Category Archives: Strategy

Change not growth

in competition, Strategy

mexican walking fish

What’s very dangerous is not to evolve.

See that strange looking animal that looks like it was in the movie Avatar? It’s called a Mexican walking fish, or axolotl, and is one of the most bizarre creatures on the planet. Not just because of how it looks but because it has the distinct ability to regrow limbs. The mexican walking fish isn’t really a fish, it’s salamander and it’s closely related to frogs and other amphibians with whom they share some of the same characteristics.

Enough with biology class. Why did I put that picture in this post?

Because as bizarre a creature this is, it reminded me of how everything evolves and how different species combine or recombine themselves to form new species that adopt the abilities of others and so forth. We’re so used to seeing the same types of animals all the time that when we see something like an Axototl it seems alien to us.

 

The same happens in business, we get so used to seeing the same types of businesses all the time that when we see one that operates in a totally different way than the others they seem crazy to us. And you know why? Because we’re not evolving, we’re getting left behind and pretty soon the one’s that are evolving will put us out of business.

 

And then the cycle repeats itself. Where in the cycle are you?

I think it’s important that we be aware that we also must evolve. Consultants will tell you that you need to cannibalize your business, what they’re really trying to tell you is your business needs to evolve not because they say so but because everything changes.

 

To evolve doesn’t mean to grow, it means to change.

Like evolution, change doesn’t start in the mainstream where you’re sitting, it starts at the edges. Like new types of businesses, new species of animals are created at the edges and then some eventually move to the mainstream while others stay on the edge.

Do you think your dog, cat or fish has looked that way forever? Do you think your business will look the same way in 5 years? Do you think your customers will always want the same thing you’re selling? Do you think the industry/market you operate in will always exist, operating in the same way with the same players in 5 years? Do you think tomorrow is going to be the same as today?

 

The answer is: NO.

 

One last thought to remember and you knew it was coming: It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. – Charles Darwin.

Hopefully we’re all changing to stay relevant, not just in the pursuit of growth.

For breakthrough ideas read the unreadable

in Creativity, Innovation, Strategy

chaos

Chaos, where brilliant dreams are born.

Do you ever get this feeling that when you read the same stuff over and over and then you try to read something completely unrelated you become bored very easily? Well that’s a very bad problem to have if you want to get into the business of ‘doing innovation’ because breakthrough ideas rarely come from looking in the same place.

You want some new ideas everyday? Read stuff that’s unrelated to your field. John Jantsch calls this ‘’ and he’s right, the best ideas come from the intersection between ideas from different domains.…

Why should people learn to innovate?

in Innovation, Strategy

In my entrepreneurial journey I’ve come across people who pretty much don’t care about ‘innovation’ but what they do care about is how they can extract (notice I said extract and not create) more value from their customers. It’s fair to say that those of us who preach the ‘there’s always a better way’ gospel run into this type of thinking all the time.

Yet how do we explain to these people that they too should learn to wield the sword?

Here’s my answer:

 

Because .

We all have the innate ability to be creative and therefore with help, collaborate towards something better. Innovation is a team sport and is something and not outsource it to a special few. Anybody can and should contribute and I believe (leaders) to bring them with us.

Sure there’s risk involved but then again when has anything worthwhile been done without risk? We don’t have to minimize risk, we have to manage it to push us forward.

Bottom line is innovation is something that results in something that is bigger than ourselves and this in turn brings society together in new ways towards progress.

 

What say you?

Innovation: respect the process

in Innovation, Strategy

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Master the instrument, master the music, then forget all that shit and play. – Charlie Parker

Some say innovation is predictable, I agree. But to a larger degree it is not because you can’t really tell where it’s going to come from and who will be holding all the cards. Right now you’re probably in the ‘innovate or die’ mindset, you’re also probably feeling frustrated because you’re reading blogs, following innovation consultants on Twitter to try and do innovation but you are not getting anywhere.

Let me help clear things up for you, . It needs to be nourished, it needs to be practiced, it needs to be mastered.…

Weekend innovation tip: Outthink opponents like Peyton Manning

in competition, Creativity, Innovation, Innovation tips, Strategy

Ah yes, the Super Bowl is here and we have one of the greatest quarterbacks in the game playing in it: Peyton Manning.

He operates a no huddle offense that relies on reading the defense and making adjustments before the snap. This helps create confusion for the defense, so they don’t really know what’s coming at them. What makes all this possible is his great use of the , which stands for observe, orient, decide, and act.

This happens so fast, that opposing defenses have a hard time making a play on him. Because the ball leaves his hands so fast, that they’re left guessing where he might throw the ball. This enabled him to be sacked only 10 times this season!

What this means, is that he had more opportunities to throw the ball to his receivers for plays.…

Strategy: Keep the ball moving

in competition, Strategy

I’m a basketball junkie so I was delighted to read Fast Company’s excellent which examines how Nash runs his work life outside of basketball, just like the Suns offense, in constant chaos. Nash runs THE most unorthodox offense in the NBA, which is unplanned, unpredictable and all on the fly.

 

No one better embodies the metabolism of our times, when industries, technologies, and careers are in constant flux. In leading Phoenix to the league’s best record to start this season and, most likely, to a return to the play-offs, Nash demonstrates how to navigate uncertainty — with flexibility, collaboration, and inventiveness. He has developed a gift for finding order in chaos. He adapts to new information, assesses the risks, and creates opportunities for him and his teammates to succeed. Nash improvises.

We all need to be improvisers now, to transition between the jobs we have and the backup plans we may need to pursue in the current economic crisis. Between the ways we’re accustomed to working and the new habits shaped by Twitter, Facebook, and other new tech tools. Between the recession and the postrecession world.

Both on and off the court, Nash’s exploits illuminate lessons about how to manage these transitions.

 

Why you should you read it? Very simple…because he improvises strategy on the fly and that is how companies business strategy should be developed. Learn from Steve Nash, stay ahead of the game by keeping the ball moving.

Disrupt yourself to change the game you play in

in Career, Creativity, entrepreneurship, Innovation, Strategy

disruption

If you can’t solve a problem, it’s because you’re playing by the rules. – Paul Arden

 

All a disruptor really does is change something from one state to another by breaking patterns. Google is a typical disruptor, they seek ways to ‘disrupt’ a familiar flow in how things get done to another and then change the rules by creating new ones that play in the new state.

 

Disrupt or be disrupted.

Like Google we must learn ‘to be disruptive’ starting with ourselves. We have to disrupt our own flow of how we do things, changing how we do them not just for the hell of it but because it’s the only way to stay relevant. This isn’t just for product development, marketing or sales, it’s looking at your business from 30000 FT and asking yourself: what can I change to be better and what can someone else change that could put me in a disadvantage?

A game-changer is a disruptor.

 

Where do you start.

– Be aware of governing schemas (mental models)

– Be aware of the patterns that shape behavior

– Be aware of the rules

– Be aware of trends

– Be aware of things that haven’t changed in awhile (rigid)

 

What do you do?

> Do the opposite

> See how you can change things from one state to another (ice to water)

> Blend it

> Find the in congruencies and make them congruent.

> Do the unfamiliar by making the common uncommon.

> Ask why?

> Ask what if?

 

A disruptor moves at a different pace than others, it constantly probes the system to get an insight because the faster this happens the more it learns and the faster it moves. Learn to fail fast and break away from everybody!

 

How are you disrupting yourself? How about your business? Who’s disrupting you?