Today, and in the future, where mass-customization is the call of the day, we will do business “with” my Starbuck’s, my doctor, or my Disney vacation. “When I go to MY Starbucks, they know me personally. I appreciate that fact when they put MY name on MY cup of java.” Like the Pied Piper, the future will vacuum us into personal relationships with others and their organizations. Disney’s Magic Plus, or a Harley-Davidson HOG weekend, or even the personalized shopping experience of a Zappos shoe purchase, will become the norm. It will become the expected. Your competition will change from
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Archives for Leadership
Moving Past Success . . . .to Signficance – the 40/20/40 rule to Business Success
Like Christmas, weddings, vacations, birth of a child, pending retirement, and proms, each carries with it a potential for something big. For something significant. Half the fun is in this planning and looking forward. THIS ESPECIALLY APPLIES TO BUSINESS. Your business.
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David fights Goliath VIA the Detroit Automotive Show – a lesson in Contrarianism and Synergy
The Detroit International Automobile Show 2012. Among the hundred thousand square feet vendor booths, and the multimillion dollar backdrops complete with state of the art multimedia, and eye candy models . . . both male and beautifully coiffed women; sits the center of attention. It is all about the cars. There are cars. Each collection is often changed out each day for maximum exposure. Audi might have a new metallic paint the invites you to touch it’s too-strange-too-be-true finish. That is OK because some t-shirted youth, armed with polishing rags and dust wands wander incessantly to make sure nary a
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Your Satisfied Customers are Killing Your Business
Sales management is not enough anymore. The profitable businessperson needs to understand the discipline of producing a customer experience, just like a Steven Spielberg or a Disney. This is a battle of the Baskin & Robins ice cream cone versus the pageantry of a Cold Stone Creamery.
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Minus 36 degrees . . .Cookstoves . . .Carrott . . . How to make email and voicemail that connects.
Research shows that 80% of all interaction in the workplace is done with you communicating with some sort of technology. Voice mail, email, etc. So how do you “get through?” I arrived to 36 degrees below zero temperatures. When it I got up the next morning and started the car, the transmission was frozen. I had to let the car sit in idle for 15 minutes before it worked. Canada in March. The coldest cold in my life. I was there for a series of presentations over three days in various Alberta and Saskatchewan cities. And then there was the
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Which is harder? Strategy or Execution? I ask and your answers are. . . .
With a ratio of 9 to 1 the answer is . . . (the suspense builds, but more on that in a minute). It was the late 60’s and Fred Smith was listening to the conversations of the other Jet Jockey’s. Fred was flying charter flights out of a the Tweed New Haven airport. The pilots of the other sleek corporate jets were mentioning how their planes were empty. No passengers. They were flying around the country delivering computer parts. These pilots for IBM, Xerox and the like were trying to cover for the need that was not being
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Stupid is as Wal-Mart does
Don’t get me wrong. I think Wal-Mart provides a great service for America. Today I needed to pick up some prescriptions at my local Wal-Mart. When I called to inquire on availability they informed me that the price was higher than I had been buying down the street at a K-Mart store. “Why don’t you match the price” I asked? “Because it is farther than 5 miles away.” “But if you don’t, I will just go back to K-Mart.” “Sorry” they said. So called the Wal-Mart that is a couple of miles further away but just down the street from
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When Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter go bad – why Social Networking may be screwing up your life
It was scary. Nashville was mobbed by educators from across the country. As presenter at their conference I was amazed by the slate of Social Networking sessions. There are thousands of experts who travel the country espousing the correct method to Twitter, Facebook and a host of other sites. Each tells of how these tools will bring world peace or cure the common cold. Problems tend to turn to technology for a fix. If the horse isn’t fast enough then build the car. If the saw blade gets dull invent the laser to cut. The latest invention in the world
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Leadership should smell like Miracle Whip
Kraft Mac & Cheese, pantyhose, and Apple iPods. When times get tough, we see the emergence of true leadership and vision. The choice is to wallow in pity, self doubt and second guessing or – to act and charge ahead, WITH COURAGE. It is during hard times that we most need to look for opportunities, to get creative, to hone our capabilities and look for new ways to succeed. In the recession of 2001 and 2002, General Electric, with billions of dollars of sales in light bulbs failed to keep up with the inventiveness of rivals who were developing more-efficient
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What Should YOUR Business Look Like In a Speedo?
Mike Vance is, in my opinion, one of the greatest business speakers in the last 100 years. His work on developing creativity is cornerstone. He introduced the three methods to create something. Those were: Invention Invention (i.e. the light bulb) Invention Extension (i.e. the flashlight) Invention Devention (see below) An old Nike T-shirt had a saying plastered across the front that read, “The older I get the better I was!” That is me. Believe it or not, there was a time when I was the captain of the swim team -many, many, many pounds ago with the svelt torso to
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