There must be a rationale behind out-sourcing …

it’s just that I cannot understand, nor see it, right now.

I’ve just come out of a forced 2-week sabbatical as a result of my system-board kicking the bucket on my Hewlett-Packard notebook. 14 days it has taken for HP, nay I lie, ICSS to fix it for me. HP, like many companies, outsources servicing and repairs to 3rd parties.

Clearly there must be a financial and logistical reason for this … but at what cost to the comsumer? I believe that the motivation to actually care for a customers problem is distilled in the process of outsourcing core functions such as servicing and repairs.

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Why should I be patient?

I had an argument with my mom on the weekend. My parents have recently stepped up the technology ladder by purchasing a digital camera (yes, I know what you’re thinking … “late uptake”). Anyway, my mom expressed disgust at how much the camera cost, and shared how she believes film is a better option. As the debate raged on, we entered into the realm of general technological advancement in recent years and the impact the advancement has had on kids.

My mom has a belief that the kids of today are impatient, lazy, intolerant and too heavily entrenched in a culture of instant gratification. This is not a unique belief, many Boomers would chorus in agreement. As an Xer (who she was aprtly referring to!) I shot back defesnively “But we’re not to blame, it was your generation who created the world we grew up in. Why should we be patient when we have never needed to be patient?” I rattled off examples such as fast food, email, cell phones and PC games that supported my argument.

As I engage more with generational theory, I begin to wonder who is responsible for “bridging the gap”? When we as the forerunners of a generational movement steam ahead in creating the world we want to live in, do we give much thought to the tpye of world we’ll be creating for our kids. Will we be aforded the privilege of writing off the values our kids adopt, when it is our actions now that will indrectly create the environment for the development of those values.

Any thoughts you’d like to add (especially from the parents amongst us)?

Sneaky outputs

One of the significant shifts we’re seeing in talent management is around input versus output performance measurement. The traditional Company Man arrived at work promptly, spent solid hours at his desk, did not overstay his welcome at tea breaks and finished his lunch before the aloted lunch hour was up. His inputs were impeccable. However, todays young talent are asking for a different measure … outputs.

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30 years on …

Today I sit as a judge at the Gauteng contest of the annual Anglo American Sowetan Young Communicators Award. Hosted at the Apartheid Musuem, 30 years since the Soweto uprising on June 16th 1976, young talented speakers have come from English 2nd Language schools to battle it out for a spot at the National Final in June. As a 26-year old white male, it is my first visit to the museum and the first time I have heard participants of the 1976 riots speak publically. Murphy Morobe, one of the convicted organisers of the uprising spoke of his experiences in Soweto some 30 years ago.

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Generational Metaphor

There is a wonderful metaphor we can use to understand the differences between generations: Music playback medium … the gramaphone, LP Records, 8-track, Cassette Tapes, CD, and now the MP3, digital. Each one “belongs” to a certain generation.

However the nice thing about this metaphor is that it shows how generational cycles occur. i.e. Vinyl records are now a big part of Xer/Millenial dance culture … no longer are they just in the realm of Boomer taste.

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The community employer

I was watching the news a while back, and a story was featured on the Metrorail strike that is plaguing the commuter industry. The Labour court has just ruled that the strike is legal (wow, what a precedent!). The central issue in the strike, as with most in SA, is a dispute over wage increase. The Union is “demandingâ€? a 6.5% increase across the board while, and Metrorail is “offering” a 5.5% increase. And so, we have a deadlock. Neither party is prepared to move on the issue, let alone compromise. The Union is claiming that anything less than a 6.5% increment is unjust and underserved, while Metrorail is claiming that any increase beyond 5.5% will severely cripple its viability i.e. it cannot afford the increase. This scenario is typical of most strikes in SA, almost to the T. I ask Why is an annual increase seen as a right? Why should companies give wage/salary increases when there is not a related increase in their revenues?

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The Toyota Way

Care of Barrie Bramley’s upcoming book review of the Toyota Way:

‘Is Toyota a conservative company? Yes. Does it seem to be very plodding and slow to make changes? Yes. Is it innovative? Remarkebly so. Go slow, build on the past, and thoroughly consider all implications of decisions, yet move more aggresively to beat the competition to market with exceptional products.’ – Jeffery Liker

Emotional Intelligence in an Economy of Connection

The shifts taking place in the global economy are changing the way in which a company establishes its value proposition as a competitive differentiator. A few years back a company could bet on their “quality of product� as a sure winner. Such strategies today do not suffice, and if opted for will relegate the business to the abyss of redundancy as they are surpassed by companies who embrace the values of the emerging economy.

Companies that understand the changes required are positioning themselves in relation to what Daniel H. Pink terms the conceptual economy. Others are calling it the Emotional Economy, the Relationship Economy, or what we at TomorrowToday.biz call the Connection Economy. Whatever you call it, the game is changing, and strategies of old will not work. Tomorrow’s economy is all about connecting. Staying alive, nay, conquering your industry will be a matter of connecting with your customers, suppliers, employees, families of your employees and connecting with the communities your organization finds itself operating within.

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Staying ahead

My understanding of the TomorrowToday value proposition to our clients is that we actively and purposefully monitor the shifts that take place in society that will have an impact on the way business is run. In doing so, we then advise and educate clients on how best to confront and deal with these changes to generate competitive value propositions of their own.

We have seen of late that changes in economies and the values associated with those economies turnover at a yearly rate like none of the predecessors. So, for the last 5 years of so we have been spreading the “message” of the oncoming connection economy, that we cannot continue to work the way we have, that the way we relate to people in organisations has to change profoundly. This is a message true of any economical shift of years gone by. But our message is drilled down further in terms of how companies need to connect better with employees, customers and suppliers.

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Dis-incentivising Politics

September 2004 was a significant moment in South Africa’s political history as 486 councillors ‘crossed the floor’ to opposing parties. Not particularly sure on how to curb future crossings, the political parties concerned have opted to fine councillors crossing the floor in upcoming seasons. Behold, the political world, in South Africa at least, has realised the pain of losing talent. And so, councillors are charged between 2% and 5% of their salaries for election costs and are being made to sign contracts that state they’ll have to repay up to R500, 000 if they cross the floor. Yes, it is a common clause in study agreements, but recovering the recruitment costs from the incumbent is a sure way of chasing talent away. Finweek, 2nd February.

As we watch society for shifts that will affect the way business is run, this is a liminal event in the course of South African retention strategies – the option of threatening the employee with exorbitant costs for “disloyalty”. It is widely known that the costs of replacing your better employees can amount to nearly 3 times their annual salaries. Opting for such a retention stratgey will surely prevent these talented employees from even getting out of their cars at the 1st interview. It is better telling a Gen Xer not to touch wet paint! It is doomed to fail.
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The power of Beta

BBC News, 20 January, run a story on Google’s approach to releasing products “early and often”. “We want to try things out, lots of things. Our goal is to fail fast, get the product out, and see what users like,” says Marissa Mayer, vice president of search products. This approach flies in the face of traditional product releases, where Google release a product in Beta form, knowing that 9 out of 10 products will fail. So, “Beta” has become the new mantra of failure? Read the full article here. BTW, Google have underdelivered on market expectations for 2005, read here how rain is falling on Google’s parade.

Technorati : google

Samsung gets the power of Narrative

The caption reads, “It’s about a building with 88 stories and a boy with just one”.

Samsung built one of the tallest buildings in the world in Malaysia … but their marketing is also about communicating a story – that they connect with life. This is how companies are going to have to market to keep alive … they need to create stories.

100 Best Companies to Work for in America

In our Bright Young Things workshops we assist companies in identifying points of gravitation that draw talent into their hallways, offices and boardrooms. Typically, remuneration is listed as a primary gravitation point. However, we believe that this is no longer the top attracter of talent. Fortune (Europe Edition) January 2006, in profiling the 2006 100 Best Companies to Work for in America, argue that one of the resultant effects of globalisation is that companies have to push their “employee-pleasing ways further than ever” … beyond remuneration.

Regarding the 100 Best Companies:
* In 2001, 33 companies in the Fortune list paid 100% of employee’s health-care premiums. Today only 14 do so.
* Since 2005, 27 of the 100 companies have reduced what they pay towards health-care.
* The number of employers offering defined-benefit pensions has dropped from 40 to 27 in three years.

Why does America’s best talent then choose these companies over higher paying offers? It’s partly because the companies are skilled at finding staff-freindly ideas that don’t cost much. Some examples:
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White Lightning: A lesson in Talent Management

Allan “White Lightning” Donald (AD) was the mainstay pace bowler of the South African cricket side for the better half of a decade . Donald also established himself as a prolific county player for Warwickshire and Worcestershire in England in recent years. In sporting terms he was prime talent (330 wickets in 72 Tests). News24.com report today that Donald is interested in fulfilling a role as England’s bowling coach. Just when I thought the world of sport could teach us a thing or two about managing talent, AD’s potential change in patriot nation poses some tough questions.

Firstly, it was reported on radio that AD was pursuing the position because such avenues were closed to him regarding the SA national team. Whether accurate or not, this spurns me. How can we let prime Talent like AD slip through our hands in such a fashion? We all know that our bowling attack is not the best in the world and we could definitely benefit from his insight and experience.

But then, would we? Do we not run the risk of making our best mechanic a workshop manager, so to speak? It is rare that mechanics make great managers. This also applies to talent in organisations: our Bright Young UPS delivery guys may not become great logistics managers, our Bright Young Accountants may not make great financial managers, etc, etc. But yet we feel agrieved when such great playing talent is not put into the ranks of “manager”?

News24.com:

“Donald is currently employed as a part-time consultant to South Africa’s Academy and the prospect of such a national hero joining England may prompt a more permanent job offer from the United Cricket Board of South Africa”.

If this indeed happens I’ll be upset. Why does it take an offer from a competitior to get due recognition from the company you’re currently choosing to work for? Granted, AD has always had one foot planted in the UK and one in SA.

Narrative: high concept and touch

Dan Pink, in his book, A Whole New Mind (get it at Amazon.com or Kalahari.net), captures nicely what relevance Story (which I prefer to call Narrative) has in our economy. In my own words:

The information age was all about managing facts. The connection economy (or as he calls it, the conceptual economy) will be about remembering stories.

Narrative is both high concept and high touch. It is high concept in that it stretches our minds beyond linear, binary modes of dealing with information – concepts and values come alive in the context of a Narrative. Through this process Narrative becomes high touch – there is an emotional connection with Story that transcends the connection with plain information.

Million Dollar Homepage

And so, you’re sitting around one day as a broke 21yr old student pondering how you’ll pay for your university tuition fees. It’s really simple – host an advertising site where you sell space. Alex Tew is the brains behind www.milliondollarhomepage.com. At a premium of $1 per pixel, he is aiming to sell $1 million worth by the end of the year – he’s already $889,000 down the road and has only been going since September. Nice quick buck!

Technorati : million+dollar+homepage

Black Marketing

Not like the name suggests, this is a strand of marketing that is being borne out of how the Smoking Co’s have been cornered by global health legislation (and soon too the breweries!). Now that they’re no longer able to utlise the ‘tried and tested’ marketing channels, smoking companies are needing to prove themselves as being adept at pitching their product “below the line”.

Hence Black Marketing – the art of selling their product through face-to-face interactions i.e. Direct Marketing. Now direct marketing is not new. It is a marketing strategy that has been growing over the years in popularity as companies realise the intangibility of billboard advertising and realise the rewards of actually connecting with customers (e.g. at the bottom of this post).

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How do you remain “cutting-edge”?

Yesterday I attended a presentation by Prof. David Block on the Power of Vision. He gave us a wonderful metaphor when thinking of what it means to remain at the cutting edge as a business.

He asked us how much TNT it would take to move a sand dune in Namibia? The answer: none. All it takes is a beetle walking along the leading edge to disrupt (scratching) the line so that the wind can do its job in moving the dune.

So, remaining at the cutting edge is about knowing where to scratch, and embracing the ability to be wind-swept.

Don’t flysaa.com

I had a query about an international ticket with SAA, so I phoned 0861FLYSAA and this is what I heard …

10h34
(Ring -ring) Thank you for choosing South African Airways. All of our sales agent are presently occupied. Please try again later. (Click)

Being a stickler for instructions, I did so.

16h45
(Ring-ring) Thank you for choosing South African Airways. All of our sales agent are presently occupied. Please try again later. (Click)

I’m now thoroughly confused.

Peter Drucker 1909-2005

Sad day,

The world’s most influential business guru, Peter Drucker, passed away 11 Nov 2005.

Read about it on the Washington Post.
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Your company’s problem: YOU!!!!

Fast Company – Soul Assassins

Consulting: If You’re Not Part of the Solution, There’s Good Money to Be Made Prolonging the Problem
Meetings: None of Us Is as Dumb as All of Us

These are some of the blurbs in the posters that Despair Inc. are promoting in their Radical Demotivation campaign. In challenging the motivation industry, the trio of Justin and Jef Sewell, and E. Lawrence Kersten are challenging the noble employee myth so that we can realise just what our company’s problem is (US!) and just how we can let them know about it!. From the horse’s mouth:

“Look,” Kersten says, “obviously some people can be highly fulfilled by their jobs. Doctors, for example: It seems like saving lives would be highly fulfilling. Building bridges, building businesses — a lot of careers can fulfill a person’s inherent passion. But I don’t know how passionate you can be about processing paper. The point is that most people should work to make money. They shouldn’t expect a company to make them happy. A company can be friendly and good, but it can’t really make you happy. At the same time, it shouldn’t insult you. It shouldn’t say, ‘We’re a family and have values,’ and then act like Enron.”
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CEO Succession

This week I wrote about how CEO evaluation is not geared enough towards talent attraction, development and utilisation. Read it here – Chicken or Egg. Talent or Profit?. So, in keeping an eye out for CEO evaluation content I found an article in the October 26 FinWeek that profiles the role of succession planning as a key criteria for CEOs.

The core of the article is about how CEOs should be focussed on succession planning, which then has an impact on developing internal candidates, which then in turn results in spotting talent. Shoprite CEO Whitey Basson said something interesting,

But we must expect to train more than we lose …

This approach is most unlike most CEOs views. Often the excuse leaders use when faced with BYT’s leaving their employ is this, “Why should we throw ourselves at a sinking ship?” Perhaps Basson’s view is more of what need if we’d like to create envirnments in which our talent will choose to stay with us?
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Chicken or Egg. Talent or Profit

The war

A CEO’s performance is generally measured on two things: share price and shareholder value. This is the plight of a business leader in a capitalist society, and most of his/her time is dedicated to these criteria. However there is a pain that is pulling business leaders away from their focus on these criteria: that of the Talent War. This is not surprising because running a business on capitalist notions does very little in keeping your brightest young talent – except make them jealous! Soon, share price and shareholder ROI will be meaningless unless a CEO is able to be a Talent Manager; a leader who fields, grows and retains the best young talent. And so a CEO, and his/her Board, should really reconsider the fervor with which they throw themselves to the capitalist dream. My hunch is that the business that will succeed in today and tomorrow’s world is developing a greater interest in an environment where our brightest talent acknowledge their readiness to leave us, and choose to stay, rather than an all-out offense on short term profit and the bottom line. My stance is this: if you build it (the environment for bright young talent), they (share price, shareholder value) will come.

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The Wisdom of Crowds

When the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after take-off on January 28, 1986 who would have known that, out of the 4 publically listed contractors to the shuttle, the Dow Jones market singled out the party responsible prior to any investigation into the infamous O-ring that caused the explosion? This is one of the many case studies and examples that James Surowiecki lists in support of his premise in The Wisdom of Crowds (Buy it at Amazon.com or Kalahari.net):

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In demand

One of the growing forces that is contributing to the talent wars in South Africa is “demand�. We know that Xers in their early careers aim to increase their marketability by building a portfolio as opposed to a CV. Bigger packages, flexible hours, freedom and the like all have an important part to play in the rate at which BYTs jump ship (or stay), but I have a hunch (if I have to look at myself as a BYT) that being in demand is one of the biggest factors. We want to be in demand – it boosts our ego and it proves to us that our marketability is working. This is especially true of young black BYTs in South Africa – the prices on their heads are exorbitant and it is all based on demand (much like share prices).

How do you keep an investor on the JSE loyal? You don’t – you have to entice her. And so when it comes to talent, companies are under huge pressure (and pain) to re-invent themselves into organizations that invite as opposed to coerce their BYTs into staying. This is tough news for business leaders as the implication is that their job needs to be more about managing talent than focusing on share price and shareholder value.

But is it only up to the company? Are we not regressing into Dilbertian mindsets if we believe it is only up to the company to solve this problem? I believe so. I reckon that there is also a mindset change required from BYTs themselves. Sure demand is wonderful, and the salaries are better … but what value is there in taking up positions that you know you are not ready for (despite what your arrogance tells you regarding your ability to adapt?).

Getting old @ 25!

Picked this up from DK’s (his website & blog) changethis manifesto on the Youth of Today:

In their world technology is ubiquitous and not a differentiator (unless you don’t have a phone or access to a computer). However, technology is used as a tool to communicate first and entertain second. And because it is ingrained in their culture it is harder to impress young people with new gadgets or ranges.

I’m 25 (26 in a month ) and consider myself to be relatively up-to-date with technological advancements. I love them, they keep me on my toes. But is this not perhaps an indicator of how “out of it” I am? If DK is right, new tech does not surprise our Millenials … but it differentiates us from them, and those who adapt from those that don’t!

Taking a step back … diversity

“According to the philosopher Ly Tin Wheedle, chaos is found in greatest abundance wherever order is being sought. It always defeats order, because it is better organized.� (Interesting Times – Terry Pratchett)

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Taking a step back … talent

Talent! You know it when you’re faced with it, but try to define it and it then begins to escape you (check out these links for more on what talent is: Hello_world: TalentMyth; What is Talent?). Whatever it is “Talentâ€? is the word we’re using more and more to describe the best amongst us/ employees/ entrepreneurs/ managers/ workers. What I do know is that talent = the rock stars of our world, the weird ones (take a look at Rich…! and the Missing link crew and how Tom Peters defines Talent )! Could it be that Talent is most found in the alternative story (read weird places) … in the lives of those who do not typically live up to the “best employee” stereotype (read dominant story) with a white picket fence and 2 ½ kids … and oh, a MBA?

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Taking a step back … enterprise

From my last post you may have sensed that a Narrative approach has a concern for those that fall short of our “buzzwords�. In more depth, this is about dominant stories and subjugated stories. The thinking goes that a story (remember: a way of relating to the world) gains air play and becomes dominant. E.g. how the information era story began to gain precedence over the industrial era story. The problem here is that a dominant story subjugates other stories, and in the process squashes value that that story may have to offer. Think of how, after having a reasonably good day, a negative event ‘tips’ you and your internal world becomes inundated with thoughts and emotions regarding this event – somewhere you’ve forgotten about the rest of the day.

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Taking a step back … change

I have said previously that words are not innocent (see Taking a step back …). What I mean by this is that words are not flippant indicators of meaning – they are value laden and play huge roles in the way we see our world. This is especially true of our workplaces. There are buzzwords that reflect the culture of the workplace that shape people’s thinking and doing – they tell us what counts and what does not count.

Change, change, change – it’s everywhere!
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