Internal Change = External Rate of Change?

Show notes: 724755

Note: I am not sure this show was completed and available for download - it appears the server crashed. However here are the show notes and if necessary, we will rebroadcast later in the week and link it here.

Change - the management of...the very core of the 21st Century business: the rule - the rate of change inside must at a minimum = rate of change outside, the more dynamic the economic or market, the more it demands change capabilities.

Don't think this is an issue just for large companies, that somehow the smaller companies are more agile, the data does not support the belief. Small companies have the same unwillingness because resistance to change is part of the human condition - only the truly weird love it.

Check out the great work by John Kotter on the subject - "The Heart of Change" and "Our Iceberg Is Melting." During several conversations with John, he discussed two failure points - creating a sense of urgency and staying the course. If people cannot understand the "why" driving the change, it will not gain their commitment. If management does not see it through to the end, any progress is lost as soon as it ceases to be a management priority. Here are our 4 attributes that handles the change process and deals with failure points.

Planned - if it is not planned, it cannot be managed; it it is not planned, it is difficult to achieve the desired results by chance; it requires involvement and buy-in.

Compelling - the challenge is to make it clear why the past is no longer acceptable; you need to create a "burning platform" that does not dishonor the past or use fear as a motive, but it must make it clear why the past cannot be carried into the future; the vision must be positive and evoke a "yes we can and should" response from everyone.

Invigorating - people love challenges especially when they are players and have the competence to affect; you will not get everybody - just need the early adopters to create the nucleus for change.

Collaborative - the employees must own it, if you can enforce it with rewards and punishments, it will only last as long as these external forces exist; true change requires an attitude shift, these shifts are achieved by bringing people on board and giving them responsibility; it is hard not to own something that has your fingerprints all over it.

Summary

The core to any successful business is a capacity for change. The change must be planned, compelling, invigorating, and collaborative to stick.

Go Where the Puck Will Be, Not Where it is...

Show notes: 724746 - Migration Management

Some misc ramblings. After almost a 2 months absence from publishing to focus on AKLabs growth and using the time to contemplate the idea of creating a media platform, it is good to be back. We recently completed a platform install with a major university serving the small business community.  It reinforced the work needed to support entrepreneurs and owners during this economic period.

"Go Where the Puck Will Be, Not where it is..." the old Gretzky quote on success as one of hockey's greatest players. He didn't skate towards the puck, he reviewed the landscape and found the best place to make a shot. This ability to "anticipate" the future is a skill for fast growth companies as well. If you have done the research necessary to ensure your company offers the right products and services to the right customers, view this as protecting your investment.

Dynamic markets are constantly changing which makes the slow and uninformed obsolete. How do I as the owner or executive anticipate the future and ensure we are always first?

Here the ideas we covered this morning on BlogTalkRadio:
1. 1st to New Markets - requires ongoing market intelligence to be first to spot new opportunities and threats.
2. Assembling Experts from any source; internal, customers, suppliers, industry experts, etc. Minimize your risk by tapping into the best thinking and explore all of the possibilities.
3. Improve Core Capabilities - ensure your capacity for production and sales is in place to meet the new demands.
4. Lever Technology - think in terms of platforms instead of hardware and software, technology makes rapid response easier. You don't have to own it, cloud computing provides everything you need.
5. 1st to Customers - getting there first is one thing, having a product or service that responds to the opportunity/threat is another. Using experts and technology, reduce your cycle time, costs, and risks by partnering with a customer to co-develop the new product/service.

This five attributes are how the best of the best observed and Managed Value Migration. Gretzky was right, go to where the puck will be.

Post comments or any questions about how you can apply this best practice today. We will get right back to you.
Ciao Bill

Business Strategy Missing Link #2 - The Business Model

Show notes: Missing Link #2 - The Business Model

Review of elements and missing links.

Business Models. Like the theme of yesterday's show, we didn't have the time to drill down on the details from Element 1 - Doing Business in a New Way. Today we are one step closer to closing the loop.

I consider this a difficult and abstract concept to discuss but once understood - its utility is apparent.

The quickest of reviews - once we have gained sufficient intelligence on the market and competitors to understand the current value offer, by plotting all of the players in your market, you will have a profile for competition. This should provide answers to 2 questions: Why are the winners winning and the losers losing? and If we are going to be different - what does it look like?

You can either make a preliminary decision or defer to the next snapshot - what is your value proposition? How do we provide value to our customers that is unique and financially smart? You have three basic choices - compete on price, compete on products and services, or compete on the entire experience. The best of the best excel in one and are competitive in a second. The value proposition @AKLabs is;

1. Operationally Efficient - PRICE
2. Product Leadership - FEATURES AND QUALITY

What remains to finalize the deal - selecting your business model, the heart of Doing Business in a New Way.

Business Models = How companies (competitors & similar industries) are competing (winning & losing) today and the immediate future.

Four Drivers of Business Models and our current hot list

• Economic Factors
• Customer Factors
• Supplier Factors
• Operational Factors

Economic Factors - what is happening that is affecting everyone

• industry profitability - dynamic list, constantly changing
  
• convergence of multiple industries - new entities assembled from old players
• collapse of average - your offer is on the high end or the low end, the middle is dead
• creation of new standard - organize the chaos with your model
• technology - instead of automating support, it drives business structure

Customer Factors - how are your customers responding

• smaller segments - fewer customers with same needs, focus on greater segmentation
• profitability - dynamic list, constantly changing
• redefining - new entrants for your offer

Supplier Factors - how are your suppliers responding

• multiplying - more players, impact of outsourcing
• concentration - fewer players, impact of insourcing and consolidation
• fewer steps - collapse of the value chain
• more steps - expansion of the value chain

Operational Factors - how are your competitors responding

• products & services - increases, decreases, sequencing
• use of knowledge - building customer experience into products & services, building production experience into products & services
• structure - function vs. process, automation vs. skills

Put the snapshots together - value plot of how everyone is competing, what is your value proposition, what business model will improve your odds - and deciding how are going to Do Business in a New Way will be apparent.