Be Different or be dead

August 11, 2014

Why success is doing lots of imperfect stuff fast

Source: Unsplash

Why success is doing lots of imperfect stuff fast.

How do you consistently move the yardsticks forward in an organization? What actions are predictors of success?

Here’s my experience. Success has a really simple formula.

Success = (Doing) (lots of) (imperfect) (stuff) (fast)

Let’s break it down.

(Doing):

Acting not pontificating;
Not too much analysis;
Risk taking;
Gut and heart motivated;
Passion fuelled;
Making tries.

(lots of):

Don’t look for the silver bullets;
Be ok with making a ‘nano-inch’ of progress;
Failure is at the heart of successful ideas, so fail a lot;
Innovation doesn’t come in big chunks, it comes in bits and pieces;
Engage everyone in the organization because they all have ideas;
Shoot more than the other guy.

(imperfect):

Accept the fact that there’s no such thing as perfection;
Perfection seeking = no action; nothing is accomplished;
An imperfect idea successfully implemented beats an intellectually pristine notion that never gets off the ground;
Perfection cultivates innovation rigour mortise.

(stuff):

Make weird choices;
Look for DiFFERENT solutions;
Take contrarian positions on issues;
Unique;
Unleash the ’special’ in you and your organization;
Avoid copying at all cost.

(fast):

Know that speed is a competitive advantage;
Accelerate past the failures and try something else;
Avoid dragging, it robs you of your nimbleness;
Beware of your competition because they’re watching you.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 8.11.14 at 03:11 am by Roy Osing
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July 28, 2014

Why failing leaders are people who constantly flit around

Source: Pexels

Why failing leaders are people who constantly flit around.

Why do so many leaders flit around all the time?

Many so-called leaders don’t lead at all, they flit from this to that.

From one crisis to another. From one priority to another.

They don’t land on anything. They chase. They are captured by activity; busyness.

They move quickly from issue to issue avoiding any chance of getting pinned down.

They measure the worth of the hours they put in by the calories they burn.

They run toward whatever their boss says is important. And they run away from issues their subordinates claim are critical.

They are skin deep, with a shallow perspective on the issues of the day.

They have no opinion of substance.

They can’t give direction.

They are never physically present; always on the go attending ‘business lunches’ and meetings with their flitting colleagues.

They are completely reactive with no proactive bone in their body.

I reported to the VP Marketing at one point in my career, and he was a flitterer extraordinaire. A nice enough person, but not someone you could go to for specific direction. Always passing my proposals on Marketing programs on to the President for his opinion before approving me to take action.

Virtually zero value added from his executive position. An open valve in the decision making conduit of the organization.

They are everywhere.

Observe your own behavior. Be honest with yourself.

Make sure you don’t practice flittership under the guise of leadership.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 7.28.14 at 05:04 am by Roy Osing
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July 7, 2014

Why ‘serving’ customers is way better than ‘servicing’ them

Source: Pexels

Why ‘serving’ customers is way better than ‘servicing’ them.

What promise do you have in your service strategy?

“I promise to service you.” or “I promise to serve you.”

Which sounds more appealing? Which sounds more sensitive to your wants, desires and expectations?

Do you really want to be ‘serviced’?

Customer service in most organizations involves the application of the company’s service structure to people. It subjects them to the rules, policies and practices the company has created to control the customer engagement process.

It boils down to a set of policies being applied to everyone regardless of circumstance.

How often have you heard: (even though we all know it’s ridiculous) ’I’m sorry you can’t do that because it’s company policy.’

And yes, control.

Policies for the most part are intended to minimize risk (for the company), increase efficiency (for the company), maintain or reduce operating costs (for the company) and create consistency (for the company).

What’s missing?

Service is all about the company yet it implies that it is all for the customer. Nonsense!

If you REALLY want the customer to come first, you need to subordinate the company to a serving role. And you need to start talking about ‘serving customers’ not providing customer ‘service’

What it means to serve:

▪️ The customer is engaged to determine what the company’s rules, policies and procedures look like;

▪️ Employees try to find a way to say yes to every customer request whether it satisfies a policy or not;

▪️ Frontline conversations with customers always include the question “How can I help you?”;

▪️ The measure of the customer engagement is whether or not they were dazzled by the service experience they had, not how proficiently the rules were applied.

Do you service or do you serve?

Should you be trying to improve your customer service, or should you be trying to serve customers in a more warm and caring manner?

What do you think is the winning approach?

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 7.7.14 at 03:01 am by Roy Osing
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June 30, 2014

Why ‘buying’ customers is a really bad growth strategy

Source: Pexels

Why ‘buying’ customers is a really bad growth strategy. There’s no such thing as low hanging fruit.

A business plan based on buying a customer base is flawed.

When companies develop their growth plan, they are very tempted to consider an acquisition as a fast-and-easy option.

After all, if you want to grow revenues by $10 million over the next 24 months, why not buy a customer base that would yield that amount?

Buying customers may appear like low hanging fruit to achieve your growth intentions but it isn’t.

On paper, a merger or acquisition might look like it was made in heaven but it rarely is.

The synergies cited and the common denominator between the two organizations often understate or mask the real challenges facing the marriage.

Integrating a new organization into an exiting one is not easy.

Culture, operations, policy, systems and procedures differences make the combination anything but seamless and the acquired customers are often affected.

The difficulties in merging the entities are visible to them; their service is impacted and their loyalty wanes. There is no guarantee they will remain after the dust from the merge settles.

The intended growth plan is not realized.

There is no low hanging fruit when it comes to growing your customer base

Nurture and expand your existing customer base; those current customers who are with you because they know you and care about what you do.

Provide them with more personal solutions; packages of value that will excite them and motivate them to spread your word to others.

Build your business plan around organic growth; shopping for new ones is a risk you may want to avoid.

It is a more certain future for you.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 6.30.14 at 03:24 am by Roy Osing
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