The Customer Is Always - The Customer.

So many organizations say "The Customer is always Right."  Others won't take a step forward on a new product or service without extensive market research and assurances from its major customers that it likes the new product and will buy it.

That's a real risk.  Too much effort is focused on whether CURRENT customers see the new offering as a step forward TODAY.  It's irrelevant.  Although I agree completely with the concept of establishing whether there is a market for a product or service, one should never confuse innovation with having a single-minded focus on what the customer tells us it wants.  

Michael Porter says: "... If you listen to every customer and do what they ask you to do, you can't have a strategy....Strategy is not about making every customer happy. When you've got your strategist's hat on, you want to decide which customers and which needs you want to meet. As to the other customers and the other needs, well, you just have to get over the fact that you will disappoint them, because that's actually a good thing. " (http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6737.html)

Another voice - Mark Cuban - Don’t Listen to Your Customers: "I'm working with a company that at one point had a product that was not only best in its class, but also technically far ahead of its competition. It created a better way of offering its service, and customers loved it and paid for it.

"Then it made a fatal mistake. It asked its customers what features they wanted to see in the product, and they delivered on those features. Unfortunately for this company, its competitors didn't ask customers what they wanted. Instead, they had a vision of ways that business could be done differently and, as a result, better. Customers didn't really see the value or need until they saw the new product. When they tried it, they loved it."  ( http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222501)

Finally, from Steve Jobs:  

"It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them." As quoted in BusinessWeek (25 May 1998)

"You can't just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they'll want something new." -  Interview with Inc. Magazine for its "The Entrepreneur of the Decade Award" (1 April 1989)

(And here is a slightly longer blog that discusses Steve Jobs' concepts very well in a B2B service environment - it's worth the read: http://www.techjournalsouth.com/2011/06/resisting-the-steve-jobs-%E2%80%9Cinnovation-temptation%E2%80%9D-in-new-b2b-products/)

Customer input is critical.  Customer focus?  Absolutely.  Customer dictated?  Not so much.

Rarely A Straight Line

One of the hottest groups in music today is Sugarland.  Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush have hit it big.  

But, success did not come easily.  Both of these great musicians, individually, have fought hard for what they have achieved.

Kristian and Jennifer have trained as musicians.  They have been in different bands, playing different genres of music. Even when they started Sugarland, it was as a trio.  Although their first album was a runaway hit, the trio had challenges and, next thing you knew, Sugarland was a duo.  The industry wondered - What next?  Was this the end of the road for Sugarland?

But over the years Kristian and Jennifer, both individually and together, kept focused on their goals.  They adjusted, changed tactics.  To start Sugarland, they moved into country music. No, country music was not where they started.  My guess (and it's only a guess) is that it wasn't necessarily where they wanted to be.  But they had clearly defined their goals, recognized a path to achieving them and, with focus, clarity, and flexibility, went after them.

And today, Sugarland is (to borrow from the title of their upcoming album) an incredible machine.  Five #1 singles.  Country Music Association Vocal Duo of the Year for the last three years.  CMT awards, ACM awards.  A Grammy.  Now, they are headliners, filling venues across the country.  All in their first 5 years of existence. 

I am sure, if you had asked Kristian or Jennifer ten years ago how they were going to become stars, you would have heard a path - and it would not have been what actually happened.  But these two musicians didn't hold tight to a tactic, insisting that was the only way for them to succeed.  No, they stayed fixed on a target, focused on a goal, kept their eyes on it - and willingly changed tactics along the way, to keep aligned with reaching their goals.  As a result, Sugarland is one of the biggest - and best - acts in music today.  As for Kristian and Jennifer, you'd have to ask them, but I'm willing to bet that they are each very close to reaching their true goals.

(Check out their newest video:  Stuck Like Glue!)

Driving the Car, Changing its Tires...

Here's the challenge:  The division is having a great year, even with economic challenges all around.  Revenue is up; expenses are down; margin is improving.  It's hitting its numbers and, for the most part, hitting on all cylinders.  Yet, it has been tasked by corporate headquarters to make some aggressive changes, including cutting expenses and (perhaps) rethinking its entire business model.  How, if you're division management, do you: 

1. Motivate the team
   
2. Convince the team that it's the right thing to do, and
   
3. Make it happen, especially in the midst of "good times"?
   

Fortunately, RedZone has a client that sets a great example.  Here are some suggestions, in brief, based on experience:

1)  Consistent and clear messaging.  Management has made clear its opinion that the best time to make challenging changes is when times are good, when it has control over the situation and when it is not in "crisis" mode.  Management is right.  Making changes when times are good may be difficult from a motivation standpoint, but the absolute best from a strategic perspective.

2) Challenge the team.  A company that is performing well is doing so for a reason.  In most cases, it's because there is a talented and committed management team driving performance.  So how does one get a well-performing team to change and do even better? Challenge them. Challenge them to use their imagination and energy, to think differently about the business. Challenge them to identify what's wrong with the current business (trust me, they know!), and to identify how to fix it (they know that, too).  And listen.  There are details about the business that only those on the front-lines know. Management perspective is important, but the details from the field can make the difference between success and failure. And then align rewards with success. Make sure the team achieves personal benefit from making difficult changes work.

3) Don't take "no" for an answer. Sometimes, when things are going well, there is great hesitancy to make big changes aggressively.  That's the time when management has to step up and say, "Sorry, that's not good enough."  Management makes the goals clear, and makes it clear that the goals are non-negotiable.  And then, it keeps up the gentle pressure.  Yes, it says, we know this isn't easy.  Yes, it says, we know this is a higher level than we've ever reacher.  Yes, it says, we know this will require some big changes to the way we operate today. And yes, it says, we're willing to make those changes.  So, it says, think big, think broad, think different.  You come up with the right answer.  We'll (all) come up with how to make it happen. 

What’s the Problem? 

That’s what our client does, and does well. So, why is RedZone involved? This well-run organization, like so many others, struggles with execution. Not everyday, continual improvement, keep-the-business-running execution. No, its struggle is in strategy execution – the challenge of making big changes while still keeping the operation humming. 

An analogy you may have heard is that of “driving a car while changing its tires." In other words, the organization is focused (as it should be) on keeping the day-to-day running smoothly. But it’s also tasked, at the exact same time, with making significant changes to how it does business. 

That’s where RedZone comes in. Our focus is Strategy Execution – helping organizations successfully execute significant strategic initiatives. And part of our advice – always – is to isolate the team working on the significant change from the daily execution of the business. You know the reason – our client does, too. The challenge is making it happen.

Running the day-to-day business means constant adjustments, monitoring, fire-fighting. Much of that is unpredictable and urgent in nature: When an issue occurs, it must be handled right now. That means other activities get put to the side. And if one of those other activities is working on a strategic initiative, it gets put to the side, too.

Focused, Dedicated, Separated

One key to successful Strategy Execution is to segment the resources: Making sure those involved in “driving the car” aren’t the same as those trying to “change the tires.” Think of it this way: Running the day-to-day business is pretty much a straight, fast line – slight adjustments, tweaks along the way, but, for the most part, straight forward. A strategic change is not just a little shift. It’s a sharp curve in the road, a change to take the company in a different direction. The team responsible for driving the company forward as fast and hard as possible is rarely the same team that does a good job taking the sharp curve. The focus is different, the skills needed are different, the entire process is different. So make the team different. Let one group drive the company straight-line forward while another team sets the company up to take the curve. Take it. The company is on a straight-away again (at least, for a while!), and the operational team is now perfectly capable of taking over the wheel.

But, the argument always goes, we don’t have the resources, time or budget to do that. And our response, always, is yes, you do. If you’re staffing strategic projects right now with people responsible for running the day to day operation, you have got the people and budget. It just takes hard work to find it. Here’s why: By staffing a strategic initiative with operational leaders, you’re making an assumption that each person will spend, let’s say, 80% of their time (4 days a week) running the business and 20% (one day each week) on the strategic project. That means you have budgeted 20% x the number of people involved on getting the project done. But it never quite happens as desired or planned.

So – and here’s the really tough part – separate the people. You’ll need to move around responsibilities, perhaps make some people stretch, but figure out how to take the 20% of 5 people’s time and turn that into 1 person at 100%. Use the others as resources, to answer questions, participate in review and design sessions, provide guidance and support. But task someone else to get the work done as their full-time job. The end result is that strategic projects will get done on time, within budget, and with goals fully met. 

A simplification? Yes, but not by much. RedZone’s experience proves assigning a focused and dedicated team to the execution of strategic initiatives has a huge impact on their ultimate success. 

It’s always a pleasure to work with well-managed clients. But it also creates a unique set of problems. “We’re doing a great job of running the business. What can you teach us?” Well, in terms of day-to-day running the business, nothing much. But RedZone’s expertise is not daily operations – its expertise is in the unique and not-as-common processes needed to implement strategic change. Strategy Execution requires a different set of skills, tools, and management techniques. It’s in the successful execution of strategic initiatives where RedZone adds value – even to the best-managed of companies.

There Is No Try

The best insights may come from the most unlikely places.  

This morning, on a National Public Radio show that I rarely hear, was a conversation about fortune cookies.  (Did you know that fortune cookies are Japanese in origin, not Chinese?)  As part of the conversation, the author mentioned that the source of many fortune cookie sayings, in the early 1900's, was Confuscious.   Made up and inaccurate sayings, yes, but attributed to Confuscious.  

One hundred years later, a more relevant source was needed.  Who is it? Yoda.  Yes, George Lucas's/Luke Skywalker's Yoda.

So, as I prepared to turn off the car and walk into the Men's Breakfast, I heard this reference.  In many ways, it reduces the entire science of Strategy Execution to eleven words (click here to get the quote directly from the Jedi master himself):

 

"No. Try not. Do or do not.  There is no try."

Simple, direct, and oh, so right.  Successful Strategy Execution has nothing to do with effort or good intentions.  Yes, there are times when effort and desire may be as if not more important than results.  But rarely in Strategy Execution.  In Strategy Execution, it is about results.  Reaching your true goals.

I had not realized, before this morning, that Yoda was a Strategy Execution master as well as a Jedi one.  But it is now so obvious:

• Sponsorship & Consequences:  "Always two there are, a master and an apprentice."
  
• Realistic Communications: Luke: "I'm not afraid."  Yoda: "Ohh... you will be, you will be."
  
• Commitment: "A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind."
  
• Clarity of Vision & Focus on the True Goal: "If you end your training now, if you choose the quick and easy path, as Vader did, you will become an agent of evil."
  

Strategy Execution is a discipline.  It requires commitment, leadership, a realistic understanding of the challenges, clarity of vision, a focus on achieving the ultimate goal - and unwillingness to accept anything less.  

When executing a critical business strategy, Yoda knows:  "Do. Or do not.  There is no try."

Thank you, master.

It's Time to Finish the Job.

Welcome to 2009. Sitting at my desk a few days before the end of 2008, I find myself fully and unapologetically looking forward to the start of 2009.

I won't spend much time dwelling on 2008. The press and the holiday parties have that responsibility well in hand. My conclusions fall in line with others:

• The economy is bad and will get worse before it gets better;
• Consumers don't have money to spend. We will continue to see the impact in housing, automotive, and retail which, in turn, will impact nearly every other industry;
• We're in a downward spiral that will require significant government intervention and spending to break.

Yet, for all the negative news, I go into the new year remarkably optimistic. I'm not being a polyanna, nor ignoring facts. I continue to believe, however, in the ambition, drive, dedication, and determination of us.

RedZone Consulting is all about helping organizations "reach (their) true goals." To do so, we use a structured process, a methodology. And a critically important part of that process is at the very end. We call the activities: "Finishing the Job." It's a set of activities that you don't see in most (if any) other methodologies. And the concept behind "Finishing the Job" is what makes me optimistic about 2009.

You know the story. The first 80% is the easiest. The last 20% is the tough part. That's the "red zone" - the 20 yards before the end zone. But getting into the red zone isn't the goal. It's getting into the end zone. It's scoring. It's winning the game. It's finishing the job.

We use "Finishing the Job" in our methodology as a reminder, as an opportunity to revisit and confirm our original goals. And, if those goals are still valid, to re-focus our efforts on achieving those goals.

"Finishing the Job" is something we (collectively) do. Sometimes we need prodding or reminding. Thus, the activities in the RedZone framework. But, when reminded, we rarely say, "naw, I don't want to do that..." We get up and we finish the job. We get it done.

Consider 2008 our reminder. 2008 was the wake up call. 2008 was the kick in the pants.

So we head into 2009. Heads high. Determined. Focused. It's time to finish the job. It's time to get through the red zone to the end zone. It's time to score. It's time to win.

Happy New Year. Now, let's get it done.