HangOn Ebook
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how business is changing…. A few thoughts on how changing….
First a few words Wow what a few months! It’s been a fantastic, extraordinary, fascinating and exceptionally diverse learning experience to create, develop and, finally publish this book. My heart felt thanks go to all the people who contributed the ‘words’ and their thoughts on the future of business and how it’s it’s changing. Our conversations were enlightening and inspirational. It’s been fabulous fun too. This book is an incredibly personal one as they all are. Literally a journal of my ideas and thoughts on what the future of business and work may look like. Of course it’s opinionated, of course it’s my version, of course I may be wrong, ooh and I maybe right too! However However,, through lots of research, reading and discussions I have come up with this. I hope it gets you thinking, perhaps even differently. differently. Some of it is nothing short shor t of a blinding flash of the obvious but sometimes, ironically, we need that pointing out from time to time. Life, as we know it, is subjective. The words were chosen by clients, followers, fans and people I’m connected to. Hopefully Hopefully,, they will provide you with a flavour of the way I see things and help change the way you look at your business. Of course, these thoughts have not been created by me alone. They are the result of enormous and diverse reading, many observations and experience of working with many different businesses and characters over the last few (well lots) of years. Some people are absolute gems and by watching you can see why we need to change and the dangers of certain cer tain behaviours. Others just say some incredibly amazing things and capture in one sentence what you have been trying to figure out in your own mind for what seems like eons. k u . o c . n a m l o h n n a . w w w
Apologies to those whose words are not included, we had to keep it to 35 for a number of reasons. I’m hoping you understand and that somewhere I have incorporated your thoughts and covered the subject you wanted. These ideas are my thoughts, t houghts, dosed with, I hope some humility. humility. All errors error s and omissions are my total tota l responsibility. responsibility. I’ve often been referred to as Marmite, people either love or hate what I say. That’s cool, it’s what writing and business is all about. We now all have the ability to get our own voice back, we have ways in which we can converse and share ideas. It’s It’s absolutely fabulous fabulous to be involved in this process. I hope you enjoy reading the book as much as I had creating it. Thanks to all of you who encouraged me, sent words of support and just bought me coffee when required. You know who you are! A big thanks to the guys at www.simpleweb.co.uk for the hard drive rescue in Bristol on a very wet morning. Finally, a big shout out to Phil Rees at Deface Graphics for designing this eBook. You You have
done an amazing and wonderful job Phil. Cheers! Ann
Preface Business is behaving strangely, it’s a welcome change. Look around, everything is in a state of flux. We are flummoxed by new paradigms, new technology, new attitude and new behaviour. There is something happening in them there hills. I was recently at an event and just happened to be sat on the same table as Scott Gould. The guy next to me said “Ah “Ah but, will Google beoutlive aroundthe in companies 30 years?” we Scott’s “Whoif cares?” on. Most of us will workreply for,, even for they are Spot our own. My take on this surge;
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1. People are replacing products as the competit competitive ive advantage. This has fundamental implications implications for culture, the war for talent t alent and leadership.
2. The mass market is gone and is turning into a market of niches where individuality will reign.
3. Transparency, authent authenticity, icity, sharing and collaborati collaboration on will be the key to success not intellect intellectual ual propert propertyy, ownership and control.
4. Word of mouth marketing is back support supported ed by companies having strong communities that talk to each other about you.
5. Customers are bored. They want to partici participate pate in what you do and have conversations with you.
6. Your role, whatever you do, will seriously change……big time!
7. Companies still think they own stuff, when actually they own nothing nothing..
8. To quote Chris Anderson “This is the end of the spoon-fed orthodoxy and infallible institut institutions.” ions.” Fantastic, about bloomin’ time!
Love doesn’t break evenly and neither will business in the future. Gone are the days of just surviving, just staying afloat whilst staring into the abyss. Too Too much abundance, too much competition and too much sameness. We will have to be nothing short of remarkable to thrive. Whether people are changing, or the rules are changing, the middle is an extremely vulnerable place to be. The best quote comes from Michael Powell, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission when he used Skype “Its over. The world will change inevitably.” We have been through major change before but never at this pace, in a global marketplace, with the interconnectivity. interconnectivity. No longer can we rely on working harder to solve the problem. It just doesn’t work, ask people in the advertising adver tising industry. We We have to make changes that are sound tectonically.. We no longer need monolithic structures tectonically str uctures to organise us, we can talk to anyone we want to, we can do almost anything we want, we can create what the hell we like. The interesting bit is how we move from just talking about this stuff to actually doing it! Doesn’t matter whether you dismiss this or your embrace it…….we are all just going to have to hang on!
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Adaptability Word provided by Robert Pickstone | Marketing Officer www.robertpickstone.com
The only reason we need to be adaptable is because we are moving to mass innovation. It’s It’s critical because no two clients, projects or people are alike. change gains momentum and things happen quicker, quicker , weAswill need perpetually business models and people that adapt seamlessly to new environments. We now as individuals, organisations and communities have to display chameleon like qualities. Perhaps we will need to change our attitude to business significantly in order to become more adaptive? Adaptability will demand that we understand how our business is going to transform itself from a current to future state as we try tr y to build specific things under conditions of extreme uncertainty uncer tainty.. It will specifically involve solving problems creatively and adapting to dynamic changing environments. Dealing with uncertain work conditions where peoplelearn have so to adapt novel Frompace that of wetechnological must continuously we cantokeep upsituations. with the rapid advancement and cultural changes this will bring. We are going to have to attain interpersonal adaptability adaptability,, being able to produce incredible outcomes in fluid work environments with a project led business. Whether we like cultural adaptability or not, we live and work in a globalised world. We will become one tribe and we will have to learn how to perform well in different cultures, surrounded by people who do things different to us.
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“Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature’s inexorable imperative.” HG Wells. Some of us will have to be able to work well in uncomfortable and strange climates. Adaptability is no longer an emphasis on just technology and processes but about people and processes coming together through technology.
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Authenticity Word provided by Karin Jordan (Director) www.annholman.co.uk
“Hypocritical organisations will struggle beneath a weight of authenticity…”
Being authentic is about being transparent and you can’t have a true conversation without an authentic voice. It’ It’s s best to start star t with the end in mind, as every end hasand always had a start. in us, our businesses our people. In anAuthenticity increasinglystarts onlineinternally world, in a world of abundance with so much choice and fast competition, we will seek out those relationships with people that are real and authentic. Authenticity is actually quite simple, it’s it’s about telling the truth and it’s it’s the stuff we do when no one is watching. The best way to be authentic is to be true to ourselves first. fir st. We constantly look outwards, thinking all the time about what other people think, rather than stopping to consider what we think. Marketing campaigns built around the customer are important, marketing campaigns built around a company’ company’s s authenticity increasingly crucial. Authenticity asks what you the stand for. the for. Customers and employees the future will reject thedo fake, spun, mass produced world ofin business. They will seek out real experiences, real relationships and real conversation. In a world that is full of uncertainty and shifting sands, when it’s it’s evolving differently than we expected and we are being forced to unlearn lots, we’ll we’ll take a tight hold of anything genuine and authentic. Some of us have got to the stage where we only live authentically when away from the office. How sad? Authenticity has been skillfully managed out of those people. The future, as we see it, will be about making real connections with other people. Trust will be a significant enabler and in depth experiences will be a differentiator differentiator.. Hypocritical organizations will a weight of authenticity. The BIG question is how do westruggle deliver beneath authenticity to customers, employees and groups of collaborators? Check out the word ‘REAL. ‘REAL.’’
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Collaboration Word provided by Gemma Went (Director) www.redcubemarketing.com
“Collaboration will take us down deviant streets of intrigue, curiosity and discovery…”
It’s incredible how some of this new stuff we are discussing at the It’s moment is so old. Personally, Personally, I can’t wait until we are truly collaborative, taking us down streets intrigue, curiosity andtodiscovery. discovery . But until then, if we deviant want people to of work together together, , we need give them an intrinsic incentive to do so! Many of the answers to our questions are in different sorts of places today.. By collaborating we could be finding them quicker and more cost today effectively.. In business we have conquered the physical world, now we effectively are trying tr ying to master our brainpower. brainpower. The web is allowing us to do this by giving us access to knowledge, information and people. It’s It’s led to a connection of individuals at virtually no cost. The other advantage is the huge opportunities oppor tunities for growth, wealth and innovation. Many say we need to collaborate or we will perish. We realised we can create more together thanbecome as individuals. Withhave geography nothat longer a barrier barrier, , the whole world has local by us acting global. Collaboration has significant implications that will scare the pants off a lot of people. Intellectual property is completely broken, leadership has to change yet again, the ‘free’ debate will continue and we will talk a lot about group work rather than team work. You can see training companies right now throwing their teambuilding workshops into the waste paper basket! Collaboration will impose immense changes in our business strategy, our infrastructure and the way in which we innovate. A small business now has access to thousands of high performing, enthusiastic individuals who can work on their business, with their customers and develop their products for the future. It will level the playing with the corporatist is desperately struggling to keep the oldfield ways of doing business who by suing suppliers, competitors and even staff. It’s It’s frankly embarrassing to watch.
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Dan Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams write “To innovate and succeed, the new mass collaboration must become par t of every ever y leader’s leader’s playbook and lexicon.”” The future, no matter what we do, will involve us organising huge lexicon. groups of people to participate in mass collaboration to add real value. And, not to contribute to the mass medioricity we’ve experienced before. Nowadays it’s about exploiting our knowledge and ability not our employees and customers. A constantly changing world either creates uncertainty uncer tainty or an abundance of opportunities. oppor tunities. Collaboration Collaboration will be the linchpin that helps us succeed and stay ahead of the complex game.
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Community Word provided by Ann Holman (Founder) www.annholman.co.uk
“The true power is when our community is talking to each other about our brand…”
Connections bind communities. We can’t make real connections whilst we are in a hurry and we don’t connect computers we connect people. Forming has got a whole lot easier in the last few It’s s created aconnections dynamic, organic sea of groups, forums, friends, fansyears. and It’ followers. It’s It’s so easy now to find likeminded people and connect to them on an equal footing. Hierarchy really is dead. Yay! Social media has not only opened the gate but the horse (you and me) has well and truly bolted. I connect with you, you connect with me. But it goes beyond that. Our joint connections can connect with each other. |Now that’s different. Fundamental implications for community community,, immense potential for innovation and gigantic possibilities for everything! Most things in business are awesome opportunities, oppor tunities, not debilitating problems. This is the former despite many companies thinking it’s it’s the latter. It really isn’tcommunity about our talking brand talking people anymore; it’connections s actually about our brands to eachtoother about us. Ourit’s and their connections will form that community and we can’t manage it, we can only influence it. That role in the future is about building and evolving that ecosystem that is our community. It’s about what Harley Davidson and Lego have done. To make our businesses more successful in the future, is not about driving out cost and driving out more productivity, it’s about helping the community you have created better. Our businesses will need to be where commerce and community meet. We are moving from a ‘badge’ to ‘community.,’ from ‘identity’ to ‘belonging.’ No easy feat I agree. Chris Anderson talks about “…..seeing the data is nothing less than a cultural shift from hits to niche artists.” If you are in a niche market, you need a niche but,ofsignificant following. Kevin Kelly talks about us needing a community about a 1000. I think its more. Having a community makes it easier for us to communicate, simpler to spread the idea and almost effortless connection. Community is not just about geography anymore it’s it’s about common interests. Marketing got more intriguing and curious.
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Our community loves what we do. We just need to help them to design something better. better. Our brand is not at the centre of what we do anymore, it’s actually our community.
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Competition Word provided by Deborah Hill (Civil Servant)
The problem in the business world today is can we afford to do business on our own? Do we have the appeal that will enable the best talent in the world to be attracted to us? And once we have the best, can we keep them with where our limited resources, limited and limited knowledge? In a world technology allows us to thinking share, where there is immense innovation and where there is too much competition, is there any point in competing at all? Expending energy just to stay ahead on our own is self-defeating and self-draining. Destructive competition seems to imply aggressive behaviour, behaviour, getting one over on each other and macho driven. Characteristics that customers don’t buy and neither do employees. Perhaps this form of competition should be left right where it belongs, on the sports field. Competitiveness today is a cycle not an ever-decreasing circle. It starts with a supply of highly skilled, talented and adaptive people who create leading edge innovation and adding value opportunities. Brought about by the abilitybut to deliver rather quickly. That is what competitive we must realise that we can’t do itmakes on our business own and that may mean working collaboratively with old adversaries. Research shows that competition can actually damage profits. Competition is good for our customers but not good for our business. We will be in far better shape if we spend time meeting the needs of our customers rather than trying to beat the competition with a big stick. We have a choice, should our competitiveness be driven by a more collaboratively focused effort, effor t, or or,, by watching the competition and copying copyin g them? Or Or,, worse still, trying to protect our business by dropping prices. k u . o c n . a m l o h n n a . w w w
Business faces a double whammy whammy.. It can lose its customers and talented people at the same time. Both haveOur become promiscuous anthis attempt to find the best experience at work. eye has been takeninoff ball by banging our heads with competitors each trying tr ying to out do each other, other, watching their every move, trying to identify a clink in the armour armour.. How inefficient? By looking over our shoulder shoulder,, we trip over the future! There are no certainties in our business world. Nowadays a constantly changing environment provides heaps of opportunities for pushing the boundaries at a fraction of the cost it used to. There are huge implications here for people who can swallow their pride and adjust to this new world of competition especially, especially, when it means a better result for everyone through collaborative working. People sharing ideas, thinking together, together, participating in product development andinnovations working collectively on jointCompetitors problems are new and existing of the present. of driving the past pasthe t are possibly our greatest partners in the future. We will be re writing the rules of competition in the future.
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Conversation Word provided by Ann Holman (Founder) www.annholman.co.uk
It’s about taking the conversation beyond price. Conversation is no longer It’s a distraction at work, wor k, it is central to its existence and a leader’s leader’s job now is to start those conversations invite people take part. Conversation initiates new rules, new waysand of engaging. Theytospring up everywhere. We can’t stop someone from being part of the conversation. Our people are talking to customers, our customers are talking to US and most importantly, our customers SHOULD be talking to each other. We can’t beat them so we’ had better find a way of joining them. David Weinberger in the book ‘The Cluetrain Manifesto’ states “We treasure our conversations most of all because they are ours, the way marketing speak never was.” was.” The conversations we are having right now are so important. impor tant. They can spread ideas, solve problems, gain agreement, build trust, remove barriers, encourage laughter and promote enjoyment. In the future, the conversations people are having in and around companies willfacilitating be the essence of success. That means allowing it, encouraging it and it. Most managers are terrible at conversation, they are too busy directing, making decisions, controlling budgets and keeping order. order. If you have ever walked onto the proverbial shop floor and killed the conversation you know what I mean!
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Conversations are intimate, they are free, and they are open. They flourish when there is trust and a common commitment. Conversation is equal, it’s it’s diverse, it generates the unexpected, and it’s it’s participative par ticipative and informal. They are actually quite liberating whilst at the same time conversation gives people a voice. Conversations though do take control and power away away from us control freaks and put it right back where it precisely belongs with our customers,
our community and our people. Charlene Li succinctly puts it this way “Campaigns begin and end, but conversations go on forever.” It’s interesting to sit down for a few moments and reflect on what conversations we are having right now……
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Customer Choice Word provided by John Harvey (Exeter City Centre Manager) www.twitter.com/ExeterCCM
“Scarcity is a great seller, abundance of choice leads to indifference or procrastination…”
Marketers mistakenly believe that customers want more choice but research contradicts this. Adding things on rather than adding value is a sure sign that theand, marketers have lost theprocrastination. plot. Often it only to cognitive overload in the worst wor st cases, So leads too many choices can prevent people from making that optimum decision? Less choice it seems can actually increase sales and profitability profitability.. Yet we tend to do the opposite and present our product/service with so many options, colours, styles styles and prices that we get confused. Just look at the abundance of choice out there; cars, bread, shoes, clothes, graphic design, training, energy companies, all offering a wealth of choice, when in fact it can just result in poor selection. Some of Simonson’s Simonson’ s findings in research conclude; that customers are more likely to choose an alternative after a relatively inferior option is added as a choice. Customers tend to prefer alternatives that compromise choices. Customers who think about thatknown their purchase decisions will be wrong, are more likelythe to possibility choose better brands. Now isn’t that one interesting? Buyers are more averse to choosing the lowest quality alternative in sets of three or more choices. In his interesting book, ‘Strategy in Crisis’ Michael de Kare Silver shares his thoughts on customer choice and service: Comprehensive – whatever I want. Available – wherever, wherever, whenever I want it. Personalised – tailored just for me. Symbiotic – provided in a context of a mutually beneficial relationship. But if you give us choice, don’t we just take it? Understanding how our buyers make decisions and what influences them under these four areas is crucial. Go ask them. It may lead to reducing product packaging in a way that makes choice easier. easier. Scarcity is a great seller; abundance of choice is a minefield of procrastinated decision making.
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Distinctive Word provided by Phil Rees (Creative Director) www.defacethis.com
“A business nowadays needs to look more like a circus than a doctors waiting room…”
Being distinctive defines us. Distinctive is about people (there is that word again) having a distinct idea of us in their mind. For a lot of companies, it’ it’s s easier to remain indistinctive than to become distinctive! product, even service is probably not as distinctive as it used to be. It’s It’Our s possible its competitive edge has been backed into a corner by the plethora of new products in the market mar ket place, or, or, the bad ones just caught up. Tom Peters said years ago “Ask yourself what on your turf (local and global), is clearly unusual about the services you offer. offer.” For me, if we can’t answer that in five bullet points, we’ve we’ve lost the right to be a great business. Look at the worst bit of your sector sector,, even your closest competitors and change the customer experience; it at least gives you a stab at the five points of distinction. We need to almost forget about our product. It’s It’s great isn’t it? Cheaper certainly is distinctive but how being mediocre? Beingadistinctive is about how we use design to is differentiate, by building communitynow from our clients, being recognized for meaningful work, wor k, the passion we inspire in people, how we engage and build relationships. Get used to it. Don’t get me wrong it is about developing a sense of currency and curiosity in parallel, however, however, the biggest barrier to us identifying what makes us distinctive is internal not external. Little question; is your business more like a circus or the waiting room at your doctors? We really can’t afford to be ignored by the masses and silent to the few. Don’t be known for everything ever ything but something! Distinguish by identifying our tangibility.
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Emotion Word provided by Ann Holman (Founder) www.annholman.co.uk
Patrick Dixon the British futurist says “The future is about emotion.” emotion.” To To be able to influence people, we need a deep understanding of what drives them emotionally emotionally. . Emotions are what ourfun customers themwe to make be; respect, trust, concern, responsiveness, and love.want It’s how them feel. We know that emotions have a significant impact on loyalty and we know it’s it’s a major factor in the buying process and yet, most of the time we ignore it, concentrating on the physical aspects of our business. Look at your website now, where are the deliberate explanations of how you meet your customers emotions? These are more than likely your values. Emotional reasoning, irrational logic and impatience are virtues. If one of the challenges of business today is attention, then perhaps a good place to start is tapping into people’s people’s emotions. That starched, bland and mundane approach won’t work in the future. And this applies to our people too. They particularly will be seeking out work that is part of something that matters and is meaningful to them. Why? Because they can! Colin Shaw and John Ivens in their book ‘Building Great Customer Experiences’ quote “Emotions are a major differentiator and are the most underestimated assets available to business today today.. They can be used to put colour back in a grey world.” I think what you mean guys is that emotions can harmonise and humanise the relationship we have with people and when our product doesn’t really make us different or matter anymore. It’s It’ s the only thing we have left, the people experience we deliver internally and externally, and that’s that’s about people being motivated by emotions. k u . o c n . a m l o h n n a . w w w
On an individual level, some days we feel we can move mountains, other days it would be difficult to flip a tidily wink. The point, that’s okay. Emotion is part of beingnow, human, its part of business and weit,allallow havefor those days. The difference we are beginning to recognise it and use it to be more in touch!
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Feel Word provided by Ann Holman (Founder) www.annholman.co.uk
We really don’t feel enough anymore. We throw numbers, figures, feelings and people around at a frighteningly superficial level. Chris Jordan in his seminar www.ted.com “because we don’t anymore, weathave developedcharacterises this ability to this; ignore fundamental inforfeel information mation We’ve become immune. Systems have aided our desensitivity We’ve desensitivity.. Corporate thinking has absolved us of responsibility beyond financial targets. We can’t process intangible things. Ignore something for so long and it becomes invisible. At work we really don’t feel it. We have been conditioned to lock out emotions and as a consequence what we do feel at work are the wrong things. Feelings need to be about the positive; action, raising standards, removing obstacles, motivation, inspiration and new ideas. Not, frustration, inertness, suffocation and control. As leaders we need to stand in other people’ people’s s shoes more, we need to feel anger, theirproducts. pain andWe fr ustration. frustration. It means time with their people not our need to feel thosespending numbers more and get comfortable with the emotional development of our people. I feel scared by people who let ‘dumbing down’ happen because they don’t feel anymore. Either they don’t feel it’ it’s s a problem or they feel they can’t do anything about it. Business, leaders, colleagues let you down because they don’t feel enough. They don’t understand how important that order is to you. Why it’s critical you have thinking time. Feelings, yes are unpredictable, that’s why we are so adverse to them at work. k u . o c n . a m l o h n n a . w w w
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Focus Word provided by Joe Pearce (Innovation Centre) www.spaceforsuccess.co.uk
“We’ve been focused on the masses and the numbers for too long, when we live in a world of niches…”
Perhaps we focus too much. When the blinkers are on, there is only one way to go. We need to have so much perspective today because there is so much happening it’s allpurpose it’s fast change. is nothing wrong having a plan, it’s greatand to have or elseThere nothing gets done. It’sin critically important to have a product/service product/ser vice offering that’s that’s distinctive and demonstrable but don’t be too focused you might be restricting your ability to arrive at another opportunity. We’ve been focused on the masses and the numbers for too long, when We’ve the world we now live on is about niches. The focus of past was about the P’s; product, place, price, place, presentation, pitching, policy, polarization, plenty, palaver, pamphlets and pain. Focus in the future is about the C’s; co creation, connections, community, converse, carnival, coalesce, credibility and cabbage (only joking, just making sure you’ you’re re awake!) If we arerelationships, going to focusbeing on stuff make being sure it’s it’part s the breaker stuff; building different, ofdeal a group of great people, innovating, delivering great customer experience and thinking lots. Stop focusing on the competition; we should be leading the field anyway. anyway. Stop focusing on acquiring lots of new customers until we know we are looking after the existing ones thoroughly thoroughly.. Focus on building great relationships with true customers rather than on that extra widget on the product that makes sod all difference. Focus on substance. No good looking good if the delivery is crap. I don’t care what anyone says, if you focus on the numbers, process and the system, we suck the life out of the business. Focus is about getting our ducks lined up and in the right order. order. Creativity and innovation come first, the boring, but shoring up stuff, comes is a reason business plateau’ plateau’s s after a period of time; its after focusthat. is onThere the back end of what it does. As Eric Morecambe, the British comedian said famously ““I am playing all the right notes . . . but not necessarily . . . in the right order.” He was a genius.
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Honesty Word provided by Sarah Knight (Director) www.sarahwestrecruit.co.uk
Well honesty drives loyalty and loyalty drives true business growth. Growth then drives reputation. Nice equation don’t you think? Honesty is developed from the inside out inwe per sonforand it’sbenoinside it’s different an organisation. To promote To honesty, wae person need it to the for business first before it can be carried outside. See where we are getting it wrong? For most people dishonesty does not encourage a feel good factor, factor, it just undermines our dignity. dignity. False claims, exaggerated marketing hype, hype, unsubstantiated benefit and empty promises gets us noticed for the wrong reasons. If honesty is being compromised, we won’t tell you, we’ll we’ll just move silently along the queue to your authentic, honest competitor. competitor. In my experience, when questioned, people will mark that honesty is one of their top ten values at work, but sometimes it’s it’s just so hard to see. Companies fail to transmit this when communicating to customers and employees Kurt Tucholsky, a German-Jewish satirist writer said, alike. “The condition of all human ethics can journalist, be summed up in and two sentences: We ought to. But we don’t.” A lot of this is interrelated. A person who is considered honest is one who displays integrity, integrity, is genuine and not deceptive or fraudulent. Honesty is characterised by the display of truth tr uth and sincerity. Honesty denotes the quality of being upright in principle and action. Honesty implies truthfulness, fairness in dealing with others, and refusal to engage in fraud, deceit, or dissembling. k u . o c n . a m l o h n n a . w w w
So here are a few questions to consider and perhaps answer. answer.
1. Is your marketing promoting promoting what what you want people to believe, believe, or something more powerful, the truth? 2. What is the opposite opposite of honesty? 3. Is dishonesty ever justifiable? 4. Are you you ‘doing’ ‘doing’ honesty honesty rather rather than than being honest? 5. What is the opposite of being honest? honest?
Start this process inside the businesses by facilitating a team to answer these questions truthfully. In everything ever ything we do, what’s what’s important impor tant is what we do next.
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Influence Word provided by Ann Holman (Founder) www.annholman.co.uk
“We all need to have huge heaps of influence, no matter what rock we are sat on…”
As people, whether customers or employees, we have become sophisticated in our desires. As the stable rules of the past change radically and it becomes more difficult to predict and control, the need for people that can influence with authentic, genuine flare providing certainty, direction and insight is likely to increase. Influencing smart, smar t, knowledgeable, independent people isn’t easy, easy, but by allowing those to have influence on the issues they care about we can be extremely powerful. That’ That’s s why it’s it’s important impor tant that we know what people’s people’ s values systems are and what precisely motivates them. Robert Rober t B. Cialdini is a Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University. University. His book Influence is a classic and a good read. He lists six basic social principles that form the foundation of being able to influence; the rule of reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, liking, authority and scarcity. The rule of reciprocity is at the heart of influence, as is trust. The rule requires that one person try tr y and repay what another has provided. It makes possible the development of various kinds of continuing relationships, transactions and exchanges of conversation and mutual benefits. If people feel listened to, they are more likely to listen. If people feel valued, they are far more likely to conversely value you. If we trust someone, they are more likely to trust us back. In high doses it leads to mutual influence, an extremely potent force. You can’t influence if you see other people as a threat or competition. Some people have the skills and charisma that allow them to influence, others have position that allows them access to resources and information. The latter willaccessible increasingly obsolete as information and resources become to become all.
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The underlying success of Twitter is because it allows the rule of reciprocity to be laid out in its most basic and sophisticated form. It enables spirited conversation, the sharing of key information and intellectual dialogue. Eventually that leads to mutual influence not destructive competition. Businesses with teams could learn a lot from this form of collaboration and connection. Of course there will always be those that have more influence than others. “The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.” (Ken Blanchard) In the future, marketing will shift from shouting to influencing, we all need are will sitting on. to have huge heaps of influence no matter which rock we
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Innovation Word provided by Hannah Revell (Creative Business Services Manager) www.plymouthart.ac.uk
Ideas come from everywhere; developments can happen at any moment and innovation can be stifled if we don’t have perspective. Innovation is not the total responsibility of our company and employees; it’s it’s also now the responsibility of our customers. Our job is to create the environment for that to happen. Embracing customer’s customer’s ideas is an untapped resource that’ that’s s just brimming with possibilities to make our life easier easier.. I don’t just mean feedback surveys and questionnaires. It’s It’s a little more sophisticated than ’so how were you treated by our staff today?’ Collaboration, bringing customers wholeheartedly into our development and innovation processes is the start of stimulating a conversation and allowing you to innovate faster. faster. Why? Well customers are desperate to tell us what they want and how. They know what’s what’s wrong and what is right simply because they interact and ourThe company either an intensive of aactivity on aengage regular with basis. other side of over the river bank canperiod present wholeor different view. Customers give feedback quickly and continuously if encouraged positively and if they see their ideas being implemented. Start by initiating an ideas exchange program (you can use technology to help you do this) and invite customers to have that important conversation with you. Respond, discuss, brainstorm, brainstorm, debate, argue and create together.. If you have 20 customers who contribute 2 ideas per year together year,, you don’t need me to do the math. If only one is brilliant….well!!! k u . o c n . a m l o h n n a . w w w
Business as usual needs to be impossible. Use those conversations to prioritise developments, understand and exploit customer’ customer’s s knowledge, its something than everyone will management. benefit from. Flip theway budget and spend more on innovation process That the organization can begin to create and add greater value. Innovation comes from the freedom to fail, not obeying someone else’s else’s orders! As Woody Allen once said “If you’re you’ re not failing every now and again, it’s it’s a sign you’re you’re not doing anything very innovative. innovative.””
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Leadership Word provided by Karin Jordan (Director) www.annholman.co.uk
Leadership not management is now the key to driving out more production, outstanding creative work and new ideas. So why are our businesses having so many problems? Well we’re selling more intellect and less material. The emphasis today is on managing the human imagination not production lines. Our people’s expectations have changed but ours haven’t and our customers’ expectations have changed but perhaps ours have not! Trust, respect respect and loyalty are missing and we only have ourselves to blame. There are some key concerns….many businesses have done just the opposite of what they should have done – order and conformity rather than free thinking and risk taking. Many leaders could not have frustrated their people more if they had tried to. We are so reluctant to let go in a delusional attempt to control. It all leads to limited growth and mediocre performance in many cases. So, business will need to be able to manage change better in the future. They will have to be less organised and less controlled by a single brain. Growth will be limited not by production or developing the latest product but by our ability to recruit and retain the best people in the business even if they are not a direct employee.
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The widespread trend towards interconnectedness will accelerate continuously leading us towards being more nimble, innovative and continuously self modifying. Small, autonomous, flexible businesses will be the ideal structure in the future and our people will have a share equity in those same businesses. We’ We’re retowards going tocommon have to share responsibility, , demand accountability drive goals.responsibility Our jobs as leaders will be less aboutand control and more about disrupting the status quo. Instead of setting the agenda go and discover it on the shop floor!
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New Value Word provided by David Ansett (Brandmentalist)
It’s not so much about choice anymore but about value. The emphasis It’s has shifted. New Value is not what we generate, but the impact we have. They are what we do, not a precise list at the beginning of a business plan or on the plaque in Reception. But, in the future, we do need to be value centred not product centred! The huge question; are our businesses subtracting value from society or adding value to it? We need to know because our customers will measure us by it. The character of a business is becoming increasingly important simply because it’s it’s a reflection of our values. The more distinct the character, the better chance we have of creating distinct attention. New values are perhaps though, just old values that have been undermined over the last 60 years? People get miffed, and who can blame them, because we communicate one set of values and implement a completely different set. That’s That’ s where trust tr ust gets badly damaged. New values (or is it old ones) in the future business paradigm will need to re focus what their values are and find new ways to communicate them. The emphasis has changed. The more true connections we have, the greater the value our business can deliver. Inspirational content, sharing knowledge and ‘real’ relationships will grab people’s attention. Designing and delivering a remarkable people experience experience is at the heart of new value.
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Look at the value gap. What our people and customers value could be very different than we value. In a lot of cases it may have changed almost overnight. As Trey Trey Pennington says quite eloquently “ROI is ROI. It is objective. Value, on the other hand, is subjective. It’s It’s by no means easy but we must be able to explain our value. Time for an audit; what’ what’s s destroying value and what’s what’s adding value in our organizations?
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Networks Word provided by Andrew Farmer (Managing Director) www.myoxygen.co.uk
Thankfully and not before time we have new networks, they’re they’re the vibrant ones, they’re they’re the life changing ones. Lets be honest if we are going to spend our precious time in one, they had better be full of intellectual, artistic, radical, maverick, engaging people! Encouraging debates around “what’s new?” not “What I have to sell?” Open minded, open sourced minds that upturn the conventional, unlock what seems difficult and create a level playing field. The ‘grey suit’ networks, if they aren’t dead yet, soon will be. These myopic, ego driven, inert, mundane environments of the past can no longer survive. A huge disappointment to those professional service firms that used them as a reason to not go home. Most networks are average. Survival will require a great shift to raising the game. And we wonder why social networking has taken off? It’ It’s s led to the abandonment of those traditional congregations, simply because the culture, the atmosphere was as stifling as being in a lift with your worst nightmare for 24 hours. The new networks, and they do meet face to face are the ones to join. The ones that use imagination, let us connect, enable us to influence its evolvement, allow collaboration, share new ideas and help us work wor k across disciplines. They even expand our minds and, of course, they do lead to real business too. Before anyone says it, most of the physical ones do not! k u . o c n . a m l o h n n a . w w w
Next time anyone walks into a room full of people speed networking (what the hell is that about) and it’s not full of buzz and you can’t feel the excitement in the I’ll room, turn around andthere get out of there. bar, that’s where be sitting! I just got before you! Join me at the
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Noise Word provided by Ann Holman (Founder) www.annholman.co.uk
“Some are finding the balance between shouting and whispering tough to find…”
The market place out there has raised its voice, there are more people talking to us, providing feedback, on social networks and on forums as well as SEO, PPC and the more traditional marketing stuff. But, instead of listening, we more often than not start shouting as loud as we can to be heard above the ‘noise.’ And, it doesn’t doesn’t seem to matter what market you are in, we are all up to it! Consequently, the customer/prospect/client can’t hear us. They find it Consequently, difficult to distinguish us from anyone else; we are just part of that ‘noise.’’ It turns people off, they start to ignore us and even worse they ‘noise. become indifferent! They become bombarded with information and as a result close their eyes and cover their ears. Now is a good goo d time to STOP. A significant significa nt dose of looking lo oking is required re quired.. Look at what you are doing. Look at what the competition is doing. Look at what other businesses are doing in other sectors. Look at where the return on investment in marketing is working or where it isn’t. Then, I bet a good deal of change is required. If you are not different then you need to be cheaper. The change must be around how we are different, measurable, demonstrable demonstrable and tangible difference. It may not be our product but it may be our customer experience. It may not be delivery times but it may be that we have the most talented people in the business. It may not be location but it may be that our marketing message is so compelling that people buy into it. Ultimately, the question and answer is not so much about how our Ultimately, product stands out from the crowd nowadays but how we stand out from the ‘noise. ‘noise.’ ’ Some businesses are finding tough to find balance between shouting and whispering, it’s whyitcommunity it’s willthe play such an important part in the future.
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Participation Word provided by Scott Gould www.scottgould.me
If you help, what I contribute will be better. Value, Value, in the future for a lot of people, will be whether and how they participate in the businesses we run. They will be particularly motivated by group effort. Participation has almost become risk free because the cost of failure has dropped so we can mass innovate. The tools are there and the hierarchy removed to allow us all to really take part. Humans have always had a desire to make meaningful contributions. We lost that. Businesses deliberately organised themselves to control the participating. par ticipating. However, However, the case studies of Wikipedia and Linux have altered how close the horizon is. Participation is changing the way companies use resources and it’s it’s bridged the gap between the amateur and professional. Amateurs are collecting data on behalf of wildlife trusts, we can transmit news items to the media, and astronomers are listening for other life forms for governments. The passive consumer is evaporating. We want to participate in the generation of new products and services. We no longer want to just wait for it down the line to be delivered. Charles Leadbeater talks about “mass production to mass innovation.” innovation.” He has missed a process or two out of the equation. It’s more like this: Mass production – Mass participation – Mass collaborati collaboration on – Mass innovation
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It’s just a thought. As companies we have misunderstood that it’s the nonfinancial, intrinsic factors that motivate people like participation more than the financial ones. We are always talking about the difficulties of getting customers and employees to understand what we do and the advantages of our product. Perhaps should takeme a leaf of Benjamin Franklin’ Franklin’s thoughts “Tell me and I’llwe forget, show and out I might remember, involves me and I will understand.” understand.” Powerful stuff. Maybe participation gets rid of that communication problem we have been having? We have no excuses anymore. All business can allow its customers and employees to participate. I’m not talking about amateurs doing brain surgery, not a great idea, I agree. But I am talking about using the social tools we have now to enable the impossible to be achieved. If we involve people in the process, they they take ownership. From that they will easily become part par t of our community, which is where we need them to be in the future.
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Power Word provided by Ann Holman (Founder) www.annholman.co.uk
“Power is under a full scale assault and it just lost…”
Power has shifted from a ‘me’ to ‘us. ‘us.’’ The power has been restored to the streets. No longer does it reside in the boardroom anymore, only in the minds of those ego hungry executives. Power isn’t isn’t how many people we manage, the cringe worthy name plate on our door nor how much money we’re paid. In fact, that’s increasingly becoming irrelevant. It’s actually about how we facilitate and mobilise mass collaboration, inside, outside and round about our organisation, department or business. Power has been diffused. The internet has made it all a little democratic. There are nearly 1 billion people online including our staff, all sharing knowledge, contacts, reputations, technology and ideas. This is unlocking ability for them to become a collective force of unrecognisable and, to a large degree, uncontrollable power. That’s where it’s shifted! Power is under a full-scale assault and the past just lost. Command and control cultures will suffer the most. They are now faced with creative, ad hoc groups of people who have just got a whole lot more powerful. Customers now have the power to get what they want and so do our o ur staff. If they smack together in a cauldron of co-operative, innovative style, new products that are quick to market, mar ket, at lower costs there is an inevitable outcome. Driving through policy top down through traditional power hungry functional structures just won’t hack it in the future. Hierarchies are in fact dead. They get us nowhere fast. Co-operation organised by anyone in the fields and playgrounds of business is the logical next step. Collective, intellectual power that is being aided by technology and economic models that are working right now. People realise that they are equals and not inferiors. Leveraging this new home of power will be the key to future innovations and business sustainability. It’s resulting in an increase of power to the customer, the demise to some extent of the expert and a decline in control for lawyers, doctors, corporate executives and politicians.
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We need to learn, and learn fast, how to engage with this new power source. It will be utilised most by those who are well educated, technologically literate and who culturally are excited by sharing and participation. Harnessed well, it will ultimately lead to some of the greatest inventions and innovations the world has ever seen. Let’s Let’s roll….
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Relationships Word provided by Gemma Went (Director) www.redcubemarketing.com
“The relationships we form are more important than products or price, cos’ they are worth more…”
In a transaction based business model we forgot the most important element, the relationship. During the mass production days, the gap between products, markets and customers lost each other. other. Business in the future is focused on intense relationships not hard, faceless communications and it’s it’s the same internally internally.. If we don’t have a marketing mar keting strategy that’s that’s creating relationships, all we are doing is shouting like the rest of them. Fred Reichheld in his book ‘The Ultimate Question’ states “it is at least as important to measure the quality of relationships as it is to measure profitability.” Hear, Hear! Lots of people do not understand ‘relationship.’ ‘relationship.’ We spend a load of cash buying customers and then forget them. And be honest, we do that a lot. We can’t build relationships by using ‘command and control’ tactics, in fact, increasingly we are going to look stupid……sorry STUPID! A radical idea; reduce your customer base but have deeper relationships with those you have left. Life is not just about the numbers, it’s it’s the enriching experiences we have have too. Those same great relationships also have have a better chance at evolving into a community community.. Fab! The relationships we form in business are now more important than products, price and geography because they are worth wor th more. With this comes the way we are replacing communication by igniting conversations and encouraging dialogue that are the building blocks of energizing relationships with people. Technology is just aiding that route. The Dalai Lama is quoted as saying “Technology “Technology is not the basis of our society society.. Compassion is the basis of society society..” So stop worrying worr ying about the technology, it moves too quickly for most of us and instead think about how it can help develop more authentic, trusting solid relationships. Think about in three years time how you want your relationships with customers to have changed. Just remember, remember, if you are not prepared to build a relationship with me, the customer, just get the hell out of the way. I have somewhere else I’m supposed to be…..your competitor. competitor.
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Renewal Word provided by John Harvey (Exeter City Centre Manager) www.twitter.com/ExeterCCM
It seems we are in the fashion business nowadays, or at least, more traditional businesses could learn a lot from the creative industries. The world is littered with companies who failed to renew; General Motors, the British retailer Woolworths, Landrover to name a few. Perhaps it is time to look at how we renew our businesses by bringing out a ‘new collection’ each year, year, a new album or new book. Look at how Apple does it. But is renewal on the inside, outside or both? Renewal is about having a clear understanding of where our three main competitive advantages are and working these seamlessly into a renewal strategy.. We can’t just look at one part of our business without looking at strategy the rest. And it is about having a deliberate strategy in place. The key components of any business centre on customer experience, innovation, human capital potential, research and development, marketing approach and then ultimately performance. All wrapped up by a leader who can pull together and inspire a group of dedicated, high performing, positive people who can make it happen. It’s It’s a creative process that requires a creative solution. M & S have done it. Walt Disney Disney did it after a thirty year absence from animated cartoons. They solved the problem with a sustained solution by releasing one feature film a year year..
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Renewal is more than changing the shop window every ever y month; it’s it’s more than updating our website with news. It’s It’s far more fundamental and strategic than that. It’ It’s s a constant, embedded cycle in the business strategy.. It needs to embrace all of its competitive advantages; it keeps strategy us ahead of the game and enables our business to express itself. Research shows that renewal leads to sustainability. As Aneurin Bevan, British Labour politician in the mid 20th century said, “We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run over. over.” The key question is; are you evolving or just messing about because tomorrow we will be different!
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Reputation Word provided by Ann Holman (Founder) www.annholman.co.uk
We have to move from recognition to reputation. Everyone has heard of Coca-Cola, but not everyone wants to drink it! In the future companies will be more afraid of losing their reputation than the arm of the law because it costs more. We have seen that in recent years in the financial and corporate sectors around the world. John C. Bogle said in his book ‘Enough’ “The lure of money has overwhelmed the prestige of reputation.” That ‘prestige’ he talks about will infiltrate every business. We are going to have to learn very quickly how to manage our offline and online presence simultaneously. simultaneously. Creating and maintaining a reputation isn’t an option anymore no matter what size company we are. Just look at how the media is damaging its reputation by being inaccurate and sensationalist in a bid to sell more. If you have popularity and great reputation, you build and convey influence. Reputation will be a growth area. Watch how many PR agencies re name themselves ‘Reputation Management Consultancies.’ Consultancies.’ As the fine line between our personal and public lives disappears, we will have to deliberately manage it. Privacy has gone but with that comes more transparency and connectivity. connectivity. One bad customer experience can be transmitted around the world quicker than I can eat a bag of jelly beans.
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Whilst we need to manage reputation, it is not something manufactured. It must come from our authenticity and value system. Those businesses with authentic character can really shape their credibility and exploit their amazing reputation. There will be a shift from recruiting marketing managers to reputation managers who have a tight grip on what’s what’s happening online and how it all works. All companies have flaws. Toyota, Toyota, in the long run will not be judged on the problems they have had, but on how they manage the aftermath. They still produce exceptional cars and still innovate, although, their their sales franchises could do with a kick up the ass to be frank. It’s nothing to be afraid of, in fact, it’s very exciting. It means that we can communicate our strengths far better better.. Small companies will employ the same tactics as the corporatist. However However,, in a world wor ld of niches, we’ll we’ll need specialists to help us do evolve from what Chris Anderson says “expression to reputation.” Or to use Oscar Wilde’ Wilde’s s quote “One can survive sur vive everything nowadays, except death, and live down anything, except a good reputation.” Reputation though is very much about being human focused.
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Risk Word provided by Hannah Revell (Creative Business Services Manager) www.plymouthart.ac.uk
“Risk the replaceable don’t risk the irreplaceable…”
We have to take risks, if we didn’t, we would be missing some of the greatest inventions man has created. Risk is all about managing the likely consequences of our actions. It’s It’s amazing how many companies bolt across the road without looking left and right! No contingency, contingency, no thought, no scenario management, left in the gutter nursing nur sing a sore head, or unfortunately, worse. There are two types of risk, reckless reckless and managed. A sense of perspective is required; if what you are risking is replaceable then it’s it’s possibly worth wor th the risk. If it’s it’s not then, it probably isn’t worth wor th it by a long shot. On a parallel if what you want to do is in abundance then you are possibly committing business suicide, if it’s it’s scarce, truly scarce, then probably not. Replaceable are things such as work, money, car, holidays, products, and house. Those that are not replaceable are stuff like relationships, friendships, reputation, credibility, imagination, creativity, talented people, and values. They are all scarce and hard to find, or some days it just feel that way. There are some things that are just not worth the risk and we need a mechanism to identify what is and what isn’t. In all of this perspective can be wrong. It’s It’s amazing how some people p eople will risk the irreplaceable such as a relationship or friendship, yet, never never ever risk the replaceable, a career, ca reer, money, work. The true cost of risk is no longer about just money, it’s oh so much more. It’s It’ s about our reputation, our values, our brand, and increasingly our relationships. Yes, Yes, definitely take risks in the things that mean the most to you but don’t risk the irreplaceable, it’s it’s just not worth wor th it.
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Routine Word provided by Ann Holman (Founder) www.annholman.co.uk
Let’s look at routine differently. Let’s differently. All business needs routine and whilst for some that means comfort, security, peace of mind and stability, for many others it strikes fear into their hearts. For some of us it makes us feel cold, staid, inert and we avoid it as best we can. Frankly, though we all have routine in our lives whether we like it or not, even if it’ it’s s the weekly shop! But perhaps we need to change its focus. Routine is a sequence of actions followed on a regular basis or perhaps it’s a fixed program of action. We’ve associated it with audits, stock takes, appraisals, paperwork, filing, accounts, team meetings and that’ that’s s where it got its poor reputation. In fact, its time to change its perception. Stop seeing it as negative, a necessary evil and something to procrastinate about. Instead, see the positive aspects of your business and do them routinely. Innovation should be routine, product development should follow a strict program, talking and influencing your top 20% of customers should be organised in a routinely fashion. Even creating time to think should be built into any routine. Oh and excitement, enjoyment, inspiration and fun needs to routinely happen too. Routine doesn’t need to be associated with the boring, mundane or dull. In fact, it’s it’s essential to build it into the most influential parts of your business as well.
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Sales Word provided by Andrew Farmer (MD) www.myoxygen.co.uk
Chris Brogan last year stated that all people nowadays need to be sales people. I’m not so sure; in fact, I think sales are dead, at least in the traditional way. way. Sales people are middlemen and women and we know what’s what’ s happening to them across the world. The need for the sales role is diminishing and rapidly. Sales people are going to have to reinvent themselves and companies with sales departments are going to have to change the role somewhat radically. Why? We have so much information at our finger tips, 24/7, almost anywhere. We don’t have to just rely on the company brochure for the information on the product/service. We have access to forums discussing the product, chat rooms, websites that focus on the product run r un by consumers. We have become a generation very adept at researching and understanding the product better than ever before. We are a lot more savvy and I don’t need a sales person to offer their very, very subjective point of view. The traditional differentiators have gone. There is very little difference between products anymore; one Princess yacht is very much like a Sunseeker yacht. The difference between Audi and Skoda is minimal. Sales people are a very expensive resource for companies selling ‘no difference’ products. The actual product isn’t what makes you competitive anymore it’s it’ s the relationship you build. A sales person’s job needs to evolve into a more customer experience role. A lot of companies will argue that they have already done this. They haven’t, it’s it’s very rare to really experience an amazing customer experience. k u . o c . n a m l o h n n a . w w w
We live in a world of abundance but are set up as if our product was scarce. There is a tendency when the world is full of similar offerings to sell more aggressively and take more sales people on. In fact, it should be the complete opposite. Patrick Dixon in his book Futurewise said, “Experiences will matter most.”” People no longer buy sales patter but the experience. If potential most. customers are in contact with you, it’s it’s probably because they have already done their research, so it’s it’s a question of the relationship you build with them that’s that’s just as important impor tant as the features and benefits. Sales reps need to be retrained and motivated to building strong bonds with customers, encouraging word of mouth referrals amongst their account base and working hard at improving the experience, not whether they can field objections and close the sale.
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Sharing Word provided by Alistair Banks www.iambanksy.co.uk
“Today you are perhaps defined by what you share not what you own…”
Sharing really does anchor community and not necessarily physical location. Controlling knowledge and information may well have been fine and good in the past but it isn’t going to get us far in the future. Just look at how much information, for no financial reward is pinging around the web. From Twitter, to forums, to LinkedIn and even by that old fashioned method of email, this eBook is the direct result of sharing. Sharing is a fundamental human attribute. We are taught this value from an early age with our siblings. Then we get to work and suddenly the ‘hair pulling’ starts again. How ironic? Work culture and law does little to encourage it, in fact, we become very ver y over protective. We tend to have systems that reward people who don’t share. Open source has fuelled the concept of sharing. Take a look at Linux and Wikipedia. No one owns it, everyone can use it, anyone can improve it and, very often, no one gets paid for it. The motivation is a basic desire to contribute, refine and participate. The advent of social media has just made the pushing of water up hill a whole lot easier. It of course, provides problems, sharing is making it prohibitively difficult for business to make money in the traditional sense (The Times) and governments to control information and order (Iran and China.) The key point is that with all this information swimming around in the pool of knowledge, will by sharing it, make our decision making better? Sharing and collaboration have a unique relationship. David Weinberger is quoted as saying “Sharing is the norm and that collaborating is a natural act.” A significant part of our work in the future will be about how we encourage, assemble and co ordinate a group of people to create fantastic, ground shifting, distinctive ideas. In a sharing world, greater value will be a by product of more open and trusting relationships. Today Today you are perhaps defined by what you share.
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Substance Word provided by Shaun Durham (Director) www.moonconsulting.co.uk
Substance is the stuff that comes after the promise. It’s the bit that’s tangible, it’s the action, and it’s more than just words. In a more service orientated, increasingly digital, virtual world, substance, the bit you can hold onto, is going to be ever more important. In this new world, we will consume less and create more. Substance will be less about a physical product we can hold in our hand and more about a digital download or an experience. There it is, substance will be more about experience than the product and it just got a hell of a lot more instantaneous. Increasingly, companies are going to have to prove themselves much more. In a world of an abundance of experience, we will need to re mould our business models that have been based on scarcity and concentrate on two or three things that will make us different. The proof of the pudding has always been in the eating! Directors need to work out clearly what the substance they are offering is. They will need to understand what substance means to their customers, their people and associates. What influence it has over brand equity, equity, and then measure it of course. And, hell with the advent of technology, we have just got a whole lot better at measuring. So if you’re a web designer, it will no longer be just good enough to design a great website, you’ll need to be able to make it work for the customer and the latter part is what you’ll get paid for. If you are a consultant you will not be paid for the great strategy you produce but for its implementation.
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Action. Substance is about the depth of delivery deliver y. It’s It’s not shallow; it’ it’s s seeing things all the way through, it really can’t be ignored. Substance is one of the great competitive advantages of the future. Promising something is just not good enough delivering tactile, tangible services! In the past your business could look fantastic, its marketing could work a treat, but substance will be one of the things that now distinguishes you, proves you can do it time and again and demonstrates clearly what you can do. Substance constantly evolves; it doesn’t stop even for a breath. In the future, we won’t be able to deliver the same substance year in year out; we’ we’llll have to develop a system that changes what you mean by substance year in year out. That means reinvention every year!
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Talent Word provided by Ann Holman (Founder) www.annholman.co.uk
“You have a problem if you’re people are doing their most innovative & exciting stuff away from your company…”
Talented people in the future won’t be staring at a conveyor belt, stuck in traffic going to a meeting, doing mind numbing statistics and reports to convince management of their worthiness. They will be scanning the environment, developing relationships with people, exploring new ideas with competitors and having innovative conversations with people they have never met. Oh and they will be having fun too! Talent in the future probably won’t work for you but with you in collaboration. Their motivation won’t solely be promotion and pay rises. They will want to be inspired by intrinsic motivators such as meaningful work, making a difference and adding sustained value. Work at your company is going to have to get a hell of a lot more exciting and interesting if you are going to attract the best people. Stop worrying about your talent leaving with intellectual property and knowledge and concern yourself with creating an environment where great, imaginative people want to hang out. A company with a highly motivated workforce whether permanent or working in small groups is very hard to copy,, whereas your products are. You have an enormous problem if your copy people are doing their most innovative work away from your office. Talented people are opinionated; they have their own voice and will disrupt the status quo. The talented are better educated, more knowledgeable, therefore the greater dispersion of power and control. If they have all the information, the people in the ivory towers no longer have the best view.. Our expectations of leaders have fundamentally shifted to a more view sophisticated level. A leader’s leader’s role will not be about control and
authority,, delivering a mundane monologue of corporate spin but will be authority about stimulating conversations that helps people ‘blow the socks off’ the competition. “If you think you are a leader and no one is following you, you’re actually just going for a walk.” John Maxwell.
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Reward loyalty as well as performance. Reward value creation rather than the hours people work. The talent in your business must be managed as a long term asset and for that you need a long term perspective. People in our business, are now more like participants and collaborators rather than workers, staff or employees.
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Thinking Word provided by Vince McConville (Business (Business Adviser) www.twitter.com/vmcconville
To get a better view of your business, you need a better vantage point! Strategy in this century can’t just be managed or measured by numbers. It must live and breathe. Change, respond and reflect, in fact, it must constantly renew. That’s That’s where thinking comes in. Ernest Er nest Rutherford (the man who spilt the atom, so he knew a thing or two) said “We don’t have much money so we what we have to do is think.” think.” Thinking time allows you to think about the unthinkable. A constant flow of product and service innovations must be at the forefront of any thinking. Our first reaction when we feel our business is threatened is to just work harder, harder, not stand back and think about what we are doing. Thinking time is whatever you want to make it, nobody can tell you what to think but perhaps the questions are a little different than they used to; what is the point in your business? What will actually change in your sector as a result of you? Has your business got a beating heart? If you took your logo away, what would be left? Primarily, thinking isn’t a solitary Primarily, solitar y exercise anymore. You can’t get everything right, but you can’t get everything ever ything wrong either. Essentially, Essentially, you really don’t have all the answers. That’s That’s why collaboration will be important! Charles Leadbeater comments “On the web, people seem to either argue or to agree with each other; it is much rarer for them to think together. together.” He’s He’ s right. As the barriers to collective thinking collapse and we have access to so many more thinkers than just us, we need to deliberately connect with people that at a strategic level can clarify our thoughts, ideas and opportunities. k u . o c . n a m l o h n n a . w w w
It is key to have ‘you time’ to think about stuff but if done in isolation it can lead to rear window thinking. A lot of us spend an enormous amount of time looking over our shoulder at what we have done in the past, tripping over the future as we go.
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Time Word provided by Ann Holman (Founder) www.annholman.co.uk
“We live in a world of interruption, we must restore order over our time…”
Our lives have been invaded by technology, that’s not a bad thing! However, it does present a paradox; we can work anywhere, anytime. anytime. Conversely, Conversely, it means little escape from work. wor k. We tweet, blog, email email and talk all the time. Next time you go for dinner, dinner, count the number of people who pick up during one of the courses! We live in a world of interruption. First, it was advertising agencies intruding into our homes, now it’s it’s via a little device that’s that’s attached to our hips, literally even though it’s a fashion aargh! We must restore order over our time. Time has lost its boundaries which make it even more excruciating to manage as we have little of it. We have ultimately lost control! It means that we are not often ‘there’ when we have conversations. We concentrate on several tasks at once rather than one or two that we do truly well. We answer our mobiles, become distracted by emails and faff about far too much. We have given technology permission to control our time not the other way round. For some it gives a sense of being important, but all we are doing is ‘biting off more than we can chew.’ chew.’ It results in us living fast when actually being able to chill is far more appropriate and conducive to results. We all need to find ways to control our time. Only opening emails three times a day, switching switching our phones off when we are at a dinner party, focusing on the people we are having a drink with and finding a little balance. You You are dodging the issue if you think other people are controlling your time. It’s It’s about learning lear ning to say no constructively. Controlling our time is not just about being more effective, it’s it’s actually more about enriching our lives, enhancing our relationships and adding true value to what we do. Controlling interruption gives us the opportunity to intensely focus on important, meaningful activity not the sheer volume. Time isn’t to be messed with; we let it pass us by far too easily without feeling it and enjoying it. We only get one shot at that moment in time, that day, day, that meeting, that client, that dinner party. Rushing through it, slightly dictated by interruption doesn’t add anything, it just really takes away. away.
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Transparent Word provided by Luke James www.iscamedia.com
“People have replaced products…”
Being transparent is a vehicle to building credibility. Credible to customers, followers, staff and our community. We can no longer hide from being transparent, technology has seen to that. We now have access to some of the most intimate recesses of any structure. Sure there will always be information we can’t share that’s that’s sensitive or requires protecting but the more sceptical our customers are the more transparent we will need to be. Transparency, like a lot of things, is way overdue. Finding the mid point between controlled messaging and brutal honesty is undeniably difficult. The faceless, cold businesses who exploited trust in the past are now going to have to embrace and nurture nur ture loyalty. loyalty. Customers and staff not only demand being transparent, but actually thrive on it. It offers assurance. Our money is increasingly hard earned and we’ve become more discerning about where we spend it. As we slip away from mindless to mindful consumerism, business will have to seriously consider how they are being transparent. Where there is greater complexity, complexity, there is less transparency. transparency. Being transparent makes analysis easier and thereby increases understanding. If people involved in our business neither believe nor understand what we are, the performance and fundamental value our company adds becomes irrelevant and distorted. People are replacing products (www.annholman.co.uk) We are seeking out the personality of the businesses we deal with. We expect openness, we demand respect and we want ‘real.’ Real faces, real people and real lives. This isn’t about showing pictures of your cat on your website at the expense of your offer. offer. It’s It’s about the ability to create deep connections and revealing the human side of doing business. Remove the sterility of traditional business and you get cross fertilisation of ideas. Nothing sustains like honesty, integrity and being transparent. Transparency
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provides more certainty in an increasingly uncertain world. If we are transparent, we are more likely to be understood. People will trust us. Customers will bond with us. Staff will exhibit mutual respect and we can build a business that’s that’s truly authentic. How powerful is that?
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True Customers Word provided by Ann Holman (Founder) www.annholman.co.uk
“With true customers we can be intimate not intrusive…”
Does anyone get the feeling that some organisations are creative about working the system, instead of improving the customer experience? True customers are loyal customers and with them we can rely on word of mouth to grow our business without spending too much on marketing. We don’t buy true customers; we gain them by organically growing through unabashed superb customer experience. With true customers we can be intimate not intrusive. Tapping into our customers’ minds and embracing their ideas allows us to innovate faster. faster. If we are not properly influencing our customers, all we are doing is unashamedly buying them and they don’t tend to be loyal. True customers need to be seen as a virus, a positive one! Fred Reichheld looks at three distinct types of customers; they don’t need any explanation; promoters, passives and detractors. The aim to design customer experiences that attract promoters and passives and get rid of the detractors. It’s It’s a customer grading program. We tend to care only about the number of customers we have. That’s That’s worthless. wor thless. It’s It’s actually what you do with the promoters and passives that matters. And, of course, we have a far better chance at building a community around the promoters! Then you spend less on advertising and acquiring new customers. True customers come from satisfied employees, but that’s a whole different story. Never, ever lose a customer unless we want to. We can’t build lots of promoters if we are abusing them. Think
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Trust Word provided by Ian Mundy Consultant
“Trust is in crisis…”
These words are all interlinked, we know that. The more you are considered
trustworthy, the more you remove doubt about you, your product or both. Trust doesn’t happen immediately immediately,, it is a direct consequence of substance and the execution continuously of those values that promote trust’s trust’s very existence. Untrustworthy companies have nowhere left to hide, even in the middle of nowhere isn’t an option anymore. Companies run by people who exploit its customers and demean its people will not be sustainable over the long haul. It just undermines under mines trust. Trust Trust is a key driver of loyalty; it makes the difference between mediocre and exceptional. Yet trust is in crisis. It’ It’s s depressing that the many ways we do business nowadays have become so destructive, in terms of customers, employees and even competitors. How big is your trust gap? Is your leadership promoting what your business
would like people to believe, or something else, and a lot more powerful, the truth? Trust is so fragile. It can be blown away in a few minutes, yet we hardly nurture it. Never deliberately plan it into how we are going to lead and frequently ignore the consequences of mistrust. When you have trust it’s intoxicating and flattering. The most powerful thing a person can say to you is “I trust you.” Like Like respect, you can’t buy trust, you can just earn it.
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The End. Actually it’s the beginning…… Okay I know that’s that’s six words! Indulge me. The exciting thing for a new era, is the not knowing, certainly for the early adopters. Even if they dare not admit it, people have been tired for a long time caught up in an industrialised business model that has never quite managed to satisfy people intrinsically. intrinsically. Now the information and knowledge age is here, there seems to be some free spirited motivation surging to the surface. The enthusiasm in some quarters is both inspiring and fascinating. Our job as leaders, managers and business owners is to revitalise that enthusiasm in people and encourage new ways to engage that, at the end of the day day,, create and deliver better products and services. Some of the greatest inventions have not yet been created! And enthusiasm is completely voluntary we must remember that. This is my attempt at what the future holds, but if you talk to people who are at the leading edge, they consistently use the words in this eBook. Jeff Jarvis thinks its down to Google, Charlene Li calls it a ‘groundswell. ‘groundswell.’’ Charles Leadbeater terms it ‘We=Think.’ Clay Shirky believes it’s just ‘everybody’ and Dan Tapscott ‘Wikinomics.’ ‘Wikinomics.’ Joanne Jacobs and Claire Marshall from RokkInternet talk about social media, games and augmented reality. The list goes on. They can’t all be wrong can they?
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I think that the combination of changes in people, technology and economics have collided and caused a potential second ‘big bang. bang.’’ This time it’s it’ s not so much about a physical world being created but a knowledge world, where our ability to create outstrips our ability to consume. Once immersed on this route to changing the way we do business, it becomes irresistible. People to people is actually human to human with little ego in between. It’s It’ s obvious, but a group of people will always have more knowledge and expertise than any individual. We have a new generation who are developing knowledge and are not bothered who they share that with, whilst the other generations are acting as if what they do is scarce. The BIG question for all of us is this ‘Does anybody want the future?’ I leave the last question and word to Henry David Thoreau “The question is not what you look at but what you see.” see.”
Resource List I read many books and articles for my research leading up to this book. I’ve listed some of those that I felt really stood out and made a significant difference to my thinking.
Books Anderson, C (2006) “The Long Tail: how endless choice is creating unlimited demand: Random House, New York. Anderson, C (2009) “Free: the future of a radical price.” Random House, New York. Ariely, D (2008) “Predictably Irrational: the hidden forces that shape our decisions.” Harper Collins, London Bogle, J (2009) “Enough: true measures of money, business and life.” Wiley, New Jersey. Boyle, D (2004) “Authenticity: brands, fakes, spin and the lust for the real life.” Harper Perennial, London. Dixon, P (2007) “Futurewise: six faces of global change.” Profile Books, London. George, B (2003) “Authentic Leadership: rediscovering the secrets to creating lasting value.” Jossey-Bass, San Francisco. Godin, S (2007) “Meatball Sundae: how new marketing is transforming the business world.” Portfolio, London. Godin, S (2008) “Tribes: we need you to lead us.” Portfolio, New York. Gladwell, M (2001) “The Tipping Point: how little things can make a big difference.” Abacus, London. k u . o c . n a m l o h n n a . w w w
Gladwell, M (2008) “Outliers: the story of success.” Allen Lane, London Honore, C (2004) “Slow: how a worldwide movement is challenging the cult of speed. speed.”” Orion, London. Howe, J (2008) “Crowdsourcing: how the power of the crowd is driving the future of business.” Random House, New York. Ind, N (2005) “Beyond Branding: how the new values of transparency and integrity are changing the world of brands.” Kogan Page, London Jarvis, J (2009) “What Would Google Do?” Harper Collins, New York. Leadbeater, C (2009) “We Think: mass innovation, not mass production.” Profile Books, London. Levine, F, Locke, C, Searls, D, and Weinberg, D (2009) “The Cluetrain Manifesto.” Basic Books. New York. Li, C, and Bernoff, J (2008) “Groundswell: winning in a world transformed by social technologies.”” Har vard Business School Publishing, Boston. technologies.
Books continued… Lipman- Blumen, J and Leavitt, H (1999) “Hot Groups: seeding them. Feeding them and using them to ignite your organization.” organization.” Oxford University Press, Oxford. Raymond, M (2004) “The Tomorrow Tomorrow People: future consumers and how to read them today.” Prentice Hall, Harlow. Reichheld, F (2006) “ The Ultimate Question: driving good profits and true growth.” Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston. Shaw, C, Ivens, J (2005) “Building Great Customer Experiences.” Palgrave Macmillan, New York. Shaw, C (2005) “Revolutionize Your Customer Experience.” Palgrave Macmillan, New York. Shirky, C (2009) “Here Comes Everybody: how change happens when people come Shirky, together.” Penguin. London. Taleb, N, N (2007) “The Black Swan: the impact of the highly improbable.” Penguin, London Watson, R (2008) “Future Files: the 5 trends that will shape the next 50 years. Watson, years.”” Nicholas Brealey, Boston.
Blogs
Listed below are a few people whose blogs contributed to the whole research and development process.
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www.thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com www.thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com www.briansolis.com www.chrisbrogan.com www.scottgould.me www.sethgodin.com www.tompeters.com www.treypennington.com Don’t forget you can follow them on Twitter Twitter too!
About me…. I’ve worked with business enterprises for over 14 years and whilst I haven’t seen everything yet, I’ve I’ve seen the sublime to the ridiculous. It’s It’s fabulous! I left my last ‘proper job’ seven years ago to set up my own company. We’ve come a long way and evolved rapidly. It’s, as always, an amazing adventure as well as having a fabulous team. I now concentrate on what I love doing, contributing something meaningful and making a difference to the way people view the future of work and business. I spend my time researching and absorbing the latest thinking in leadership, marketing, customer experience, business culture, community and social media. It’s an eclectic mix of things that really do ‘float my boat.’ boat.’ I deliver seminars and speaking events across the UK, although offers from sunnier climes are obviously accepted! Writing. Wow do I love doing this. I have a blog and spend far too much time on Twitter witter.. I’m also a member of the Harvard Business Review Advisory Committee where I can contribute to the latest thoughts and research and I lecture at several Universities and Colleges. All of my work is a vat of sincere and authentic thinking about the future of work and business, although I do talk about the here and now too. I hope to share inspired thinking, straight talk, an engaging conversation and a genuine point of view. I try to strip away the camouflage, the mask, the pretence, so representative of what old business has conditioned us to think and explore how people, technology and economics are impacting work and business. It would be fantastic if I challenged you to think differently about your work. Whilst we do have serious, thought provoking conversations, I haven’t forgotten that we don’t get out of this life alive and that’ that’s s it’s it’s critical to have fun and a sense of humour with a good old dose of reality too. k u . o c . n a m l o h n n a . w w w
I see this eBook and my thinking as a craft, it’s it’s constantly evolving, it changes. I’m always wondering what’s new, what’s interesting. Intrigued about people, business and technology technology,, I’m hoping I give away more value than I take with a little humility. If curiosity killed the cat……so be it. I’d rather be a knowledge freak than a control freak!
What can i do with this? The copyright of this work wor k belongs to the author author,, who is solely responsible for the content. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License. To view a copy of this license, visit Creative Commons or send a letter to Creative Commons, 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, California 94305, USA. You are given the unlimited right to print this book and to distribute it electronically (via email, your website, or any other means). You can give it to your Mum for her birthday bir thday,, send it to your favorite friend, print out pages and put them up on your University campus, you can even leave a copy in your staff room. However, However, you may not alter this book in any way and you may not charge for it.
For Further Information
You can catch Ann in these places:
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Web: Web: Twitter: Facebook: Facebook: Tel: Tel:
www.annholman.co.uk www.twitter.com/annholman www.facebook.com/annholmancompany 0845 2245 742
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Innovation Centre, University Univer sity of Exeter, Rennes Drive, Exeter. EX4 4RN
