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Paul Ormerod: “ I am often asked by would-be entrepreneurs seeking escape from life within huge corporate structures, ‘How do I build a small firm for myself?’ The answer seems obvious ….
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Paul Ormerod: “I am often asked by would-be entrepreneurs seeking escape from life within huge corporate structures, ‘How do I build a small firm for myself?’ The answer seems obvious …
“I am often asked by would-be entrepreneurs seeking escape from life within huge corporate structures, ‘How do I build a small firm for myself?’ The answer seems obvious:Buy a very large one and just wait.”—Paul Ormerod, Why Most Things Fail: Evolution, Extinction and Economics
“Mr. Foster and his McKinsey colleagues collected detailed performance data stretching back 40 years for 1,000 U.S. companies.They found that noneof the long-term survivors managed to outperform the market. Worse, the longer companies had been in the database, the worse they did.” —Financial Times
Dick Kovacevich:You don’t get better by being bigger. You get worse.”
Univ. of Maryland/Census Bureau/1992-2005% of USA net jobs added from startups???Source: Bloomberg BusinessWeek
MittELstand* ** *“agile creatures darting between the legs of the multinational monsters"(Bloomberg BusinessWeek, 10.10) **E.g. Goldmann Produktion
“Be the best. It’s the only market that’s not crowded.” From: Retail Superstars: Inside the 25 Best Independent Stores in America, George Whalin
Tweet 10.05.10: Word "commodity" obscene! "Commodity" state of mind! ANYTHING ... can be differentiated numerous ways—logistics, quality of relationship, co-development of new use ...
*Basement Systems Inc.*Larry Janesky*Dry Basement Science (115,000!)*1990: $0; 2003: $13M; 2008: $62,000,000
The Red Carpet Store Joel Resnick/Flemington NJ (referenced in Fame Junkies)
Jungle Jim’s International Market, Fairfield, Ohio: “An adventure in ‘shoppertainment,’as Jungle Jim’s call it, begins in the parking lot and goes on to 1,600 cheeses and, yes, 1,400 varieties of hot sauce —not to mention 12,000 wines priced from $8 to $8,000 a bottle; all this is brought to you by 4,000 vendors. Customers from every corner of the globe.” Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, Frankenmuth, Michigan, pop 5,000:98,000-square-foot “shop” features the likes of 6,000 Christmas ornaments, 50,000 trims, and anything else you can name if it pertains to Christmas. Source: George Whalin, Retail Superstars Virtual tour: www.retailsuperstars.com
Retail Superstars: Inside the 25 Best Independent Stores in America—by George Whalin
Small Giants: Companies that Choose to Be Great Instead of Big “They cultivated exceptionally intimate relationships with customers and suppliers, based on personal contact, one-on-one interaction, and mutual commitment to delivering on promises." Each company had an extraordinarily intimate relationship with the local city, town, or countyin which it did business -- a relationship that went well beyond the usual concept of `giving back.'" The companies had what struck me as unusually intimate workplaces." I noticed the passion that the leaders brought to what the company did. They loved the subject matter, whether it be music, safety lighting, food, special effects, constant torque hinges, beer, records storage, construction, dining, or fashion."
“The ‘mass market’ is dead. Consumers look for either price or quality.The middle is untenable.”—Walter Robb/COO/Whole Foods/Investors Business Daily/06.20.05
If the regimental commander lost most of his 2nd lieutenants and 1st lieutenants and captains and majors, it would be a tragedy. If he lost his sergeants it would be a catastrophe.
Employee retention & satisfaction:Overwhelmingly based on the first-line manager!Source: Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman, First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently
“XFX Social Accelerators.” 1. EVERYONE’s [more or less] JOB #1: Make friends in other functions! (Purposefully. Consistently. Measurably.) 2. “Do lunch” with people in other functions!! Frequently!! (Minimum 10% to 25% for everyone? Measured.) 3. Ask peers in other functions for references so you can become conversant in their world. (It’s one helluva sign of ... GIVE-A-DAMN-ism.) 4. Invite counterparts in other functions to your team meetings. Religiously. Ask them to present “cool stuff” from “their world” to your group. (B-I-G deal; useful and respectful.) 5. PROACTIVELY SEEK EXAMPLES OF “TINY” ACTS OF “XFX” TO ACKNOWLEDGE—PRIVATELY AND PUBLICALLY. (Bosses: ONCE A DAY … make a short call or visit or send an email of “Thanks” for some sort of XFX gesture by your folks and some other function’s folks.) 6. Present counterparts in other functions awards for service to your group. Tiny awards at least weekly; and an “Annual All-Star Supporters [from other groups] Banquet” modeled after superstar salesperson banquets. 7. Discuss—A SEPARATE AGENDA ITEM—good and problematic acts of cross-functional co-operation at every Team Meeting.
“XFX Social Accelerators.” 8. When someone in another function asks for assistance, respond with … more … alacrity than you would if it were the person in the cubicle next to yours—or even more than you would for a key external customer. (Remember, XFX is the key to Customer Retention which is in turn the key to “all good things.”) 9. Do not bad mouth ... “the damned accountants,” “the bloody HR guy.” Ever. (Bosses: Severe penalties for this—including public tongue-lashings.) 10. Get physical!! “Co-location” may well be the most powerful “culture change lever.” Physical X-functional proximity is almost a … guarantee … of remarkably improved co-operation—to aid this one needs flexible workspaces that can be mobilized for a team in a flash. 11. Formal evaluations. Everyone, starting with the receptionist, should have a significant XF rating component in their evaluation. (The “XFX Performance” should be among the Top 3 items in all managers’ evaluations.) 12. Demand XF experience for, especially, senior jobs. For example, the U.S. military requires all would-be generals and admirals to have served a full tour in a job whose only goals were cross-functional achievements. 13. XFX is … PERSONAL … as well as about organizational effectiveness. PXFX [Personal XFX] is arguably the #1 Accelerant to personal success—in terms of organizational career, freelancer/Brand You, or as entrepreneur.
Lunch > SAP/ Oracle
Conrad Hilton, at a gala celebrating his career, was asked,“What was the most important lesson you’ve learned in your long and distinguished career?”His immediate answer …
“In real life, strategy is actually very straightforward. Pick a general direction and implement like hell”—Jack Welch
XX* ** is STRATEGY. XX is DIFFERENTIATION. XX is DE-COMODITIZATION.*** XX is VALUE-ADDED. *eXcellence in eXecution **GE, Exxon Mobil, PepsiCo, Hyundai+, very few “etc.” *** “Commodity” is a state of mind! PERIOD!
“You have to treat your employees like customers.”—Herb Kelleher, upon being asked his “secret to success”Source: Joe Nocera, NYT, “Parting Words of an Airline Pioneer,” on the occasion of Herb Kelleher’s retirement after 37 years at Southwest Airlines (SWA’s pilots union took out a full-page ad in USA Today thanking HK for all he had done; across the way in Dallas American Airlines’ pilots were picketing the Annual Meeting)
"If you want staff to give great service, give great service to staff."—Ari Weinzweig, Zingerman's
“We went through the hotel [soon after acquiring it] and made a ... ‘considerationrenovation.’ Instead of redoing bathrooms, dining rooms, and guest rooms, we gave employees new uniforms, bought flowers and fruit, and changed colors. Our focus was totally on the staff. They were the ones we wanted to make happy. We wanted them to wake up every morning excited about a new day at work.” “The path to a hostmanship culture paradoxically does not go through the guest. In fact it wouldn’t be totally wrong to say that the guest has nothing to do with it. Hostmanship leaders focus on their employees. What drives exceptionalism is finding the right people and getting them to love their work and see it as a passion. The guest comes into the picture only when you are ready to ask, “‘Would you prefer to stay at a hotel where the staff love their work or where management has made customers its highest priority?’” Source:Hostmanship: The Art of Making People Feel Welcome, Jan Gunnarsson and Olle Blohm
On ADMIRAL HORATIO NELSON:“[other] admirals more frightened of losing than anxious to win”
“One of my superstitions had always been when I started to go anywhere or to do anything,not to turn back,or stop, until the thing intended was accomplished.”—Grant* *Ulysses Simpson Grant was actually Hiram Ulysses Grant
