Strategy Execution Failures

Note: This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive!

This week’s focus: strategy

Strategy execution failures can be attributed to many things. I consider these to be among the top reasons:

• No strategy buy-in from leadership team
• No accountability on the execution side–everyone responsible/no one responsible
• Team celebrates strategy definition, not the execution and delivery of the strategy.
• Team sees strategy as a periodic discussion, not part of the day-to-day journey
• No follow-through–no plan to deliver the outcomes required by the strategy
• Urgent matters trump important
• Too many initiatives with conflicting priorities owned by the same people

Strategy must be executed to have the chance to be effective. How else can you thrive?

Thought for the week:

“Don’t start your victory dance on the 20-yard line.”  - Vickie Sullivan

What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

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

© 2013 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.

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

“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” 03OCT11

“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.

Dave Gardner’s “Thank God It’s Monday” 26SEP11

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

This week’s focus: strategy

I shared a Fast Company Expert Blog post with a client that takes a look back at the office technology available during the NASA program to put a man on the moon back during the 1960’s.

My client wondered on Twitter, “When will another president have the guts to announce a ‘man on the moon’ project and what should it be?”

I tweeted back, “The project should be to eliminate US dependence on fossil fuels by 2030…an idea bigger than putting a man on the moon.”

My client tweeted back, “…and probably with more impact on global peace ”

Eliminating US dependence on fossil fuels (petroleum, coal, natural gas) will improve national security, create millions of jobs, reduce our carbon footprint, and help us thrive.

Isn’t it time to tackle an innovation project like this?

Thought for the week:

“Getting change right means:

• Bringing people together and helping them interact in ways that create meaningful engagement for new and better ways of working.
• Tapping into a high-leverage web of experience and information so your initiative responds in real time to changing circumstances
• Getting many, many people on board as quickly as possible, creating a fast-paced buy-in.”

- Seth Kahan, Getting Change Right

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.

Boeing 787 Certified by FAA-Lessons Learned

The Boeing 787 was certified for commercial use by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Friday, August 26th. That means the design has been put through the paces. Over 4000 exacting, discrete tests were required to be successfully passed for the FAA to certify the aircraft design.

The 787 is the first commercial aircraft with the body and wings made largely of lightweight, carbon-composite materials instead of aluminum. The expectation is that this lighter plane will consume 20% less fuel than a comparable aircraft design.

The program hasn’t been without its problems: The certification is about 3 years behind the original schedule, and cost overruns are estimated to be in the billions of dollars.

Boeing executives refused to discuss when the 787 program will be profitable. Right now, there are orders for roughly 850 planes.

Boeing decided to take a different path to bringing this aircraft to the marketplace, employing global design and supply chain resources. For one, there would be no prototype mockup built–this aircraft would be designed completely by computer. Engineering design would be distributed globally, increasing the risk that it would be difficult to collaborate and coordinate all the design elements. And finally, there would be a global supply chain that needed to be developed–787 final assembly and testing would occur in the U.S.

Most of the 787 program delay is attributed to a decentralized, global engineering strategy and a complex supply chain involving some 50 partners. These partners have had to make substantial investments in tooling and inventory under the provision that they would receive no compensation for their efforts until each aircraft is sold. The delays have to have been excruciatingly painful for Boeing’s partners.

Boeing’s CEO Jim McNerney said in a speech back on November 11, 2010:

“In retrospect, our 787 game plan may have been overly ambitious, incorporating too many firsts at once–in the application of new technologies, in revolutionary design-and-build processes, and in increasing global sourcing of engineering and manufacturing content.”

Boeing’s ultimate success in employing this global design and supply chain strategy will likely impact future aircraft design as Boeing and Airbus seek to push the risk and cost to global partners.

Let’s not forget a key aspect of this whole process. While we can applaud Boeing for getting this aircraft certified, the delays have had a significant impact on airlines determining when they can incorporate these new aircraft into their fleets.

Current estimates are that Boeing has the capacity to begin delivering ten 787 aircraft per month in 2013. Will the order backlog hold up? At present rates, it would take about 7 to 8 years to build out the current order backlog of 850 aircraft. With the projected savings available from the 787, the order backlog should increase as airlines see the opportunity to increase their fuel efficiency and modernize their fleets.

Boeing has a significant challenge ahead. We celebrate the milestone! Now, Boeing–get to work!

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

© 2011 Dave Gardner

Steve Jobs Tech Industry Exemplar

Apple has been successful due to Steve Jobs being both a visionary and a fastidious micro-manager about front-end design and back-end execution. No detail falls off his radar screen.

It is almost as though Steve asks, “What would I personally want in a product? What’s missing that would make this really exciting?” And, then, he personally leads the effort to develop and commercialize the product.

When Apple customers suffered an antenna problem with a new iPhone, an SVP lost his job. In Steve’s mind, customers never should have suffered with the problem. Poor execution followed by immediate accountability. How often do we see that in the business world?

Steve Jobs has delighted his customers and shareholders. He’s folllowed other marketplace innovations with breakthrough innovations.

• There were mp3 players before the iPod.
• There were smartphones before the iPhone.
• There were tablet computers before the iPad.
• There was cloud computing before the iCloud.

Look at the embarrassment HP has just suffered with its TouchPad tablet. HP sold 25,000 units in the first month of availability–Apple sold 3 million iPads in the first 80 days. HP’s half-baked effort reflected poorly on its brand.

In Steve Jobs, we have seen genius at work. But, the genius is in both the innovation and the execution. Bravo, Steve, bravo.

I pray Steve can continue to do what he loves for as long as he wants.

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2011 Dave Gardner

Viability of Offshore Manufacturing

Issue raised on LinkedIn:

I am working on my Research Project as a part of MBA Curriculum. Title of my research project is “DOES OFFSHORE MANUFACTURING STILL MAKE CENTS?” The purpose of this project is to research and document the continued viability of off-shore manufacturing to primarily Asian countries and evaluate if time has come to return back to the United States or North America. I have come up with some questions for my project. I would appreciate if anyone can comment on some of my below questions:

1. What are the real costs components of off-shore manufacturing?

Costs that are often missed are the engineering and administrative costs associated with supporting sub-contract manufacturers. Traditional cost accounting distorts cost and potential savings as significant non-manufacturing costs aren’t included in cost accounting metrics. What a company should really concern itself with is total cost associated with getting a product into and sustaining it in the marketplace. Activity-based costing is a better approach for looking at total cost and the performance of a product or product line.

2. As companies have moved their production off-shore, have they realized all the costs savings they expected? If not, why?

I submit this is a bit like the estimated mileage sticker on a new car–the savings is never quite as good as it appears to be after you’ve purchased.

3. Can United States become a manufacturing power house again?

The U.S. is a power house today in manufacturing! No need for doom and gloom. Not all manufacturing segments are moving off-shore. Those that have moved likely will not come back. There is greater growth potential for higher-end, personalized or customized products to begin to expand with the U.S.

4. How can companies keep their manufacturing operations at home and still compete with the competitors who absorb the overseas risks?

It depends on the segment as I’ve written above. Dell, for example, has moved a lot of manufacturing out of Round Rock, Texas, to other parts of the U.S. and the world. But, as I will write in a Fast Company article in a few weeks, Dell has not reduced its office footprint in Round Rock and actually continues to create more, higher-paying jobs for knowledge workers in Round Rock than it previously paid manufacturing employees. I recently interviewed the Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility, Trisa Thompson, about this and other issues. Dell has just announced that it is expanding in Silicon Valley, again with product development and knowledge workers. [Note: I am member of Dell's Customer Advisory Panel, a position for which I receive no compensation.]

5. Do you think that government needs to provide some type of incentives to improve manufacturing competitiveness in North America and encourage companies to return manufacturing on-shore?

As we have seen with “green” industries, investors are loathe to invest in industries where the U.S. government offers incentives. The fear is that the market dries up when the incentives are pulled. So, we need to be careful about how the government participates. The U.S., state and local governments as well as foreign governments offer incentives to lure companies to create jobs in their area–this is routine and expected. This also allows companies to shelter profits outside the U.S. in many instances.

What do you think?

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

© 2011 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

The HP Future Without Mark Hurd

There’s been a flurry of media activity surrounding the departure of HP’s CEO Mark Hurd.  Here’s what I wrote about this matter on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” released today, August 9^th:

I’ve long been concerned about HP’s CEO Mark Hurd being so focused on execution that he lost sight of the need to innovate to ensure a sustainable, viable business. Now, in light of Hurd’s unplanned departure from HP, others are suddenly writing that it is time for a new HP CEO who embraces the need to innovate.

The CEO’s role is to create and deliver a compelling strategy. The COO’s role is driving execution. HP does not have a COO, a structural problem in the company’s leadership team that may have distracted Hurd. Hurd acted like an extremely effective COO, not a CEO.

Great strategy and great execution are required to ensure a company thrives.

Others may not agree with my view. While under Hurd’s leadership, HP’s stock price doubled—quite an achievement. My sense is that the stock price alone doesn’t reveal the entire picture. I look at a company more holistically. HP has been weak in the innovation area. The recent acquisition of Palm was hopefully the beginning of a refreshing trend.

Question I received today:

Can you explain how the acquisition of Palm is seen as the beginning of a new trend? The only thing I know about Palm is/was their Palm Pilot. They were at the front of the game until others like HP came along and took this device to the next level. I just tossed my HP I-PAQ into the trash, as my iPhone now does everything (and more) that my Palm and HP did.

My response:

Palm’s new operating system (which they rolled out on the Palm Pre) apparently has some wonderful attributes that Palm would never have been able to fully exploit due to its internal problems. Palm had hoped that this OS would become as big Android. But, given poor marketing and an inability to get strong support from firms like Verizon, Palm was dying a slow death.

HP acquired Palm for this operating system and was looking forward to creating other products around it, e.g., an iPAD-like tablet. This OS would also enable HP to get into the smart phone business and, using their reach, make an impact that Palm never could have on their own. This acquisition was a win-win: great for Palm, great for HP. This acquisition looked like an opportunity for HP to get its mojo back.

HP focused more on execution than innovation under Hurd–I didn’t believe the balance was appropriate. I believe at one point Product Development investment had been about 6% of total revenues, substantially less than other corporations in their space that invest about 9%. It is true that HP would have invested far more in real dollars than anyone else just based on their size. How has HP benefited from that investment?

Frankly, HP hasn’t captured excitement with new products for years. Can you name one standout HP product in the last 5 years? I can’t.

When you live in Silicon Valley as I do, it is easy to compare HP with Apple. Apple is about buzz and excitement. HP has begun to look like little more than a provider of commodity products competing with Dell, Acer, etc.

HP used to be the premium provider of innovative products. The HP35, one of the first scientific calculators, came on the market in 1970 or 1971 and was priced at $400, about 4-6 times what other calculators sold for. Engineers and engineering students craved the HP35. “Real engineers” moved from slide rules directly to the HP35. It was a dominant, sought-after product. Price didn’t matter.

Apple is in that space today–Apple is thriving in a down economy. HP is playing a different game than Apple.  I’d like to see HP offer value-laden, innovative products again that create buzz and excitement.

Let the innovation begin!

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2010 Gardner & Associates Consulting

Dave Gardner’s “Thank God It’s Monday” 09AUG10

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

This week’s focus: leadership & innovation

I’ve long been concerned about HP’s CEO Mark Hurd being so focused on execution that he lost sight of the need to innovate to ensure a sustainable, viable business. Now, in light of Hurd’s unplanned departure from HP, others are suddenly writing that it is time for an HP CEO who embraces the need to innovate.

The CEO’s role is to create and deliver a compelling strategy. The COO’s role is driving execution. HP does not have a COO, a structural problem in the company’s leadership team that may have distracted Hurd. Hurd acted like an extremely effective COO, not a CEO.

Great strategy and great execution are required to ensure a company thrives.

Thought for the week:

“It’s only a dream until you write it down. Then it becomes a goal.” -Emmitt Smith, NFL Hall of Fame Induction Speech, August 2010

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

© 2010 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” 05JUL10

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

This week’s focus: leadership

You have to decide where you want to take your business.

If you want to be timid, stop investing and wait for Wall Street to tell you everything is fine and it’s okay to invest in your business again, you’ll be too late for your competition will have stepped in to the vacuum you created while you decided to ride out the storm in a safe harbor.

This is the time when companies need to be investing in systems and processes, people, and new or enhanced products and services to be in the best position possible to thrive coming out of the economic downturn.

Read the entire Business Execution Insights blog post.

Thought for the week:

“80% of CEOs believe their brands deliver a superior customer experience; 8% of customers agree.” Tim Suther, Senior Vice President, Acxiom

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

© 2010 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.

What makes “Silicon Valley” Silicon Valley?

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited Silicon Valley during June 2010 to experience first-hand what has made companies like Cisco Systems, Google and Facebook what they are today. Medvedev was joined by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In different geographic areas all over the United States and the world, people want to emulate Silicon Valley to create jobs and vibrant economies. Silicon Valley is often imitated but has never been duplicated.

I grew up in Silicon Valley, graduated from San Jose State University and Santa Clara University, and have had the pleasure of working and living here in the world of high technology. I offer my random thoughts on the “secret sauce” that makes our beloved Silicon Valley truly unique in the world. While some attributes certainly carry more weight than others, e.g., access to capital, it is the collective impact of all these attributes that make Silicon Valley what it is.

• Access to capital (angel investor money, venture capital) from investors willing to take risks in exchange for a future “big payday” event
• Terrific higher education system: Stanford, University of California at Berkeley, San Jose State University, Santa Clara University, strong junior college programs
• The western U.S. was built by pioneering folks who made great sacrifices; that pioneering attitude must be in our DNA as it fuels great innovation and a drive to succeed in spite of what are often long odds
• Competitive benefits: medical insurance, personal time off (vacation, sick-time), 401-K
• Burning desire of entrepreneurs and employees to compete and win in the marketplace—“failure is not an option” even though some situations lead to failure
• Risk aversion: there is some measure of safety in knowing that you or your company can fail and there will be another employment opportunity somewhere
• No one expects to join a company and retire from it
• Big paydays: these used to occur with great regularity in the 80’s and 90’s when a company would “go public” by offering its stock on a stock exchange. In the decade of the 2000’s, big pay days are rare. Today’s strategy is more about companies being acquired rather than going public. So, instead of seeing the value of your companies stock go through a meteoric rise, you now watch the value of the acquiring company’s stock rise.
• Opportunity to be part of something exciting, have some impact on the world and your personal finances.
• Work hard; play hard
• Tolerance for less than perfect operational systems—some systems are simply “good enough”
• Willingness to sacrifice family time and personal life for company time—usually for a “big payday”
• Dress code—we invented “business casual” and it’s gotten even more casual over the years
• Lack of pretentiousness
• Open door policy—eschew hierarchical or “command and control” leadership
• H1-B visas allow people from other countries to come to the U.S. to work in high-technology—provides rich diversity and sufficient talent to do amazing things
• Embrace diversity—Silicon Valley tends to be pretty inclusive rather than exclusive—people who come here from other geographies or nationalities aren’t treated as outsiders
• Wonderful year-around weather helps to attract talent to the San Francisco Bay Area
• Great companies of the world thrive here: Apple, Google, Cisco Systems, Intel, Applied Materials, Hewlett Packard, Oracle; these companies routinely acquire other companies

What Silicon Valley does not provide?

• Pensions or retirement programs
• Attractive home prices
• Low cost of living
• Attractive California state income tax system

Does Silicon Valley always get it right? Certainly not! The investment community understands this better than any single group. The dot com bust showed irrational exuberance on the part of investors and executives to create any Internet-based company they could. Lots of money was lost and many folks lost their jobs when the question, “who wants to buy and why” wasn’t asked and answered appropriately.

So, can Russia create its own Silicon Valley? Yes, but, it won’t be like the Silicon Valley I know and love. Russia will need to see a cultural shift to be more open and trusting.

Russia has some fantastically creative and talented computer scientists and engineers who, given the opportunity, will do some great things for themselves, their companies and their country. Best wishes to Russia and President Dmitry Medvedev on their journey.

I would love your comments and reaction to this.

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

Dave Gardner’s “Thank God It’s Monday” 14JUN10

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

This week’s focus: business execution

When I lived in Reno, a consulting colleague, Tom Taormina, was contemplating writing a yet unpublished book titled “Perfecting Mediocrity.”

As I envision it merely from the proposed title, “perfecting mediocrity” is the dominant gravitational force for the vast majority of companies—good enough to survive but never great enough to thrive.

Is your company “perfecting mediocrity” or preparing to thrive? You know the answer. Are you ready to take action?

Thought for the week:

“If we live in a culture of mediocrity, there is a real risk we will ease back to our lowest performance. Only a small percentage of us are strong enough to sustain excellent performance in an environment of mediocrity.”

Erie Chapman, nationally renowned hospital/health care executive

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

© 2010 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” 22MAR10

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

This week’s focus: business execution

While keeping your head down focused on your core business is critically important, leaders must raise their heads up occasionally to see how the world is changing and evolving to ensure continued marketplace viability for the owners, employees and customers.

Companies that thrive lead and dominate during market transitions, e.g., Cisco Systems, Amazon.

Companies in a death spiral, e.g., Blockbuster, Palm, et. al., watch market transitions occur before their very eyes and later wonder how they could have missed the transition.

Thought for the week:

“If you fear rejection, you are running from something. If you fear failure, you are running from something. If you fear ridicule, you are running from something. In this flight, you will never try anything new, risk anything innovative, attempt to reach a new level. Run TOWARD something, not away.” Alan Weiss, Ph.D., Summit Consulting

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

© 2010 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” 01MAR10

This week’s focus: customer choice

Back in 1961, Hertz ran a very powerful and memorable ad campaign built around a compelling theme: “Let Hertz put you in the driver’s seat.”

Not only did this ad campaign create the image of a customer ending up in one of Hertz’s rental cars, it suggested that Hertz puts the customer in control of each transaction and the relationship. What could be better than a customer driving the relationship? This simple ad set the stage for Hertz being the world’s largest car rental company.

How is your company putting customers in the driver’s seat enabling your company to thrive?

Thought for the week:

“It’s not your customer’s job to remember you. It is your obligation and responsibility to make sure they don’t have the chance to forget you.” Patricia Fripp

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

Dave Gardner’s “Thank God It’s Monday” 22FEB10

This week’s focus: customer choice

Mike Dreyer, CIO of VISA Inc., has been quoted as saying he doesn’t want technology to be a limiting factor in implementing any good idea. A wonderfully refreshing thought!

Too often, people reject ideas that would better serve customers with weak rationales: “that won’t work here,” “that’s not how we do it here,” “it’s too hard to do that,” “we’ve never done that before,” and my personal favorite, “the system can’t handle it.”

Is your company artificially constraining customer choice?  Or, are you, like Mike Dreyer, taking the lead to make sure that good ideas find their way to the top so you can delight your customers and help your company thrive?

Thought for the week:

“What leaders see on the surface can be discouraging–people, even very able people, caught in the routines of life, thinking short-term, plowing narrow self-beneficial furrows through life.  What leaders have to remember is that somewhere under that somnolent surface is the creature that builds civilizations, the dreamer of dreams, the risk taker. And, remembering that, the leader must reach down to the springs that never dry up, the ever-fresh springs of the human spirit. John Gardner, On Leadership, page 199

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

Dave Gardner’s “Thank God It’s Monday” 15FEB10

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

This week’s focus: marketing

A brand is a representation of quality and value, not a company name or slogan. A brand is inextricably linked to customer expectations.  It takes a long time to establish a brand and sustained effort to maintain it.

For many years, Toyota represented the best of the best in the automotive industry. No more.

If Toyota sought to save face, it has failed at the expense of its brand. And, as additional bad news is revealed, it further erodes its brand flinging the doors wide open to competitors that previously may have been closed.

In recent months, we have seen two dominant brands undermine their value by their own actions and responses: Toyota and Tiger Woods. Is there a lesson here?

Companies and the brands that thrive get ahead of the story and serve as a model for all by virtue of what they do in good times and bad.

Thought for the week:

“People and organizations (and teams and committees and task forces and colonies of ameoba) do not Thrive when they focus on the present and tentatively seek out the alternative for moving forward.  I remind you: We are not here to stick our toes in the water.  We are here to make waves.” Alan Weiss, Thrive! Stop Wishing Your Life Away, page 103

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

Lessons Learned from Birds and the Tallest Tree

It is one thing to be a player in a marketplace and yet another to dominate that marketplace.

I arrived at my Silicon Valley office at 6 a.m. on a cold (42 degrees Fahrenheit), dark, winter morning. Our humidity was nearly 100 percent. With that temperature and humidity, 42 degrees is cold.

About 30 feet from the elevator, I spotted a lone bird sitting on the cement sidewalk in a state of suspended animation. I checked the creature—it was alive but clearly bewildered. I would not wish that experience for myself or the bird.

I took the elevator to my second floor office to start my day and enjoy the sunrise. As we entered civil twilight, I noticed that, one-by-one, small birds flew to the very top of the tallest deciduous tree to just sit there on spindly little branches waiting for the sun to rise and warm them up. An adjacent, slightly shorter tree was completely ignored by the birds. As I watched the sunrise unfold, I was reminded the sunlight hits the top of the tallest trees first as the sun rises.

I don’t know if it is instinctual or just a bird’s common sense that they head for the top of the tallest tree day after day. It’s not just a morning phenomenon—this behavior is often repeated on cool, sunny evenings as the sun begins to set and the process reverses itself.

Isn’t this natural phenomenon paralleled in the business world? Isn’t it often the case the most prominent player is heads and shoulders above its rivals?

I’m a fan of Amazon.com—the only website I frequent to purchase books online. I’ve never bothered to go to barnesandnoble.com or borders.com—I got into the habit of doing business with Amazon. Amazon is my tallest tree.

Google is my search engine. Microsoft introduced a new search engine: Bing. I looked at Bing—once. Did I give Bing a fair shake? Probably not. The truth is I’m not dissatisfied with Google. Google is my tallest tree.

Alex L. Goldfayn, The Technology Tailor, offerings the following insight in a blog posting:

Apple’s iPad announcement yesterday has a number of lessons for consumer electronics manufacturers. The biggest one is this: Once again, Apple will make a boatload of money on a product it is perfecting, not creating. The tablet PC has been around for ages.

There were many MP3 players before the iPod perfected the device. And there were hundreds of smart phones before the iPhone perfected the category. And now, Apple is doing it again with the iPad.

It is not necessary to invent new products, or even functionalities, to be perceived as the best. It is only necessary to improve dramatically upon what’s already on the market, so that you can argue reasonably that you are the best.

Apple may have just grown a taller tree in this space.

So, what are the shorter trees going to do to attract the birds? They can’t. It’s just not what the birds want.

If you aren’t the tallest tree, what can you do to grow so you become someone else’s tallest tree?

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

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Dave Gardner’s “Thank God It’s Monday” 25JAN10

This week’s focus: strategy and execution

What is more important? Strategy or execution?

A failed strategy can keep your company or department from thriving just as can failed or poor execution.  Both are essential to thrive in your marketplace.

More executives “leave for personal reasons” due to failed execution than bad strategy.

Do you have the right strategy?  Is your execution on par with expectations?  If you are concerned about either of these, are you taking appropriate corrective action?

Thought for the week:

“Laugh at yourself, but don’t ever aim your doubt at yourself. Be bold. When you embark for strange places, don’t leave any of yourself safely on shore. Have the nerve to go into unexplored territory.” –Alan Alda

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com