Category: Business

Anyone who knows me knows that I am fascinated with barcodes.  I’ve had some ideas in the past; some for what I do for a living and some for personal business ventures.  Barcodes are amazingly powerful yet very simplistic.  Evidently a design agency in Japan is doing some interesting things with tweaking the design of their barcodes which I loved.

Source: http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/oct2009/sb2009106_706829_page_2.htm (no longer available)

“The Apple Music event of Sept. 9, 2009, marked the return of the world’s greatest corporate storyteller. For more than three decades, Apple (AAPL) co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs has raised product launches to an art form. In my new book, The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience, I reveal the techniques that Jobs uses to create and deliver mind-blowing keynote presentations.

Steve Jobs does not sell computers; he sells an experience. The same holds true for his presentations that are meant to inform, educate, and entertain. An Apple presentation has all the elements of a great theatrical production—a great script, heroes and villains, stage props, breathtaking visuals, and one moment that makes the price of admission well worth it. Here are the five elements of every Steve Jobs presentation. Incorporate these elements into your own presentations to sell your product or ideas the Steve Jobs way.

1. A headline. Steve Jobs positions every product with a headline that fits well within a 140-character Twitter post. For example, Jobs described the MacBook Air as “the world’s thinnest notebook.” That phrase appeared on his presentation slides, the Apple Website, and Apple’s press releases at the same time. What is the one thing you want people to know about your product? This headline must be consistent in all of your marketing and presentation material.

2. A villain. In every classic story, the hero fights the villain. In 1984, the villain, according to Apple, was IBM (IBM). Before Jobs introduced the famous 1984 television ad to the Apple sales team for the first time, he told a story of how IBM was bent on dominating the computer industry. “IBM wants it all and is aiming its guns on its last obstacle to industry control: Apple.” Today, the “villain” in Apple’s narrative is played by Microsoft (MSFT). One can argue that the popular “I’m a Mac” television ads are hero/villain vignettes. This idea of conquering a shared enemy is a powerful motivator and turns customers into evangelists.

3. A simple slide. Apple products are easy to use because of the elimination of clutter. The same approach applies to the slides in a Steve Jobs presentation. They are strikingly simple, visual, and yes, devoid of bullet points. Pictures are dominant. When Jobs introduced the MacBook Air, no words could replace a photo of a hand pulling the notebook computer out of an interoffice manila envelope. Think about it this way—the average PowerPoint slide has 40 words. In some presentations, Steve Jobs has a total of seven words in 10 slides. And why are you cluttering up your slides with too many words?

4. A demo. Neuroscientists have discovered that the brain gets bored easily. Steve Jobs doesn’t give you time to lose interest. Ten minutes into a presentation, he’s often demonstrating a new product or feature and having fun doing it. When he introduced the iPhone at Mac world 2007, Jobs demonstrated how Google Maps (GOOG) worked on the device. He pulled up a list of Starbucks (SBUX) stores in the local area and said, “Let’s call one.” When someone answered, Jobs said: “I’d like to order 4,000 lattes to go, please. No, just kidding.”

5. A holy smokes moment. Every Steve Jobs presentation has one moment that neuroscientists call an “emotionally charged event.” The emotionally charged event is the equivalent of a mental post-it note that tells the brain, remember this! For example, at Macworld 2007, Jobs could have opened the presentation by telling the audience that Apple was unveiling a new mobile phone that also played music, games, and video. Instead, he built up the drama. “Today, we are introducing three revolutionary products. The first one is a widescreen iPod with touch controls. The second is a revolutionary mobile phone. And the third is a breakthrough Internet communications device…an iPod, a phone, an Internet communicator…an iPod, a phone, are you getting it? These are not three devices. This is one device!” The audience erupted in cheers because it was so unexpected, and very entertaining. By the way, the holy smokes moment on Sept. 9 had nothing to do with a product. It was Steve Jobs himself appearing onstage for the first time after undergoing a liver transplant.

One more thing…sell dreams. Charismatic speakers like Steve Jobs are driven by a nearly messianic zeal to create new experiences. When he launched the iPod in 2001, Jobs said, “In our own small way we’re going to make the world a better place.” Where most people saw the iPod as a music player, Jobs recognized its potential as a tool to enrich people’s lives. Cultivate a sense of mission. Passion, emotion, and enthusiasm are grossly underestimated ingredients in professional business communications, and yet, passion and emotion will motivate others. Steve Jobs once said that his goal was not to die the richest man in the cemetery. It was to go to bed at night thinking that he and his team had done something wonderful. Do something wonderful. Make your brand stand for something meaningful.”

In the October 2009 edition of Fast Company Magazine they list some sales information for fast food chains which I thought was interesting.

• Total company U.S. revenue = $30 billion
• Average transaction = $6.00
• Average annual per-store sales = $2.3 million
• Number of U.S. stores = 13,958

• Total company U.S. revenue = $1.28 billion
• Average transaction = $8.10
• Average annual per-store sales = $1.8 million
• Number of U.S. stores = 800

• Total company U.S. revenue = $9.13 billion
• Average transaction = $5.75
• Average annual per-store sales = $1.3 million
• Number of U.S. stores = 7,213

• Total company U.S. revenue = $8.75 billion
• Average transaction = $4.75
• Average annual per-store sales = $985,000
• Number of U.S. stores = 11,537

• Total company U.S. revenue = $9.6 billion
• Average transaction = $6.95
• Average annual per-store sales = $445,000
• Number of U.S. stores = 21,881

OK this is a great video of Leo Laporte talking about his career but unfortunately the quality is terrible since it was recorded using a live feed.  If anyone knows of a higher quality version let me know.  It is still very watchable and I highly recommend it.

J.T. Knudsen
Red Tree Leadership & Development
“Gaining Change Skills: Who Moved My Cheese?”  Part Two

“75% of corporate change initiatives fail.”
–         Harvard Business Review

Typical Manager’s Reaction when things aren’t working
–         They hit the more button:

• More time
• More money
• More resources
• Until finally you hit the panic button

The button that should be pressed is the how (or question) button.

–         What can we do about this?
–         What do you think?
–         What is stopping us right now?
–         Do we have a clear vision of what we are aiming for?

Simple is better
–         The more easily you can explain change to someone the better

When is change a good idea?
–         When it is your idea

How do you get your idea to be their idea?
–         Ask questions
–         What does on-board really mean?

• What they want lines up with what the company needs
• They are engaged and spending their time on things that matter
• They communicate positively with each other about their work and the desired outcome.

Every company has a strategy but nearly every strategy requires change

How important is making this change to the organization?
–         What would those in positions “above you” say about the priority of the change?

How actively are people in the organization working to make the change happen?

What is the size of this change for the organization?

Big idea #1 – Most results require change

Most companies think they are good at change:
–         We hire people who are skilled at change
–         We deal with change all the time.  It is not a problem
–         Change is what we do

Employees in a company who understand why the company is changing
Yes 46%
No 54%

Percent of employees who think the change requires them to do something differently
Yes 32%
No 68%

Percentage of employees who think the change will make things better or worse for the company
Better 28%
Worse 72%

Think the change will make things better or worse for themselves
Better 12%
Worse 88%

Companies don’t change, people do.

One approach
–         Elaborate planning
–         Detailed timelines
–         Memos, emails, meetings
–         Wait to see improvement
–         More meetings to figure out what’s wrong

A different approach
–         Do people understand what’s changing and why?
–         Do people know how they fit in?
–         Do people imagine gaining or losing?
–         Is progress of the change being measured and how?

Understanding what’s changing and why
–         First, make a case for the change (moving from > moving to)
–         Cascade message down in the correct manner (otherwise the telephone affect happens)

Moving from > moving to
–         Our organization is moving from this to this.

Talking back
–         Give people the opportunity to discuss it, evaluate it, and weigh in
–         Although most change is dictated, buy-in is 100% conditional on the individual
–         Ownership is everything

Sara Roberts
Roberts Golden Consulting

Author of Light Their Fire: Using Internal Marketing to Ignite Employee Performance and Wow Your Customers (Kaplan 2005) and has been quoted in numerous publications including Business Week, Inc. Magazine, and Forbes.

What if you were given the chance to change or die from a doctor?  What if the doctor said, if you don’t make changes in the way you think and act, you wouldn’t make those changes?  Of course, you are going to make those changes.  Don’t bet on it though because medical research shows, 90% of people don’t make the necessary changes to save their own life.

Dean Ornish knows how to make people change.  Ornish in 1993 took 333 patients with heart disease got them to quit smoking, diet, twice-weekly meeting, mediation, relaxation, yoga.  They had a coach that sat down with them and have measurable and achievable results for them.  Most doctors frame up the fact that people will die if they don’t change, he taught the joy of living.  After three years, 77% stuck with those lifestyle changes.

• He reframed it
• He engaged them
• Gave them constant guidance
• Worked right alongside them while they’re making the change
• Ensured accountability for new behaviors

5 out of the top 10 reasons things fail is because we lack change management planning

Within the next ten years, the ability to effectively manage change will be the number one necessary skill required of business professionals.

A company needs periods of stability to regroup and regain energy.  If you don’t know what “normal is” you don’t know how to optimize things.

Designate a “Change Guardian”

• An executive that has his or her finger on the pulse of the company or a cross-functional change counsel you for that purpose.
• Similar to how PMOs manage portfolios or how executive councils prioritize projects from a financial perspective
• Has a birds-eye view
• Ensures initiatives are prioritized and aren’t competing

Engage

• Influence attitudes, build credibility, and make connections across the company

Enable

• Provide the skills, tools, and environment for employees to do their jobs effectively

Empower

• Provide employees with the latitude to make decisions that benefit the customer and organization

Ensure

• Ensure accountability at all levels

Engage Your People

• Know your audiences – get a handle through “stakeholder analysis” and understand where they are
  • How is it going to impact me?
  • What’s in it for me?
  • Is there a role for me?

Raise the Urgency Level

• Show others the need to change – help them see, touch, feel
• Make the message tangible – emotions not just numbers
• Stop Senior Management “happy talk” – put more honest out there
• Highlight performance gaps
• Use customers and shareholder testimonies

The goal of this initiative is to debureaucratize processes in order to prioritize markets to maximize our sales and capitalize on margin optimization resulting in better utilization.

The most important thing to remember about communicating a new direction is that it’s most powerful when it’s communicated through behavior.

Hilton empowers every employee in the hotel to comp a customer if they are not 100% satisfied.  They have done the research and found that employees take it very seriously and do not abuse that privilege.  For every dollar Hilton gives away, they get seven in repeat business.

I came across this and had to laugh because just yesterday I was talking about finding a way to hide our department’s printer.  Now obviously hiding a refrigerator full of beer and a printer are for two completely different purposes and I don’t condone drinking at work, but hiding a refrigerator and a printer are still related in their own bizarre way.  Our company is taking all of the printers away from each department and is installing one networked copy machine per floor.  I think that is a great idea if the goal is to reduce the number of printers, reduce the cost of maintaining those printers, decrease toner cost, and last but not least the cost of a depreciating asset.  However, the decision also means employees now need to basically walk across the building to get their print job (never mind the fact that it may be confidential).  This means you pass lots of co-workers who you usually catch up with (you get distracted).  By the time you actually get to the printer, you then find someone has likely walked off with it.  I joked yesterday we should hollow out a file cabinet and hide our 150 pound monster printer in it.  I had a toaster in my office to cook my wonderful sugary goodness morning treats (Pop-Tarts) until Scott sent a picture of my violation to HR (OK, it was a funny joke).

My point is, why do offices have to be setup to be as unproductive as humanly possible?  Want good coffee (stuff that won’t burn a hole in your stomach)?  You have to walk to another building to get it.  I actually asked Facilities if we could put a coffee maker in and was told no because it is a fire violation.  OK, yes it probably is, and I don’t want to be blamed for endangering fellow co-workers lives, but can’t we think of something?  Oh, and by the way, I am the resident Emergency Response Coordinator for our floor, so if I set the building on fire I at least know what to do now that I have been through 2 hours of training.  I even got a fancy orange vest that makes me look all official.  We put a man on the moon, and we can’t find a way to make getting good coffee to an employee without it involving a marathon?  Want a fork, knife, or spoon?  Yeah, you have to walk to another building to get that too.  Want to microwave your food at work?  Yeah, we used to have two microwaves and one broke, so now you have to wait 15 minutes to nuke your 4-minute lunch.

People want things near them for a reason…to save time…and listen up companies…this ultimately saves you time.  Say what you want about Jason Calacanis, but the man has moments of brilliance.  I once heard him say on a podcast that he buys his employees lunch because it keeps them at work, keeps him “up” on what is going on in the office, and keeps them productive.  Southwest Airlines founder Herbert D. Keller also knows this because he is famous for saying “you have to treat your employees like customers“.  I work for a great company, and it does care for its employees and no company is perfect but when you make a change that affects your employees the thing I am reminded of most is you have to poll your employees before making a decision, so you make sure your decision doesn’t ultimately affect morale and the company’s bottom line.  If you poll your employees, and you still don’t listen, then that is an entirely different story.