What is Strategic Lag?
Strategic Lag is a name given to a phenomena which I have witnessed regularly in my strategic consulting. Particularly relevant amongst executive decision makers, this lag transcends organizations, industries and countries and is applicable to just about any strategic process in varying degrees. As its name implies Strategic Lag suggests that the actions you take, or don’t take, today will only be manifest some time into the future and give you the capacity you desire down the road. i.e.: The strategic planning of today will only begin to see the relevant results in due course.
Why Call Centers Suck
Call centers are a latent curse of modern times. In principle, the idea of a call center seems to fit perfectly into the scalable systems of big business, however in reality, call centers fall very short of the purpose or efficiency they were intended for.
Do You Know of the Unknown Knowns?
“There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – there are things we do not know we don’t know.” – Former United States Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld.
George Bush’s infamous minister of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, came up with well known statement over a decade ago. Used as a tool to cite the need to act against Iraq based upon the very lack of evidence as evidence, this matrix has been used across the world as a means for strategic thinking and planning.
6 Needs for a Better Education System in South Africa
Thomas Friedman’s book ‘That Used to Be Us – What Went Wrong with America – and How it Can Come Back’ is a mine of useful information regarding topics from corporate hubris to national education. Of particular interest are his thoughts on the American education system and how he feels there are 6 points which need to be addressed in order for the education system to function effectively in the 21st century.
Purpose: The Search for Strategic Alignment
For those organizations that I have consulted to, you will know that I have been very strong on pushing organizations to understand why they exist. There is a constant need for companies to really focus on their purpose and values and to try and create the ethos of the company. The model which we draw strongly on at PLI is from an international consultant Nikos Mourkogiannis. Attached is an article by him which really drives home the above point.
The Sad Reality of South African Education
Jonathan Jansen’s article ‘Matric razmatazz conceals sad reality‘ was published on Saturday, a few days after the Department of Education announced the Grade 12 National Senior Certificate Results. Jansen’s writing is to the point and ultimately asks us not to listen to the Department of Educations political hype but rather to look at the reality of what our education system is actually delivering.’ The truth is indeed a sad reality which will take much more work from private sector involvement and guidance to steer back in even the vaguest of right directions…
Carlsons Law of Innovation
On recently reading Thomas Friedmans latest book “That Used to be Us” I came across an interesting take on innovation – Carlsons Law of Innovation. Now every company on this planet seems to want to innovate – so this was of interest.
Carlsons Law of Innovation states “Innovation that happens from the top down tends to be orderly but dumb. Innovation that happens from the bottom up tends to be chaotic but smart.”
Curtis Carlson is the CEO of SRI International, a company which serves as an innovation factory for organisations ranging from governements to multinational companies. His is an innovation hot house. What Carlson’s laws implies is that if you try and impose innovation on a company as the CEO or as one of the senior managers, you will be indeed receive innovation in return. However, the innovation that happens often tends to be what the CEO would like to hear and see as opposed to what the organisation actually needs.
Onward – How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul
I’ve just read a wonderful book co-authored by Howard Schultz, ceo of Starbucks, entitled Onward. For those of you who don’t know, Schultz was the iconic leader of Starbucks who retired in 2000, to become non-executive chairman, only to sense that in 2007 all was not well with the iconic coffee brand.
He returned as ceo to Starbucks in the beginning of 2008 and set about revitalising the company at the height of the first recessionary wave. In his book, there are 4 particular observations about growing companies that struck me:
Risky Business – William D Cohan
With Europe on the verge of a financial meltdown and many of Wall Street’s biggest banks trading at or near their 52-week lows and at a fraction of their book value — take for instance, Goldman Sachs, which is trading at about 75 percent of its book value, staring down a rare quarterly loss, cutting compensation, and firing thousands of employees — is it possible that the turmoil in the global financial markets is finally accomplishing what regulators the world over have not been willing or able to do: force these financial beasts to rein in their excessive risk-taking and act more like the dull, boring utilities we need them to be for our own safety?
What Makes Apple Apple – Gary Hamel
The following is an excerpt from Gary Hamel’s forthcoming book, What Matters Now, to be published in December 2011 by Jossey-Bass Business.
Honeybees and Locusts – A Precis
Honeybees and Locusts
A business case for Sustainable Leadership
Bee colonies consist of a queen and many specialists, such as drones and foraging workers. Under ideal conditions, a colony of honeybees can produce more than 90kg of surplus honey a year. However, the bee’s most significant contribution is pollinating plants that affect about one third of the human diet and much of what animals and insects eat. Without bees our lives would be impoverished by a general lack of fruits, vegetables, flowers and other plants. Honeybees are essential for maintaining a large part of the ecosystem. The honeybee is not only productive, but is a symbol of cooperation, thrift, diligence forethought and healing, and stings only for defence purposes.
Is China raping Africa?
Over the last decade, China has rapidly increased its economic ties with Africa through enormous investment in infrastructure development, textiles, mining and oil. According to the Chinese government, two way trade between Africa and China has surpassed over US $114 Billion. With such vast quantities of money at play, it is not hard to imagine how easily seduced governments, businesses and individuals are by the finances China brings into play.
The question that needs to be asked however, is if China is raping Africa? The short answer, paradoxically, is both Yes and No.
Are You Swimming Naked?
‘When the tide goes out, you soon discover who has been swimming naked’ – Warren Buffet
Many professionals I encounter find it incredibly hard to be anything but short term in their thinking. Whether it is their short term survival, short term gains or seizing of short term opportunities, these individuals and their organisations seem so focused on the immediate future that they are unable to make the appropriate provision for the medium and long term as well.
In the professional sense, making the appropriate provision for the medium and long term means looking thoroughly at a myriad different factors such as whether you are investing in the right people, skills, markets and technology to name but a few. Sadly, it appears as though the consumption culture and need for instant gratification has reduced our thinking to very short term uncertainty.
Trade Unions must move into the 21st Century
Trade unions were initially set up to look after the interests of people who were lumped together into a trade. It has now grown to represent people who work in a common industry. Unions originally wanted to protect the workers rights amidst the mindset of shareholder return, thus unions grew and were effective in that.
Although there is still a place for employees, semi skilled and even unskilled labour to be represented by trade unions, both the workers and the leaders need to understand that we are no longer in the industrial age, but rather in a new age with new rules. The old rules simply don’t work anymore and trade unions aligned with the old mindset are, ironically, the biggest handbrake to job creation in this country.
Are you Practically Radical?
“Companies must remake themselves into places of engagement, where people are committed to one another and their enterprise.’ – Henry Mintzberg
How many times have you seen or been part of a team that is led by somebody who tries to create competitive differentiation by exhorting their team to perform at extraordinary levels? Perhaps you have even been that leader yourself, pushing your troops to add value and be innovative yet doing nothing to provide a working environment with the same level of value, differentiation and satisfaction in return. In the mindset of ‘old think’ organisations this is a common occurrence, however in the new world of work this type of behaviour is becoming less and less tolerated.
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