in Innovation, Strategy
General Assembly 2013 (Photo credit: Paradise Nazarene)
What business are you really in?
Most can’t answer this question. And if they do, it is a rather functional driven answer such as: we make vacuums.
How meaningful and memorable is that?
I was reading through a note about General Assembly, a co-working space, and how it is shutting down it’s co-working services for entrepreneurs and instead focus on education:…
in Innovation
There are pain points you can identify in an initial sales discussion, and then there are the pain points that are hidden in plain sight. I believe these are the ones that matter, precisely because they have gone unquestioned for a long time.
How do you find them? Easy, by questioning the status quo.
Whenever I give one of my innovation workshops, the part about questioning assumptions always draws the most attention. This past Saturday, was such a day. You see, questioning (which is one of the five key innovation skills) is perceived as being irritating. Because when you question common practices and opinions, said one my guests, you get into trouble.
Yes, very true. Nobody likes their beliefs to be questioned. But, this is also a big reason why companies fail: their belief of future success is anchored in their past success.
Case in point, Blackberry. They believed that the pain points they were eliminating when they started, were still relevant. This made them an easy target for irrelevance since they never adapted. …
in Innovation, Leadership, Strategy
Nobody likes to be rejected. But, there are times when you know you’ve provided value by facilitating clarity. This happened to me recently…
Last week I had a meeting with a very public mexican CEO, where we talked about innovation and its various forms. He clearly wants to innovate in various areas, but was honest in expressing his understanding that his company is not prepared to do so.…
in Innovation, Strategy
By now, you should know that I don’t sugarcoat it. No recipes, frameworks, or any other method with promises of a silver bullet. No BS here about how easy it is. With that said, here is another anecdote for you…
Yesterday we visited a prospect, we talked about how we could help them make some improvements in they way they collaborate with their value chain. After our meeting was done, the CEO asked me why we needed to be so thorough to make a strategy. I simply said: Strategy isn’t supposed to be easy. There is no silver bullet that applies to everyone. Whoever tells you differently is not a strategist.…
in Leadership
We’ve all been in offices/establishments and seen posters/pictures hanging on the walls that communicate the values of that particular business. But, rarely will you see something like this:…
in Innovation, Leadership, Strategy
A typical marketing and sales person recently asked me why I don’t place ads on my blog to generate additional revenue. Being that this blog gets between 6K – 9K visits/month, I’m in a very good position to do so (I have gotten requests from companies to place ads). But, I don’t want to place ads.
I simply don’t like advertising. And, generating revenue from ads is not a narrative I want to be a part of.
When he heard my response, he thought I was crazy. In his own words: that is not smart.…