From sludge to success
In a perfect world, your company would be a well-oiled machine. In reality, most companies have sludge in the engine that’s keeping them from moving as quickly as they want. Call it sludge, friction, or transaction costs, getting things done at work—whether that’s small tasks, such as sending emails, or bigger initiatives, such as developing a generative AI approach—often takes longer than anyone would like.
^ADJ: a few key takeouts for me: - Calculating the hidden costs of letting inefficiencies slide - Tackling inefficiency through culture and technology (I would place more emphasis on culture) - Empower people to make a difference
7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy by Hamilton Helmer
So, what are the secrets to making a company enduringly valuable?
If we are to believe Hamilton Helmer, the answer is strategy and execution. Every celebrated business is underpinned by decisive strategy choices and operational excellence, in the midst of uncertainty, which leads to some form of competitive advantage.
And what is strategy? To borrow from Nathan Baschez introducing Divinations: Every strategy is really just a theory: “We bet if we do x, then y will happen.”
3 Ways to Compassionately Hold Your Team Accountable
Why are some teams more successful than others when it comes to meeting deadlines, hitting targets, and growing revenues? Researchers at the NeuroLeadership Institute looked at the cognitive processes associated with leaders who cultivate accountability on their teams. They identified three distinct habits practiced by these leaders: They think ahead, own their commitments, and anchor on solutions.
The One Key to Dealing with Senior Executives: Answer the Question!
I can’t tell you how many times over the years that I’ve needed to coach people to “answer the question” when dealing with senior executives. It amazes me to sit in meetings and watch people hem, haw, dodge, extemporize and do just about anything but answer the question they were asked. I have a old friend who used to say that corporate meetings were often “parallel independent conversations” due to two factors: the non-answering of questions posed and the non-listening that comes from people spending all their energy preparing what they want to say next. Both are bad behaviors. But the one that will stall your career inside your company — or wreck a salescall outside of it — is not answering the question.
When It Comes to Long-Term Value, Incumbents Should Think Like Digital Disruptors
Measuring earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBIDTA) profits may be the gold standard for assessing traditional companies, but it is not the way digital businesses think. Successful digital disruptors focus on creating long-term value through two distinct levers: customer lifetime value (CLV) / customer acquisition cost and the end-to-end customer experience. While digital disruptors have pioneered this approach, established companies are actually often better positioned to take advantage of this “digital growth engine” because they have one thing startups lack: customers. To kickstart their own digital growth engine, companies should: 1) Align their customer experience ambition with financial ambitions and operational reality, 2) Optimize their customer data strategy, 3) Differentiate engineering for experience, data and AI, and enterprise, 4) Develop an “electronic brain” powered by predictive AI models (with feedback loops).
What every CEO should know about generative AI
Gen AI is evolving at record speed while CEOs are still learning the technology’s business value and risks. Here, we offer some of the generative AI essentials.