5 essential steps for an SME to prepare to go digital.
Almost every SME I visit or work with needs to one degree or another to be moving down the path towards 'digitisation'. For some, this means considering how the sudden appearance of LLM trained AI will impact on their competitive position, for others, it...
What exactly is a ‘knowledge worker’?
We all need to become ‘knowledge workers' say the pundits, who generally fail to define just what that term means, and how we achieve it. Most would simply apply some added practical training and education, and bingo, knowledge, but I suspect it is more...
The astonishing rate of change must be managed.
Every year the American History Business Centre a non-profit run by Gary Hoover, puts out a chart that updates the market capitalisation of Americas top 20 public companies. The 2023 version has just arrived in my inbox. I find the path of the evolution astonishing,...
Preparing for change is better than chasing it.
We live in a world of change, and the pace of change is accelerating. Just think about the what has occurred over the last 50 years. We have gone to the moon, created skyscraper cities, moved from manual labour to sitting punching computers, driving...
When is a problem not a problem?
Strategy development is driven by the need to make difficult choices with less than complete information. The successful see a problem to solve before anyone else realises there is a problem, and reap the rewards. When you think you have all the information you need...
Crazy Elon strikes, again.
So, Elon Musk surprised everyone, again, by killing Twitter and launching X. Whatever X is. Everyone in the marketing, strategic and management world generally seems to have had a go, except me, so here goes. He must be effing crazy! (Psst.. He is, but...
The single key to great success.
Differentiation has regularly been trotted out as the core of success. In the absence of some sort of differentiation to a target market, all you have is price. It is an argument that I have used for 50 years. Problem is, it is only half the story....
To successfully innovate, ask better questions.
Innovation sessions typically involve an expensive consultant who has some sort of manicured track record exhorting the group to 'Be creative, let your mind wander, nothing is silly, think outside the box' sorts of session. That does not work very well,...
Heretic customers point the way.
Contrary to the myth, the customer is not always right. However, the customer should always be heard. You learn a lot from customers, particularly the ones who leave, are dissatisfied and complain, or who exist at the fringes of your market, or even in a market...
Enduring culture change demands action
Executing a culture change in an organisation is the first port of call in most improvement projects. Sometimes it is a minor task, often it is the major one. There have been libraries written on the challenges of culture change, from 'The 10 best ways...