Jim Carroll's blog

Food industry trends: Faster is the New Fast!

2010-02-08T14:19:10Z

Here's an article that I wrote for Food Manufacturing on trends in the consumer, food and packaging sector.

I spend a huge amount of my time as a keynote speaker at countless conferences and events, many of them within and to the food, packaging, retail and restaurant sector. I also spend quite a bit of time with smaller, strategy-oriented leadership session designed around the theme of 'how to innovate in a high velocity economy.'

And I do know that while volatility rocks the economy, some fundamental truths about that velocity remain: the food, packaging and retail industries continue to be subject to dramatic rates of change—and innovative organizations succeed by mastering the pace of this new high-velocity economy.

Think about what is going on out there: customer mindset has become increasingly difficult to capture as we become a society with massive attention deficits—the Twitter era is having a profound impact on brand image. Marketing and advertising dollars are fleeing traditional media and moving online at a pace that surprises even the more hard-core technology-evangelists. Faster innovation means faster in-store format change. New digital signage technologies and other innovations march forward at a furious pace, providing yet another new influencer in the retail space.

And in the midst of all this change, business models are subject to upheaval due to economic turmoil, commoditization of product and the rapid emergence of new competitors.

It's a fast paced world—and that's why cutting-edge organizations are focused on key leadership strategies that provide for a fast-paced future. So what should you do to confront the "big trends" that have so much velocity—and what you should be doing right now?

I approached this very question as the opening keynote speaker for an audience of 5,000 at a recent Las Vegas event. The client organization certainly finds itself in the midst of high-velocity change. There are fast paced trends in terms of new branding challenges and marketing methodologies (think Web 2.0), consumer behavior, and many other issues. Yet, there are tremendous opportunities for growth through innovation.

My keynote addressed a variety of trends that impact every aspect of the food, packaging and retail sector today. For example, to be a leading edge innovator, you must confront and have a strategy that deals with a variety of fast-paced trends:

Rapid emergence of new methods of customer interaction. For example, in the next few years, we will likely see the emergence of contact-less payment technology, as our credit card infrastructure migrates to Blackberry, iPhone, and smart phones. This presents new opportunities in terms of customer contact.
New methods of brand and product promotion. Organizations must be able to scale to meet the demands of new intelligent infrastructure, and that will require a tremendous amount of innovation. Consider text messaging: technologies that provide for the remote retrieval of mobile coupon offers will define the future of brand interaction. With 147 million people already interacting globally on social networks via their mobile phone—and up to 1 billion in but five years—there are tremendous opportunities for new methods of achieving brand and product awareness.
Rapid change in consumer choice. Take the issue of health concerns and balanced diet. Fresh-cut snack foods grew from $6.8 billion in to $10.5 billion in a short time, according to the International Fresh-Cut Produce Association. Innovation comes from changing product mix to keep up with fast-changing consumers.
Rapidly emerging new menus and taste trends. It's estimated that new flavors now move from upscale kitchens to chain restaurants in 12 months, compared to 36 months 5 years ago. This means that faster innovation is not a luxury—it's a necessity. Change faster, and you'll yeild new growth-based products.
Fast emerging issues involving green strategies. The Grille Zone, a restaurant chain in Boston, generates about 15 pounds of waste per restaurant, compared to an industry average of 275 pounds. The Green Restaurant Association took 14 years to go to 90 restaurants; it's now at close to 1,000, with thousands more going through the certification program. Growth can come from evolving a brand so that it matches the social desires of the customer base.

What I stress at events like this is that organizations need to realize that innovation isn't just about "big innovation"—the launch of new products and services. There's also the issue of "fast innovation"—in which success is defined by the ability of the organization to respond to rapidly changing products, markets, business models, economic trends, competitive moves, consumer trends and just about everything else.

Innovation today is moving from more than just "products" to process, structure, capability, and speed.

Here's the thing: in my keynotes, I focus on growth opportunities. There are enough people out there who are so focused on the doom and gloom of the economy, that they lose sight of the fact that if they focus on fast innovation—and keeping up with rapid trends—they can discover all kinds of new ways to grow the business.

Faster is the new fast. Think growth. Think innovation.

Article - "The Closest Thing to a Crystal Ball" - Future of the Meetings Industry

2010-02-03T13:50:19Z

Here's an article that just ran that offers some of my thoughts on what's up with the global meeting and events industry.

--------- Convene Magazine, January 2010 by Maureen Littlejohn

During 2009, many organizations battened down the hatches and waited for the recession to pass. As we enter the new year - and a new decade - the time for waiting is over. It's the organizations that keep their eyes peeled for budding opportunities - and are prepared to pounce on them - that will succeed. Convene asked futurist and trends and innovation expert Jim Carroll to identify five emerging megatrends of particular interest to the meetings industry.

Faster business-model reinvention - Industries need to listen to what clients want and be able to change without getting bogged down in traditional, time-consuming approval stages or administrative red tape. In the meetings industry, according to Carroll, this means that organizations need to watch for members' shifting needs and respond quickly. For example, delegates might want more customized options during online registration, or more room to make last-minute confirmations. "The newer model, based on agility and flexibility, is the model that will take many businesses into the future," Carroll said. "To understand the link between future trends and innovation, you must get into that mindset."
Since the economic meltdown, some business procedures have been turned upside-down. Carroll points to the American automobile industry: "The big automakers used to build up their assembly lines to produce 700,000 cars in a year and hope to sell them. Then they would tear the assembly line down a year later and rebuild for the next year's model. That formula is broken. Honda looks at this week's consumer demands, sees what is working, and can tear down and rebuild the assembly line in 10 days."
Carroll said that organizations seeking an edge over their competitors are motivated to mess up their rivals' business models. "Before that happens [to you], you should mess it up yourself, so that you better control the endgame. Technology has and will play a huge role in business-model transformation, and your infrastructure has to be up to the task," he said.
Rapid ingestion of new technologies - Companies must stay current with technology, especially in the delivery of services, Carroll said. "There's going to be a huge amount of adaptation as the tsunami of technology continues unabated," he said. "An example would be in retail, where there will be a rapid transition to cell-phone-based payment technology. Credit-card companies need to stay on top of this. Winners will be able to transition at the speed of Silicon Valley. The leaders will be those who continue to find operational innovation in ways they had not thought of before."
The lesson for meeting planners? Integrate the latest technologies into the meeting's infrastructure by partnering with technologically up-to-the-minute companies, Carroll said. Planners need to be early adopters of technologies at every stage of the meeting - prior to, during, and after the face-to-face event. This includes everything from promoting the meeting to Web sites, to offering the latest technology-enabled services to delegates on site, to gathering metrics and following up after the event.
Faster knowledge requirements - Carroll believes that "the future belongs to those who are fast." Organizations need to get smart quicker. "There are a tremendous number of new companies and new industries being built around the high velocity of ideas that surround us - which is increasing the pace of business startups," Carroll said. "New ideas continue to be explored, markets grow, and industries emerge as rapid innovation occurs in health care, agriculture, and countless other fields. It's all about rapid science - and exponential knowledge growth - leading to faster discovery of the next thing."
That translates into the need for meetings to deliver more education, to be seen as "knowledge events." Carroll said: "This can take the form of short-term, high-level management meetings where the intent is to do things differently. Rapid ingestion of knowledge is needed by sales forces, management, and associations. Face-to-face education, done off site, will continue to be very effective. Networking is important for relationships and learning, especially human bonding with beer at 5 p.m. That's when participants are willing to share tips and ideas."
Rapid partnerships - Social networking is the best way to form more successful partnerships in a short amount of time, according to Carroll. "This way, people with expertise can be brought in to help work out the problems on new projects," he said. "Teams that are gathered rapidly and work quickly are critical to solving problems and achieving success."
End of the "AIG effect" - This, Carroll believes, is the biggest trend. "It is silly to think we shouldn't go to meetings," he said. "It's time to beat back the hysteria. In Las Vegas, where so many workers were laid off, it's had an effect. Politicians are paying attention and realizing they were shooting themselves in the foot by discouraging meetings."
Carroll predicts that 2010 will usher in a return to long-term thinking. "Companies and associations will be making plans and strategizing how to reach goals in the next two to 10 years," he said, adding, "To that end, I've noticed an increased demand in my services as a futurist. We're all coming back with a vengeance."

Video: Is Your Brand from the Olden Days?

2010-02-01T17:29:35Z

Could you be so out of touch with your customers that you have no clue how they truly perceive you?

More information:

Blog post Is your brand from the olden days?

Video : Brand authenticity is the new benchmark

2010-01-28T16:43:50Z

How is social networking impaacting brands? Take a look!

14 Key Innovation Strategies for Financial Advisors & Financial Organizations

2010-01-27T15:58:05Z

I spend a lot of time speaking to global financial organizations -- some of the world's largest institutions -- helping them understand what they need to do from an innovation perspective to stay ahead of fast paced change.

These talks are often aimed at the idea of "how do we need to transition our advisory services -- financial planners, investment advisors, insurance agents and brokers -- to keep up with fast paced change?"

Here's a laundry list of some of the strategies that I've been talking about:

Focus on growth:
With so much volatility in the financial sector, it's all too easy to take your eye off of the opportunity -ball. As I noted in my remarks for a recent keynote to a group of senior bankers:
"Never before has the need for financial advice for Australians been greater; only 20% of Australians are currently getting professional advice."

That means there are tremendous opportunities for growth! For many, access to financial advice is still too hard and complicated - that's why its' a great time to innovate, in order to build market share!!!!
Structure for fast paced change: There are several certainties in the financial sector:
- more business model change
- more sophisticated competition
- continuous business model disruption with new, young upstarts
- continual shifts in consumer behaviour
- technology-driven fast change, such as with the impact of mobile technologies
Quite simply, an innovative financial organization concentrates on aligning its structure and capabilities so that it can change quickly
Reshape brand messages faster: Clearly there's a lot of fast-paced change in financial services with the rapid economic pullback, and it's critical that financial institutions continue to reshape their brand at the pace of rapidly changing consumer perception.
Noted Jim Buchanan, Senior VP of Consumer Marketing at the Bank of America in an article in Advertising Age, October 2009:
"Six months ago, we were trying to re-assure the market and consumers that we are safe and secure....now consumers are telling us they're not worried about those things anymore.....What they are interested in is 'How can you help me manage my finances?'"
Innovative organizations ensure that the brand message evolves at the pace of a world in which volatility is the new normal.
Adapt to momentum of financial consumer change: Quite simply, the new financial client is online in a big way, and smart financial organizations will evolve their service and support message to these platforms. The number are staggering; in the case of my Australian keynote, I emphasized that:
- 147 million people interact globally on social networks via their mobile phones - we can expect 1 billion within five years!
- there are 1.6 million Twitter users in Australia - up 1,000% from last year
- Australian's now spend 16.1 hours a week on the Internet, compared to 12.9 hours watching TV
- 25% of that time is spent on Facebook
The impact is clear: as noted by Mondaq Business Briefing in November 2009: "Australians visit social networking sites more often than financial services sites."
The bottom line for financial and investment advisors is that social networks are an extremely effective tool to keep core clients in the loop; as an outreach tool, they're fast, effective, unique, quirky, and certainly the story of the day. The bottom line is that financial advisors have to go where the client is going, and should be thinking about how to become socially-networked oriented advisors.
Adjust platforms to this changing behaviour: I continue to emphasize with my global financial clients that the impact of mobile technologies on financial services is absolutely massive. Think about Wizzit, a South African service that is essentially a text message based banking system.
The reality is that the new financial consumer expects to be served on new platforms: as noted by Thomas Kunz, Senior VP at PNC Financial:
"Gen-Y doesn't reconcile checkbooks, and they don't believe in float. For them, their balance is their balance."

That's why PNC has released a "virtual wallet app" available for iPhones. They're reaching out to this new financial consumer in a big way.
Aggressive change with business platforms provides big opportunity for business model disruption. A key factor here has to do with new client acquisition: what's happening is the point of origination of the relationship might change as people transition their banking to mobile devices. Opportunity can come from continuing to build the advisor and distribution channel into these new platforms.
And that's not a threat - that's a huge opportunity!
Leverage off of new peer-to-peer behaviour trends: The new financial consumer relies more than ever before for advice from their social networks.
Peer-to-peer social driven advice through sites such as TradeKing is coming to the forefront: it's a service that allows people to share stock tips and research through extended social networks.
Does this diminish the role of advisory services -- not at all, if you dive in and become a part of the peer-to-peer conversation!
Re-orient distribution channels : Here's another key point: I've emphasized to my insurance and other financial clients that the next-generation advisor/broker/agent expects ever more sophisticated technology platforms to help support their role.
You've got to make sure you are keeping up with their needs. In one survey in the insurance sector, 80% of brokers indicated that the sophistication of the technology platform of the provider would influence who they would choose to do business with.
According to Kevin Murray, EVP and CIO at New York-based AXA Equitable:
"The younger generation of financial professional will almost demand online self-service....they will want to text any questions they have in to the service centre or self-service from their mobile device. We're going to have to be able to provide that capability. It's how they will operate."
Build your own peer-to-peer collaborative knowledge networks: The new financial advisor is also thinking socially, and is actively looking for peer-to-peer collaborative knowledge.
Imagine building a financial advisory team that is collaborative for ideas, shares insight on market wins, constantly leverages insight from new branding campaigns that work in unique ways, and constantly shares great ideas on new methods of converting leads into clients -- that's how this next generation works!
Back to Kevin Murray:
"They will also want an online collaboration tool to ...find answers concerning product or questions from their customers. The X and Y generations are going to demand a different way of selling and servicing their customers.”
What it's really all about? Freeing up their time to build opportunity, make sales, close deals.
Reduce churn through electronic relationships: Here's something else to think about according to Chief Marketer (October 2009),
"The average brand saw one third of highly loyal consumers in 2007 completely defect to another brand in 2008".

People are far less loyal, and far more likely to jump ship at the drop of a hat. That's why continuous innovation in terms of the relationship is critical -- and that's maybe why continually transitioning to new technology platforms such as an iPhone app might reduce that churn
Better, more focused niche marketing: We're in the new era of analytics and analysis, which provides new opportunities for advisors to reach out to markets previously unattainable. As noted by Money Management Executive in October 2009:
"Financial advisers generally prefer to manage a small number of high-net-worth clients rather than a large number of small accounts, but recent advances in automation technology could change this dynamic."
Innovate hard with the next generation: one of the biggest trends going forward is that right now, we are witnessing the early stages of a massive transition of wealth from one generation to another. The numbers are staggering: we'll see $12 to $18 trillion in intergenerational wealth transfer In the next 12 years (US GDP is $12 trillion); and by 2053, some $130 trillion will have moved from one generation to another. That's a lot of money sloshing around -- and much of it is going to this new, tech-savvy financial consumer.
At the same time, rethink importance of boomer market: It's easy with all of these points to think that new markets will come from new, uber-hip young people and hot new technologies. But don't stop with innovating with that market -- also realize that there continues to be huge growth potential with the boomer market. In Australia, baby boomers will control 51% of the nations wealth. Put that in the context of the reality that there is a huge adoption by Boomers of Facebook. They continue to more aggressively integrate technology into their lives; they're busy researching health care, insurance, retirement planning and investment advice. Online makes more sense than ever before -- get your advisors there!
Evolve the approach: Insurance and financial services are products that are always sold based on fear -- they aren't bought. This reality doesn't go away because of new technologies. What does change is that technology is a powerful enabler that frees advisors from having to focus on the mundane, routine, time wasting stuff, in order to focus on providing the advice & guidance that advisors can provide. Focus on the core role!
Enact change: Many advisors will be in comfortable, established routines. Change is not easy. That's why organizations in the financial sector that are trying to be innovative need to help existing advisors focus on the opportunity and the benefits that come with rapid change, rather than being fearful of the change that technology is bringing to the industry.

Bottom line? As I summed up in my talk -- "Innovative organizations make bold leaps, in order to keep up -- and stay ahead -- of a faster future."

What do world class innovators do that others don't do?

2010-01-21T14:07:28Z

I was in Chicago earlier this week; I had a keynote for a leadership team of a company that's involved in a sector of the construction industry.

They've had some challenges with the economic downturn; they're also likely to see a resurgence as infrastructure spending kicks in.

But they're thinking beyond what happens after that -- they're positioning themselves for long term growth -- and so they brought me in to stir up some creative thinking as to what they need to do.

The focus on my keynote was on the theme: "What is it that world class innovators do that other organizations don't do?" Here's some of the insight that I cover.

World class innovators possess a relentless focus on growth: I deal with a lot of CEO's at a lot of organizations, and in almost every instance, they've engaged me because my message of future growth opportunities resonates with their own attitude. In my view, there are unprecedented opportunities for growth in almost every industry. Spend some time on this blog; read my Where's the Growth overview and other information, and you'll come away convinced we live in transformative times that offer tremendous opportunities for growth through innovation.
World class innovators continually transition their revenue source: they're focused on 'chameleon revenue'. They know that have to evolve from being a commodity product competing on price, to one that offers a more complex, revenue rich solution. They're aware that they need to have continuous, relentless product innovation in order to keep their new revenue pipeline full.
World class innovators solve customers problems - before the customer knows it's a problem: They excel at anticipatory thinking: where do we need to go with our customers to ensure that we continue to have a strong revenue relationship? What key trends can we ride to maximum advantage that will allow us to provide a constant flood of new, irresistible innovations for our customer base?
World class innovators source innovation ideas through their customers.: Simply put, they derive new innovation ideas by observing what their customers are doing with their products or services. They know that they aren't fully in control of the innovation agenda anymore, and that some of the most brilliant ideas are coming from a new source. Notes John Hanks, vice-president, industrial and embedded products for National Instruments: "We have the advantage of working with some of the most innovative people in the world. For example, we could find a customer who is using one of our products in an unexpected and innovative way. It's then possible for us to take that and add value for another customer, which is one of the ways we can help the innovation process as a whole."
World class innovators focus on ingesting fast ideas: there are new technologies, business models, customer trends, product developments, scientific advances and countless other things that are increasing the pace of change. Innovators know that if they plug into the global idea machine, they can constantly discover a tremendous number of insights that help them to move forward.
Innovators check their speed and focus on corporate agility: they know that to keep up with fast paced trends, it's their ability to quickly act, react and do that will allow their future success. There's not a lot of time for debate, studying; inertia is abhorred. They simply DO.
World class innovators focus on long term wins through constant incremental improvements: they know that some pretty big growth can come from continual small wins and improvement on margins. For example, 7% of power on transmission and distribution lines are lost as heat. Reduce that loss by 10% - and that would equal all the new wind power installed in the US in 2006. That's why 'smart grids' are such a hot topic. Take the auto industry: todays' typical automotive system uses only 25% of the energy in the tank -- the balance is lost to waste, heat, inefficiency. Work on increasing that on a year over year basis, and there are some pretty solid gains through innovation.
World class innovators focus on skills partnerships as a key success factor: they know that with rapid change, knowledge is becoming an ever more precious commodity, particularly niche oriented knowledge. If they are entering a fascinating new, fast paced market, they realize that there might be but a few individuals or organizations in the world who could help them tackle that new market. They focus on forming fast teams and fast partnerships, drawing a lot of innovation oxygen from that external insight.
World class innovators focus on pervasive connectivity for next generation product: they know that one of the key trends out to 2020 is that everything around us is plugging together. Soon, every device on the planet will have an IP address on the Internet; we'll be able to access it's status and its location. This is transformative stuff, and is one of the primary sources for the next new billions of dollars of revenue in countless industries. Consider the world of HVAC -- industrial heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment: as it is transitioned to the world of "HVAC 2.0", an intelligent, interlinked, fascinating new world of massive connectivity.
World class innovators aren't afraid to back away from big ideas: they know that right now it's a great time to made bold decisions, and take decisive advantage to forge aggressive new paths against their competitors. While everyone else wallows in aggressive indecision and organizational sclerosis, world class innovators know that it is a great time to do great things.

You know what?

World class innovators win!

Did my keynote go well? Here's what the client had to say: "Thanks again for your first class presentation! It really hit home and was right on the money!"

More information:

Where's the Growth? (PDF)
Blog post HVAC 2.0

The future: "...think in terms of transformation .. & .. manage the expectation gap..."

2010-01-20T15:15:49Z

Another report on my keynote for 4,000 at the annual meeting of the National Parks & Recreation Association, putting into a concise summary the key trends that I covered (from the Parks & Rec monthly magazine).

"... a solid turn-out of nearly 6,000 park professionals and advocates made the 45th edition of Congress a resounding success. .... The theme, "Looking to the Future," permeated nearly every facet of the event held at the Salt Center Convention Center.
In keeping with the Congress theme, Looking to the Future, opening session keynote speaker Jim Carroll did not disappoint. The Canada-based futurist built his address around key themes and issues likely to confront the field of parks and recreation in the next 10 to 15 years.
Carroll encouraged the packed convention hall to think in terms of transformation. Other trends Carroll advised attendees to be aware of included:
healthcare (we'll be treated for the conditions we're likely to have before they set in)
hyper connectivity (mapping, body sensors, and sports equipment)
Next-Gen re-engagement
fragmentation (the result of a faster, more connected world that will shape sports, recreation, and hobbies)
re-defined communities (society's big problems will be solved locally)
water/energy/environmental conservation issues
demographics (think baseball diamonds that evolve into cricket pitches)
workforce trends (Gen Y has a radically different set of job expectations than its predecessors)
gaps in expectations (expect a disconnect between what the public wants and what it can afford)

If someone today were to ask me what the most challenging trend will be for first-world nations to deal with -- it would have to the last issue.

I've got a lot to write and say about the "expectation gap" issue, and have been covering this in dozens of speeches over the last while.

The "expectation gap" is a trend that will define both the opportunity for innovation, as well as distinct perils for standards of living should it not be carefully managed. And to a huge degree, it relates to the political and social maturity that a country can display as it tries to deal with and manage the gap.

More to come!

10 Phrases to Think About for 2010

2010-01-19T21:08:29Z

The chance that your company, markets, competitors will be the same in ten years is virtually zero - so what do you do about that?

Here's 10 phrases I often use to challenge my clients -- often CEO's of large, multinational organizations -- to think differently about our fast paced future:

experiential capital: it's the cumulative experience you gain by trying to do new things. Do you have enough of it?
momentum management: is this a core capability that your organization possesses - can you steer your team through ever more fast paced change?
chameleon revenue: is your revenue stream capable of it? Can you keep generating new streams of revenue as old streams disappear?
global idea cycles: do you tap into the global R&D mind for innovation insight, or is your thinking stale, old, out of date, based on the same old sources?
idea intensity: can you turn the ideas that are out there into reality quickly enough, or do you lose the opportunities to others?
energy of engagement: is your brand boring and dull, or edgy and interactive?
ingestion capability: can you ingest new trends, technologies, concepts, business models ... before they're obsolete ... or are you stuck in a hopeless rut of indecision?
fast teams: can you form them as quickly as necessary to get the faster things done?
massive incrementalism: the oil industry currently retrieves only 1 out of 3 barrels per well on average. A 1% improvement represents huge revenue gains. Every industry I am dealing with sees small marginal wins adding up to huge tactical advantage.
depth of boldness: are you still thinking small wins, or large, massive tactical manoeuvres?

In other words, when it comes to the future, are you with it, or are you going to wimp out?

Video: innovators focus on "corporate agility'

2010-01-19T13:35:42Z

How quickly can you scale if you encounter a new market opportunity? How quickly can you react to a crisis. In this clip, JIm takes a look at the concept of corporate agility

Video: Food industry trends - it's all about velocity!

2010-01-15T13:25:50Z

In the food industry -- it's all faster.

A faster focus on 'fresh' food. New taste trends happen faster. There's faster innovation with ethical packaging.

And so it's all about time to market. Challenge yourself to think and act differently, when the food industry continues to speed up, and the process of innovation undergoes a deep transformational change.

Innovators aren't afraid to ask tough questions!

2010-01-14T14:27:31Z

Tweet me, retweet this post with your "bullet point" for the list, and I'll add it in! Note -- I'll have a new blog within the month that will allow for comments!

-----------

In fact, the realities are that not only are innovative people unafraid of to ask questions, they aren't afraid to:

ask the tough questions
act on the answers to those tough questions!
ask questions that make people uncomfortable
challenge others to ask tough questions
ask why it has become acceptable to not ask questions!
ask questions that challenge fundamental assumptions
ask questions that show their complete lack of knowledge about something -- which is ok
ask questions that might make their boss unhappy
indicate that while they don't know the answer to the tough questions, they're prepared to find out
suggest that maybe there have now been too many questions, and now something simply must be done in order to move forward

What's the key to this line of thinking?

Organizations can become too comfortable with routine, and unless this is challenged on a regular basis, complacency becomes a killer.

By constantly putting a whole bunch of tough questions on the table, innovators can ensure that innovation paralysis does not set in.

Tweet me, retweet this post with your "bullet point" for the list, and I'll add it in! Note -- I'll have a new blog within the month that will allow for comments!

Video: Cardboard people, plasmas people: Generational change and innovation!

2010-01-13T18:43:46Z

How do you master innovation? Through the powerful story in this video clip, I point out the challenges that organizations face with the different generations in the workplace -- and introduce the concept of "generational collaborative capability" as being a key component of succcesful innovation.

How to get faster when the world is faster...

2010-01-13T14:53:26Z

What should innovative organizations do? When everything is faster still, focus on these things:

build up experiential capital - think big, start small, scale fast. The experiential projects are the "start small" part of the equation. Know what you don't know, and set out to learn those things
master collaboration and share: the world is changing too fast, and things are too complex, to do it all on your own. Innovators have mastered the skill of learning from others
focus on tactical to strategic transitions: innovators don't have staff who perform a lot of routine tasks. Each and every single person helps to achieve the core strategic goals of the organization, even if just in a small way
monitor global idea cycles: your future is being invented all around you, and you success comes from your ability to plug in, tune in, and turn on
fuse generational insight: we've got really disparate viewpoints, capabilities and levels of patience amongst generations. Innovators bring these differences together in order to get the best from each generation.
take on anticipatory projects: one thing is certain: tomorrow won't be like today. Innovators look at what might happen tomorrow, and try those things out, in order to be better prepared for when the future arrives.
be a farmer: it's all about growth, and learning how to relentless focus on that mission
displace indecision: it's simply unacceptable to waver, wait, and pause. Innovators get things done.
implement quicker: there's not a lot of time to get things done when markets, customers, expectations, competitors and business models all change at a furious pace. Innovators are religious on agility and speed.
think bold: this isn't a time for small visions and small ideas. We're witnessing the birth of transformative new industries, companies, careers and ideas. Jump on board and go for the big win, not just the small stuff.

If five years, your business, markets, products, customers, industry and structure will look nothing like they do today. What are you going to do about it?

Location intelligence, financial industries and business model change!

2010-01-11T20:47:02Z

I had quite a few financial oriented keynotes through the last year, for banks, mortgage groups, credit unions and others. If there was a key theme as to the insight my clients were seeking, it was this: what are the BIG trends that are going to impact us (I'm a futurist), and what do we need to do about it (I specialize in insight on what global leaders are doing in the area of innovation.)

The scope of some of these engagements is pretty significant; Diners' Club featured me as the opening speaker for their global franchise conference; my focus was on the big trends that would impact the organization into the future.

I guess I and generated enough buzz on my theme within the financial services industry such that I was booked for a keynote down into a major bank in Sydney, Australia, via a fibre optic link. (I couldn't make a flight connection work!)

What should financial executives be thinking about? There are dozens of significant trends. Perhaps the most important has to do with the fact that 2010 is the year that location intelligence is coming to the industry as a significant business model disruptor.

Here's a snippet from an article that captures a bit of what I've been talking about. The world of banking is going to witness massive change as mobile and location intelligence technology becomes married together. Consider:

Jim pointed to an Australian study that found 65 per cent of children in preschool today will work at jobs that don't exist today.
"Think about the concept of a location intelligence professional."
He discussed the possibilities presented by marrying smartphones equipped with global positioning systems to spatial-oriented information websites such as Google Maps.
"In the not-too-distant future, it's quite likely some real estate organization is going to roll out an iPhone app that you will go through and you will pre-identify the types of properties that you're interested in. It's going to use the location capabilities built into the iPhone to build you an interactive tour of those properties. And you're going to use your (iPhone) to drive around the neighbourhood and look at these homes through your phone."
The same application might refer users on to a mortgage broker, he said.
"What do you do when the essence of your business model and the nature of the referrals that you get into your business begin to change?"
Halifax Chronicle Heradld, "Expert: Essence of life is change", November 25, 2009

Give me any financial organization, and I can give you an organization that likely isn't prepared for the fact that their innovative agenda is going to be subject to some pretty significant change.

What I've been doing is outlining for my clients the trends that are going to impact them, and the innovative thinking they need to pursue to capitalize upon those trends.

Video: The future of customers and branding

2010-01-08T19:05:31Z

"Do you we truly appreciate just how quickly things are going to evolve"

What should brand leaders be thinking about in terms of the velocity of change with customers and branding.

This clip takes a look at the trends impacting brands....