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The Battle for Innovation
Nelson’s Column is a monument in the centre of London’s Trafalgar Square. A 5.5 metre statue of Lord Horatio Nelson stands on top of a 46 metre granite column. Thousands of business people walk past it every day on the way to and from work. Few of these people realize that, even though he died over 200 years ago, Lord Nelson could teach them some valuable techniques that could help them and their companies innovate in today’s business world.
Lord Horatio Nelson is regarded as the greatest officer in the history of the British Royal Navy. He is renowned for his innovative, confident and unorthodox battle techniques. He died in 1805 after he and the British fleet annihilated their Franco-Spanish enemies in the Battle of Trafalgar. This battle was one of the most decisive naval battles in history and it established Great Britain as the leading naval power. After this humiliating defeat, Napoleon Bonaparte of France abandoned plans to invade Great Britain.
Innovation will give 21st century organizations competitive advantage. But, as Nelson showed, innovative and cutting edge ideas are not random. They come from relentless, focused preparation. Wisdom, experience and preparation provide the confidence to follow through with seemingly risky, unconventional ideas. Continue reading ‘The Battle for Innovation’
Since I’ve been in any form of organization, no matter how big or small, there’s always been an attempt to make a distinction between managers and leaders. There are all kinds of definitions that attempt to make the distinction, like this one from Warren Bennis, “Managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right things.” And for the most part they’ve done a great job convincing us of the difference.
May I suggest that the distinction between the two is not helpful in today’s business environment!
The lines between manager and leader have become very blurred. In this highly pressurised environment there just isn’t time to make the distinction any more. We’re thin on the ground. We need managers to lead and leaders to manage. Perhaps it’s time to scrap both these terms and come up with a new one. Of course that’s not going to happen. There’s too much money to be made by keeping them separate. Step outside of academia for a while and ask those on the ground whether they’re managers or leaders? Their answer is almost always both. And this is not because they’re not smart enough to understand the difference, it’s because today’s business environment requires them to do both and to be both.
Today, almost all of our work functions are highly documented. Is there a business function left in the world that doesn’t have a manual attached to it, showing in accurate detail, how to go about what it is you do whenever you’re doing it? With that much detail why do we need managers? Just follow the manual. Managers in the context of these manuals have become the go-to reference people. You go to your manager when you’re not sure how to interpret the manual, not because you don’t know what to do. Continue reading ‘Leaderment or Manageship’
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An interview with Sharon Kersten
Sharon is a skilled and experienced business professional having worked as MD at Old Mutual’s retail banking arm Nedbank. She is also a guest lecturer at INSEAD. We interviewed Sharon to ask her what she believes companies need to be doing as recession looms on the horizon Continue reading ‘An interview with Sharon Kersten’
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Detailed Introduction to Generational Theory
“Baby Boomer”, “Generation X”, the “Millennial generation”, “Generation Y” - these and other similar terms to describe groups of people of different ages have become fairly well known and well used in recent years. These terms arise from a theory that attempts to explain how different generations develop different value systems, and the impact that this has on how younger and older people interact with the world around them and with each other.
This understanding of different generations and the “gap” between them has many applications in all areas of life, from parents interacting with children, to sales people selling to younger or older clients, to managers who work with teams of people of different ages.
Continue reading ‘Detailed Introduction to Generational Theory’
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The Accounting Profession: Power, Pressure, Perfection and People
Since 2002, the accounting profession has been rocked by sensational corporate scandals and subsequent strict regulations. The four largest global accounting firms (the ‘Big Four’) still have more challenges on the horizon. All of them see their talented staff as the best tool to embrace these challenges and add the value demanded by clients. Each of the Big Four believes their people are the source of their future competitive advantage.
But, most graduates who are recruited by these firms write the same exams, are affiliated to the same professional bodies and are overseen by the same external regulators. The structure of an audit, the deadlines, the type of people who are recruited, the pressure and the opportunities are similar at each of the four accounting giants.
If talented people are the key to differentiation for each of the firms, why and how should they change and structure themselves in order to capitalize on this critical resource? How can they each use their people to differentiate from each other?
In spite of the new networked, knowledge economy, increased regulations and changes to the profession, the organisational design and way audits are staffed and performed has generally remained the same.
Is it time for the Big Four to change? Continue reading ‘The Accounting Profession: Power, Pressure, Perfection and People’
“It is my contention that in the over 40 years that I have been associated with the JSE, South Africans have always over-reacted emotionally towards the exchange. When there is a bull market people believe it is never going to stop and when there is a bear market everyone believes that the sun will never shine again.” - Humphrey Borkum, Chairman JSE Limited.
This is not another comment on how tough it is out there. There’s plenty of that going around, and then some. This is rather a question on how one should prepare people for the ‘flip side’? And there always is a flip side, whether you’re running a company or flying an Apollo Mission.
There are clearly some difficult decisions to be made when resources are tight, cash flow is under pressure and business isn’t flowing in like it did 12 months ago. Of course it doesn’t help when you don’t know when the cycle is going to turn, how quickly and to what levels the economy will return? Making a bad decision when the pressure is turned up can have far reaching consequences. Containing costs and doing everything to keep sales to an acceptable level are all part of the mechanisms most managers turn to.
What about people in all of this? Continue reading ‘See you on the flip side’
My youngest son Sipho arrived home from school the other day having just negotiated a history exam. “Well, how did it go?” I asked. Without so much as breaking his stride, he replied, “Well Dad, I either got 92% or 60%” and with that disappeared into his room leaving an empty and somewhat stunned silence in his wake.
I was left pondering his answer. Answer? What kind of answer was that anyway? I was left with two thoughts: Firstly, Sipho has a bright future in politics and secondly, he did a masterful job at managing parental expectations!
It was the second conclusion that led me to thinking about two of the most important aspects of leadership, namely the need to manage expectations and the need to manage perceptions. Continue reading ‘The Essential Smoke and Mirror of Leadership’
Barrie Bramley looks at the preoccupation many companies have with ‘talent’and the confusion it’s causing; as those who are grappling with it struggle to work out what to do with it? Barrie looks at the problem of scarce skills in the market place and the fact that when there’s a shortage of people with skills, you want to ensure that you ‘acquire’ the best people available.
Continue reading ‘Talent – I dislike that word!’
- First published in the April 2008, Mortgage Solutions magazine
The era in which you were born has an extraordinary effect on your value system, your expectations of the workplace and how you approach life. In this article, Dr Graeme Codrington, one of the world’s leading experts on generational theory, gives an introduction to the concept of the generation gap.
Continue reading ‘Introducing the Generations’
Business world is facing the dawning of a new alliance age / revolution that will bring about a new business model more symbiotic and substantially different from the business model of today. The competitive and changing economic landscape demands a new business model…one removed from the shareholder value model to one where value for all stakeholders is created. A model where symbiosis is common place, a model where an entirely new set of rules, governances and structural design/architecture is created; a model that requires the mobilisation of every ounce of intelligence from the managers managing the relationships. In this article our UK & European Director, Dean van Leeuwen, shares with us the results from interviewing over 30 senior executive managers and undertaking a broader global research study of leading companies. The results are illuminating.
Continue reading ‘Building Network Alliances – The future for profitability and success in turbulent times.’
I received an email the other day inviting me to contribute a ‘thought’ or message to a leader newly appointed to the role of CEO. I was one of several people invited to do so and I thought it was a nice touch. Unfortunately, the mail arrived at a time when I was in Thailand on holiday (someone has to do it) and deliberately computerless. By the time I read the invitation, the deadline and opportunity to make a contribution had passed. Ah well, maybe next time.
But I got to think what it is I would have written and decided that this is the message that I would want a new CEO to hear…
Continue reading ‘So, it is your first day in the corner office…’
Dr Graeme Codrington offers insight for South Africans (and others) on how not to be left in the dark when it comes to strategic planning as well as attracting and retaining talented young people with creativity - particularly when traditional solutions aren’t working. Consider how you could use the current load shedding to your advantage!
Continue reading ‘Load shedding lessons (and opportunities)’
Explore four trends that are currently changing the face of business as Keith explains how these trends are resulting in the need for a radical transformation in the process of developing leaders who are capable of leading into the future.
Continue reading ‘Developing corporate leaders’
“Never before has ‘HR’ (Human Resources) been so redundant within the corporation; yet paradoxically, never before has it been more critical.” In this article, Keith Coats offers a viewpoint on how companies can make the transition to the connection economy and arrive in tomorrow’s world with the requisite skills to not only survive but succeed and lead in the business world today.
Continue reading ‘The Great HR Paradox: A Thought Bullet for CEO’s everywhere’
Dr Graeme Codrington’s latest presentation is called “Hannah’s Rules” which alerts companies to an essential emerging trend: the ethical consumer. In this article, he explains WHY ethical consumption is such a growing trend.
Why Ethical Consumption is Taking Off
By Dr Graeme Codrington
Today’s consumers are not just looking for a good product at a fair price. They are looking beyond the product or service to the ethics of the company that supplies it. The symptoms of this shift in focus by consumers is evident in the concerns that these customers have about the companies they purchase from. There is growing interest, for example, in labour practices, diversity quotas, environmental policies, social responsibility, and even CEO salaries are under scrutiny.
So-called “triple bottom line†reporting, which gets companies to present not just financial results, but also social and environmental results and impact, too, is one way in which corporates are trying to respond. And they need to respond because are voicing their concerns, in everything from boycotting stores to suing corporations. Companies like Ford, Gap, Nike, Walmart and KfC have all experienced the wrath of ethical consumers in recent years, and have been forced to respond quickly to protect their reputations and their very existence as companies.
This growing emphasis on ethical consumption is a trend that cannot be ignored. It is not going to go away. There are some important changes in the world that provide indications that ethical consumers will continue to be a growing force in the next few decades. Companies would do well to understand this trend, and be proactive in dealing with it.
Continue reading ‘Why Ethical Consumption is Taking Off’
Karin Wellman, co-founder and director of TomorrowTraining, asks, “Who is training your trainers?” Trainers and those in charge of the development of other staff members are often neglected as recipients of training and development themselves. Karin highlights this as a critical problem for businesses today, and suggests a solution.
Continue reading ‘Who’s Looking After Them?’
What is talent, and do you really want it? If so, how much talent do you want, where will you find it and what are you going to do with the talented people you manage to attract to your company? Barrie Bramley turns his attention to these and similar questions, as he helps companies to see talent as their most important competitive differentiator.
Continue reading ‘Do You Know Talent?’
Following a presentation on Invitational Leadership at a two day workshop for senior leaders at a prominent multi-national, the CEO of the company and Keith Coats engaged in a chat about values and the role they play in a company. He invited Keith to email him some thoughts around the four values his company had framed. Here is Keith’s response. It is an excellent insight into the type of values-driven leadership required in companies today.
Continue reading ‘Dear Yves…a conversation around Values’
First published in Cover magazine in Oct 2006.
We all know that change is now a constant reality. But, less obvious, is the fact that the daily changes we encounter are merely symptoms of an irreversible, radical transformation of our society. As we chart a course into the 21stcentury, we discover that consumers are no longer simply passive recipients of our products theyre involved, knowledgeable, powerful and discerning. And that changes everything.
The Digital Revolution?
In virtually every industry today, were generating more products and services than at any point in history, delivering better quality through an ever-growing number of channels, at prices that constantly put pressure on our margins and profitability. At the same time, cellphones, websites, and a proliferation of media sources all combine to give consumers increased access to more information, at greater speed and lower cost than ever before. There are two major implications of these shifts: (1) there are less and less ways by which competitors can differentiate themselves, as they sell similar products at similar prices in similar ways; and (2) detailed comparisons between competitors are easily achieved and are now a matter of course for consumers.
SIDEBAR QUOTE
The surplus society has a surplus of similar companies, employing similar people, with similar educational backgrounds, coming up with similar ideas, producing similar things, with similar prices and similar quality.
Kjell Nordström and Jonas Ridderstråle, Funky Business
Continue reading ‘Who you are, not what you sell’
First Published in Marketing Mix Magazine (2001)
STRAP: The age of the customer
I dont remember Apartheid, but I know all about AIDS. I dont care who won the Cold War or wonder who shot JFK, but I know the answers are just a click away if I need them. I was weaned on a diet of mass media and massive choice, and I know how to use both to my advantage. I am Generation Y. And if you want me to listen, you have to speak my language.
By Kim Penstone & Graeme Codrington
The age of the customer is upon us. Never before have customers had so much choice, and so much information at their disposal to influence this choice. Never before have they had the confidence to use this power to control the companies that cater to them. And never before have they had the extent of power that they have today. Until, of course, tomorrow.
Because future generations will have access to even more information than we have today. Generation Y will be wired to the hilt, capable of absorbing and processing information more quickly and efficiently than any generation before them. And they will have both the confidence and the power to use this information to build or destroy brands at the click of a button.
Continue reading ‘Generation Y: Its life, Jim, but not as we know it’
A new generation of “ethical consumers” are starting to demand more than just great products and services at fair prices - they also increasingly require transparency, environmental care, social responsibility, diversity and a host of other characteristics in the companies they buy from. They will be demanding these from their employers in the future, too. In this article, Dr Graeme Codrington helps you to see your company - your product offerings, your brand, your reputation, your leaders, your people and your future - through the eyes of your future consumers and staff.
Continue reading ‘Beware the Rise of the Ethical Consumer’
You only get one chance to make a first impression. The old cliché could not be more true, or more important, in a world where we compete constantly for customer’s attention and connection. Dr Graeme Codrington looks at some first impressions you may not be considering, and suggests that this is so important that it should be a top strategic priority.
Continue reading ‘What’s Your First Impression’
Aloysias Maimane asks what makes someone an African. Part of the answer relates to African celebrations. In this article, Aloysias explains what celebrations mean to Africans, and what implications this has for companies and leaders. Anyone who needs to attract, retain and inspire African staff members, whatever their cultural background, would do well to consider the importance of celebrations.
Continue reading ‘The Soul of Your African: Celebration’
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