Category Archives: Change

Why Our Society Needs Balance

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I was struck by an interesting if somewhat sideways observation from Ceasar Milan… ‘The Dog Whisperer’ when reading Scott Gould’s blog on Productivity vs Creativity

“Mother Nature always wants to be balanced. So there’s no age where they don’t want to return back to normal. I have worked with dogs that are 11 years old, 13 years old, which you witness in the show. I worked with a dog that was 13 years old that was extremely territorial to her food. And I was able to accomplish a calm, submissive state, which is allowing for you to create rules, boundaries and limitations. The mind backs away from the food. So in their world, they are always ready to balance. It’s the human who fights it.”

Finding Balance
It is in our nature to find balance, but our social conditioning has made us seek social reward, which is given for adhering to the norm. The ‘Overworked’ – work hard – play hard attitude prevails. Although there are nuances, based on social groupings, in the Western Capitalist societies this is the norm.

Social Conditioning
The nature of corporate driven consumer based capitalism, sucks value into monopolies and rewards hoarding. Capitalism needs balance. Democracy and the judicial system alone have failed to provide that balance, since political parties and judicial review is blinded by the status quo.

The very measure of success being more money = more rewarding is causing the problem.

The Hoarding of Value
The act of making money alone isn’t the problem. The systemic ability to hoard, capture, and suck that money up the wealth chain is. There has to be a reward for building, maintaining & improving. However, the current economic system needs to sell a consumable product, in order to improve next quarters revenue figures also has to socially condition you with advertising to want to buy that product.

Punishing sustainability
We don’t build sustainable products because they generate less reward in our current economic system.  That mechanism is the flaw, not the idea of capitalism all together.

Instead of rewarding quality, we reward the ability to make money.

I don’t believe for a second there was ever a master plan to get to this point, it just happened because we believed making money could only come from quality. Time has proven this naive.

Real Growth you can believe in ;)
The problem is, growth alone has been attributed to improved living standards. Growth = better life has been the economist’s, politician’s and business man’s Modus Operandi for decades, without clear evidence of that being the case. Growth = Better life FOR SOME.

The Right Kind of Rewards
Growth needs balance. Human’s are a creative species and will invent. This invention needs reward. A well timed reward reinforces good behavior. Yet our rewards system is geared towards hoarding finance. You can earn twice as much by knowing how others will do, than by doing.

Our Academic education system, has produced adults who have not been rewarded for doing regularly enough. Our social reward system (pay) is geared towards hoarding that pay towards those who can predict and engineer business reality.

How can you help?
The recent ‘Start Up Britain’ initiative is nice, but what we really need to do is re-dress this imbalance in society. I’d argue Game Theory and rewards in education have a role to play here, as well as rewards outside of money.

Your thoughts

  1. What other measurements of success can we bring?
  2. Can we bring balance to capitalism?
  3. What role does education play?
  4. Are you striving for what you need, or what you want?

A Framework for Relationship Capital

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I’m willing to bet you can name a few products that you’d never buy, but think the advertisement’s are great right?  (I’m looking at you citroen advert).  Finding great marketing that speaks to your customer’s persona & values is the end game.

That shared values relationship with your customer is everything, and keeps you in business.  The major problem with large corporates is somewhere along the line this was forgotten in the name of cost cutting.  In the never ending search for efficiency the customer lost out. (Press 4 to be put on hold for another 20 minutes…)

Word of Mouth is the Marketing you know
Thinking with your customer hat on, you know when a restaurant waiter has been exceptional.  There is a social code for it.  We tip them, and think highly of the restaurant.  We may even recommend it to friends.  This is Word of Mouth, and it’s the oldest and most well known type of marketing.  The equation used to be simple.

First Class Service = Repeat Business.

With larger organisations this still applies… but when a call centre worker has a script and a customer has a problem not on that script.  The picture breaks down.  Your employee isn’t empowered and neither is your customer.  Enter Relationship capital.

Happier employees = Happier customer
The way to deliver emotional integrity is by empowering your employee’s to make decisions.  This is something that can’t be taught in a class room & requires the right kind of hire.  Zappos call it “Delivering Happiness”.

Moving from the script to giving more power to your staff can seem like a scary idea.  It is much harder to measure quality than quantity after all.  Yet corporates are waking up to the concept.  Just look at how the banks are bending over backwards to be helpful to customers.  I wonder if this will continue to be token marketing, or involve deep, culture level changes within business?

Your thoughts

  1. How can you deliver more emotional integrity in your day job?
  2. Have we all become too corporate?
  3. Are you one of those frustrated employees not given enough autonomy?
  4. Do targets and KPIs confuse the real picture of what your customer thinks of you?

Qwiki is the Coolest Innovation Ever – Here’s Why

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The fact that you can embed this thing, and have an instantly searchable – self generating, user curated information experience is just so FREAKIN cool!  This can and will change how education works.  Imagine how this could beef up your presentations? Sales? Ability to learn on the go.  This is the kind of thing the internet was invented for!  Will you use it?

Is Facebook overvalued? Will it fail?

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This question has popped up a lot since their recent $50 Billion valuation (albeit, speculators on secondmarket.com are trading Facebook ‘shares’ at a Market Cap of $70+ Billion).  For those who lived through the .com bubble, alarm bells are no doubt ringing.

Does the massive growth they have experienced mean they will go the way of so many .com companies in the 90s?

Lessons from history
Facebook has avoided acquisitions, and is being advised by Sillicon Valley’s experienced heads. Peter Theil (PayPal founder), Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn founder), Sean Parker (Napster co-founder) have all been there.

Mark Zuckerberg is benefiting from their experience, and picks the brains of Steve Jobs, Tim O’Reilly and his trusted leuitennant Sheryl Sandberg (who build the Google Revenue model) regularly.

Yahoo, Google & Microsoft have all tried to buy Facebook, as has Time Warner and News Corp.  If anything Facebook appears to have learned the lessons of what not to do from the .com bubble, very well.

Workable Revenue Model
The major difference is Sheryl Sandberg’s ability to build revenue from advertising. Facebook have figured out how to drive demand with advertising, as opposed to fulfilling a need like Google does. A young father with very few pictures will get an advert for a digital camera. In Google you have to know what’s missing, and Sandberg did a pretty good job with revenue there.

Facebook has nearly 600 million users, and they haven’t really focussed on anything other than growth yet. What happen’s when their core focus shifts from growth in terms of users, to growth in terms of revenue?

Challenges
In order to reach that point they will have to successfully

  • Break China
  • Complete an IPO
  • Become a part of internet infrastructure

Those are some big challenges, and I await with baited breath to see how Facebook tackle them. Facebook can still gradually fail, but it would likely be a steady decline rather than the rapid nose dive Myspace experienced.

NewsCorp’s takeover of Myspace was a revenue buy. Buying revenue so early in a company’s life before it has matured stunts it’s growth.

If building such a massive service didn’t make or cost money, I’m pretty certain Mark Zuckerberg would still be building it. He’s not in it for the money, and in a strange way, that commitment to quality is what drives their continued success.

Economic Impact
Facebook grew in size, and took on massive investments throughout the worst financial crisis since the great depression. To me that suggests we’re dealing with a very different type of organisation.

Expecting Facebook to become a sustainable business while it is still growing is missing the point. For now revenue isn’t their key goal, they want to change the internet, make it more open and useful.  I doubt they will IPO until they get much closer to that goal.

Success Factors
If something far better than Facebook comes along then sure it could go the way of the old AOL, but it would have to:

  1. Compete on products quality (Photos, News Feed, Events)
  2. Compete on ease of use (Parents can use it)
  3. Compete on network size (Network effect)
  4. Build a successful revenue model
  5. Gain massive investment from VCs and existing tech companies

In short, the competition has a mountain to climb. The one remaining huge hole in facebook is the differentiation between relationships. It assumes everyone is a ‘friend’. If a service could plug that gap, and grow at a similar ‘Moore’s law like’ pace they’d be set.

Google tried and failed.  Myspace tried and failed.  Twitter serves a different purpose.  Facebook’s main competition is geographic (Russia and China).  It’s going to take something very special indeed to dislodge Facebook.  Building a successful social network isn’t easy!

How do you compete with Facebook?

In my view you don’t compete. You work with. Facebook has the social graph, and likely will for some years to come in the western world.

  • Do you think Facebook is overvalued?
  • Do you think it will fail?
  • How can Facebook sustain their growth?
  • What big challenges does it face?

Quora – Why you need to be using this service

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What is Quora? It took a few hours for me to “get it”, but after reading around and having a play here’s where I’m at.

A global Q+A site that actually works!

Unlike Yahoo! Answers or LinkedIn’s Q+A, the hooks to other Social networks make this very easy to spread to your existing network.  Unlike Facebook Questions, the ability to search for, or ask questions is exceptionally easy.  If you have a burning question you cannot get answered anywhere else, try it! You will be impressed.

The Geek reaction is palpable

I found Techcrunch’s article by MG Seigler a little whacky when I first read it.  Claims like “Is Quora the biggest blogging innovation in 10 years?” are pretty strong.

It’s worth remembering Quora has been around for a few months, and has been steadily winning over sceptics, and beginning to form consensus.

Adam at Comms Corner makes the case for why brands need to get into the FAQ space, like they have done Social Media.

1) If you don’t someone else will answer questions on behalf of your brand – like the early days of Wikipedia.

2) This is a great way to find dissatisfied customers and help them get the best from your product.

Emergence of global, centralised tools & products

We now have Wikipedia (Encyclopaedia), Google (Search,Translate), Facebook (Social), Skype (Speak), Ebay (Marketplace) and many more tools where the world comes together on one platform.  They all benefit from the network effect.  They are made better by the fact that everyone uses them.  Delaying moving to these platforms, means you miss the party & miss the opportunity.

  • Have you used Quora?
  • Will you sign up?
  • Have you got any value from it?
  • Do you think it will become mainstream?

Business Evolved – How Social Good is changing business

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I was reading at Scott Gould’s blog, that the one word you never hear contestants use in The Apprentice is “Leadership”.  Which got me thinking…

Why is the show such a hit? The show itself focusses on what are essentially 1,000s of year old business practices; manufacturing, buying, selling, marketing etc. Yet what makes the show sell, is the social aspect, how these humans interact, and our view as a society as judgement on each of them.

The Apprentice is a reflection of humanity, with the volume turned up, and the Top Gear blue filter over used to make everything more contrasted than it needs to be for effect.

They stop just short of touching base, before running an idea up a flag pole while searching for the blue sky thinker… just.  Yet what we find compelling is the human element.  Humanity in business.

Humility in Competitive Business?

The Apprentice: You’re fired is my favourite part, because it offers the fired hopeful a chance to demonstrate humility and humanity that the editor didn’t feel fit into the 1 hour magazine style swooshy editing. Sir Alan is definitely looking for a certain type of person in his organisation, and if anything uses the apprentice to demonstrate his might rather than as a hiring supply pool.

There are some great lessons to take from The Apprentice in what not to do. What I believe is missing, is what they did for the US Version. Donald Trump gives business lessons, some of which are surprising. “Find the person” was one. Find the most effective person within an organisation, whom you can trust and deal exclusively with them rather than with the anonymous drones.

You’ll never hear “humility” or “human” in the board room, because it has an adversarial nature, by selection and by editing. It is frankly, more entertaining than genuine people trying to help each other win.

Business Evolved; focussing on our human needs

Trying to sell the opposite message back into the corporate world is an interesting challenge. I believe this is something Scott is a shining example of. How to be humble, and how to be human, to create a slowly building, incredibly valuable network. It’s much more Warren Buffet than Gordon Gekko, and is in my view the only sustainable economy. The economy of mutual gain.

Vs

It’s why we’re seeing globalisation begin to demonstrate how interdependent humanity always was.  For every massive currency reserve, there is a central bank able to print its way out of trouble.  Selfish endeavour and hoarding is only a temporary solution to an evolving world, with evolving technology and economies.

Business can be used for good, and when doing so, can be massively profitable. Social Good now has to compete & beat the Gordon Gekko’s of this world.  The de-centralisation of knowledge brought by the internet means that is now more likely than ever

Social Good – Core to business in next decade
I’m willing to bet the theme of business for social good will soon move from neat marketing tool for the Generation Y consumer, to fundamental core theme for most business.

If you look at the businesses that have shown mega growth in the past decade, a belief in social good, or greater purpose unites them. Humanity is capable of its greatest achievement, and teamwork when it has a shared vision. I look at facebook, google & twitter as companies who believe they offer a basic level of social good, and a useful tool, rather than a pure cut throat business.

I believe we are going to see some old world businesses, and many new start-ups embrace social good as a core business practice and value.  Investing in human potential through Social Enterprise is proving much more profitable than handing over Aid or Loans.  Harvard Business Review article demonstrating Social Good with Microcredit

The focus isn’t ROI, but do people find the product useful. I for one, continue to read Scott’s blog on a regular basis to see how this is becoming more possible even in coporate and government sectors.  If you’re looking for an entire new growth segment for your portfolio.  Consider Social Good

  • Is Social Good at the core of your business?
  • Can Social Good help your business?
  • Does Social Good have anything to do with your bottom line?
  • Can doing the right thing be profitable?
  • Is business by nature adversarial?

WikiLeaks fallout: What does it mean for your business?

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Key points that have been missed during the WikiLeaks debate:

  • The vast majority of leaks suggest diplomats do an incredible job. Sensationalist media seems to be owning the narrative and is the real cancer of this story.
  • The US government by increasing security, has defaulted to secrecy. This is not how you win the trust of the people.
  • Assange comes from a breed of hacker who’s motivation is that the truth shall set you free. If we’re all caught with our pants down, nobody has the upper hand.

Personally, I disagree with his methods, his style and the term “Wiki” being used. His intentions are right, but he has let the narrative be controlled by a media who want to turn it into something else.

What is more frightening is the reaction, politicians calling Assange a terrorist is ludicrous and counter-productive. Brett King’s printing press analogy is correct. You cannot close the lid on pandoras box.  You cannot fight a problem caused by secrecy with more secrecy.

What does it all mean? Like the MP expenses scandal, it will die down.  Be aware however that transparency is coming, and those with the most to lose are those hiding something.

You can trace this “open” trend back to the invention of the internet itself. The motivation is inspired by the “hacker” ideal, who believe that “open” creates a better world.  They believe a re-distribution of knowledge is good for innovation, and good for the global economy. Diversity of input = stronger product.

The key message to take from this episode is that your default should be transparency. This would limit the impact of Assange and the WikiLeaks dramatically.  My advice? If you have secrets, get there first.  The acid test is your conscience.  The most motivated hackers are those who believe they are just.  If you find yourself in a WikiLeaks storm

  1. Launch a full internal investigation, and publish the results
  2. Commit to transparent process that will prevent the re-occurrence of any wrong doing
  3. Use the announcement as a platform for building trust with the public and your clients

Do you run a business? How would you react to WikiLeaks publishing your internal dealings?

Can you know the truth?

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In a friendly debate with Scott Gould about finding answers.  The debate has become, is truth a tangible thing, a tick in a box? Or is it something more personal?

The pragmatist in me chooses values which sit well emotionally, personally and logically. How did you choose your values?

Do you hold them as “the” truth, or hold them as “my” truth?

In a strange way, knowing the truth or finding answers doesn’t by default make us a better person.  We still have to live through mistakes and learn from them to grow.

As a person who violates my own values (albeit working diligently to fix that with discipline and focus), I’m in no position to hold them up as the right thing, or the ideal. I try to share values when it feels relevant and if you find them useful then good :) .  Stephen Fry is my hero.  He loves and lives for knowledge, and yet is remarkably honest about is human failings.

Personally I find the quest for knowledge the most addictive, fun and worthwhile pass time I have experienced.  As a human, I’m still capable of straying from those values and that has consequences and I think we all are…

I’ve learned far more from being wrong, and mistakes, than I ever did from being right. But then, being wrong is part of the search for answers. Can we find answers, without holding them up as the truth?

Why are we searching in the first place? What is motivating us? The desire to be right? The desire to know the answer? Or the desire to use the answer? Is it the answer, or how you use it that counts?

9/11 – Nine Years Later

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Saw an incredibly interesting stat at the business insider.  Almost half of American’s polled see America’s ‘best days’ behind them, 7 in 10 concerned the country is ‘fundamentally broken and not working’

So what’s going on here?  The American Dream, the iconography & the rhetoric doesn’t sit with the present. This is an aftershock of 9/11, the limits on American power economically, militarily & geopolitically. China, India and South America are emerging. The world is changing again. The past was more comfortable.

America isn’t by far and away top dog any more. It sneezed.  What happens next is vital. There was always an undercurrent of two very different worlds colliding, but with one American Dream to get behind and a barnstorming economy that was easy.

The angry reaction of the tea party types is stirring up the same old troubles we last saw in the 60s. Then America held together and became better for it. Will they do the same again? I imagine so, but it’s going to be a rocky 5 – 10 years.  The Q’uaran burning & reaction to the Mosque building shows hurt pride & uncertainty directed at the wrong people.

We live in interesting times.  What does this mean for our economy? What does this mean for business?  What does it mean for your career?

How do we Go Green & Make Life better?

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It’s been fashionable for a while for us to talk about how we “should” go green.  It’s a little like the smoker saying they “should” stop, and the fatty saying they “should” diet.  What are we really doing to change the systems & technology we depend on to solve this massive problem of dependence on fossil fuels?

How do we move to green technology without plunging the vast majority of society into poverty needs to be the key question.  We could throw away power stations tomorrow, and with it would go Medicine, Oversea’s aid, Cancer Treatment, Pharmacies, Animal Welfare, The Internet (Free Knowledge)… and you can forget about investment in sustainable technology if we did everything we “should” do.

In short, it’s time to move from sentiment to action.  We’ve known for at least 2 decades we “should” change.  That doesn’t mean anything without real action.  Yes, recycle.  Yes, take the bus.  Yes, turn the lights out… But do so in the knowledge that every year China builds 2 new coal power stations.  It will take a lot more than efficiency improvements, or the adoption of one single technology to get us where we need to be.

We are rightly, moving to a world where previously less important aspects of humanity are gaining focus because they are delivering results the old way of working couldn’t.  It was historically very easy to criticise innovation, design & sustainability as being mental masturbation.  A “nice idea that doesn’t get results”.

Then the world changed.  Like all change, it doesn’t happen with an election, it happens very slowly over the course of a generation or so.  Suddenly sustainability won awards.  Profit chasing mega coporates found themselves on the wrong side of the law… and most importantly of all, the public perception shifted.  People love nature, and can see for themselves the damage we have caused it already.

On the flip side, business cannot make a profit going back to the oil well for much longer.  We have seen the beginnings of oil market instability, a huge shake in financial market confidence as well as the beginnings of profitable renewable energy.  We’re at a tipping point between beating and ignoring sustainable development & making it the very centre of business execution.

Yet there is still a massive communication problem.  The type of person who does design, and the type of person who is capable  of getting a product to market are rarely anything other than strange bedfellows.  The design types have to make a leap of faith into mass market thinking with their skill, while the mass market has to sit up and listen to our designers.  The old enemy has to be our friend if we are to achieve anything.

It requires a full scale investment and replacement in our power infrastructure, technology , and distribution systems.  It requires replacing with an equivalent every package, building block or material that is not sustainable, with one that is…  A monumental task.  How will you be part of the solution?  At the individual level?  At the activist level?  Or at the socio-economic level, where a real difference will be made?