Growth strategies - What I've Seen From the CEO's Here's a brochure extract from another upcoming conference. The theme : "Moving Beyond the Meltdown: Focusing on Growth Through Innovation."
It's been a busy six months since the meltdown.
Throughout this time, I've been keynoting events all over North America, for organizations and events large and small, focused on the theme of innovation and working our way through challenging economic times.
What has been fascinating is that in sharing the stage with a variety of CEO's, for both massive, global organizations and smaller associations and businesses, there are many who share a relentless focus on opportunity.
There's no doubt that there is lot of pain and retraction and pullback out there. But my experience in the last six months indicates to me that there is an equally fast pace of innovative thinking, as to 'what should we be doing with these new realities in which we find ourselves.'
My most favorable moment comes from one particular event: before I went on stage, the CEO of one particular global organization went on to give his "call to action" to his team.
He spoke about the challenges of the global economy for a little less than a minute -- and then went on a fascinating 20 minute outline of the great things that the company could accomplish with revenue growth by focusing on 8 succinct strategies.
I now use his story (and many other similar stories) when I'm on stage, in order to get people thinking about GROWTH again.
What I'm out there talking about are the real, practical strategies that organizations are pursuing to stay focused on opportunity. There are dozens of things I'm seeing happen first hand. Some of the other strategies, off the top of my head (most of which I've written about in this blog):
- act faster to respond to fast changing consumer demands
- innovate locally in a global economy
- focus on customer retention as a core strategy
- go upside down - innovate with supplier partners to achieve faster product or service innovation
- enhance community knowledge - rapidly leverage best practices
- speed up efforts to collaborate internally, and reshape hierarchy to be able to respond to faster change
- innovate with skills access in order to form fast teams
- anticipate customers needs before they know they need them - stay in front of your market
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Focusing on growth in a perilous economy - how innovators win
There's a lot of research that goes into every keynote and workshop I undertake. Recently, one key theme has been looking at how innovators break through the recessionary blues, and create new markets and revenue through disruptive innovation. This was the theme of a recent column that I wrote, "Keep Those Ideas Coming."
While preparing for a recent keynote for a Fortune 500 leadership event, I came across an an article from The Hindu newspaper from January 2009, which featured an interview with Vijay Govindarajan, Chief Innovation Consultant at General Electric in Chennai; he's also a professor at the Tuck School of International Business.
Here's a key observation from the article:
He has researched four U.S. slowdowns of the last half century: the oil shocks of the early 1970s, the crippling unemployment of the early 1980s, the recession of the early 1990s and the dotcom bust of 2000. "In each period, about 60 per cent of companies barely survived, while 30 per cent died. But the remaining ten per cent or so actually became breakthrough performers and that’s mostly because of the choices they made during the recession period."The key word there is choice. The choice that you need to make right now is to focus on growth, and particularly, growth through innovation.
Many of my recent events have involved having me on stage directly following the CEO of the client. I've been fascinated by what I've witnessed in the last few months. Many of these individuals, in their remarks, have quickly moved beyond talking about the recession (i.e. "we've got good strategies in place to contain costs to work our way through this thing"), and are immediately talking to their team about the growth markets and opportunities that they intend to pursue. They are challenging them to think about innovation in the context of opening new markets, enhancing existing revenue sources, transitioning the product line, moving beyond commodity products into a lineup with more inherent value; the list goes on.
It's a critical and important leadership message, and I think it bodes well for the future potential of the economy. I have no difficulty finding and identifying growth opportunities in countless industries. It might take some time, and it's difficult to think about growth with all the doom-and-gloom, but its there.
More information
- Read the article: Keep those ideas coming
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CEO insight: "We've got the survival thing down. Now we're into phase two."
I was in a conference call yesterday with the CEO of a global organization ; I'll be doing a leadership session with them this winter. It's one of several pre-planning calls that I'll do with this client as I shape my remarks for their meeting.
I love the clarity of the CEO mind. At one point early in the call, he stated how quickly they're transitioning through fast-paced economic events.
"We established three strategic priorities. Number one, survive. Number two, innovate. Number three, grow. We've got the survival thing down. Now we're into phase two."
Phase two is the reason why they are having this leadership meeting, which has just been pulled together over the last several weeks. My role is that I'll provide them with an overview of key trends to think about; how I see other organizations dealing with fast paced economic change, not to mention my fundamental insight on "innovating in the high velocity economy."
The comments of this particular CEO certainly outlines the stark reality of the speed of the global economic pullback.
Yet, it also offers up some evidence to my theory that some organizations are going to come out of "this thing" quicker than most people think. Organizations that focus on innovation can act faster than they did in previous recessions. They've learned how to be more collaborative; they can share ideas and insight faster; they can react and re-react based on fast paced trends. The result is that they can try out a variety of strategies to re-align their business for new realities.
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It's back! Aggressive indecision! Here's how to kick it out! It's back!
Aggressive indecision! With all the economic turmoil, leaders, executives and staff have the "deer in the headlights" syndrome.
I spoke about this trend extensively on stage during the last recession in 2001-2002. People got into the message, and it restored their enthusiasm for the future and innovation.
In that spirit, I've resurrected the original clip on YouTube.
Take a look around you - at yourself, your co-workers, your organization, and the business world at large. What do you see? People mired in the thick mud of aggressive indecision. They tend to wait for absolutely perfect information which will help convince them that the time is right to make a decision, rather than making decisions based on imperfect information as they had done in the past. They'll take a look at the information they have, decide that it's just too darn risky to make a decision on what they see, and do nothing.Look, organizations that innovate and adapt at high speed, while trying to deal with the harsh new realities that surround them, have a good chance coming out the other side of this thing. On the other hand, if you let aggressive indecision rule your corporate culture, you are probably not going to do well.The result is an economy in which everyone seems to be stuck in a rut, unwilling and unable to move forward. The fact is, our confidence in the future has been shattered. Corporate nervousness has become the watchword, with the result that everyone is taking the easy way out: deal with uncertainty by doing nothing.
An era of "aggressive indecision:" a very dangerous attitude to have, given that organizations must be in a state of continuous innovation in order to cope with the rate of change that now surrounds us.
Share the video, and the original article around. Get out of your funk! Innovate!
More information:
- Read the original article Paralyzed by indecision: Just Do It
- Read Jim's blog entries on the global economy
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Video clip -- where's the opportunity? Where's the growth?
Given the rapid pace of global economic developments in the fall of 2008, it's interesting that the number of organizations bringing me in for a leadership or management event has increased.
That's because, despite perilous economic times, CEO's in a variety of industries are working hard to ensure that their organization stays focused on growth.
At these leadership meetings, I'm offering insight on growth markets and opportunities; innovation strategies to stay ahead in the downturn; and unique insight on how organizations are working hard to re-align their strategies and structure with fast paced market change.
If you need to get your staff and team mindset in the right frame of mind for moving forward in this high velocity, rapidly changing economy, you might need this type of high level, energetic message.
To help you get in the right frame of mind, here's a little motivational video clip from a recent keynote I did on stage in Sydney, Australia.
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7 Things to Do Right Now As the Upturn Begins!
I'm often providing detailed strategic guidance to senior executives and leaders on trends and the future, and certainly the economy has become a big part of what I address today. Much of time is spent putting into perspective the fact that we've always had downturns; there's still plenty of growth opportunities out there; innovation is even more critical now to ensure that you're ready to go as the economy starts firing on both cylinders again (which it will.)
What has become evident is that the most pressing issue for leaders today is focus. While volatility rocks global markets, there continue to be fundamental truths: your industry, products, competition, skills requirements, organizational capabilities, and ability to respond to rapid change will define your future success.
Here's my advice on what you should be doing right now to ensure that you are ready for what comes next, based, in part, on a blog entry I wrote last April!
- think growth: It's all too easy right now to lose your enthusiasm and sense of purpose. When economies contract, so too does your motivation. Don't let that happen -- now is the worst time to lose sight of the future! Think opportunity: study my "Where's the Growth" document, and think about what it implies
- check your speed: it's the high velocity economy. Markets, brands, products, industries, competition, and globalization are changing faster than ever before. Make sure you've got a team that can operate at the pace of change. Agility is the key word. Search this blog for insight on that!
- immerse in ideas. The global idea-cycle is collapsing. New ideas are launched, analyzed, and developed to concrete product at a speed that is astonishing. Rapid product change is the new norm: I'm dealing with the CEO of one organization that is involved in a rapidly emerging, multi-billion dollar market that will appear, go super-nova, and disapper, over the course of about 18-24 months, before it is superseded by the next generation of product. That's fast, and that's the new reality.
- check your bench strength. After the cutting begins, value goes out the door. Yet your abililty to access ever more scarce, specialized skills will define your future success. It's your ability to establish a fast, agile, quick-to-assembe collaborative team that will define your ability to grab all the opportunity that is emerging out there.
- assess your threats. where could emerging technologies, fast science, radical business models, new industry dynamics, new regulatory macroeconomic, political or social trends impact your bottom line in a way that you hadn't thought of before? Two years ago, China and quality wasn't an issue.
- invest in experience. Experiential capital -- the depth of capability that you have from exploring, taking risks, trying things out -- is the financial capital. It's a precious resource, and might be in short supply if you aren't working to build it up.
- set the tone. If you let the current economic headlines drive your corporate spirit, you're sunk. You have to keep people focused on the future -- otherwise, your team will smell your fear. Leadership is all about keeping your team focused on opportunity and goals, not on ongoing and regular ("new normal" volatility.
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After flat? Rethink strategies and go post-flat!
As some economies continue to experience rounds of volatility, there are still plenty trying to figure out what to do next. And there are a many who are focused on the theme of "what do we do after the world has gone flat?"
In the "post-flat" world, you need to change your focus. In an upcoming keynote, I'll be concentrating on several core themes:
- focus on growth - shift your focus to opportunity rather than cost based competition
- think "market transformation" - don't tinker with strategy; you've got to be willing to shift assumptions, habits, routine
- refuse to compete on price - change the rules by recreating value in your product or service
- make big bets - whether its' infrastructure, sales force, distribution network: you've got to be willing to spend to transition
- think international - local markets are small markets; the global economy is well within reach for any organization today.
- think velocityOne of my most often used quotes when on stage comes from Rupert Murdoch: ""The world is changing very fast. Big will not beat small anymore. It will be the fast beating the slow.""
More information:
- What do you do after the world gets flat? Put a ripple in it!
- Innovating in a flat world
- The new face of manufacturing : agility, insight and execution......
- Innovating in a flat world
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If I ran your company, here's what I would do!
Supertramp -- a band from the 80's -- had a minor hit with the song "On the Long Way Home," which featured the memorable line, the line, "when you're up on the stage, it's so unbelievable."
It is, quite. And when you're up there, you realize how lucky you are to be able to share with the audience the wisdom you've picked up by observing some of the world's top innovators.
Recently, after a presentation to an audience of 3,000 people, I was approached by a CEO who was quite inspired by my remarks. He then asked me a fascinating question: "what would you do if you took over the leadership of my company right now?" We chatted for a while and I believe I provided some pretty succinct insight; but since then, I've been thinking about that question. Here's a part of my answer.
- maximize your best revenue opportunities. I'd make sure that any existing revenue relationships remain intact, and then some. I'd work on having my team obsess on growing existing high value customer relationships through service excellence. Let's make sure that we meet their needs. It will likely be easier to keep existing revenue grows flowing rather than finding new ones, particularly through a time of economic challenge.
- obsess over time to market. I'd work hard to accelerate product innovation; market life-cycles are collapsing, and I'd make sure every member of the team reoriented themselves to that reality. I'd focus on getting R&D to think in terms of faster cycles; I'd ramp up sales force education so that they were better aware of what's coming next. I'd have the team thinking in terms of 3-6-9-12 : here's what will be doing in the marketplace 3, 6, 9 and 12 months from now. I'd layer on top of that some insight into 1-2-5-10: what we might be doing 1, 2, 5 and 10 years from now.
- reduce product costs through process improvement and better project execution: there is no shortage of innovative ideas, structures and concepts involving process and production methodologies. I'd make sure we were looking at finding those who are doing leading edge work in this area, inside or outside our industry, and learn from them.
- reduce structural costs through collaboration: at this point in time, in a global world that allows for instant, smart collaboration among teams, there is no reason for massive duplication of skills and talent throughout an organization. I'd start a rethink those silos, and restructure for a new skills deployment approach. Right off the bat, I'd encourage a few cross-organizational collaboration efforts, to get people used to the idea of tackling fast new problems rather than arguing about structure and hierarchy.
- focus on the pipeline of talent innovation: I've said it before and I'll say it again. The depth the bench strength is critical to future success. I'd have everyone take a good look at our pipeline, to see if it will meet upcoming needs. If not, I'd get a program in place to fix that fast.
- relentlessly and aggressively chase costs: I'm not talking about spontaneous slash and burn spending cuts: I'd refocus on transitioning the role of staff from tactical efforts to a strategic role. I've spent time with the CIO's and CFO's of some pretty major organizations: Hunt Oil, Adobe, J Crew, Under Armor. All of them have provided in-depth insight onstage during customer panels that have focused on the role of IT in the business to run the business better, grow the business and transform the business. There remain countless opportunities for IT oriented innovation to rip unnecessary costs out of the business, and it involves this tactical to strategic transition.
- enhance quality and reliability of product: Last year, I spoke to 2,500 global quality professionals on the challenges that the high velocity economy presents to the concept of quality. The fact is, new issues hit us in the marketplace faster than ever before. And the global idea loop means that quality challenges can become a sudden, massive worldwide PR nightmare faster than we've ever been prepared for. That's why avoiding quality problems remains a critical focus. I'd take a look at how well we're dealing with quality issues, and whether we've got the agility to respond in this new world of heightened PR challenges. I'd also have a group prepare an immediate outline of challenges and problems with customer service and satisfaction.
- capture new emerging growth markets faster: I'd begin to orient the team so that we knew about which market opportunities might come next, and then spend time aligning ourselves to innovate faster in such markets. I recently spent some time with one client, and the focus of our discussion was how a new market was set to unfold in the next three months. Expectations were that the market -- for a unique consumer product, with potential sales in the billions of dollars -- might last for a period of eighteen months, before being eclipsed by the next stage of development. Essentially, the CEO was looking at a situation where they had to figure out how to jump into this new fast market, and make the most of it in an extremely short period of time. That's a new skill structure to wrap an organization around, and one that every organization must learn to master.
Oh, and one of the first things I'd do? I would immediately convene a senior management/leadership meeting, and bring in a futurist and innovation expert to wake my people up to the potential that can come from energizing ourselves towards future opportunities.
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Led Zeppelin Leadership: How do you innovate when you're dazed and confused ....
At a particular keynote last week, I met a number of senior executives who certainly agreed with my message - we need to constantly realign our company to the reality of change that surrounds it. That's where innovation comes from. But they also also indicated that they found it increasingly difficult to keep up with the rapid change occurring all around them.
There's been an increasing number of these individuals, and I've come to call them the Led Zeppelin refugees: they're simply dazed by the changes occuring in the high velocty economy, and are confused about what to do next.
That's why there's such a good question that flows from this: just how do you become an organization that is focused on innovation?
One of the easiest methods is simply by identifying the obvious and the not-so-obvious trends that will impact your business or organization -- and then taking the time to figure out what actions you must undertake to deal with those trends.
Ask yourself this question: are you prepared for what comes next in terms of your business? The likely answer is no: my experience is that many organizations still have a very short-term minded outlook. They're caught in an innovation rut, simply doing day by day the same old things they've always been doing, day in day out. And they don't really think about how their world is going to change.
That's why you should undertake a "trend-and-innovation" audit of your organization: quite simply, figuring out what comes next, and what you need to do about it.
How can you do this? By asking yourself a series of questions:
- How quickly is our marketplace changing? How quickly might it change in the future? What's the impact on what I sell, and how I sell it?
- How are our products changing? Willl they change faster in terms of features? Will support become easier, or more complex? Can we manage to operate in a faster market?
- Are our products moving upscale, or are they becoming commodities,such that you'll be forced to compete on price? Can we do something so that there is more of a service element to our product?
- What new competitors are appearing, or might emerge in the future? Is the basic business model threatened? Is there more likelihood of direct outreach to the consumer rather than through an existing distributor/wholesaler network?
- What moves could we make to make sure we can remain competitive? You really must ask yourself some probing questions as you go through this process. You need to challenge yourself and think what might really be different in five years, in terms of what you sell, who you sell to, how you sell it, and who you are selling against.
What you need to do is ask yourself these tough questions, so that that you're thinking about where there might be new problems and new opportunities that will impact your business in the future, not just in terms of what you sell, but in terms of the structure that you use to get things done.
And therein lies the rub: I think a lot of organizations fail to do this type of simple analysis. There are too many who sit back and react to change instead of thinking: "ok we know some big change is coming what the heck are we going to do about it?" Think of it is a forward-oriented innovation: it's a simple concept, and one of the most important things you should be doing.
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Leadership insight: study air guitar!
My blog posting ten days ago (a "Memo to the CEO") stirred up quite a bit of interest and response. In the item, I noted that the most important thing CEO's "can do *right now*, as you work to navigate your way through the challenging economic shoals that surround you, is to make sure that you don't kill innovation in its tracks.
A few readers asked, "ok, so what do we do to ensure we keep innovating?" I had an teleconference with a client today, planning for an upcoming leadership event. Here's what I came away from the call with -- my ideas on bringing some focus to their innovation mindset -- based upon the rapid market change they are encountering:
- Study air guitar: there's innovation, and then there's market transformation. While Sony and Microsoft spent their time developing a faster video game machine, Nintendo transformed the video game marketplace with the Wii by introducing wireless 3-d spatial action to video gaming. That helped to refresh enthusiasm for the already-popular GuitarHero game -- since people could now do wireless GuitarHero. An entire generation of baby-boomers who mastered air guitar in the 70's who could never figure out an X-Box controller -- are now video game customers! Search YouTube for grannies playing Guitar Hero, and you'll see the results organization that has taken innovation to the next step! Not just innovation, but transformation.
- Energize your brand. If your brand looks tired, your customers will see it as tired. Once that happens, you'll start to lose all the equity you've built up. Brands today need to be full of energy; I spent time with a company6 last week that is re-approaching the world of brand-image with enthusiasm and passion. There was a lot of energy, and I suspect we will see that continue over time.
- Fail faster. Imagine that you are a company that has some stuff that will help to make the next market of LED TV's happen fast. Imagine that you can't decide whether to get involved or not. Imagine that your competitor has already worked on three prototype projects with the new platform. Who is going to win?
- Check your bench strength. Really smart people with the ability to get into self-assembling project teams are your best hope for the future. And the fact is, their skills are continuing to be in extremely short supply as everybody becomes more of a specialist. If you don't have an organization that can expand, contract and collaborate at will, drawing the capabilities of your A-team, you've got a big problem.
- Scare yourself. Do you know who your new competition will be five years from now? Think Google Car, iPlane, WalMart Hip Replacements. I know I've used this example before, but markets and industries are seeing big transformations with the rapid emergence of new competitors, and you need to be thinking about that.
- Check your speed. How fast can you innovate? Perform? Undertake miracles? Tackle a problem? I'm still on a mailing list for the Sporiting Goods Manufacturing Association; I keynoted their conference last year. This week, members are scrambling to deal with a fast new environmental challenge. Surviving todays' economy is all about how quickly you can assemble and reassemble your team to fix fast problems; that the SGMA is doing this is indicative of an industry that is learning to think and act fast.
- Invest in experience. Get a bit crazy. Try things out. Study my "Where's the Growth" document, and find out where your own market growth potential is. Rush a few new products or services to markets, and find out what you learn from the process. The insight your team gains in learning how to innovate will be extremely valuable. It's called experiential capital, and it's the new currency of the 21st century. The more you have, the better you'll be positioned. Innovation isn't something you just do: it's a culture, and a mindset that you invest in. By doing things.
- Set the tone. If you let the current economic headlines drive your corporate spirit, you're sunk. You have to keep people focused on the future -- otherwise, your team will smell your fear. Leadership is all about keeping your team focused on opportunity and goals, not on ongoing and regular ("new normal" volatility.
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A memo to the CEO: Innovation matters more than ever
Memo
To: CEO's worldwide,
(particularly in the financial sector)
From: Jim Carroll
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I know things are extremely busy, particularly given our economic climate, but I think there's a key issue that you need to make sure is on your agenda.
The most important thing that you can do *right now*, as you work to navigate your way through the challenging economic shoals that surround you, is to make sure that you don't kill innovation in its tracks.
In the last few years, you've nurtured and created a core group of people in your organization who have become relentlessly focused on innovation. They've been obsessively focused on process, service and product innovation. They're matching the needs of customers, are taking you in to new markets, and are figuring out what to do in an economy that changes at a furious pace.
In the months and years to come, these executives are going to be some of the most important and critical individuals on your team.
Leaders set the tone. The tone you need to set for your leading innovators is that innovation matters now more than ever.
I know it's a tough sector to be in right now; there's a lot of bloodletting underway, and there's likely more to come as hundreds of billions of dollars of losses are absorbed. Yet you'll likely get through it, and you are going to have to be relentlessly focused on meeting customer needs, open new markets, and continually re-orient your business models to continue to focus on growth.
In January 2008. I was honored to be one of the judges for the annual Monarch Innovation Awards. We examined various innovative service and product offerings from such major financial institutions as Wachovia, SunTrust, USBank, Bank of America, WellsFargo and others. The key goal of the awards, sponsored by Barlow Research, was to "recognize financial institutions that provide the most innovative products to business customers" and to "recognize risk takers in the financial services industry who create/promote innovation within their organizations."
Throughout the financial sector, there are innovation heroes like those who won the Monarch Innovation Awards. These are the folks who are willing to stick their heads up, take a risk, and do something new and dramatic.
It's your innovation heroes who will help you open the future.
You must ensure that they still have the courage to take risks. To open new markets. To do innovative things that will solve customer problems. To realign the business for the future.
Celebrate them. Elevate them. Make their contributions known.
As the CEO, you set the tone for your organization. You have a momentary chance to ensure that you stay focused on the opportunities that come from your innovation heroes.
If you want to chat about this, give me a call. I'm at 905.855.2950. Or just send me an email: innovationmatters@jimcarroll.com
Sincerely,
Jim Carroll
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More information
- Print A memo to the CEO: Innovation Matters More Than Ever
- Marketwatch press release: Barlow Research Monarch Innovation Awards
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High velocity leadership: how to stay focused on growth
Organizations today are looking for deep insight into the trends that will affect their markets and industries. CEO's are focused on the need for innovation, knowing that a world of high velocity change requires that they respond to opportunity and challenge in an instant. They are looking for guidance on establishing high-performance, innovation oriented teams that are focused on achievement.
I've been doing quite a bit in this area; the other day, I spent time with a global organization, for a full day, with a keynote and workshop focused on the issue of "growth." It's easy -- in a challenged economy -- to lose sight of opportunities for growth. That's what I talk about in the recent interview by Credit Suisse.
With this particular client -- and many others -- I went beyond a keynote, and participated for the balance of the day through a series of workshops. This new document outlines what I do: I'm often called upon to deliver unique, half day or full day executive retreat, leadership oriented programs.
More information:
- Read High Velocity Leadership
- Read my Credit Suisse interview for my thoughts on "growth"
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Leading in turbulent times: how to innovate during the recession!
Even as news and financial pundits endlessly debate the question, let's face reality: the US economy is in a recession.
Given this reality, the key question going forward is: what do you do now to ensure that you remain innovative, competitive, and forward-oriented?
Innovate for the upturn! That's the key message I focused on with my clients in 2002-3, and the same message holds true today. And that was the focus of a keynote last week when I spoke to one of the largest US commercial / industrial real estate brokerage groups. There were several bits of insight I shared with them:
Put sub-prime into perspective
One of my first comments for this audience of senior executives? We need to think about the sub-prime mess in the context of a longer term view. In the last ten years, we've been through many economic challenges:
- the 1998 Asian currency collapse
- the 2000 dot.com meltdown
- the 2001 global telecom restructuring
- from 2001 to 2003, the impact of 9-11 and economic uncertainty
- 2007 to 2008, the march to $100 oil
- and now sub-prime....
Keep focused on the longer term view
I tend to be an optimist: that's because I think in a longer term perspective. Think about it: over the next 10 years, there are several certainties:
- scientific discovery will continue to advance at an ever increasing pace, opening new markets, evolving existing markets, and establishing countless new opportunities
- global collaborative knowledge communities will continue to lead to faster innovation in every industry and market
- new products, methodologies, skills, ideas, organizational structures will continue to evolve at a fast pace; agile organizations will continue to come out on top
- the transition of economies in the Mid-East and Asia will continue despite regional economic challenges
- rapidly aging economies in North America and Europe will drive rapid spending, innovation and knowledge discovery in the world of health care
- global energy conciousness will continue to lead to ever more rapid evolution of "green" solutions
- 1/2 of the global population is under the age of 25. They're change aggressive, and will continue to lead to the rapid adoption of new ideas.
- growth in markets is a simple reality: in agriculture, global food production still has to double in the next 25 years to keep up with population trends. Sub-prime has no impact on this reality.
Don't let aggressive indecision take over your thinking
To innovate in the upturn, don't let a short-term vs long-term trend disconnect take over your strategic thinking. Already, I can see the signs of some companies heading into an innovation rut, their staff and executives encumbered by a dangerous state of complacency, while other companies innovate, change, and adapt to the "new normal" that is now our reality.
In the last recession, "aggressive indecision" became a driving cultural and leadership trait. Organizations that fell into this funk fell behind. Innovative companies didn't permit that to happen then, and you shouldn't let this happen now.
More information:
- Read Global Economic Trends: An Interview with Jim Carroll The reality of future trends: grab the What Comes Next trends overview
- Read my 2003 article about "aggressive indecision"
- Read my Credit Suisse interview for my thoughts on "growth"
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Future trend - The Future of Governance
I was in Colorado Springs yesterday, as the opening keynote of the Leadership Institute for Directors for FCCServices -- they're the business services arm of the US federal Farm Credit System.
In attendance were members of the Boards of Directors for a wide variety of state and community farm credit co-ops; these folks are the backbone of the US farm lending infrastructure. The Directors are local farmers, community leaders and business executives, and hence, need to be aware of the trends impacting the local and global agricultural industries, so that they can plan accordingly, assess risk, and make sound business decisions with respect to their co-ops.
My keynote took a look at "what comes next in the agricultural sector" - it's one of many talks I do within the industry. And agriculture is certainly subject to high velocity change: there's rapid evolution in science (bio-crops); new markets (bio-fuel) ; rapidly changing skills; new direct to consumer market opportunities; globalization (current food production must double in the next 30 years to keep up with global population growth.) All of which could spell opportunity if approached correctly -- or turmoil and challenge if ignored.
The intent of the talk -- and the overall theme of the leadership conference -- was to ensure that these folks have the insight to direct their organizations into the future. That's an important and critical role for Boards; and FCC Services is an example of an organization that has made sure that the "future" is closely linked to the issue of "governance."
I think there are too many organizations that don't do this. Sadly, with all the current focus on "compliance," I've come to believe that there is a critical lack of future planning on many other corporate boards around the world. The result is that potential risks are often ignored; then things go wrong; then the company gets sued for significant sums of money. Is this Board negligence? That's an interesting question, isn't it!
Here's an example: years ago, I wrote an article indicating that one of the critical CEO/Board level issues that must be addressed had to do with network security; certainly, everyone knows that organizations should properly secure their information assets. Yet in the article, I suggested that I believe that many Boards aren't dealing with the issue, and that it was an area ripe for future exposure, noting that:
"If I were a tort lawyer, I'd be licking my lips in anticipation of the opportunities to come in the next few years."
Boards and CEO's should ensure -- as they are required to do with financial controls -- that the information assets of the organization are properly locked down. They must understand obvious future trends, and ensure that management has planned accordingly. I strongly believe this to be the next wave in Board responsibility.
Do many Boards of Directors ensure that the organization is properly preparing for the rapidity of trends? Not many. Witness the shenanigans with the TJX Group, which had its corporate network hacked and millions of credit card numbers stolen. (The company runs HomeGoods, Marshalls, A.J. Wright, Bob's Stores and The Maxx stores; in Canada the chain consists of Winners and HomeSense.) Now comes news that a group of banks want to sue the company with respect to the issue.
I can only imagine the questions that the Board of TJX is now asking!
Currently, much of the focus of board governance has to do with "compliance" -- how well are boards, and the companies they are responsible for, dealing with the new realities of the post-Enron era.
I believe that within the next decade, we will see Board responsbility quickly evolve into a new and much more complex era than simply making sure that "i's are dotted and the t's are crossed.' All we need are a few savvy lawyers to launch a few negligence suits against a few public companies, alleging that a Board failed to develop a plan for and respond to obvious future trends.
It's a trend worth watching.
More information
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I've posted a few new video clips to my site from recent keynotes that catch some of the themes I'm talking about stage these days
- Future oriented leadership -- how do we ensure that we are an organization that is firmly focussed on the challenges and opportunity of the future
- The end of product lifecycles -- and the rapid emergence of new careers -- two distinct and seemingly related trends
- Hyperconnectivity- what happens in a world of massive connectivity?
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