Susan Boyle and Untapped Potential

By now you can't have failed to hear about the incredible story of Susan Boyle. She is a 48 year old unemployed lady who lives with her cat, Pebbles in Blackburn, Scotland. Just over a week ago she became a singing sensation when she appeared on the TV show, 'Britain's got Talent. Miss Boyle blew away the audience and the judges with her powerful and moving rendition of 'I Dreamed a Dream' from the musical 'Les Miserables'.

She is an incredible discovery and has become an overnight celebrity. A question that needs to be asked is 'How many other Susan Boyles are out there in any capacity in life and especially in business?'

What are companies doing to ensure that they are aware of the business talents of all their employees? One of the most effective tools is The Appraisal, only companies don't know how to run an appraisal system effectively and continue to miss out on the rich potential their people represent.

An appraisal that follows a printed document designed to capture information for posterity is, as most managers will tell you, a waste of time. An appraisal is the one time during a year where bosses can truly listen to their employees. They can find out what they enjoy doing at work, what motivates them, what they take pride in and what sort of challenges they would like to face in the future.

So why not treat your Appraisal system as a "My Company's Got Talent" show and allow people to reveal their potential.

For those of you still unfamiliar with Susan Boyle here's a link to her performance on YouTube Susan Boyle - I Dreamed a Dream

Incredible Management Training Offer

Management Training from Mitchell Phoenix – Low Cost High Value

The management training provided by Mitchell Phoenix is some of the most effective management training that you will find anywhere in the world. It creates immediate measurable business results and leaves managers with a hugely improved ability to make a difference. This goes for the CEO, the board, right down to the supervisors.

Why does Mitchell Phoenix management training make such an impact?

The management training programs take place over the course of six months and are run by inspirational business leaders who understand how to motivate managers to change the way they think and operate. Managers attend seminars one day per month and then put solutions and ideas into practice back at work.

There are immediate results that can be measured from the first day, results that may never have been possible without the input from Mitchell Phoenix.

Common quotes from delegates for over 20 years have been “I wish I knew then what I know now.”, “This is the best management training I have ever experienced.”, “The training has been life-changing.”

We at Mitchell Phoenix are so passionate and committed to the difference we can make to you and your company that for 2009 we will offer our core program entitled ‘Governing Change’ at a 50% discount to new customers who wish to move their organization forwards. The program is for up to eight managers and takes 6 days over six months.

For 2009 we are offering you some of the best management training available at an unbelievable price. Contact us now at:

enquiries@mitchellphoenix.com

….to see how ‘Governing Change’ can change your results forever.

Off Track: How Many of the Tech 100 Will Survive?

When the Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100 was published in September last year, Lehman Brothers had just collapsed, $85 billion had been spent bailing out AIG, and the UK government was just over a week away from announcing their £400 billion rescue plan for the British banking system.

Against an economic background like this the unspoken question was: which of these companies will still be in the top 100 next time around?

Many of these businesses are growing fast because they have a powerful idea which they have made into a profitable business. To maintain their momentum, especially in a recession, they will need more ideas – about both their core business and also about how they run the rapidly growing organization which has built up around it.

“When companies grow to a certain size,” says Kevin Yates, Managing Director of Mitchell Phoenix, “they can no longer rely on a handful of individuals at the top of the company for all of their innovative thinking. They need to create a culture of innovation and the capability to implement those new ideas throughout the whole business.”

Yates argues this is even more important during a recession. “In difficult times the quality of ideas can make or break a business,” he explains, “after all, ideas and the ability to put them into practice is all that separates companies from their competition. Now is the time to ensure that your business is set up to foster and implement innovative thinking.”

When faced with recession in the early 1990s Microsoft, which now sponsors the Tech Track 100, invested in developing the culture and the people within the organization.

“Mitchell Phoenix did extensive work on individual and team capability and performance development,” comments David Burrows, Managing Director in Government Industry at Microsoft. “There was a good focus on delivering usable value to the business, and a willingness to adjust to accommodate client need.”

“Microsoft understood that it was important to place innovation and the implementation of new ideas at the centre of their culture,” says Yates. “They knew that a high performance environment is only developed consciously and deliberately, and they set out to do just that. In many ways this was one of the foundation stones for their success.”

The Unexpected Success- Notes from Peter Drucker's work

Drucker writes that this is the most fertile area for successful innovation, and yet managements often miss or actively reject the opportunity an unexpected success presents.

Example:

A major clinical instrument producer developed a new line of machines for performing biological and clinical tests in hospitals. The line sold steadily. Then, unexpectedly, the company received a number of orders from industrial and university laboratories. The company did not seize upon this unexpected success. This new market – separate from the hospital market for which the products had been developed – was not exploited. Salesmen did not target the new opportunity, and relationships were not forged with the new customers. A few years later a competitor took over the university and industry markets, and because they proved to be very lucrative, it then invaded the hospital market - in which the original company had previously had the largest share.

Reasons why unexpected successes are often missed:

• Existing reporting systems often do not report them – especially if the success is qualitative rather than quantitative (eg a new kind of customer for a product, as in the example above)
• Anything which we have become used to in the business world is taken to be a constant – an immutable law – and therefore anything which contradicts this immutable law is deemed to be unsound, abnormal or simply wrong
• Top management may have spent their careers managing specific products or services in a specific way, and are sometimes unwilling to change what has always worked in the past
• An unexpected success places a question mark next to the management’s judgement, and they may answer with a question of their own: “if this really does present an opportunity, surely we would have thought of it before?”


An unexpected success is often an indication that our Vision is not equal to Reality. There is something about Reality – market conditions, consumer decision making – of which we are not fully aware.

The hospital equipment manufacturer mentioned in the example had not realised that users of scientific equipment no longer existed in distinct, discrete groups: hospital, university and industrial. Now they were all part of a single market – users of scientific instruments. The change produced two outcomes. First, a line of equipment designed for use in hospitals could now be sold to other customers. Second, the market niche the company had previously occupied had been swept away: they were now in competition with a number of other manufacturers of scientific instruments. By the time the company had realised this, Drucker informs us, it had lost a large part of its market share.

Conclusion 1: the unexpected success is not simply a pleasant opportunity to generate further revenue. If we are determined to retain and grow our market share, we must innovate in response to unexpected success, otherwise we will be left behind. It is not enough simply to react to change when it knocks down our front door – that will be too late. We must Govern Change if we are to survive.

This does not mean responding to unexpected success half-heartedly.

Example: In the 1950s there was a demand for university degrees which could be undertaken in the evenings after the students had been to work. One university designed a programme to cater for this demand, received a very high number of applications and found that the evening undergraduates performed better than their counterparts who attended normal daytime courses.

Now the university had a choice to make. It could meet the considerable demand for evening programmes, which would entail a substantial outlay at the expense of their traditional, daytime undergraduate facility. Or it could terminate the new initiative. Rather than deciding boldly, the university compromised and staffed the evening programme with cheap, second rate tutors. This ruined the evening programme, which subsequently closed, and also significantly damaged the university’s reputation.

Conclusion 2: The unexpected success must be taken seriously and the appropriate resources must be allocated. Drucker reminds us that it is not enough to pay lip-service to opportunity, it must be pursued vigorously.

Questions:

1. What is an example of an unexpected success in my business?
2. In what areas are unexpected successes occurring? What structures are in place to identify and research them?
3. How can an unexpected success be converted into an opportunity?
4. What would it mean to exploit this opportunity, and where would it lead us?

The Several Habits of Highly Effective Organizations

Constancy of purpose, to take a leaf from Dr Edward Deming, is one of the prime contributory factors to business success. It is a commitment to the long-term and connected with a continual improvement ethos. In order for any organization to become highly effective at sustaining its constancy of purpose it has to develop several habits.

The first of these habits is Strategy. Strategic planning and on-going reference to strategy is central to mobilizing people, empowering them and maintaining a greater level of control over results. Strategy as a habit is akin to taking regular compass bearings to ensure the venture is heading in the right direction. Companies should strive to become accomplished at strategic thinking as far down their organization as possible. The greater strategic awareness, the more attention to detail is paid. Detail is competitive edge.

In order for Strategy to be effectively put into action, a second critical habit needs to be developed. Culture. The way people think, communicate and act will also determine effectiveness. If Culture is a conscious habit, then there will be a consistency of approach throughout a business that reflects a common set of values and beliefs. It makes for the possibility of an environment in which people can excel. A great Culture is the product of great leadership.

If ‘Change is the only constant’ (Heraclitus), then it should be embraced. Change is another habit of highly effective organizations. They decide for Change rather than having to always react to it. It becomes a habit coupled with regular reference to strategy and the ability to move quickly because of a strong culture. Change, if it is a habit, is seen as positive and quickly adopted. Standing still in business is the same as dying.

Highly effective organizations are in the habit of referencing Principles. A business that is guided by Principles is able to make quicker, more confident decisions. A decision is a pivot between the past and the future. Strong, confident decision making is a reflection of clear strategic focus and translates into more committed action. Recognized Principles communicate integrity and unite teams. A Principle is only a Principle until it costs you something.

When things go wrong highly effective organizations listen. Real listening is linked to Openness. When a company sees success and failure as two ends of

the same stick, everything is simply information. Not only does openness allow focus to quickly move to solutions, it reflects confidence and security in its ability to cope with a setback. A blame culture cannot exist when the habit is to seek to understand, make a new decision and Govern Change. An organization is able to learn. Openness is the gateway to creativity and innovation.

Future Orientation is at the core of any effective enterprise. Habitually focusing on the future prompts the question ‘How do we move forward?’ and is action oriented. Future orientation is a reflection of a strategic organization with a culture and principles that propel it forwards. When a business is Future Oriented it will use time better and achieve more. Turn hope into expectation.

All organizational habits are characterized, exemplified and adopted by people. One more habit is finding, developing and retaining the Right People. Highly effective organizations are uncompromising in their recruitment. It is more about cultural fit than technical fit. They create a learning environment and encourage involvement. Training is a commitment to the people and appraisal is looked forward to. Management is rewarded and feedback is on a regular basis. People work without fear. It is people who deliver an organization’s results.


It is possible to build these habits deliberately, quickly and easily into any organization. Mitchell Phoenix has been transforming businesses with core business strengths for over twenty years.

Earth Hour 28th March 8.30-9.30pm

It is 'Earth Hour' this Saturday 28 March. The whole world is being encouraged to switch off all its lights from 8.30 to 9.30pm in an effort to encourage awareness over Global Warming. 2,848 cities, towns and municipalities in 84 countries have signed up so far.

When you create common goals for good its easy for people to sign up to them. Business take note.

Will you be switching off this Saturday?

Visions Are a Load of Nonsense

We are in an unprecedented period in world economic history. Banks have failed, companies have failed, the system has failed. It is being propped up with a $900 billion finger in the dyke and a prayer that it will hold. We've moved from Worldcom and Enron, who illegally pillaged the system, to the legal marauders who have now brought us to our knees.

Where did it all go wrong? Here is an example of why we are in the pickle we are in.

"General Motor’s vision is to be the world leader in transportation products and related services. We will earn our customers’ enthusiasm through continuous improvement driven by the integrity, teamwork, and innovation
of GM people."

Vision. What a crock that is! It is supposed to be the basis of strategy and here we have an example from one of the great businesses of the age demonstrating that vision in business is not understood.

The statement is mostly about them. What do we, the customer, get out of it? Enthusiasm! Look at where the vision has taken them...to the brink. You could also argue that not many people in GM were aware of the vision judging by their track record.

A vision like GMs is as good as useless to a business. Their vision is a goal with a bit of 'mission' thrown in. There is nothing in the statement to show what their contribution is going to be. A vision is not what can the world do for you, it is what can you do for the world.

Interestingly, as a result of the economic crisis and the car industries' begging bowl being held out that a truer vision is emerging in relation to greener policies. A vision should help business get what it wants, only make sure that there is also a contribution in return.