Dave Gardner’s “Thank God It’s Monday” 023JAN12

January 23, 2012

“Thank God It’s Monday” is to help companies thrive!

This week’s focus: customer experience

A colleague reports that, after hosting a session about the customer experience, some employees reported being “uncomfortable” with what they heard. My, oh my.

It can be eye-opening to look at things from a customer’s perspective. I recall Dell senior managers being a bit aghast at stories they heard from real customers when they hosted their first customer advisory panel meeting a few years ago. It hurt, but, they took action. And, Dell is a better company for having started the dialog and following through to close the gaps.

It’s okay for employees to be uncomfortable if it brings the perspective needed to help them interact more effectively with customers. It’s not okay to ignore what you’re hearing.

It’s what you do with the insights or perspectives you gain about your customer’s experiences that can help your company thrive.

Thought for the week:

“A true customer experience is holistic, placing the customer at the center of the corporate universe. It demands the integration of business processes, in which customer service, the call center, marketing, branding, product or service development, technology, manufacturing, and the other functions all work together to serve customers. The customer experience must be orchestrated across channels and touch points throughout the customer life cycle.”  The Customer Experience Edge by Reza Soudagar, Vinay Iyer, and Dr. Volker G. Hildebrand

What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

___

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2012 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.


Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Florida One Under Construction

January 17, 2012

This is an amazing video.  I’ve seen these plane fuselages traveling by train though Montana on their way to the state of Washington for final assembly.  Enjoy!

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting http://www.gardnerandassoc.com


Dave Gardner’s “Thank God It’s Monday” 16JAN12

January 16, 2012

“Thank God It’s Monday” is to help companies thrive!

This week’s focus: business execution

The Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia disaster reminds us that, too often, we become cavalier about critically important things. Problems seldom materialize so we become complacent. “It won’t happen to us. This is just another routine flight or cruise or trip to the grocery store–it’s been done uneventfully thousands of times.”

After the cruise ship struck a reef this weekend, survivors report that there was utter chaos on the ship. News reports state:

  • The passengers had not been briefed on what to do–the passenger safety briefing was scheduled for the second day at sea.
  • The crew was ill-prepared to assist the passengers during this disaster and did not provide leadership at a time when it was needed most.
  • It was reported a crew member did not know how to operate the life boat once it was in the water; a passenger took control of the vessel to get it to land.

We see business execution failures that should have prevented an accident in the first place being compounded by delayed disaster drills in the event of a need to evacuate the ship. Failure in these preventative measures created breakdowns in the contingent action: ship evacuation after the incident.

Had the crew ever done more than a chalk talk about what to do? Had they ever done full dress rehearsal? It doesn’t appear so. And, the result is that even though there are few casualties and deaths, this lack of preparation undermined the experience for all concerned.

A couple of years ago, I was on a Southwest Airlines flight headed to Las Vegas. The people in the front of the plane ingored the safety briefing. The festivities had already begun for them. As the flight attendant concluded, she said, “For those of you seated in the front of the aircraft who chose to ignore the safety briefing, good luck!”

Luck is not a preventative or contingent measure. Luck may occasionally work well in gambling, but, it won’t consistently help you thrive. And, it certainly won’t improve business execution.

Thought for the week:

“If you want to do something big in your life, you must remember that shyness is only in the mind,” she said. “If you think shy, you act shy. If you think confident, you act confident. Therefore never let shyness conquer your mind.” - Arfa Karim Randhawa, the Pakistani computer programming prodigy who became the world’s youngest Microsoft Certified Professional at 9 years old. She passed away at the age of 16 this week.

___

What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

___

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2012 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.


Dave Gardner’s “Thank God It’s Monday” 09JAN12

January 9, 2012

“Thank God It’s Monday” is to help companies thrive!

This week’s focus: configurable products and services

Is it all about your company–the product or service provider–or all about your customer?

If it’s all about your company, watch out! Someone will come along who is better focused on the customer and take market share from you.

How can you tell if it’s all about you?

There’s friction in the marketplace between what your company offers and what your customers really want and expect from your company.

Friction will keep your company from thriving.

Thought for the week:

“Brands exist as a means of communicating what to expect from a product or service–or to highlight the family likeness between different products and services. An established brand on a new product is a guarantee that what you’re getting will be, in its own way, like something you’ve enjoyed before. “ - Sir Richard Branson, Business Stripped Bare

What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

___

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2012 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.


Dave Gardner’s “Thank God It’s Monday” 02JAN12

January 2, 2012

“Thank God It’s Monday” is to help companies thrive!

This week’s focus: the social enterprise

How big are your company’s ears? Is your company listening to what’s being said in the world of social media? Can your company afford not to?

Verizon Wireless announced last week that it was going to charge a $2 per transaction “convenience fee” for paying a monthly bill via your phone, on Verizon’s website or via credit card/debit card not set up on a automatic payment basis. They would waive the fee for paying in Verizon store or via check. And, who was this deemed “convenient for?” I tweeted:

I love Verizon Wireless but $2 to pay my bill online or via my phone? This is insane. Do you think you’re BofA?

I wasn’t alone. Verizon heard loud and clear via thousands of social media messages that this “convenience fee” was dead on arrival with its customers. Charging a customer to pay their bill? Come on. Verizon–it appears you can hear us now and you wisely reversed course 24 hours later.

But, you don’t have to be a Verizon-size corporation to leverage social media. All companies that thrive have big ears.

[Note: Read my entire Forbes.com guest blog post here.]

Thought for the week:

“Success in business …isn’t about the resources you have. Its about the resourcefulness you possess! Resourcefulness is about figuring out how to make things work. It is the complete antithesis of simple resources. Resources are things that work for you. Resourcefulness, is about YOU making things happen.” - Rich Schefren

What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

___

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2012 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.


Dave Gardner’s “Thank God It’s Monday” 26DEC11

December 26, 2011

“Thank God It’s Monday” is to help companies thrive!

This week’s focus: information technology

Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of hearing Vivek Kundra, the very first Chief Information Officer of the United States government, speak at Dell World 2011.

Kundra had a thought-provoking story to share of the need for innovative thinking and reinvention across the the U.S. government in terms of I.T. systems and solutions. [Please read this fascinating story in my Forbes.com guest blog post here.]

Michelle Bailey, Vice President at IDC, an industry analyst firm, offers “Kundra is a great example of how the future CIO needs to set a strategy and change the people, not just the technology.”

Vivek Kundra asked the tough questions that needed to be asked and took action. What tough questions are you asking to help you and your company thrive?

Thought for the week:

“Vision without execution is daydreaming.” – Bill Gates

What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

___

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2011 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.


Dave Gardner’s “Thank God It’s Monday” 19DEC11

December 19, 2011

“Thank God It’s Monday” is to help companies thrive!

This week’s focus: mergers and acquisitions

Up to 80% of acquisitions fail to deliver on expectations. That’s staggering.

For the past year, I’ve been watching Dell acquiring and integrating companies in a far superior manner to what I observe contrasted with companies like HP, Cisco, Yahoo, Microsoft, Google, etc.

I interviewed a number of Dell executives to learn about the “secret sauce” that makes Dell’s acquisition process so successful and exciting.

If you’re an entrepreneur (or know an entrepreneur) and you are thinking that your “big payday” will come as a result of being acquired, grab your favorite beverage, find a quiet place and read the following Fast Company Expert Blog post: “If I Sell You My Company, Will You Respect Me in the Morning?

The best practices in this article will help you and your company thrive.

Thought for the week:

Happy Holidays to all who allow me share my insights and provide value each week via “Thank God It’s Monday.  - Dave Gardner

What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

___

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2011 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.


Dave Gardner’s “Thank God It’s Monday” 12DEC11

December 12, 2011

“Thank God It’s Monday” is to help companies thrive!

This week’s focus: dress for success

Gentlemen: If you are going to speak at a technology conference, please consider the following so people can focus on your message and not be praying the fashion police arrive to escort you off stage:

    • Well-worn blue jeans that you’d wear to clean out the garage, mow the lawn or watch TV in the privacy of your own home look dreadful on the 15 foot x 15 foot high-definition TV screens at the front of the meeting room. Dress jeans are available for purchase that can be tailored to look great.
    • A shirt that looks like it was just fished out of a laundry hamper doesn’t work.
    • Ill-fitting clothes create a distraction. Wearing a sports coat that was stylish and fit you well 20 years ago doesn’t work, particularly if you’re 30 pounds heavier. Think of what you’d look like if you were wearing a child’s cowboy hat.
    • Not every suit jacket or sports coat color or fabric looks good with jeans. Look in the mirror to determine what you look like. If you are unsure, ask for help.
    • We can see your shoes and socks when you’re seated on stage. They should not distract from your overall appearance. Black socks with bright red shiny dots? Green and yellow argyle socks? Saddle shoes? Really?
    • If you’re 50 years old, dressing like you’re 20 won’t fool anyone. You’re still 50.  This doesn’t work any better for men than women.

Dressing like you just fell out of bed isn’t cool. It’s an assault on our senses. It just might create a missed opportunity for your audience to hear the message that could help your company thrive.

Thought for the week:

“The brave do not live forever–but the cautious do not live at all!”  - Sir Richard Branson


What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

___

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2011 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.


Xavier and University of Cincinnati Basketball Brawl

December 11, 2011

As I stood in line waiting to order lunch at one of my favorite burger emporiums yesterday, I witnessed one of the most horrifying intercollegiate fights I’ve ever witnessed between University of Cincinnati (UC) and Xavier University’s men’s basketball teams as they played in a cross-town rivalry. The disturbing images are seared in my mind. I’ve not seen anything like it and hope to never again.

I’ll never forget the rage on the face of one UC player as he fought to breakaway from those holding him back from getting further involved in the fracas. If he had broken loose from the people holding him back, someone would be dead. He wasn’t looking to help break up the fight—he wanted a piece of anybody on the opposing team he could get his hands on. It was hard to believe that I was watching teams from two prestigious universities.

As is the case with many a cross-town rivalry, there was “normal” trash-talking back and forth prior to the game and, apparently, quite a bit during the game. The UC coach encouraged the officials to stop it, call technical fouls if they needed to, but the officials did nothing. This is a serious officiating breakdown and contributed mightily to this brawl.

I’m sure television replays of the brawl have been played hundreds of times on TV. But, that’s not important. I want to focus on what the UC coach, Mick Chronin, said about this after the game:

  • He pointed out he had confiscated the jerseys of everyone of his team and will make a determination about who will be allowed to continue to play for UC. He’s not going to wait for the NCAA or his conference to tell him what to do—he’s going to “do the right thing” on his own. Fantastic!
  • He said the UC players are on full scholarships for the purpose of getting an education. In exchange for the opportunity to get their education, they have the opportunity to represent the university on the basketball team. If they represent UC poorly, they won’t be playing ball on his team. Right on, Coach!
  • He says few will ever see a dime for playing basketball anywhere. That is why they need to get their education.
  • He said he hoped the UC athletic director and president would allow him to continue to coach the team. [Me, too! Mick is a class act!]
  • He pointed out that, as an athlete, you need to know how to lose as well as how to win. Excellent point. While Xavier blew out UC in the game, Xavier needs to take a look at how they win.

Xavier, a Jesuit university, has an obligation to make the same determinations that Coach Chronin will for his team. They are not blameless in this ugly brawl. The post-game press conference by Xavier suggests that a couple of players need to be disciplined severely if not thrown off the team entirely. Here’s what one Xavier player said:

“That’s what you’re going to see from Xavier and Cincinnati,” Holloway said. “We got disrespected a little bit before the game, guys calling us out. We’re a tougher team. We’re grown men over here. We’ve got a whole bunch of gangsters in the locker room – not thugs, but tough guys on the court. And we went out there and zipped them up at the end of the game.”

Well, Mr. Holloway, you get no respect from me. You didn’t gain my respect; you threw away any chance for it. “Gangster” and the notion of a Jesuit university are incompatible. You disrespect yourself, your team, your coach and Xavier University with your comments. The thing that really bothers me most is your comments are heartfelt—they come from you believe in your heart. There’s no place for you in intercollegiate sports, not with an attitude like that.

I’m a graduate of Santa Clara University, a Jesuit university. What I saw and heard yesterday is incompatible with the ideals of a Jesuit university. I’m certain Xavier will take bold action in response. But, I’m stunned that Xavier has complicity in this ugly event.

Dave Gardner

© 2011 Dave Gardner


Dave Gardner’s “Thank God It’s Monday” 05DEC11

December 5, 2011

“Thank God It’s Monday” is to help companies thrive!

This week’s focus: information technology

John le Carré offered, “A desk is a dangerous place from which to watch the world.”

Often, I.T. professionals are too separated from business process owners and the actual problems the business process owners are attempting to solve using information technology.

If more I.T. professionals would simply go to where the work is–watch and experience it first hand–they would be adding value beyond belief and helping their organizations achieve greater effectiveness.

This is how I.T. and Chief Information Officers can help their organizations thrive.

[Note: Read my entire Forbes.com guest blog post here.]

Thought for the week:

“Expertise is only as good as the actions you take with it. What you do with it is up to you.” – Jay Abraham

What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

___

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2011 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.


Dave Gardner’s “Thank God It’s Monday” 28NOV11

November 28, 2011

“Thank God It’s Monday” is to help companies thrive!

This week’s focus: leadership

Forbes.com had a interesting piece written by Steve Denning called “Peggy Noonan on Steve Jobs and Why Big Companies Die.”  Here is an excerpt:

There is an arresting moment in Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs in which Jobs speaks at length about his philosophy of business. He’s at the end of his life and is summing things up. His mission, he says, was plain: to “build an enduring company where people were motivated to make great products.”

Then he turned to the rise and fall of various businesses. He has a theory about “why decline happens” at great companies: “The company does a great job, innovates and becomes a monopoly or close to it in some field, and then the quality of the product becomes less important. The company starts valuing the great salesman, because they’re the ones who can move the needle on revenues.” So salesmen are put in charge, and product engineers and designers feel demoted: Their efforts are no longer at the white-hot center of the company’s daily life. They “turn off.”

IBM [IBM] and Xerox [XRX], Jobs said, faltered in precisely this way. The salesmen who led the companies were smart and eloquent, but “they didn’t know anything about the product.” In the end this can doom a great company, because what consumers want is good products.

Is Steve on to something? Is he describing the cause of “big company syndrome?”  Is this what keeps big companies from thriving?

Thought for the week:

“High expectations are the key to everything.” – Sam Walton, founder of WalMart

What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

___

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2011 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.


Dave Gardner’s “Thank God It’s Monday” 21NOV11

November 21, 2011

“Thank God It’s Monday” is to help companies thrive!

This week’s focus: business execution

I was invited to attend the Dell KACE Konference in San Francisco this past week, an event my spell-checker doesn’t like very much. Here’s my take-away:

Dell KACE is “the Apple” in its industry–addressing system administration problems with straight-forward, elegant, pragmatic technology solutions that customers crave.

The audience wasn’t concerned about the veracity of new solutions being created–that seemed to be a given. Their concern was “how soon will this be available?”  If I had to assign a tag line to the development team, it would be something like, “We do the heavy lifting so you won’t have to.”

We live in a technologically complex world. Organizations that simplify complexity will thrive.

Thought for the week:

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” – Albert Einstein

What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

___

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2011 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.


Dave Gardner’s “Thank God It’s Monday” 14NOV11

November 14, 2011

“Thank God It’s Monday” is to help companies thrive!

This week’s focus: leadership

Tandem Computers used to have a 4 p.m. beer bust every Friday afternoon. It was a ritual we all looked forward to. Employees and executives alike tipped back a few beers each week.

One Friday, we all headed to the cafeteria only to find a sign on a locked door offering that things had gotten out of the control the prior Friday and there would be no beer bust that week so we could all “think about it.” It was stunning. This was the correct response under the circumstances. The beer bust was a privilege, not a right. Jim Treybig, president, taught us an important lesson that Friday, a lesson I’m sharing some 30 years later.

Penn State has, as a result of crimes committed and a horrific moral and ethical lapse of leadership, a teachable moment. The institution believes it is enough to fire those in the chain of command–those who knew about the crimes and did nothing about it. It’s not enough.

Genuine leadership would have been for Penn State to cancel the rest of the football season and forfeit any remaining games. Penn State football needs a time out to pause, reflect and remind itself of what is really important. Instead, Penn State is teaching the world what not to do–move forward as though it is business as usual, that Penn State football is too important to cancel no matter how disgraced the program is.

What does it say about leadership when leadership did nothing about stopping crimes and ensuring that crimes against children were prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law?  What does it say about leadership when Penn State cobbles together a coaching staff so “the game can go on?”  What is the lesson from this teachable moment?  “We play football no matter what!”

Penn State football is not a victim; Penn State football enabled criminal behavior.

The focus needs to shift to the victims and away from football. There will be a time for football. The focus must be on helping the victims thrive.

Thought for the week:

“When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.” – The Dalai Lama


What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

___

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2011 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.


Dave Gardner’s “Thank God It’s Monday” 07NOV11

November 7, 2011

“Thank God It’s Monday” is to help companies thrive!

This week’s focus: business execution

A colleague offered that a client wanted to stop all consulting efforts as the business was growing rapidly and everyone was moving at 120 miles per hour.

Respectfully, this isn’t the time to disengage–this is the time to engage but engage in a way that is respectful of each person’s time.

There are 3 key components to success:  people, process and technology.  A breakdown in any of these can be quite injurious, particularly at 120 mph. None of these components were designed to work at 120 mph indefinitely.

A consultant can add value by watching for stress, making observations about root cause and by helping the team rapidly design and implement fixes to keep them moving at 120 mph.

When Diana Nyad tried to swim from Cuba to the U.S. recently, she had a support team.  She didn’t leave the beach in Cuba and have everyone fly to the mainland to await her arrival. There were experts to help her every step of the way.

The most successful people and companies seek outside assistance to help them continue to thrive

Thought for the week:

“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” – John Wooden

What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

___

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2011 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.


Dave Gardner’s “Thank God It’s Monday” 31OCT11

October 31, 2011

“Thank God It’s Monday” is to help companies thrive!

This week’s focus: business execution

I.T. is a critical enabler of businesses. There is, on occasion, friction between I.T. and business process owners about how to move forward to solve critical business challenges.

I recently interviewed four education Chief Information Officers in an effort to understand their culture and values and see if there is a contrast with what I have experienced in the private sector.Here are some best practices that will improve collaboration between I.T. and business teams:

  • Business process owners would appreciate I.T. collaborating with them while working to minimize friction.
  • Business process owners want I.T. to be part of the same team, not merely blocking and tackling the people who are responsible for day-to-day execution of a critical process.
  • Business process owners want I.T. to get excited about solving real problems and spend a lot less energy pushing back on the business requirements.
  • Business process owners want I.T. and their teams to win together.

If this culture of collaboration is engendered, everyone will thrive.

[Note: You can read my entire Fast Company blog post here.]

Thought for the week:

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo da Vinci

What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

___

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2011 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.


Dave Gardner’s “Thank God It’s Monday” 24OCT11

October 24, 2011

“Thank God It’s Monday” is to help companies thrive!

This week’s focus: change management

The gravitational pull of the status quo is hard to break away from. Consider how much energy it takes to put a rocket into earth orbit…to break away from the status quo of the earth’s gravity.

Change management is no different. You can’t expect dramatic change to occur without a significant and sustained amount of energy and attention.

Understanding this will ensure your change initiative reaches earth orbit helping you and your company thrive.

Thought for the week:

The real reward for doing your best work is not the money you make but the leader you become.” – Robin Sharma

What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

___

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2011 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.


Dave Gardner’s “Thank God It’s Monday” 17OCT11

October 17, 2011

“Thank God It’s Monday” is to help companies thrive!

This week’s focus: business execution

I traveled to Austin this past week to attend Dell World 2011. At the end of the show, there were several hours between my airport arrival and the departure of my flight.  I didn’t see the keynote speakers at the airport: Steve Ballmer, President of Microsoft, Paul Otellini, President of Intel, Marc Benioff, President of Salesforce.com, etc. Why is that?

These executives can’t afford to waste their valuable time waiting for departure times that fit their speaking and meeting schedules, trying to decide which airline connections make the most sense, and burning time cooling their heels with the conference attendees. There is simply too much time inefficiency in commercial airline travel today. The only solution for these executives is private aircraft, not a perquisite, an essential tool to expand their reach.

Now that I no longer fly over 100,000 miles per year, I find myself in a coach seat most of the time. Coach travel is a great time waster.  It is nearly impossible to open a laptop, read a book, review paperwork, or think about strategy. It is too crowded and uncomfortable.

Being confined to a coach seat for hours at a time may violate the Geneva Convention torture regulations. If you were to tell someone that they would have to fit within the envelope of space allocated by a coach seat for 1-6 hours, there must be some rule that is being broken. I’m really grateful that I’m not tall. But, even my height advantage is not much of an advantage any more with every seat sold on the vast majority of flights.

Coach air travel won’t help you or your business thrive.

Thought for the week:

“Don’t do anything halfway. If you believe in it, go for it.”  - Jack Welch

What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

___

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2011 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.


Dave Gardner’s “Thank God It’s Monday” 10OCT11

October 10, 2011

“Thank God It’s Monday” is to help companies thrive!

This week’s focus: business execution

We make the world better when we simplify problems for customers, when what we create is so glaringly obvious that people say to themselves, “I wonder why nobody did that before?”

We make things better when we step back, look carefully and say, “What exists can be done much, much better. What would be really exciting for our customers?”

Steve Jobs didn’t focus on incrementalism. He focused on what would excite and delight the world–what would create a compelling customer experience. And, did Steve and Apple ever succeed in creating excitement!

The technology world paused to pay attention whenever Steve took the stage–people couldn’t wait to hear how he and Apple would rock their world.

  • There were mp3 players before the iPod.
  • There were smart phones before the iPhone.
  • There were tablet computers before the iPad.

None of the forerunners to these Apple products comes close to capturing the excitement that Apple created.  Not even close.

The lesson? Incrementalism won’t help your company thrive. A relentless focus on the customer experience will help your company thrive.

Thought for the week:

“…Almost everything— all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” -Steve Jobs

 

What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

___

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2011 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.


The passing of Steve Jobs

October 6, 2011

What can be said that hasn’t already been said.

Steve Jobs was one-of-a-kind: an entrepreneur, a thought-leader, an innovator, a perfectionist, a mentor, a visionary.

A few years ago, a minister offered that we shouldn’t ask “why a person died”–it is better to ask “why a person lived?”

We know why Steve lived.

Fadra Nally (@allthingsfadra) offered the following thought on Twitter moments after the news broke:

Very sad news about Steve Jobs. Apple now seems like just another computer company with faceless executives.

I offered 2 replies via Twitter (@Gardner_Dave):

The heart, vision and spirt of innovation lives in every Apple employee and Apple executive. It’s in their DNA.

In Silicon Valley, when we lose a key person, the survivors strive to keep that person’s vision alive…that’s our DNA.

God speed, Steve.  And, thank you!

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting, http://www.gardnerandassoc.com


Dave Gardner’s “Thank God It’s Monday” 03OCT11

October 3, 2011

“Thank God It’s Monday” is to help companies thrive!

This week’s focus: strategy

Focus on the wrong things can be debilitating. Too many people are focused on matters they have no control over. If this was a good thing, I’d not be writing about it.

We don’t have control over the stock market, what then banks are doing, what the government is doing, what’s going on in the global economy, what our competitors are doing, etc.

What we do have control over is setting our own strategy and executing that strategy, irrespective of all the ambiguities that we are exposed to.

We have to manage our businesses.  If that means we need to turn off the news so we can focus, then so be it.

We must set a certain course and follow it, not become a rudderless ship being tossed about in a turbulent sea.  This is key to thriving.

Thought for the week:

“Be yourself.  Everyone else is already taken.” – Oscar Wilde (by way of Raj Raheja)

What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

___

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2011 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.


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