Four Emerging Trends and Two Solutions

During a recent dinner meeting, I was asked what are the emerging trends that I  am paying attention to at this time period. Upon reflection, I shared the following.

First, more and more organization are attempting to grow their business but are experiencing the challenges of how to scale up successfully. The desire is present amongst those in leadership and management positions but the capacity to do this in a thoughtful manner is not. I believe the problem is happening because many companies are designed to only serve their current customers in their current markets. There is no room for scaling up in their business because the daily work is trumping the work related to growing the business. Furthermore, the skills sets to serve new customers in new markets is also not present in the work force. In short, status quo is beating strategic thinking and change.

Second, issues related to being more efficient are not going away. In fact, they are becoming more and more important. Companies are wanting more efficient systems so they can be more successful. However, many are learning that their internal operational infrastructure is not designed for growth. Instead, it is dedicated to preserving the way business is offered to the current customer base. I suspect we will continue to see many companies optimize key systems for efficiency but the best companies during the next three to five years will focus on building an infrastructure engineered for greater efficiency, focus, flexibility and growth.

Third, we all know that customers are changing. Look at how much we are changing as leaders. Yet, few companies are proactively researching their customers. Years ago, we often talked about the VOC, the voice of the customer. The question now is how well do we know our customers and are we taking the time to listen effectively. And how well are we monitoring how fast they are changing. During the coming years, sophisticated market intelligence will become more and more important. We will continue to need to hear their voices. We also will need to know how fast they are changing even when they may not know the answer themselves.

Fourth, recruitment and retention has been the focus of HR for decades. Recently, performance management has become vitally important. However, it is time to look at this subject from a broader perspective. Thomas Friedman in his book, The World is Flat, wrote that you need two things in order to succeed in a globalized world. First, you need an innovative business model. Second, you need access to pools of talent. The challenge during the next two years is not just to find new or better pools of talent but to engage in proactive talent management. While some companies will redesign their entire talent supply chain, others will recognize that they need to embrace a whole new philosophy of talent management. For some, this will be a systems issue. For others, this will be a people issue. The best will realize it is both.  For now, we need to figure out how to manage talented people better, not just manage their performance. 

As we recognize the challenges of scaling up the business and the importance of a flexible infrastructure, plus the need to improve market intelligence and talent management, all of us know that we will need to create more highly effective strategic plans to make this all happen across the entire business. One place to begin the strategic planning process this fall is to read the following article: “Your Strategy Needs A Strategy” by Martin Reeves, Claire Love and Philipp Tillmanns in the September 2012 issue of the Harvard Business Review.  

As the authors explain, “Companies that correctly match their strategy-making processes to their competitive circumstances perform better than those that don’t. But too many use approaches appropriate only to predictable environments - even in highly volatile situations. What executives in these cases need is a strategy for setting strategy.” 

The authors of this article present a framework for choosing the right strategy-making process by asking two questions: How unpredictable is your environment? and How much power do you or others have to change that environment?” Based on the answers to these two questions, the authors explain that there are four broad strategic styles to choose from and each one is particularly suited to a distinct environment. They are as follows:

- Classical Strategy: the one learned in every business school, namely a SWOT analysis, works well for companies operating in predictable and immutable/unchanging environments.

- Shaping Strategy: best in unpredictable environments that you have the power to change.

- Visionary Strategy: the “if you build it and they will come” approach, which is appropriate in predictable environments that you have the power to change.

- Adaptive Strategy: this one works best in unpredictable environments that you can not influence; it focuses on the development of a more flexible and experimental strategic plan. 

This is a good article and for those who are thinking about the future and growth, it will be most helpful. Here is a link for those of you who want to read it on-line: http://hbr.org/2012/09/your-strategy-needs-a-strategy/ar/1

Once we are clear about key choices related to strategic planning, then I suggest you read “Are You Solving The Right Problem? by Dwayne Spradlin which also is in the September 2012 issue of the Harvard Business Review. As this author explains, “The rigor with which a problem is defined is the most important factor in finding a good solution. Many organizations, however, are not proficient at articulating their problems and identifying which ones are crucial to their strategies. They may even be trying to solve the wrong problems - missing opportunities and wasting resources in the process.” To solve this situation, the author proposes a four step process of asking questions and using the answers to create a problem statement. With a clear problem statement, the solutions are easier to find.  

I found the article particularly thought-provoking because the questions are carefully thought through and most insightful.  While I may not embrace the entire four step process, having a better set of questions to ask when problems surface will be most helpful to people in leadership positions. I would urge leaders to read this article so that they discover new questions and so they can educate others on how to solve problems through asking better questions.  Here is a link for those of you who are interested: http://hbr.org/2012/09/are-you-solving-the-right-problem/ar/1

In world which continues to move at the speed of software, and where challenges related to strategic development and problem solving will only get more complex, it is good to know that there are helpful perspectives and articles to guide us through the maze of opportunities and difficulties. Happy reading!

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

Exploring The Emerging Trends

“What is now proved was once only imagined.” - William Blake

At times, we get so busy that we forget everything was created twice, first in the mind and second with the help of others. Those who imagine and then created something that is new or different first started by looking at the proverbial “big picture.” They explored the emerging trends and blended it with their own ideas, creativity and perspective.

When I look at the big picture this morning, I find some interesting bits of information to ponder. For example in the 5/9/11 issue of Time magazine, they reported that 6.6 million was the approximate number of Latinos who voted in the 2010 U.S. midterm elections. This was a record, and up from 5.6 million in the 2006 midterms.

Furthermore, in the 5/16/11 issue of Time magazine, they reported that 1 in 4 was the proportion of kids in single-parent households in the U.S., the highest of 27 industrialized nations in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s new report.

Here is an interesting piece of information from the July 4, 2011 issue of the Christian Science Monitor: “Although the recession may be causing a temporary dip in telecommuting, according to a recent WorldatWork survey, the number of firms offering the option has jumped. Some 63 percent of organizations now offer some kind of telecommuting, according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). That’s up eight percentage points in a year. Moreover, 20 percent of organizations now allow full-time telecommunting, up from 17 percent last year.”

From the same issue, there is an article on how libraries are restocking for a digital age. Of note is the following: “A majority of states have reported library closures in the past 12 months according to the American Library Association. While most of those states estimated that one or two branches shut down, some reported five to 10 closing their doors, which ALA says is part of a trend.”

Next, The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has reported that more than one-quarter of all adults in the U.S. suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in any given year.

In the post PC market, I find it interesting to note that 15 million iPads were sold in the first 9 months and they generated 9.5 billion in rev. in that same time period. This slate based computer now captures 90% of the market share. I also found it interesting that Apple has 200+ million accounts with credit cards and one click purchasing. At the same time, 100 million iBooks were downloaded in less than a year with the first iPad, and they have already shipped their 100 millionth iPhone. Clearly, fewer lap tops are being sold and the cell phone is fast becoming the new PC and the new wallet.

In the world of medicine, the classic Doctor/Patient relationship is changing. The historical meeting of the people who know, i.e. the MD, with those who do not know, i.e. the patient, for diagnosis and treatment is fast evolving into a Doctor/Patient relationship with both as co-learners. Given patients can access everything the Doctor can access via technology plus tap into a vast social network of different support groups, many patients are approaching the medical world as partners and less as customers or consumers.

Finally, in this post Japanese earthquake time period, more and more countries and people are asking questions about the price and source of our vastly increasing diet for energy consumption. The question is no longer which fuel is best to use but which combination of fuels are the best to use. Gas, coal and “green” technologies in combination with proactive energy conservation are all being explored.

When I look at the big picture and see some of the above trends, I am reminded of a quote that I read in Fast Company Magazine back in April 2000. “If you want to build an outstanding company, then you have to be ready to handle the consequences of standing out. Too many companies want the benefits of seeming different - without the risks that come with being different.” The risk for us as leaders this summer is to not only stand out but to explore more deeply the bigger picture with the hopes of being able to effectively imagine new possibilities.

Geery Howe, M.A.Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer inLeadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational ChangeMorning Star Associates319 - 643 - 2257

Looking Back to Look Forward

As I prepared for the Spring 2011 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable which will take place this coming Thursday and Friday, April 14 - 15, at the Coralville Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Coralville, Iowa, I went back and reviewed my notes from the influential books I had read during the last 20 years. One book that caught my eye and made me think was edited by France Hesselbein, Marshall Goldsmith and Richard Beckhard called The Organization of the Future, Jossey-Bass, 1997. As the editors noted, “we are moving toward a network society rather than an employee society,” and “the organization of the future must balance the internal concern for getting the work done with the external concern of serving the market.” These were powerful insights in the 90’s and they still ring true today.

One chapter within this book that really got me thinking then and now was written by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, a favorite author of mine, called “Restoring People to the Heart of the Organization of the Future.” Here in the mid-90’s, she outlined six trends that were transforming the work place:

1. From fat to lean: the new staffing principle

2. From vertical to horizontal: the new organization

3. From homogeneity to diversity: the new workforce

4. From status and command rights to expertise and new relationships: the new power source

5. From company to project: the new loyalty

6. From organizational capital to reputational capital: the career asset

Sitting here today in 2011, I am amazed and delighted with how on-target she was over 14 years ago. Each of the above trends are part of the new normal and especially important given what took place in September 2008.

One element within the chapter that also has me thinking this week is her comments on the emerging role of leaders and managers. She notes back in the mid-90’s that leaders and managers will need to do the following four things:

1. conceive and execute complex strategies

2. share and protect intellectual property

3. manage the public-private interface

4. provide intellectual and administrative leadership

I agree that today’s managers do need to develop and deliver on complex strategies. Intellectual property rights continue to be a very important issue as we enter into a more global economy. The public-private interface continues to be a major issue particularly as state and federal governments seek new solutions to their current funding challenges. And finally, providing strategic leadership and operational leadership will not get any easier.

But the key for all of us here today is to realize that these insights from the mid-90’s are now a regular part of the lexicon within today’s business dialogue. Therefore, we as business leaders in the early part of this decade need to sit down and carefully study what people are thinking about the future now. We need to reflect and read extensively about the current and emerging trends. We must recognize that if the book, The Organization of the Future, back in 1997 was so on-track about the future, then there are numerous other authors and futurists today who are just as on-track for what the world will be like in 2025.

This week at the Spring 2011 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable we will be thinking and talking about the challenges of today and the challenges of the future. If you can not join us, I strongly encourage you to create your own roundtable experience within your organization so you can focus on the future in a proactive manner. You may be surprised and delighted by what you discover.

Geery Howe, M.A.Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer inLeadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational ChangeMorning Star Associates319 - 643 - 2257