In solving the ‘Talent’ crisis, it’s time for South and North to jointly solve the ‘gravitas’ problem

If you take a look at the state of business education in the world today, you’d have to conclude that we’ve never been in a better position to take our organisations forward to places we’ve only dreamed of. There’s never been more business education available than there is currently. We have more business schools, both physically and on the internet. More people are going through these formal programmes than ever before. There’s also never been more access to information informally than ever before. Almost anyone can get access to some of the greatest thinking with regards to business.

And yet there’s a shortage of people to fill key positions in most organisation I speak to, no matter the continent they find themselves on. The opportunities abound and yet there aren’t enough people to take them up. However, I contend, it’s not that there’s a shortage of educated people to fill these spaces. The problem we have is that there’s a shortage of people who have the required depth, gravitas and experience. And in my opinion, no number of business education programmes can fix this problem.

Depth, gravitas and experience are not learned in a classroom (no matter how good it is). These characteristics emerge on the job. They develop through numerous and varied experiences over time. And if this is the main process by which you aquire them, then there are some interesting modern challenges and obstacles we have to deal with:

1. The length of tenure of many young people is getting shorter and shorter, before they shift jobs, companies and industries.
2. Companies have placed significant pressure and stress on their managers and leaders by thinning head count. ‘Grey Beard’ availability to transfer knowledge and experience is becoming scarcer and scarcer.
3. More digital engagement and therefore less personal engagement. Technology doesn’t necessarily add any extra value you weren’t expecting. It does what you ask it and then moves on.
4. From a demographics perspective, the developed world, first world, northern hemisphere (I know these descriptors are weak) has an interesting challenge. Theirs is a number problem. When you look at their demographic shape you notice very quickly that there are more Baby Boomers retiring than the number of ‘replacements’ coming through in Gen X. Where do they find the extra people they need?
5. Through the same filter, the developing world, 3rd world and southern hemisphere have the inverse problem. It’s not numbers, because their demographic shape is a pyramid. More than enough people but insufficient resource to train and develop this large number. Add to that senior people being attracted to the developed world to fill their numbers problem.

… Continue Reading

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Three simple information technology tools that you can use to dramatically enhance your business

Technology advances have dominated the world of work for almost the entire lifetime of anyone reading this article.  Yet, until recently, communication technology has failed to deliver on the promises that were made.  Computers were meant to connect us, to make our lives easier and to take work away from us.  Yet, most of us have experienced the opposite.  We may be able to communicate more, but it feels as if we’re connecting less.  Buried under an avalanche of emails, voicemails and instant messages, we do not have the luxury of time to prepare considered responses.  Our hastily composed messages are often misunderstood, misinterpreted or just ignored.  Our advertising and promotional communication is equally often ignored.

It seems that information technology has made our offices (and lives) more efficient, more productive and more frenetic.  But also more sterile.  We’ve had to adjust how we want to work in order to accommodate the computer and its preferences.  This is immortalized in a running series of jokes in the UK comedy series, Little Britain: “The computer says ‘No’”, which was the answer of customer services to almost any reasonable customer request.  This is not what we had in mind when we embraced the computer’s arrival just a few decades ago.

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The Leader’s Challenge: Knowing What To Do When You Don’t Know What To Do

Author Max de Pree has said that the first task of leadership is to define reality.  For many in leadership today, the reality is they don’t know what to do in a turbulent, complex and dynamic world. Leadership is not what it once was and nor will it ever be that again. It has changed because the context for leadership has changed. There is a ‘new normal’. Understanding this new reality is both simple and complex – it is the Leader’s paradox and if you find yourself in leadership, it is one that requires your full attention.

Leaders are increasingly facing what Ron Heifitz of Harvard terms, ‘adaptive challenges’. In other words you are increasingly encountering situations that are unfamiliar, situations that you have never previously encountered. This is hardly surprising given that you are leading in the context of a world where exponential change is the norm.

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‘Playing the game’ in a connection economy

That’s right, it’s here, you know it, not just the World Cup, but also what we have called a ‘connection economy’, also known as a connective economy, people economy, an EQ-based economy or an emotion economy. We have known this for a few years now, but I wonder if we all know exactly what this actually means.

Very basically, we have evolved through the last say 100 years pushing through different economies. What this implies is how we classify our economy in terms of what is important when selling. Where our focus lies and what are our behavioural responses to that focus is when selling. I use the word selling in a broad sense here, because selling is not restricted to the sale of products or even services as you probably know, but rather, in my opinion, has expanded largely into the selling of concepts and abstracts.

Roughly speaking, our economies have morphed from focusing on commodities, to products, to services and most recently to experiences. The primary reason for this (and I am seriously simplifying a complex issue here) is competition. Due to the fact that ‘in the old days’ there was far less competition and far less choice available to the masses (who didn’t exist because they had no disposable income) there was far less need to be innovative, transformative and experimental in a) what you offered and b) how you offered it. The classic Henry Ford statement “you can have any colour car you want, as long as it’s black” sums up the idea that ‘in those days’ the focus of the sale was the product. With the rise in technology, and as we moved into the information age, the focus moved towards services. Product knowledge became more accessible and what gave companies the ‘edge’ was their ability to make things happen conveniently, accurately and quickly.

… Continue Reading

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An Assassin, A Fishing Hook, The Power of Tribes and Two World Cups

The Assassin

The sun rose quietly over Dawn Park, a suburb on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa. It was Easter weekend so most people were away on holiday. In many ways it was the perfect African morning. A refreshing cool breeze in the air gently hinted at autumn’s arrival, but it wouldn’t be long before the sun climbed higher, warming the African landscape. It was sure to be a beautiful day, Nomakhwezi, a pretty fifteen-year old girl saw it that way. She was waiting for her father, who had gone out briefly to buy a newspaper, to return. Her mother and sisters were away for the weekend and she had been looking forward all week to spending time alone with her Dad. Today he was going to be all hers, he’d promised. Nomakhwezi stood at the front door, she couldn’t wait for his return.

The year was 1993 and like the seasons, most things in South Africa were changing fast. Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress (ANC) had been unbanned in 1990 and the great man himself had been freed after 27 years of imprisonment. The ANC were now in a position to negotiate the transformation towards democratic and free South Africa. But progress had faltered. The Convention for a Democratic South Africa: CODESA I and II had seen parties walking away from the negotiating table. The ANC’s back up plan of rolling mass actions to bring the white ruling party back to the negotiating table was backfiring. Their mass action rallies had resulted in too much bloodshed and a recent confrontation with police in Bisho had resulted in twenty-eight supporters being killed. South Africa was on the tipping point and heading fast towards civil war. A group of right-wing extremists wanted to help give South Africa a push into racial turmoil. They’d drawn up a hit list of senior ANC officials. On the list were Nelson Mandela, South African Communist Party leader Joe Slovo and the charismatic ex-head of the ANC’s military arm (the Spear of the Nation or Umkhonto we Sizwe) and now Communist Party Secretary General Chris Hani was third on the list.

… Continue Reading

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Some (more) gems from our archives – valuable reading!

This blog has been running since 2003, and has nearly 2,000 individual entries. At one level it is a living library of the “new world of work”, captured as it emerges around us. I have recently taken some time to troll through the archives, from day one, and discovered again some remarkable gems. This is the second in my series of “gems from the archives”.

These articles from early 2005, are still well worth reading. They were prescient then, and remain important now, as we think about the implications of the new world of work that we find ourselves in. Enjoy:

• The goal of diversity is not harmony
• Cultural intelligence: Individual interactions across cultures
• Would you work for Halliburton (This is even more relevant as it appears Halliburton are the ultimate cause of the current BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster)
• Lessons from where you least expect them
• The last man to wear pantaloons
• Apres moi le deluge – dealing with short term thinking in leadership
• Conversation vs Information
• Chaotic management
• Leading diversity: an invitation to leaders everywhere
• Organising the future: The Individualized Corporation

Happy reading!

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Some hidden gems from our archives – valuable reading!

This blog has been running since 2003, and has nearly 2,000 individual entries. At one level it is a living library of the “new world of work”, captured as it emerges around us. I have recently taken some time to troll through the archives, from day one, and discovered again some remarkable gems.

These articles from 2003 and 2004, are still well worth reading. They were prescient then, and remain important now, as we think about the implications of the new world of work that we find ourselves in. Enjoy:

• 10 Skills for the future
• Thirteen things smart leaders know: how to thrive in a relational economy
• Change has changed
• What women want: the future of leadership
• Relearn to relate
• If you’re not failing, you’re not trying hard enough
• A brave new world, for women
• The great HR paradox: A thought bullet for CEOs everywhere

Happy reading!

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Social Media Platforms are taking the virtual out of reality

Often those that don’t, a few that have, and one or two that do, criticize social media platforms (Twitter, FaceBook, et al) of being a conceptual experience robbing the depth of authenticity from face-to-face relationships. In their opinion relationships on social media platforms are a far cry from the real world and are therefore best avoided.

There is some merit in these pronouncements, especially with some of the bizarre and ridiculous anecdotes that abound in these emergent spaces. We all know the one about the one guy that murdered the other guy in the real world because he stole something from him in the virtual world. And we know about the woman who divorced her husband in the real world because of his affair in the virtual world.

But what of the other stories? The counter-stories to these crazy ones? Are there any, and if there are, what do they look like? Do they have substance? Do they add value? Do they benefit us individually or corporately?  That was the journey of discovery I set myself 2 weeks ago as I thought about writing this post.

If any social media platform is going to survive it will need to impact the real world we inhabit. It cannot remain conceptual and virtual and expect to be more than just a passing fad. ChatRoulette, in my opinion, is a good example of a social media platform that will not find a place in our near future. It will be one of those places you go and visit because you’ve heard about it, and having been, will tick it off and never go back again. Unless of course it finds a way to impact the real world. At this juncture I cannot imagine how?

Mid-morning three Sunday’s ago, I received a Tweet from someone I’ve not met face-to-face. Someone I’ve not spoken to voice-to-voice. Someone I’d not ever sent a fax, e-mail or sms to. She’s someone I’ve only ever sent 140 character bursts to, via Twitter. I know she’s married, has two children, grew up in East London, and works in marketing for one of South Africa’s large financial institutions. You can learn a lot through 140 character bursts over time.
… Continue Reading

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LEAD: Leadership principles learnt from Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Bobby Robson

Gary Bailey, goalkeeper for Manchester United on 373 occasions from the late 70’s to the mid 80’s, and also for England before retiring with a knee injury, had the privilege of playing for two of the most successful football managers of all time: Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Bobby Robson.  Having retired early, Gary is one of those rare footballers who pursued an academic career, finishing a Bsc in Physics while playing for Man Utd, and an MBA from Henley in Oxford thereafter, with a focus on leadership.  He has combined his academic studies with the real world examples of highly successful football managers to produce a fun-filled and highly informative programme on leadership, called LEAD.  TomorrowToday is pleased to be able to collaborate with Gary in bringing the LEAD programme to our clients. Click here for more details.

Football and Leadership

With the recession having placed leaders under greater pressure than ever, the world of football offers insights into how to handle this problems, and also how to plan for a great future. That football is a pressure business is not in doubt – nearly one third of all premiership managers get the sack (or resign) in the course of a season.  How do those managers cope with producing weekly results (as opposed to quarterly or annual results!) and what skills do they use to motivate their teams?

The top football managers in the world are able to withstand these pressures, and produce results time and time again.  Sir Alex, Sir Bobby and many other top managers such as Arsene Wenger, Rafa Benitez and Mark Hughes have at least four leadership characteristics in common.  Even if you are not a football fan, the principles are still easy to follow, and the business comparisons obvious and powerful.

The simple memory tool is the word LEAD – it stands for the following 4 focus areas of top leaders: … Continue Reading

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Selling Solutions

The world has supposedly only just come out of a recession so our real work is just beginning. The South African economy certainly did not fair as badly as the European and American ones, but we have definitely seen a down-turn in sales, which is why this month I am going to talk about a new way of selling in order to restore; and even supersede, what you had before in order to be able to keep on growing.

The secret key to unlocking the door to increased sales is solution selling as opposed to product selling. Let me draw on my own experience to illustrate my point. I recently went to an electronic goods shop to purchase a video camera I would need for work. Admittedly I was hungry when I entered the shop, which if you are me, is never a good time to be making decisions. But I walked in, and was ignored by at least four sales personnel, which was not a good start and did not make a good impression on me, which did not exactly entice me to want to give the store my money. When I eventually flagged down somebody’s attention, I informed them, decisively, that I was there to purchase a video camera. The salesperson, in their haste to sell me a camera quickly, rushed me over to the far end of the store and proceeded to lecture me on every single camera available. Of course after three sentences I started zoning out and an overwhelming desire to eat came over me, which is why after about six sentences I asked him to stop and release me from his epic deluge of information, at which point I ran from the shop, hopefully never to return. What was he doing? He was product selling – the equivalent to dumping useless information on me. When I already live in an over-info-sized world this was absolutely not the way to make friends with me. My Gen X brain screamed for a solution to MY problem, because remember, I am an individual and not a target market.

What should he have done? … Continue Reading

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The Janitor: A Reason Why The World Cup Will Succeed

Once again I found myself at O R Tambo airport eagerly waiting to get a flight home after yet another week in Johannesburg.  No surprises there! If they could just move the Johannesburg economy and business buzz to Durban, without the traffic, road works and of course the Lions (the local rugby team)…now that would be the answer I thought to myself.  Such aimless musings are par for the course at the end of a busy week on the Highveld.  Any further thoughts of this ideal blend were interrupted by the need to answer the call of nature and so, without further delay, I made my way to the ‘Gents’.

Upon entering the establishment I was greeted by a loud and cheery, “Welcome to my office, Sir” by the alert and energetic Janitor. It was the way the greeting was delivered that arrested attention. Fully evident was an energy, an appealing sincerity and a spark that meant one couldn’t help but smile by way of response. It was a hard-to-ignore type of greeting and it got me thinking: Where did such enthusiasm and energy come from? Was this something that could be trained, or was it deeper than that? And so curious, I watched and observed.  Now loitering around such establishments is not normally something I would recommend, but I was fascinated by this Gentleman’s approach to his job – one that if I am to honest, would seldom, if ever, warrant such unbridled enthusiasm.

As I loitered and watched, the intensity of the greeting never waned. It was consistent and enhanced by touches of creativity that seemed to touch everyone who encountered it in a different way. It is one thing to walk into a gents smiling but quite another to leave grinning! And yet everyone did…it was that contagious.  I even witnessed the Janitor, after someone had managed to exit ‘his office’ without receiving a farewell greeting, chase after the individual in order to ensure that he got one!

This is the magic of Africa. … Continue Reading

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Just a Thought: Do conferences have to be so dreadfully dull?

This is the second in the “Just a Thought” series by Dr Graeme Codrington for the TomorrowToday ezine. (Read his first contribution on Getting Rid of Your IT Department here).

Conferences seem to have taken a backward step during the economic downturn. Boring presenters, out-dated content, cheaper venues and food, and old-fashioned technology are all contributing to dreadful experiences for delegates. Dr Graeme Codrington spends a lot of his time at conferences, as a speaker and facilitator. He has some suggestions about why conferences can so often be dull and value-less events, and even more ideas about what companies and event organisers can do to drag their conferences kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

The dangers associated with a short-term mindset in business are particularly acute during an economic downturn. A survival mindset exacerbates the problem of focusing on short-term returns at the expense of long-term health and growth. There are many industries one could look to for stand-out examples of this: Toyota’s recent quality issues; financial institutions paying out massive bonuses with bailout money still floating around the banking system; BP’s flagrant disregard for safety on its Gulf of Mexico rigs; and numerous cartel operations in everything from bread to software.

I have noticed a similar shift to short term thinking in the world of meetings and conferences in the last two years. In particular, I am referring to events that are arranged by PCOs (Professional Conference Organisers), rather than in house company conferences (although I will say something about those, too). And the point I’d like to make is that – on average – they have taken a massive step backwards in quality.

These events are typically industry-related annual conferences, often linked to an exhibition or trade show. They have big reputations and brand names, and aim to attract all the players in their industries. And many have been doing so for many years and are well established “fixtures” in the industry calendar.

But, in the downturn, some of these events have made some short-term-based decisions. Some have downgraded venues. Some have tried to skimp on costs by downgrading food, facilities and staff. This has sometimes led to longer queues, less well run events, and some frustration around organisation and flow of the events. A few conferences I have been to recently have chosen to use cheaper AV (audio visual) suppliers, resulting in bad quality sound and irritating issues with data projection, lighting and so on.

… Continue Reading

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5 Practical steps to retain Talent

During 2009 I was asked by a client to come to a meeting where they were going to discuss how to build a better Employee Value Proposition (EVP), to stem the tide of an exiting younger workforce. Retention was their goal, and a great goal it is in today’s changing working environment. Most organisations that I have worked with are all dealing with higher churn rates in their organisation. Their employees are staying for less and less time. Across the board.

The worrying part of the meeting was the lack of thought, in my opinion, that had gone into building a systemic view of their new EVP. It was almost as if the EVP had taken center stage, instead of seeing it as simply step 1 in a long process. Designing an EVP is a very different animal to implementing one. Changing your EVP sends ripples (both good and bad) throughout the entire organisation. The change required in some areas is significant. Changing your EVP shouldn’t be taken lightly in my opinion. It’s one of those things you do only when you have to, and when you have to, you make sure it’s robust enough to last you a very long time.

In an attempt to add value to this discussion I’d like to suggest 5 practical steps an organisation should think through in the process of building an organisation that is better able to retain today’s workforce.

… Continue Reading

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Just a thought: Get rid of your IT department

In the first of a series of short, insightful and incisive thought bullets, Dr Graeme Codrington suggests that a significant portion of your IT department should be shut down.  Let your people purchase and manage their own technology, engage more effectively with your younger staff, take advantage of recent advances in IT – and save money at the same time.  It’s just a thought…

One of corporate life’s little joys is the internal rivalry between different departments and line functions. We each think our area of the business is the most important, and is being hamstrung or misunderstood by all the others.  But some departments seem to receive more than their fair share of derision (HR, Compliance and IT spring to mind).  In some cases it’s undeserved, but I fear that in many companies IT is out of control.

I need to declare my interest in this topic. For much of the 1990s, I was involved in growing an IT startup company that offered solutions development and training. I wrote the exams to qualify as an MCSD (Microsoft Solutions Developer), and freelanced as a web designer and end user solutions developer (in VB, VBA and SQL if you’re interested).  I was also involved in the early stages of developing CAATs (computer assisted auditing techniques) whilst an articled clerk at KPMG.

I do have both understanding and sympathy for IT departments, but I also think it’s time for a shake up.  It’s not the people I am talking about – the issue is with the system itself.  You might want to take a look at Harvard Business Review’s blog on eight things executives hate about IT, to see what I mean.

The first (and most important) change I’d recommend for the IT department relates to end user hardware supply and support.  This is the bane of the IT department’s lives.  The whizzkids in IT (assuming you have some) didn’t join the IT industry so they could hand out laptops and mobile phones, answer support calls on how to get a Blackberry to synch with the company’s mail server, or to handle the admin related to laptop repairs.  We need to simply stop making this IT’s problem.  IT should not have any responsibility for desktops, laptops, end user software, mobile phones or digital accessories.

… Continue Reading

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Reselling retailing into millennial marketing

If you have followed TomorrowToday’s e-zines, Blogs, Tweets, website and Facebook page, or have attended TomorrowToday’s ‘Mind the Gap’ presentation, you will have been exposed to ‘the generation gap.’ This generally effects our behaviour towards one another, the way we communicate, and our attitudes to our working environments. You probably also have some idea then, of what social networking means and what social media implies; and for some of you who shall remain ageless, the new world of work that we find ourselves living in, is an unreachable reality. This leaves us with the daunting realisation that we know we have to adapt, but don’t know how.

In the last six weeks TomorrowTraining has had more than one request from desperate Baby Boomers needing to know how to sell, advertise and market to young Generation X and Generation Y’s, as their current strategies are only being heard by one generation. Hence the choice to discuss ‘retelling retailing into millennial marketing’ this month.

But before I begin to elaborate on how to market to millennials, it is important to understand that each generation has a set of values that are pertinent to them. Gen Xer’s and Y’s sometimes come across as rebellious, obstreperous, difficult and belligerent. This is because they are dealing with their world the way they understand it, which is a far cry from the world that Baby Boomers grew up in. Take Elvis, for example. When he hit the big time, and you loved him, your parents freaked out. Then, when your kids shut themselves in their room and insisted on blaring Marilyn Manson through their walkmans, you freaked out. Now your younger children and maybe even grand children are doing and saying things that would freak me out (and I am a reasonably young, open minded Gen X’er). The point is we’re not overreacting to Elvis or Marilyn Manson, we are battling to come to grips with how the world keeps changing. The shift to something new or unknown is always difficult, but once we’ve made the shift, things get easier to handle. And, for the most part, our imaginations are much more terrifying than actual reality.

So shifting the way you sell, advertise and market to target specifically Generation X and Y, requires some subtle mind shifts in this order:

a)                  Awareness that things have changed and therefore you have to do things differently

b)                  Acceptance of this new found awareness

c)                  Action to bring about change … Continue Reading

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Bacon baps build buddies – Driving relationships with customers akin to those of friendships

All good stories begin with…

Once upon a time, there was a man who ran a small, but very successful bacon bap stall at a village’s farmers market.  He spent time getting to know his customers and everyone knew him. He was famous for serving the thickest, tastiest bacon rolls around. People happily queued around the corner for the fresh, warm rolls, the high quality bacon, the homemade organic sauces and the generous extra pieces of bacon.  One day, the man’s son visited from the big city.  He was shocked when he saw how generous his father was with the bacon and toppings and how much time he spent idly chatting to his customers rather than focusing on the next customer.

“Dad” he said, “don’t you know there has been a Great Recession?” You had better start cutting costs.  People are cutting back on indulgences.  You must prepare – streamline your operation, cut costs and make a bigger profit.” The man was shocked.  He has not felt the impact of the Great Recession.  His queues were still long and his customers seemed to be happy to buy his products. “Oh dear,” he panicked. “I had better cut costs and prepare for the impact of this recession.  I must listen to my wise son from the big city.  He works in finance, he knows what he is talking about.”

So the man stopped using organic bacon and baking his own fresh rolls and instead he bought his supplies from a wholesale store.  He stopped offering the generous extra slices he’d always offered with love. He worked out a system that involved precooking the bacon so he could serve customers more quickly thereby reducing the time spent talking to them. The weeks passed by. The queues shortened and the customers dwindled.  “My son was right” thought the man. “My sales have declined, the impact of the recession has hit the village.” … Continue Reading

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Understanding the new Retail Reality

The world has changed. Gone are the days of past generations where retail stores lost their individuality, becoming homogenous and undifferentiated. Conventional retail as we know it is dead. Long live the retail industry! Shoppers, and the way they shop, have changed and if your retail business wants to remain alive and relevant, then you need to pay attention to the rise of a new retail consumer and the new retail reality. I am, of course, referring to Gen Y and the technological changes that have impacted on how they behave as consumers. Their lifestyle and shopping habits will largely determine the sales revenue of the retail industry for the next 15 to 20 years, and your company’s marketing strategy and corporate social responsibility track record will determine whether they will choose to buy from you as a consumer or work for you as an employer.

Retailers will need to review their traditional 4 P’s marketing mix (product, price, place, and promotion) and those retailers who adapt to the needs and values of Gen Y will not only benefit from the purchasing power directly associated with this demographic but also from the referral influence they have over their parents purchasing behaviour and the tremendous talent that Gen Y have to offer as employees.

Understanding Gen Y

While there are differences in opinions on time lines, generally speaking for South Africa, Gen Y are people who were born somewhere between 1983 and 2003.   They were raised in a different world, mainly by Baby Boomer parents, and have a deep social conscience. They believe in sustaining the environment and participating in socially responsible programs such as non-profit community driven initiatives. They are acutely aware of the need to save the planet because they have been influenced by all forms of media and entertainment during their youth. A good example of this is the incorporation of the United Nations Millennium Developmental Goals by 2015 into children’s television program content (eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, universal primary education, gender equality and empower women, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability, develop a global partnership for development - Sources: http://www.nick2015.com, http://www.un.org).  They are therefore likely to support companies that support good causes.

Gen Y’s are also multitalented, spoiled, confident, passionate and individualistic. Retail is one of the ways through which they express themselves. Price, quality and service are important but they are also adept at societal changes and have therefore had to adapt to recessionary purchasing behaviour like the rest of us.

… Continue Reading

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R-E-T-A-I-L: Six Leadership Practices for Smart Retailers

Here are six reminders to leaders in retail, but in truth, these reminders can serve leaders everywhere. Taking the word ‘retail’, here are six things, which if done, will enhance your business success.

1 Rethink your business. The global recession has forced many back to the drawing board and sadly for others, it has meant being forced off the table altogether. These have been tough times but as with all difficulty, there are always opportunities that invite discovery. One such opportunity has been the invitation to rethink key aspects of your business as the external context has led to decreased profits and put strain on past ways of operating  – ways that may have brought success. Some have been forced to rethink their entire business model, for others it might have been to rethink vital aspects of the business – for example, your strategy, customer service, talent retention or internal HR approaches. Rethinking key aspects of the business seldom occurs when things are going well and according to plan. We have long been taught not to ‘fix it if it isn’t broken’. It usually takes the pressure of a crisis to force us to rethink that which we have assumed will always work and which will always keep us ahead of the pack. It shouldn’t be the case but that is often how human nature works. It was Peter Drucker who has warned us not to rely on the past when looking towards future success when he wrote:  “The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence, it is to act with yesterday’s logic.”

Those who have done this work, the work of ‘rethinking’, will know it is tough. It is tough for it means letting go, often of ways and systems that we hold dear, with which we are comfortable and which have resulted in success, recognition and reward.  Shifting paradigm is never easy yet, by not rethinking things, the chances are you are not thinking at all! … Continue Reading

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When social media grows up… it will change everything

Download a copy of this article in PDF format – right click here. The contents of this article can be presented as a keynote or a workshop for your team – we call that “Beyond the Hype“. Contact our UK or South African offices to find out how.

PS – make sure you read the comments below this blog entry – we’re continually adding new case studies and examples, and there is some amazing stuff to see. Take your time – the future starts here.

Twitter recently hosted it’s billionth Tweet and Facebook had over 500 million users by the end of 2009, continuing its trend of doubling every nine months or so. It is difficult to continue to argue that social media is nothing more than a fad, and an increasing number of companies are starting to make use of these technologies.

But most of these companies are merely using social networks as a means to communicate (mainly with customers, but sometimes with staff as well) or to market their products and services. These are simple – and obvious – applications, and soon you’ll just be another voice in cacophony of online noise. Unfortunately, most “social media experts” focus only on these aspects of online social networking, and are overhyping the benefits and underemphasising the cultural shifts required for companies to truly benefit. They are missing a really important trend with huge implications for every organisation in every industry and sector.

The reason that social media has taken off so quickly is that it is more than a fad. It is, in fact, merely the technological expression of a values shift that has been taking place for a number of years. It will therefore be a shaping force in the world over the next decade. It might not be the answer to all your problems as many social media pundits are predicting. But it will definitely change everything, and more and more companies are starting to see the benefits it offers. A revolution awaits us.

You can hardly turn on a TV news channel or read a business magazine these days without being overwhelmed by requests to “follow my tweets”, “check out our blog” or “send us your videos”. Social media has gone mainstream. But most business users and organisations are treating it like a gimmick, and only gaining a fraction of the value they could. If they understood the true nature of what is happening, they’d know that social media is merely an expression of a deeper trend that has the potential to change everything. And they’d realise that the first companies to grasp this will have the opportunity to gain phenomenal competitive advantage in their industry. In fact, some companies have already started to do so.

Social Media 101

If you’ve missed this trend and are not sure what I’m talking about, here’s a quick primer: social media are the tools you can use to do social networking on the Internet. This involves connecting with other people, and sharing information with them digitally (yes, it’s just networking and connecting with others online). The most used tools are:

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Bacon or Pork: Either Way the Piggy Bank is Toast

Commitment to breakfast means different things to the chicken and the pig. Well unless that is, you’re inclined to favour KFC for breakfast!

Nowhere has the shock to perspective that the global recession emitted been more keenly felt than in the banking / financial sector. The collapse in asset prices, a surge in distressed debt and a looming threat of deflation have all threatened systemic financial meltdowns.  At the start of 2010, for the first time in 40 years there are a billion hungry people on our planet. That said, towards the end of 2009 there was widespread evidence of healthy recovery which, following the tumultuous events of the last three months of 2008, seemed unlikely. The world’s economies, big and small, are taking stock and whilst the recovery is not evenly distributed and counting one’s blessings is a selective exercise, we do need to understand some of the deeper social shifts that have happened as a result of the past 18 months.

It has been a troubled and confusing time to the ‘man on the street’ – a term that for many has gone from mere analogy to the frighteningly literal. What once was is no more and a ‘new normal’ is emerging. The rules of the game have changed and this impacts on all the players. There are three things that we need to note as we take stock of the situation. It is not about ‘finding our way back’ and rebuilding but more about understanding what has changed and the new opportunities provided by such changes.

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