Management&Business

среда, 19 ноября 2014 г.

Искусство включать голову

На рисунке изображены два стола. Поверхность одного – квадратная, второго – прямоугольная. Можете распечатать рисунок, вооружиться линейкой и убедиться, что боковое ребро левого стола равно верхнему ребру правого, а горизонтальное ребро левого – условно вертикальному ребру правого. Это измерение как раз иллюстрирует то, что глаза нас обманывают. Ваша интуиция подвела вас, как и многих, кто рассматривал этот рисунок.

Иллюстрация двух столов

Перед вами пример иллюзии восприятия размера Роджера Шепарда, профессора Гарвардской бизнес-школы Макс Базерман (Max Bazerman) и Дипак Малхотра (Deepak Malhotra) используют в статье «Это не интуитивно: стратегии более рационального ведения переговоров» (It's Not Intuitive: Strategies for Negotiating More Rationally), чтобы проиллюстрировать, как интуиция может обманывать наше восприятие и приводить к иррациональным решениям.

Ссылка на источник http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5465.html

Интуиция и рациональность в переговорах

Чтобы объяснить, почему люди не всегда мыслят рационально и логично, Кит Станович (Keith Stanovich) из Канадского университета в городе Торонто (University of Toronto) и Ричард Ф. Уэст (Richard F. West) из Американского университета Джеймса Мэдисона (James Madison University), условно разделили мышление на две системы: 1 и 2. Система мышления 1 связана с интуицией. Она быстрая, автоматическая, бессознательная и подвластная эмоциям. Система 2 связана с логикой. Она медлительная, контролируется рациональным сознанием, более склонна к выяснению фактов и построению причинно-следственных связей. «Когда вы тщательно продумываете варианты, вы пользуетесь именно Системой мышления 2. Когда вы принимаете решения, основываясь на интуиции, в действие вступает Система 1», – пишут Роджер Шепард и Дипак Малхотра.

Чем сложнее переговоры, тем больше мы склонны доверять интуиции, поскольку в минуты, когда наш мозг вынужден быстро обрабатывать большое количество информации, мы переключаемся со второй Системы мышления на первую.

Естественно, использовать вторую Систему мышления для каждого управленческого решения или мелких переговоров совсем не обязательно. Однако во время важных переговоров она вам точно пригодится. Следующие стратегии, возможно, помогут вам не включать интуицию, когда она может навредить.

Четыре стратегии для более рациональных переговоров

Стратегия 1: создайте список для Системы 2.

Определите ситуации, которые требуют особой концентрации. Составьте список предстоящих важных переговоров, которые, по вашему мнению, потребуют использования второй Системы мышления. Такие переговоры могут касаться больших сумм денег, сложных вопросов, большого количества сторон, ключевых стратегических партнеров или нового направления развития компании.

Благодаря тщательной подготовке к предстоящим переговорам вы настроите себя на использование Системы 2 в соответствующих ситуациях. Обязательно планируйте проведение переговоров на время, когда ваша голова хорошо работает. Например, если вы – «сова», избегайте встреч с важными клиентами рано утром.

Стратегия 2: не давайте спешке влиять на ваши решения.

Система мышления 1 зачастую активируется, когда переговорщики испытывают дефицит времени. Временным фактором для давления на партнера в переговорах некоторые пользуются намеренно. Поэтому, если кто-либо застал вас врасплох и пытается форсировать принятие важного решения слету, попросите перенести это обсуждение на более позднее время или на другой день.

И еще. Не назначайте переговоры, если вы ограничены во времени. Не стоит садиться за стол переговоров, скажем, в обед, на который вы отвели не более часа, выделите для этого важного дела целое утро (если вы жаворонок).

Стратегия 3: разделите процесс переговоров на несколько этапов.

Большинство из нас любит побыстрее заключить сделку. Однако, завершение переговоров за один подход, как правило, неразумно – более того, иногда невозможно. Даже когда вы хорошо подготовились, во время переговоров может появиться неожиданная информация, возникнуть непредвиденные проблемы, ваш партнер может начать использовать новые тактики. Поэтому у вас всегда должна быть возможность передумать или изменить стратегию. Терпение в переговорах зачастую приносит хорошие дивиденды.

Запланируйте перерывы через каждый час или два. Эти интервалы дадут вам время «переварить» происходящее и поразмыслить. Когда ожидается беседа повышенной сложности, подумайте о разделении процесса переговоров на несколько дней. Вы можете обменяться предварительной информацией по электронной почте в первый день, приступить к начальному обсуждению по телефону во второй, и, наконец, встретиться лично на третий и четвертый дни. Таким образом, переговоры будут более плодотворными. Оставляя себе время для тщательного анализа ситуации, вы можете более эффективно использовать вторую Систему мышления в процессе переговоров.

Стратегия 4: научитесь смотреть со стороны.

Почему мы, как правило, не замечаем собственные оплошности в переговорах, но при этом способны с поразительной точностью выделять промахи других? Психологи Дэниел Канеман (Daniel Kahneman) из Принстонского университета и Дэниел Ловалло (Daniel Lovallo) из Австралийского последипломного университета менеджмента утверждают, что мы принимаем решения, используя два разных подхода: инсайдера (от английского слова inside – внутри) и аутсайдера (outside – снаружи). Когда мы в роли переговорщика, мы, как правило, ведем себя как инсайдер, глубоко погружаясь в ситуацию, в которой находимся. Инсайдер находится во власти первой Системы мышления. Профессиональные переговорщики пользуются подходом аутсайдера, не слишком вовлекаясь в происходящее, благодаря этому более активно включается в работу рациональная, вторая Система мышления.

Естественно, в самых важных переговорах предпочтительно пользоваться подходом аутсайдера, но без специальной подготовки это довольно сложно, особенно если мы эмоционально вовлечены, например, в конфликт, который возник в переговорном процессе. Рекомендация для укрепления аутсайдерской позиции следующая. Во время подготовки к ключевым переговорам подумайте, кто бы мог выполнить за вас роль аутсайдера. Это может быть, например, сотрудник вашей компании, внешний консультант, обладающий необходимыми для переговоров экспертными знаниями, или проверенный друг. Когда процесс сделки сложен и переполнен эмоциями, посторонние люди смогут определить факторы, которые вы упустили, более взвешенно оценят негативную информацию и сохранят объективный взор на происходящее.

Авторы статьи не поясняют, каким именно образом должен вести себя аутсайдер, но мне вспомнился опыт одного нашего клиента, который, будучи по природе очень эмоциональным человеком, брал на себя сложные переговоры своего рассудительного и спокойного финансового директора, который большую часть времени молчал, слушал и наблюдал за происходящим. В перерывах они делились впечатлениями и обсуждали стратегию дальнейшего поведения в переговорах.

Несмотря на то, что предложенные стратегии подвергают сомнению возможности нашей интуиции, которой многие из нас действительно доверяют, все же не стоит игнорировать тот факт, что ее использование влечет за собой вероятность принятия неверного решения. Простое знание этого феномена позволит вам более рационально мыслить во время важных переговоров.

понедельник, 17 ноября 2014 г.

Write Your Brand’s Obituary

by Denise Lee Yohn

What would happen if your company ceased to exist?

Would journalists write headlines heralding your past achievements, or would their stories simply add you to a list of bygones? Would analysts express disappointment or would they point to indicators that made your death predictable? Would employees wonder how it could have ended, or would they have known it was inevitable? Would customers mourn your passing, or would the demise of your brand go unnoticed?

Thousands of companies come and go every year, barely leaving a trace of their existence. Even many large corporations are easily forgotten — like those in the airline industry. Remember TWA? Once the largest domestic airline, TWA introduced many ground-breaking developments and embodied the glamour of air travel. But hit by the pressures of de-regulation, the airline suffered through bankruptcies and was eventually acquired by American Airlines, which quickly discarded the brand name. In my home town of St. Louis, TWA went from dominating the airport to a fleeting memory in just a decade. By the end, the value of the TWA brand had diminished only to the route it flew – which were easily replaced.

Compare that to what would happen if Southwest closed its doors. Or Singapore Airlines. Or Virgin America. These companies have built powerful brands that would be seriously missed if they ceased operations. Who would give us the freedom and fun that Southwest is known for? Who would pamper us and attend to our every need like Singapore does? Who would design the travel experience with Virgin America’s combination of service and style?

How do you build the kind of brand that would be missed? How do you carve out such a distinctive position and create such a powerful emotional connection? You drill down to the core of your existence to identify the essential, enduring value of your brand – and then you design and run your business to execute relentlessly on that core brand essence. When what you stand for is clearly expressed and delivered in everything you do, every day, you make an indelible mark on people’s hearts and minds.

Being crystal clear about your brand essence is critical. Some organizations enjoy that clarity, but for those that don’t, there are several ways to achieve it. One is an exercise I often use with my clients: writing a Brand Obituary.

It’s not the most pleasant thought, but it focuses the mind to imagine what it would be like if indeed your brand ceased to exist.

In this exercise, it helps to think of your brand as though it were a person — the type of person the brand would be if it came to life today. I ask my clients to think of their brand in its totality, as all that the brand entails — and on its best days, when it’s executing with excellence.

Pretend that you are a reporter for a local newspaper who must write the obituary for this person, your brand, who just passed away today. This invented scenario can help you uncover the true nature of your brand.

Here are some questions to answer in the What would happen if your company ceased to exist?

It’s not the most pleasant thought, but it focuses the mind to imagine what it would be like if indeed your brand ceased to exist.

Here are some questions to answer in the obituary:

What was the brand’s biggest accomplishment in life? What will it be remembered for?
Who did the brand leave behind? What did the brand leave unaccomplished? Who will mourn or miss the brand, and why?
What lessons can be learned from the brand’s life? What can be learned in the wake of its death?
Now that the brand is gone, what will take its place?

Once you’ve completed the column, write a headline to capture the essence of the obituary – that headline, in turn, often captures the essence of your brand.

I often instruct members of the executive team, or a cross-functional group, to write their obituaries individually and then share them with the group in a working session. As the columns are shared aloud, there is usually some discomfort (talking about the brand’s demise is understandably not a desirable activity), but there are always moments of revelation. Common themes emerge and people start to see their purpose, their core beliefs, and what sets the brand apart with great clarity. From that point, the brand essence is just a few pen strokes away.

Positive thinking is powerful and envisioning success is a popular exercise among athletes and executives alike. But sometimes taking the opposite approach can be just as important. By imagining a future without your brand, you can create one in which it thrives and makes an impression that is exceptional, sustainable, and memorable.:

What was the brand’s biggest accomplishment in life? What will it be remembered for?
Who did the brand leave behind? What did the brand leave unaccomplished? Who will mourn or miss the brand, and why?
What lessons can be learned from the brand’s life? What can be learned in the wake of its death?
Now that the brand is gone, what will take its place?

Once you’ve completed the column, write a headline to capture the essence of the obituary – that headline, in turn, often captures the essence of your brand.

Seven Roads of Innovation-Based Growth

Anthony Mills

Founder & CEO, Legacy Innovation Group | Accelerating Growth Through Strategic Innovation

Most businesses are in need of finding new ways to grow. It might be a matter of finding new markets, even creating new markets, or just finding new space in your current markets through new technology and products. It doesn’t matter which of these it is, the pressure is always the same. And it’s unrelenting.

Given a business environment characterized by rapid change and global economies, the best ways to find growth at a scale that has strategic significance is through innovation.

There are seven ways your business can pursue growth that is rooted in innovation. I refer to these as “roads” because they connect your business from where it is today (“point A”) to where it wants to be tomorrow (“Point B”). The first five of these represent forms of organic growth; the latter two represent forms of inorganic growth. These are each explained briefly below.

It should be noted that none of these roads are mutually exclusive. Your business can pursue as many of them concurrently as it desires to, so long as its ability to manage them is kept in consideration.

ROAD #1 – PRODUCT INNOVATION & BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATION

Your company launches innovative new offerings within its current markets.

This is generally a case of either product innovation or business model innovation. In both cases you are leveraging the fundamental elements of innovation – empathy, creativity, and delivery – to deliver new value and experiences to your markets. You may brand these under existing brands if there is a good fit, or you may launch entirely new brands to best capture and convey the essence of the new value proposition.

In the case of product innovation, this is done simply with a new configuration of your existing technologies and products. The new products will typically have a different set of attributes and performance characteristics when compared to your existing products. The innovations they represent are typically incremental or moderate. A product innovation requires product development work. The technological risk tends to be low and the commercial risk moderate.

In the case of business model innovation, this is done by establishing new ways of delivering value and experiences, such as rental, lease, and service models in lieu of ownership models. Often these types of innovation work because they redistribute the time, effort, and/or costs associated with product consumption or service receipt. These types of innovation are often moderate to disruptive. A business model innovation requires business model design work. The technological risk tends to be low, but the commercial risk may be moderate to high.

Also buried deeper into this space are methods like process innovation, design innovation, brand innovation, and packaging innovation. All of these tend to serve the same purpose of bringing innovative new offerings to your existing markets.

ROAD #2 – TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION

Your company incorporates innovative new technologies into its products for sale within its current markets.

This is a case of technology innovation, where you find new technologies – developed either by internal R&D resources or sourced externally for the sake of expedience and expense (aka open innovation) – to deliver new value and experiences to your markets. Typically, the resulting products will have new functionality, new attributes, and markedly different performance characteristics. Sometimes they are simpler and lower-performing than your prototypical products, but cost substantially less, allowing you to sell significantly more of them and potentially into new channels that you previously had no access to (bordering on market innovation). These innovations may be incremental, moderate, or in some cases disruptive. A technology innovation requires technology development and/or technology scouting work.

While the commercial risk tends to be low to moderate, the technological risk can be high. The commercial risk can elevate if the technology does not deliver on the market’s core needs, or does more harm than good, as immature technologies sometimes do.

ROAD #3 – MARKET INNOVATION

Your company enters entirely new markets with its current products (perhaps slightly reconfigured).

We call this market innovation. In this case, you are delivering new value and experiences to a particular market that are better than what that market previously had access to. Thus, your offering is not new to the world, or even new to your company, but it is new to this particular market. As a result, the technological risk tends to be low so long as your technology meets this market’s needs. The commercial risk may be quite high however given the unknowns from both sides and the need to actuate your brand in this new market.

A market innovation requires market development work, which often begins withmarket scouting to identify the best potential markets to enter into. The market development work can either be straightforward or very complex, depending upon how different the new market is from your existing markets, and how many new market channels must be cultivated. Market innovations tend to be incremental or moderate, but in some cases do prove disruptive when the value proposition they bring is substantially better than that of the existing offerings.

ROAD #4 – CATEGORY INNOVATION

Your company creates an entirely new market by creating an entirely new product category.

We call this category innovation. It involves the development and commercialization of entirely new categories of products that do entirely new and/or different things. It always involves a new synthesis of pre-existing technologies, and in some cases involves the development of new technology or the adoption and rescaling of technology from a different application.

These new product categories often cannibalize the sales of some other product category because they, at least in part, do the same things in a better way or at a lower price. Thus they are replacements for something else, though customers often end up owning and using both categories, at least for some period of time. Despite the potential cannibalization of one’s own existing products, category innovations tend to be accretive in the balance of things, boosting total sales revenues when compared to foregoing the category. This is particularly true over the long run, where the chances of a competitor being the first to launch the new category can be high.

A category innovation requires category development work, which is much like rolling technology development, product development, and market development work all into one endeavor. While they do not always demand a new brand, they often involve one, depending on how the business wishes to leverage its brands. With most category developments, the technological risk will be moderate to high and the commercial risk will almost always be high, though sometimes good market insight data can identify cases where the commercial risk is low.

ROAD #5 – SPIN-OUT VENTURING

Your company launches its own (fully-owned) startup company in order to deliver any one of the above innovations in rapid fashion while building a new brand.

This is a type of corporate venturing called a spin-out. It is often based on a new technology, product, or category that has been developed and is best commercialized under a new brand that fits better than existing brands. Or it is aimed at a different market than the parent organization currently operates in. What the new venture company brings is a different set of organizational gating processes for commercialization, which generally results in getting to market faster. Also, should the venture fail, it protects existing brands from the associated fall-out.

Spin-outs typically involve high risks, both technological and commercial, and they can involve large capital outlays. At the same time, they offer potentially high returns as well as a mechanism for risk management by protecting existing brands from damage should a fall-out occur. They typically represent moderate to disruptive innovations.

ROAD #6 – SPIN-IN VENTURING

Your company invests in outside new ventures in order to leverage fresh new thinking about how to best deliver value to your markets.

This is a type of corporate venturing called a spin-in. Its objective is to gain access to new business models from fresh thinkers who are not saddled with preconceived notions of how your market should work and operate. These always involve a new and different brand (at least until they prove their efficacy and stability, at which time they tend to be absorbed into the mother brand). Like a spin-out, these ventures move into and through markets faster because they are not subject to big-brand organizational gating requirements. Also like a spin-out, should they fail they protect existing brands from any associated fall-out.

Spin-ins generally present high risks, both technological and commercial, and can involve large capital investments depending on the stage of growth the venture has reached. The potential returns can be very high however. They almost always represent moderate to disruptive innovations.

ROAD #7 – INNOVATION ACQUISITION

Your company acquires another business – perhaps a competitor or a mature upstart – that brings with it new innovations.

This is the classic M&A strategy, except that in this case you are explicitly looking to acquire a mature business that brings with it certain specific innovations, whether they be product, technology, business-model, market, or category, relative to what your existing business is capable of. We call this an innovation acquisition. It represents the most rapid path to significant growth (since it includes an established sales base), but it also carries with it the largest capital investment of all the options. The M&A process itself may be straightforward or complex, depending on how well the acquired organization can merge into the acquiring organization culturally and operationally.

At the very least, the innovations gained here are those the acquired business brings to the table (including whatever IP protections it has secured). On top of this however, it is sometimes the case that by acquiring a particular business the acquirer is now able to leverage knowledge, technologies, and products to pursue new market innovations in markets neither company was previously operating in. Whenever that is the case, it adds an additional multiplier to the investment’s return, though it also increases the level of investment required.

Because the acquired business tends to be mature and stable, both the technological and the commercial risks tend to be low. The exception to this is when the business being acquired is distressed, which tends to bring with it numerous commercial risks requiring remediation. There is also the risk of operational slowdown during the merger process if the merger is not a good fit or is not well managed.

*******

These are the seven roads of innovation-based growth. Each company will need to establish its own growth and innovation objectives in order to determine the roads that are right for it.

The final consideration to be made is that if a company is to benefit from any of these over the long haul, it must rethink its strategies, cultures, processes, and workplaces to become proficient at using innovation effectively to continue driving its growth into the future. This is particularly true if the company has any aspirations of becoming and remaining a market leader.

Authentic Leadership: 5 Key Elements to Lead with Authenticity

Izabela Lundberg, M.S.

Global Business & Leadership Consultant | Fortune 500 Speaker & Facilitator

WHAT IS Authentic Leadership and why is it so important? In my humble opinion, authentic leadership is demonstrated through pure heart-led and centered on genuine, self-aware, mission and value driven leadership. Simply put, as you meet, speak and listen with thousands of wide ranging leaders and influencers over the years, you start to recognize special patterns and common traits over and over.

Further, you start to identify with that authentic voice, style and synergy within your own authenticity. It is magical because you can be a unique, valuable and tremendously impactful and authentic version of yourself among other authentic leaders.

"Yes, in all my research, the greatest leaders looked inward and were able to tell a good story with authenticity and passion.” ~ Deepak Chopra

Today as I am writing this post, I want to not only emphasize the importance of authentic leadership, but also to honor some exceptional role models of authentic leadership in your life too. Beside well known and recognized names such us Oprah, Stephen Covey, John Maxwell, Mahatma Gandhi, please think about people in your life that consistently demonstrate their authentic leadership and what impact they have had on your life.

Five Key Elements of Authentic Leadership:

1. Behaving and Breathing Authentic Leadership 24/7 – "Leadership is not your business suit that you wear only while at work. It is who you are 24/7!” ~Izabela Lundberg

Anyone who thinks that leadership is performance and show it only while they are in open and visible settings, may be wondering why it is so hard to create synergy with others or why employees or partners do not trust or like them. If you can’t be authentic and true to yourself, it will show in so many places that sooner or later it will make you tired, inconsistent and very hard to trust and follow.

2. Walk the Talk – You are ready to take risks and responsibilities for your own actions as well as your team! If things are challenging and difficult, that is the time to shine. As one of my mentors JR shared with me so many times, “You find out who true leaders are not in the oasis (when things are good) but in the dessert!” It is amazing when you see consistency of quality in a person and extraordinary leadership from them during the worst times of their life. Integrity is demonstrated regardless if they are on the bottom (things aren’t going so well) or on top (everything is working perfectly)! To me these are perfect examples of great role models that we can learn so much.

3. Demonstrate Consistently Shared Values & Integrity – If you are demonstrating these values especially during challenging times with integrity, your employees, partners and vendors will not only respect you more, but also work with you to find optimal solution! Wow – this is so powerful! It is time to wake up world and assess your game plan and strategy.

4. Allow Others to Take the Lead – By allowing smart and capable team members at times to lead and coach us, it can be tremendously impactful, timely and relevant!We can’t always be right nor can we know everything. The moment we stop learning – we stop growing as a leader.

5. Know When & How to Authentically Influence & Impact – Creating High Levels of Engagement and Support by Leading with Value! That is a very simple concept yet very powerful when accomplished. Most recently I experienced a high level of engagement, value and support through BIZCATALYST360° under the authentic leadership of Dennis Pitocco. In less then two years he has managed to grow his global network on Linkedin by building a professional Group audience of more than 50 thousand members in over 137 countries. Why? How? By positively influencing and impacting others as well as allowing other thought leaders to share the stage with him to make it happen!

Learn. Lead. Love.

Game on! ~ Izabela Lundberg

среда, 19 ноября 2014 г.