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Business

Purpose-Driven Business

November 13, 2014 —

Purpose-Driven Business

McKinsey’s Vision of Businesses as Problem Solvers We recently came across an older and rather interesting article from McKinsey that speaks to the imperative of business to become increasingly purpose-driven. The article starts with the words, “Capitalism is under attack.” It then offers new definitions for prosperity, growth, government, and capitalism itself: a conscious capitalism. Then it goes on to explain what business needs to do: “We believe that a reorientation toward seeing businesses as society’s problem solvers rather than simply as vehicles for creating shareholder...
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Is a Misunderstood Brand Holding Back Your Business?

July 29, 2014 —

Is a Misunderstood Brand Holding Back Your Business?

  There’s a price to pay when your brand simply languishes. It’s the cost of lost opportunities. First, you are missing the opportunity to change the way people feel about your brand, and hence, what they can do to make your brand more successful. By people, we mean customers, employees, partners, investors, communities, influencers, and so on…. Indeed, we mean all the people who are vital to your brand’s succcess. It’s their decisions and actions that determine your fate. They think and act based on what they feel. If your brand doesn’t make them...
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Leadership at a Time When People Know as Much About Your Business as You Know About Them

April 29, 2014 —

Leadership at a Time When People Know as Much About Your Business as You Know About Them

Welcome to transparency, whether you like it or not. This is the time when people have access to unprecedented amounts of information, including deep insights into what your company is up to. And they are using this information to form opinions – opinions that shape their attitudes toward your business; attitudes that drive their behavior with respect to your business. Be they employees, customers, partners, investors, or industry pundits, what you do, how you behave, and why you do what you do all become factors in deciding your company’s fate. Hence, our advice for leaders wishing to...
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10 Reasons Why Business Should Banish the Word “Brand”

April 24, 2014 —

10 Reasons Why Business Should Banish the Word “Brand”

Our rather controversial thoughts on “Brand” 1. It is meaningless Ask five people in your company what the word “brand” means and you’ll get at least seven definitions. As such, the meaning of the word “brand” is completely diluted and lacking in concise meaning. That’s not helpful. 2. It confuses, defuses and abuses One person in your compnay uses the word “brand” and another person interprest it differently, and then everything goes haywire. That’s expensive. 3. It becomes a tyrant It becomes a mysterious entity with a mystical...
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7 Reasons Why it’s Probably Time to Transform Your Business

April 23, 2014 —

7 Reasons Why it’s Probably Time to Transform Your Business

What’s the matter? We met with some prospective customers over dinner the other day, and started the discussion with our favorite leading question, “So, what’s the matter?”. The floodgates opened. As we listened to the issues tumble out – and sensed the pain, anxiety and frustration they provoke in the company’s leadership – we thought about how so many businesses today face the same basic challenges. For example, how many of these challenges which our prospects are now facing, are inhibiting growth, innovation and motivation at your business? Your...
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Love Your Critics

February 11, 2014 —

Love Your Critics

Nobody likes being criticized. This is one of the least productive of human traits, because few things are more effective than good criticism when it comes to changing our results or our ways. If you went to schools that gave out report cards, you’ll remember how few critical words it took from a teacher to alarm your parents. “Not focused in class” or “Tends to talk out of turn” were enough to get mom and dad engaged in a hurry. As adults, most of us get criticism from only a small handful of people: family, bosses, and spouses. Friends could be a great source of criticism, but the implicit...
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Social Business Driven by Meaning

November 6, 2013 —

Social Business Driven by Meaning

Stowe Boyd is a researcher, speaker and writer working principally on social tools and their impact on media, business and society. Back in 2012 he told delegates at the Meaning 2012 Conference in the UK that we are entering the age of “Post-normal Business”. For Boyd, “Postnormal Business” results from a series of fundamental shifts for business: “’Leadership’ has changed when a decentralized group of people can take down a government. ‘The Value Chain’ has changed when the customer is no longer just the ‘buyer’ but also a...
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Why Isn’t Your Business Doing “Betterness”?

June 30, 2013 —

Why Isn’t Your Business Doing “Betterness”?

“Betterness”, Umair Haque’s take on 21st Century business, is a thought-provoking and inspirational book that challenges conventional businesses (and their leaders) to seek a higher purpose in what they do, and how they do it. Here’s Umair setting up the assault: Ask yourself… Why, despite billions spent on “change,” “transformation,” “training,” and “engagement,” does the work most organizations offer most people seem so unfulfilling? Why is it that the unhappiest part of the day has been found to be … the daily commute to work, closely followed by being at work when so much of our short...
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Is Your Mindful Leadership Instinct Unnaturally Suppressed?

June 24, 2013 —

Is Your Mindful Leadership Instinct Unnaturally Suppressed?

Some thoughts on mindful leadership from Emotional Business by Ravi Rao: “Individual leaders also face a false dichotomy to forge their identity as a rigorous, results-oriented tyrant or be a nurturing, naive softy who doesn’t meet targets. In some settings, an individual leader is perceived as powerful and effectual only if she is unemotional.” “Contrary to the expectation that leaders can emulate machines, positions of power are actually centers of intense emotional experience; responsibility, loyalty, and trust are profound concerns in the mind of a leader. Nonetheless, the business...
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Moving From Business-centric Outputs to People-focused Outcomes

May 27, 2013 —

Moving From Business-centric Outputs to People-focused Outcomes

Outcomes are the benefit your customers receive from your stuff. This starts with truly understanding your customers’ needs—their challenges, issues, constraints, priorities—by walking in their shoes and in their neighborhoods, businesses, and cultures. See what’s inconvenient, taking a lot of time, money, and/or effort. Your customers are too busy to plan, shop for, and cook healthy meals. What if you made a healthy, reasonably priced, fast-cooking meal so a family could eat better? Create a solution that your customers can sustain, and you enable life-changing outcomes, big and...
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