Blog Archives

Innovator Differentiator

6/24/2016

No one pays a premium for something common. Commodities are priced the same all over the world and usually we can buy them anywhere. So, if we are content (or resigned) to always be a commodity producer we will have to compete on price and live with lower profit margins. If however, we are obsessed with gaining a premium for our commodity product then we have find a way to differentiate it so much, that it becomes uncommon. Nike turned sneakers into a fashion accessory, Fedex turned package delivery into overnight speedy fast delivery, Dominos turned pizza into pizza delivered to your door, Burger King gave us special order hamburgers, Toyota engineered their process to cut cycle time and simultaneously allow for specialization and order flexibility and Starbucks gave coffee with bling and a smile.
Even if most of what you deliver to customers is intangible products such as a service like security or information or insight then your process can still be a differentiator. Google certainly has a unique product but how they continue to build new value into their business has a lot to do with their differentiated work process. Their on campus cafe’s make networking and collaboration much more automatic, on campus exercise and sports facilitate better employee health and more focused and creative brain function and of course fun actually increases blood flow to the brain and that is when we perform at our best. Atlassian Software has “Ship It days”(click for link), where you have 24 hours to gather a team and collaborate to solve a big hairy problem or create a new product that will be ready to ship…..in 24 hours. Every quarter this contest happens and it generates incredible ideas, energy and collaboration. Even though there is one winner, everyone feels like they win and the company certainly does. The number of company products and projects that come from these events is astounding!

Things to ask when evaluating the effectiveness of your internal processes as a differentiator:

Do our work process include events that ignite creativity and collaboration?
Is there a spirit of enthusiastic team problem solving and ideation?
Are people trained and empowered to take initiative or do they wait on centralized command?
Are your processes gaining new flexibilities and capabilities to adapt to changing customer demand?

If you are not able to answer yes to at least three of these questions you are probably using an undifferentiated commodity process.

All of these companies mentioned entered commodity markets with a twist on commodity products and services that commanded a premium profit. What these companies have in common is that they made “Process Innovation” their key differentiating strategy. In other words HOW they created and delivered was more important than WHAT they created and delivered.
What’s your twist?

By: Kevin Minne
InnovationGrowthSystems.com
720-354-0291

0 Comments

Great Leaders are Innovators

6/17/2016

0 Comments

Innovation isn't limited to large lumpy stuff you can touch, it’s a drive to improve and that applies even to leadership. It may be that all you do is lead and direct operations, sales teams, company strategy, training etc. and you are driven to improve the effectiveness or your communication, direction and collaboration, then you my friend are a leadership innovator. Great leaders are always looking for ways to improve what they do and who they are and not just reactively respond to the events of the day and and be satisfied with the status quo. Abraham Lincoln once said “I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.”
   One of the key characteristics of “Leadership Innovators” is that they are very aware of their own flaws first and start improvements there, they even solicit feedback from their direct reports for help, whereas managers are oblivious to their flaws and more concerned with the control or micro-management of others. Leadership innovators are aware of and immersed in the study of what inspires and what discourages individuals and groups, they are constantly learning about and experimenting with ways to help teams work more effectively together and to serve customers better.
   For example: the human tendency is to respond to the loudest complaint, (as in "the squeaking wheel gets the grease”) even though those that complain first rarely represent the crowd. Our reactive tendency is to give credibility to the loudest rather than the silent majority. Knowing this human tendency can help us improve our leadership by soliciting more input from a wider audience before responding. When leading and directing from a distance (one of the most difficult roles to be in) it is absolutely imperative that leaders be even more thorough in gathering a broad range of input in order to form a more accurate picture, since there is no visual and physical interaction with the project, the team or the individuals. For example: if we haven't been to a remote job site to observe what is going on and the customer (or disgruntled co-worker) calls to complain, we are more likely to give the complaint complete credibility rather than do the work and have a conversation with our crew (or other co-workers).
   The absolute greatest way to lead is still though example! If leaders are constantly innovating and improving their own methods and interactions it will have a far greater impact on their followers than any set of detailed instructions or innovation memo or threats of discipline. If leaders leave a glaring personal or professional process flaw unresolved it will discourage an entire company of followers. We still listen with our eyes and follow what we see not what we hear. So, the next time we need to inspire co-workers or followers or customers…..be that consistent example of continuous improvement and be a Leadership Innovator! And get your ducks in a row!

By: Kevin Minne
InnovationGrowthSystems.com
720-354-0291

0 Comments

Market Share War

6/10/2016

0 Comments

The famous Chinese General, Sun Tzu once said “the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” Fighting is very costly and a direct attack on a competitors market share can be a very costly fight. Once the competition knows you are going to make war they will get ready to fight. So the supreme way to win the competition war is to keep your competitors from recognizing that you are even competing with them. The Swiss watch making industry invented the quartz watch but gave it away, not knowing that it was going to be their biggest competitor and eventually steal their market share. Kodak was the greatest film maker in the world and they invented the digital camera and ignored it, not knowing that it was going to be their biggest competitor and eventually steal their market share.
Having a strategy inside a strategy even works on the inside of a company. Paul Oneil the CEO who engineered the historic turn around of the giant aluminum manufacturer Alcoa, had a strategy inside of a strategy. Paul knew that the poor employee safety record was something everyone from the union and management could agree needed fixing. But what he also knew was that the same new habits that he established for safety could be used to improve communication, processes and products and ignite collaboration across the entire company. (See "the Power of Habit" Charles Duhigg). Even the ancient story of the trojan horse was an example of winning the battle because the enemy didn't see the horse as a threat but as a gift.
If you can differentiate your product or service enough to make it look like a different product than your competitors, then you might be able to avoid a costly fight and go unnoticed as you gain customers and market share. And remember, just like a product life cycle that has a birth, growth to maturity and an end so does a strategy. So, keep your strategy fresh and hidden from competitors but clear to your team.

By: Kevin Minne
InnovationGrowthSystems.com
720-354-0291

0 Comments

Innovating with Strategy

6/3/2016

0 Comments

For some businesses just having a strategy….. would be an innovation rather than reacting to customer demands and market wiggles. Even better would be having a strategy that establishes long term goals for your company and your products. If Henry ford or Steve Jobs of Apple hadn't had a strategy that reached beyond just “satisfying the customer” we would have missed out on some pretty cool life changing inventions. So, having the right strategy that is simple and clear can solve lots of problems and be an enormous energizer for everyone in the company. However, I don’t mean simple as in, “we want to grow ten percent per year.” That doesn’t bring to mind anything specifically actionable like what, how, where, who and when. “Growth” is not even clear enough to be a strategy, since growth for growths sake is meaningless. The reason for growth, such as gaining market share to lower operating costs or to gain pricing advantage is far more clear and simple but it still lacks the how and where etc.
Gaining market share is clearly a prize because of those advantages but how to do it is what’s tricky! David didn’t meet Goliath on his terms and going head to head with the market leader is usually not a winning strategy for gaining market share. Think Walmart, or Southwest Airlines, they started out being the little fish but their brilliant but simple strategy was to never go near the big fish until they were big enough and better. So, if you are one of the little fish selling a product that’s pretty much the same as the big fish then learn the lesson of Walmart because where you grow and how you grow are just as important as why!

By: Kevin Minne
InnovationGrowthSystems.com
720-354-0291

0 Comments

Innovator Differentiator

Great Leaders are Innovators

Market Share War

Innovating with Strategy

Join Kevin's Blog list.

Archives

Categories

Join Kevin's Email List

Coming Soon! Kevin's New Book: "The Quest For Innovation".