serving us well. Continue reading “Why you (and your clients) need outside help to change”
Rush Jobs Calendar
This is a special calendar that has been developed to help you get more done in any given month. Continue reading “Rush Jobs Calendar”
A Business Lesson from a Bug Exterminator
At Boot camp we do a session on the power of guarantees, it’s one of the 18 profit-driving leverage points we teach. My favorite example of the articulation of a powerful guarantee was that created by Alvin “Bugs” Burger for his business, Bugs Burger Bug Killers (BBBK). Continue reading “A Business Lesson from a Bug Exterminator”
Your Customer Value Equation
It’s an oldie but a goodie. I’m referring to Heskett, Sasser and Schlesinger’s book The Service Profit Chain. It was first published in 1997 but the substance it contains is as relevant today as it was then.
One of the concepts they introduce is the Customer Value Equation which reminds us that from the perspective of a customer, value is simply the sum of results and process quality divided by the price paid plus the cost incurred by the customer to receive the service. Continue reading “Your Customer Value Equation”
Why Strategy Matters
I’m told the word “compete” has its roots in the Latin phrase con petire which means “to seek together.” That sounds at odds with the contemporary use of the word competition but perhaps that’s what it really is all about — seeking to actualize your potential by testing yourself against the best opposition. It’s not about winning, it’s about realizing your potential and if you’re not winning you know you have a way to go but in the process you are always winning because you’re moving towards the realization of your potential. Continue reading “Why Strategy Matters”
When and to whom should you say thanks
In an insightful book written by Robert Caildini called Influence, he cites several studies that provide evidence that people tend to have a mindless reciprocity reflex. For example in one study Christmas cards were sent at random to a bunch of people who the researched did not know and the great majority of recipients sent him a card back.
It is common practice for professionals to send their clients a Christmas card. This is a nice gesture and one that is wholeheartedly endorsed by Hallmark. However, to the extent that everyone does it I believe it loses its intended meaning, that being to let people know you are thinking of them. This is made worse when you get two (or more) cards from the same firm each signed by the same people and you know they have been at their desk late into the night busily signing a pile of 500 cards and wishing they could be at home.
There is a wonderful traditional universal holiday in the US called Thanksgiving (the last Thursday in November). It is my favorite holiday of the year simply because it really is a time when people get together and give thanks (and not gifts) for all the good things they have in their life–especially family but also circumstance. In my view this should be the time of the year we send a card, or some other form of thanks to the people – clients, team members, firm partners and strategic alliance partners – who we want to thank for the contribution they have made to our life.
If you’re not in the US then create your own Thanksgiving Day – it might be the day your firm was founded, or your country’s National Day, or your Birthday but whatever day you choose, make it a day you can relate to with a sense of gratitude. The other thing you could do of course, is to spontaneously send a gratitude card or note your valued clients, partners, team members etc at random. For example, set aside an hour a month and send out 10 notes – I suspect it’ll be the best relationship (read marketing) exercise you do during the entire month.
If Caildini and the other researches in this space are correct (and from my own experience they are) you will probably see the mindless reciprocity reflex characteristic of people kick in. This will take the form of closer relationships and loyalty with clients, more referrals, greater team loyalty and motivation and one more extremely important thing …. even if none of these outcomes happen in the short term you will feel happier simply because you sent a nice positive message to someone you know. See the recent Harvard Business Review (Jan-Feb 2012) article called Positive Intelligence.
Superior performance is not an accident
At various times over the years I have had privileged access to inter-firm comparison data for the Profession. A couple of things jump of the page from my analyses: (1) firms with the highest net profit per partner (let’s say top 5%) get there through a variety of legitimate strategies; Continue reading “Superior performance is not an accident”
It’s what you believe not what you sell that’s important
After Steve Jobs announced he needed to take leave for medical reasons back in January 2009, Tim Cook, as interim CEO, was asked by an analyst whether he expected to be the permanent CEO. According to a post by Bill Taylor on the Harvard Blog site, Cook did not answer the question directly but instead said …
“We believe that we are on the face of the earth to make great products, and that’s not changing,” Cook declared.
“We believe in the simple not the complex…We believe in saying no to thousands of products, so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us,” he added.
“We believe in deep collaboration and cross-pollination of our groups, which allow us to innovate in ways other cannot…And I think that regardless of who is in what job those values are so embedded in this company that Apple will do extremely well,” he concluded.
Success in life and in business really does turn on why we do what we do. It’s the core values we hold close that determine how we organize ourselves and our business. On reading Cook’s statement of their fundamental beliefs it’s absolutely clear what their competitive strategy is. It’s unequivocal.
Once the “why” is clear – we are here to make great products; the “what” logically follows – focus on a few products that are meaningful and important; and from there the “how” becomes self-evident – deep collaboration and cross-pollination to innovate in ways others cannot — that’s Apples’ competitive advantage.