Weaknesses are a reality of life. Everyone has them. The challenge is to know and understand our weaknesses and instead to focus on strength, making our weaknesses irrelevant. To achieve this, it is necessary to find others whose strengths are your weaknesses, to work with these people; building a team capable of perfection.
Organizations face the same dilemma, striving for growth, quality, profits and cash flow at the same time. They are often not capable of attaining their goals in all four categories unless they begin their journey focused on strengths to achieve success and put people together to make weaknesses irrelevant. They must determine strengths needed and match them against their population to identify “GAPS.” Then a hunt must begin for those strengths within the company, outside the company and in relationships within their ecology. Once identified, the bearers of these strengths are embedded into the organization to fill “GAPS,” building an asset with perfect strengths for goals that have been established.
Gap analysis provides an early advantage to those who use the tool. They maintain their focus on strengths and do not fall into weakness analysis or blaming others for their failure. Momentum builds with the positive attitude looking at what people bring to the task and what they are expected to contribute for success. Most often missing ingredients include, but are not limited to, knowledge, skill, urgency, disciplined behavior, short and long term goals and navigational measurements to tell them how they are progressing.
Forestalling failure is strength focus at its highest level. The organization becomes capable of predicting strengths needed prior to their time. Hires or trains people in advance, the “bench strength,” and or finds partners outside the organization to fill the GAP. As these strengths are added it is a wake up call to all of how easy it is to meet deadlines and goals when strengths are the focus. Skills are added just in time and are recognized as contributors to everyone’s success. Organizations create a culture of asking for and getting help in advance of “crisis.” A culture that rewards results not effort.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
January 2010 Deep Insights
Innovation is a cultural product driven by processes which create an environment tended by those who live there. It is a world filled with celebration, curiosity, stubbornness, dedication, discipline and a reality that “some moments, days, weeks, will be plagued with disappointments.” Organizations must create environments that inspire individuals to sustain climates for innovation and limit focus on disappointment.
Hope for individuals and organizations to achieve innovations is generated by benchmarking progress celebrating each small step as well as the breakthroughs. Events large and small keep the spirit of curiosity alive and challenge people to be active participants not passive bystanders.
In this environment, people strive throughout the day to connect the unconnected by asking questions. They reach out to all sources for knowledge regardless of its origin to bring in new ways of thinking. They are stubborn and dedicated to innovation for the good of the whole not just its parts. Embracing curiosity allows them to create options that lead to a successful result without prejudice or extended stays in disappointment. There are always alternatives for innovative successes.
Opening alternative pathways for innovation in an environment that is inspiration driven eliminates the need for supervision. It creates an espirit-de-corps while helping everyone to be self driven. People do not have to be managed when they take initiative, hold themselves accountable, and help others accomplish similar results sustaining progress for recognition on the way to innovation. It is a team effort cultivated by teammembers, not an individual.
Ultimately this culture will not accept people who are not part of the process. The process will be the catalyst to help them find themselves somewhere else.
Hope for individuals and organizations to achieve innovations is generated by benchmarking progress celebrating each small step as well as the breakthroughs. Events large and small keep the spirit of curiosity alive and challenge people to be active participants not passive bystanders.
In this environment, people strive throughout the day to connect the unconnected by asking questions. They reach out to all sources for knowledge regardless of its origin to bring in new ways of thinking. They are stubborn and dedicated to innovation for the good of the whole not just its parts. Embracing curiosity allows them to create options that lead to a successful result without prejudice or extended stays in disappointment. There are always alternatives for innovative successes.
Opening alternative pathways for innovation in an environment that is inspiration driven eliminates the need for supervision. It creates an espirit-de-corps while helping everyone to be self driven. People do not have to be managed when they take initiative, hold themselves accountable, and help others accomplish similar results sustaining progress for recognition on the way to innovation. It is a team effort cultivated by teammembers, not an individual.
Ultimately this culture will not accept people who are not part of the process. The process will be the catalyst to help them find themselves somewhere else.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
November 2009 Deep Insights
Most companies are in the eleventh month of their fiscal year. Some have succeeded in exceeding their goals, some have just met their goals and others are behind. The majority of companies will embark on their next journey having learned from the past, whether success, mediocrity, or failure. However some will continue on without challenging themselves to rise above their short comings.
Each company should prepare a fast close plan to meet or continue to exceed their goal for the current year structuring the stage for next year. Momentum from fast close activities has a significant effect on staff and customers. Efforts are focused on employee and customer satisfaction building and maintaining a long term relationship. Employees and customers should be identifying skills required for their future success and determine how best to assist each other over the long term. Through this process both parties will recognize partnerships are an integral ingredient for success in their future.
Dialogue carried over from a fast close partnership will guide next year’s success. The team will carry forward a product that is useful and efficient, with margins acceptable to all and geared for success. They will recognize that measurements must be structured and transparent for all to review with a reporting structure that allows everyone to understand the current performance (be it above or below the goal). The people on the team will be proficient at analyzing what it will take to succeed in a market that continues to change. The value of this experience is a network of people and partnerships, inspired by the experience of working and winning together.
When the partnership is established and action is initiated for next year, a company’s attention can become ambidextrous; executing today’s plan while researching the market for future products. The goal is to anticipate the future and fill needs before others recognize there is a need, to design a product that meets that need, and be the first to market the product or service with margins that reward the company as a leader.
Each company should prepare a fast close plan to meet or continue to exceed their goal for the current year structuring the stage for next year. Momentum from fast close activities has a significant effect on staff and customers. Efforts are focused on employee and customer satisfaction building and maintaining a long term relationship. Employees and customers should be identifying skills required for their future success and determine how best to assist each other over the long term. Through this process both parties will recognize partnerships are an integral ingredient for success in their future.
Dialogue carried over from a fast close partnership will guide next year’s success. The team will carry forward a product that is useful and efficient, with margins acceptable to all and geared for success. They will recognize that measurements must be structured and transparent for all to review with a reporting structure that allows everyone to understand the current performance (be it above or below the goal). The people on the team will be proficient at analyzing what it will take to succeed in a market that continues to change. The value of this experience is a network of people and partnerships, inspired by the experience of working and winning together.
When the partnership is established and action is initiated for next year, a company’s attention can become ambidextrous; executing today’s plan while researching the market for future products. The goal is to anticipate the future and fill needs before others recognize there is a need, to design a product that meets that need, and be the first to market the product or service with margins that reward the company as a leader.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
October 2009 Deep Insights
Innovation is what brings and keeps life in an organization. Innovation has always been thought of as a few gifted people working in solitude to deliver the newest next best thing. Recent experiments and measurements clearly point to two factors not considered until now: when organizations embrace engaging many minds, rather than a few, the outcome is greater; and if the many engaging minds are diversified by function, nationality and social position the outcome is beyond expectations.
Innovation is driven by forward thinkers who encourage celebrations for success and failure. They know from experience that both require a thorough understanding of why. They embrace facts not anecdotal evidence when seeking answers before they journey to another innovation. Success is being at the right place at the right time with the right product. Failure is being at the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong product. Analysis is the last thought when failure confronts us, easier to forget than to find the truth. Forward thinkers embrace analysis of failure, not to find fault or place blame, but because they know the seeds of innovation are more often found in failures than in successes.
It is the forward thinkers that encourage their organization to engage in a culture of inclusion, to analyze success as well as failure and to develop the ability to understand strength in diversity. Worlds that were far away are now viable markets but are also competitors. Their innovations compete with all others worldwide. If they utilize the minds of many and understand the value of diversity their product life cycle will extend beyond their competitions.
Innovation is forward thinking not limited to a few, but open to all. It must be encouraged by management through inclusion and diversity as integral components.
Innovation is driven by forward thinkers who encourage celebrations for success and failure. They know from experience that both require a thorough understanding of why. They embrace facts not anecdotal evidence when seeking answers before they journey to another innovation. Success is being at the right place at the right time with the right product. Failure is being at the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong product. Analysis is the last thought when failure confronts us, easier to forget than to find the truth. Forward thinkers embrace analysis of failure, not to find fault or place blame, but because they know the seeds of innovation are more often found in failures than in successes.
It is the forward thinkers that encourage their organization to engage in a culture of inclusion, to analyze success as well as failure and to develop the ability to understand strength in diversity. Worlds that were far away are now viable markets but are also competitors. Their innovations compete with all others worldwide. If they utilize the minds of many and understand the value of diversity their product life cycle will extend beyond their competitions.
Innovation is forward thinking not limited to a few, but open to all. It must be encouraged by management through inclusion and diversity as integral components.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
September 2009 Deep Insights
Throughout history disruptions occurred that made Strategy execution difficult: an economic turn, epidemic, war, or a revolution. Such an event brought a whole new environment into play. Occasionally leaders were called upon to study the event; to determine the effect on their organization and bring forward a new Strategy. The leaders knew the importance of revising the plan but often ignored the event because they were sheltered from its consequences. Their world was not connected to that world and would not be connected in the near future.
Today disruptions are generated by technology breakthroughs and multinational marketing programs. Both are created by globalization, markets that have no boundaries. Danger arises if we continue to think we remain disconnected from the event because we will continue to do what we have always done. However, new disruptions are seldom based in current strategy. They are most often found in a breakthrough technology or knowledge discovered by cross functional integration of information around the world. Some organizations have made the effort to create an environment where information sharing has priority. They have structured forums for their people to come together and share what may appear to an outsider as insignificant functional information. These forums are the catalyst to transfer knowledge and instill wholeness of purpose to a disrupter’s strategy, their company brand, their new products and employees.
Ideas begin to flow across functions that are created through the forums knowledge exchange. The ideas have earned admiration through dialogue that has built respect between disciplines and people. Past practices would have sent the idea to a dumpster with the prejudice of “what do other disciplines know?” However, the next step in this situation is to have a TEAM, selected by the forum and with all functions being represented, research the idea for its potential ROI. If the answer is “not much” the discovery data is sent back to the forum for more dialogue or discarded and the teams move on. If the answer is positive the TEAM builds a take-to-market plan and then presents its plan to management for approval. When approval is granted the team turns its attention to execution which is already well underway because of the process. The entire organization has and will be a part of this idea’s success not just one function or person.
The new Strategy. Every organization that desires to survive disruption from around the world must have the intelligence to stay in touch with technology breakthrough and must learn to segment their markets, delivering the products that will best serve its demand and delivering ROI above the average.
Today disruptions are generated by technology breakthroughs and multinational marketing programs. Both are created by globalization, markets that have no boundaries. Danger arises if we continue to think we remain disconnected from the event because we will continue to do what we have always done. However, new disruptions are seldom based in current strategy. They are most often found in a breakthrough technology or knowledge discovered by cross functional integration of information around the world. Some organizations have made the effort to create an environment where information sharing has priority. They have structured forums for their people to come together and share what may appear to an outsider as insignificant functional information. These forums are the catalyst to transfer knowledge and instill wholeness of purpose to a disrupter’s strategy, their company brand, their new products and employees.
Ideas begin to flow across functions that are created through the forums knowledge exchange. The ideas have earned admiration through dialogue that has built respect between disciplines and people. Past practices would have sent the idea to a dumpster with the prejudice of “what do other disciplines know?” However, the next step in this situation is to have a TEAM, selected by the forum and with all functions being represented, research the idea for its potential ROI. If the answer is “not much” the discovery data is sent back to the forum for more dialogue or discarded and the teams move on. If the answer is positive the TEAM builds a take-to-market plan and then presents its plan to management for approval. When approval is granted the team turns its attention to execution which is already well underway because of the process. The entire organization has and will be a part of this idea’s success not just one function or person.
The new Strategy. Every organization that desires to survive disruption from around the world must have the intelligence to stay in touch with technology breakthrough and must learn to segment their markets, delivering the products that will best serve its demand and delivering ROI above the average.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
August 2009 Deep Insights
These four statements represent four conditions of strategy.
Knowing what you know
Know that you don’t know
Not to know that you know
Not to know that you don’t know
Each has its opportunities and dangers in the universe of strategy. In the current market, where speed of innovations and global transformations are swifter than ever, they take on a whole new meaning.
Knowing what you know. In past times knowing what you knew was enough to market intelligently; to keep pace with customers desires and develop products to satisfy them, because speed was not an important factor for success. The challenge was more in line with product improvements and serving the customer a product that did the same work more efficiently. Today the challenge is “Does anyone really know, that what they know, will provide a competitive advantage?”
Know that you don’t know. It once was the work of management to seek out new innovations for more market share and improve ROI. The danger was less of going out of business and more of becoming cash poor for a temporary period of time. The challenge was to seek out new markets for a current product or to seek out an acquisition to provide new products to your current customers. Today’s landscape is a much rougher terrain. The challenge is to admit there is more that is unknown than known. Urgency to act and learn is the operational mode that is now required.
Not to know that you know. Organizations could say ‘I knew that,” ramp up resources, produce the product for sale and maintain a strong position with good margins. Today warp speed is required to stay alive in markets. Late entries or “me too” products seldom penetrate the market. Margins are low and the product is dropped. If you have a gut reaction you must quickly seek out the opinions of others to determine if in fact the idea is worthy of action. A passive reaction to gut feelings will only put your company in a vulnerable situation. By the time you hear rumors or see print describing the idea, you and your company will have lost the edge needed for profitable margin. A company must challenge itself daily to identify what they know and how that knowledge will lead to profit and cash flow.
Not to know that you don’t know. Arrogance, ego, and pride were good virtues in past decades. Companies could create such a culture because the biggest competition came from within. They were able to motivate personnel to sustain their current level of performance, increase it, or to attain market share. Today HUMILITY is the strongest of virtues. There is no one who knows all and to think you do is a pact with the devil. Innovative ideas cross all existing boundaries, valueless ideas in one industry, country, or geographical area become the catalyst for innovation in another person’s world. Therefore a pact needs to be made with all personnel in a company to search out ideas from anywhere, be opened minded, and analyze these ideas: how would they fit together in your world, or in a new market outside your world, how could an alliance be structured to benefit all the stakeholders in the idea.
The transformation has begun. Organizations in the future will be driven by intellectual knowledge gathered from hidden sources with a common goal to produce a superior ROI for shareholders, life styles for employees, and a customer experience beyond expectations.
Knowing what you know
Know that you don’t know
Not to know that you know
Not to know that you don’t know
Each has its opportunities and dangers in the universe of strategy. In the current market, where speed of innovations and global transformations are swifter than ever, they take on a whole new meaning.
Knowing what you know. In past times knowing what you knew was enough to market intelligently; to keep pace with customers desires and develop products to satisfy them, because speed was not an important factor for success. The challenge was more in line with product improvements and serving the customer a product that did the same work more efficiently. Today the challenge is “Does anyone really know, that what they know, will provide a competitive advantage?”
Know that you don’t know. It once was the work of management to seek out new innovations for more market share and improve ROI. The danger was less of going out of business and more of becoming cash poor for a temporary period of time. The challenge was to seek out new markets for a current product or to seek out an acquisition to provide new products to your current customers. Today’s landscape is a much rougher terrain. The challenge is to admit there is more that is unknown than known. Urgency to act and learn is the operational mode that is now required.
Not to know that you know. Organizations could say ‘I knew that,” ramp up resources, produce the product for sale and maintain a strong position with good margins. Today warp speed is required to stay alive in markets. Late entries or “me too” products seldom penetrate the market. Margins are low and the product is dropped. If you have a gut reaction you must quickly seek out the opinions of others to determine if in fact the idea is worthy of action. A passive reaction to gut feelings will only put your company in a vulnerable situation. By the time you hear rumors or see print describing the idea, you and your company will have lost the edge needed for profitable margin. A company must challenge itself daily to identify what they know and how that knowledge will lead to profit and cash flow.
Not to know that you don’t know. Arrogance, ego, and pride were good virtues in past decades. Companies could create such a culture because the biggest competition came from within. They were able to motivate personnel to sustain their current level of performance, increase it, or to attain market share. Today HUMILITY is the strongest of virtues. There is no one who knows all and to think you do is a pact with the devil. Innovative ideas cross all existing boundaries, valueless ideas in one industry, country, or geographical area become the catalyst for innovation in another person’s world. Therefore a pact needs to be made with all personnel in a company to search out ideas from anywhere, be opened minded, and analyze these ideas: how would they fit together in your world, or in a new market outside your world, how could an alliance be structured to benefit all the stakeholders in the idea.
The transformation has begun. Organizations in the future will be driven by intellectual knowledge gathered from hidden sources with a common goal to produce a superior ROI for shareholders, life styles for employees, and a customer experience beyond expectations.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
July 2009 Deep Insights
When tracking business environments it is important to understand that there are multiple disruptions occurring at once. Disruptive strategies by competitors, speeding technologies, global transparency and shrinking markets with limited life span are the norm. Disruptions should not be tracked by individuals but teams that are structured to collect and interpret world market intelligence.
In past decades GROUPS were:
“Independent people working independently to produce a product”
Groups were successful at keeping companies afloat. The rate of change, product innovation seldom moved faster than a slow walk. Competitors did not race to win the next innovation award. They held on to products until they became extinct. Companies became successful by inventing innovations based on their capabilities and finding or creating a market. The key to success was inside/out products and marketing.
Today Teams are:
“Independent people working inter-dependently to produce a
collaborative product for performance”
Teams must work together to gather and share data, leading them to understand what is happening in their market. Who is doing what and how do these events affect their market space. Research must provide insights for tomorrow’s markets leading to choices for outside/in products. Teams must understand their environment but work with other members in their environment to produce a business model that provides respectable income for each. Their products are collaborative innovations developed in an atmosphere of secrecy. Seldom does the team become recognized for its creativity, its function is to capture a market before others discover it’s potential. Members share in profits, not notoriety, choosing confidentiality as a core value for continued success.
These teams exchange information within their existing work assignments seeking their next collective product innovation. They access their environment for another unmet need and begin a search to meet the need. They find a path which combines each others ideas to create unique products that no one can duplicate, insuring successful profitable products.
In past decades GROUPS were:
“Independent people working independently to produce a product”
Groups were successful at keeping companies afloat. The rate of change, product innovation seldom moved faster than a slow walk. Competitors did not race to win the next innovation award. They held on to products until they became extinct. Companies became successful by inventing innovations based on their capabilities and finding or creating a market. The key to success was inside/out products and marketing.
Today Teams are:
“Independent people working inter-dependently to produce a
collaborative product for performance”
Teams must work together to gather and share data, leading them to understand what is happening in their market. Who is doing what and how do these events affect their market space. Research must provide insights for tomorrow’s markets leading to choices for outside/in products. Teams must understand their environment but work with other members in their environment to produce a business model that provides respectable income for each. Their products are collaborative innovations developed in an atmosphere of secrecy. Seldom does the team become recognized for its creativity, its function is to capture a market before others discover it’s potential. Members share in profits, not notoriety, choosing confidentiality as a core value for continued success.
These teams exchange information within their existing work assignments seeking their next collective product innovation. They access their environment for another unmet need and begin a search to meet the need. They find a path which combines each others ideas to create unique products that no one can duplicate, insuring successful profitable products.
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