You Can't Shrink Your Company into Greatness

Some things change and some things stay the same. Just think that 65 years ago in 1954, a film called Executive Suite focused on the boardroom battles of Tredway Corporation, a furniture company, after the founder suddenly died without a succession plan. That former president changed the culture of the company by walking the factory floor and tossing badly made furniture. Now, furniture is certainly not as exciting as tech or social media or search, but for those of you into history, manufacturing was the norm post World War 2.

The movie and its themes, however, are as relevant then as they are today. Check out https://youtu.be/vcEOsGvT0qA which shows William Holden's final climactic boardroom scene where he talks about innovation vs. cost reduction and pride that the workers feel in building good products. Think about today and how corporations act to improve current earnings so the street is appeased. And think about the company for which you want to work. This movie was an expose on the machinations of big business. It showed power struggles, behind the scenes scheming for power and leadership, and the reluctance of one person to compromise his ideals for the good of the company. Interestingly, all the executives felt that they had the best interests of the company at heart.

It came down to is Loren Shaw (played by Frederic March) vs Don Walling (played by William Holden) in the battle between cost savings and accounting vs product quality and innovation. Shaw used short-term accounting gains and cost reductions to satisfy the stockholders. Walling was more concerned about the quality of the company's products, better manufacturing processes, and new products to grow the company and infuse passion into the workers.

Walling's enthusiasm, vision, and his stirring boardroom speech won over the entire board in the end. But you have to watch this stirring performance to appreciate the battle and the climax.

Memorable quotes:

A good movie, to me, has some great memorable quotes and this movie certain has them as well. Here are four memorable quotes as relevant today as they were nearly 65 years ago:

Ø  Stop growing and you die.

Ø  Grabbing for the quick and easy is the sure thing that is just a lack of faith in the future.

Ø  The force behind a great company has to be more than the pride of one man; it has to be the pride of thousands.

Ø  Never ask a man to do anything that will poison his pride or work.

I know I can relate to these concepts and hold the belief that you cannot shrink yourself into greatness by cost reduction and a focus on the present. Being afraid to innovate is the kiss of death. Think about Blockbuster, Kodak, Toys R Us, Radio Shack, Sports Authority, and Borders among others. Some imploded because their business models were obsolete while others did not take advantage of new technology. Yet, others failed to appreciate the seriousness of the competition and failed to react to it.

Lessons Learned:

The themes in the movie from 65 years ago are relevant today. Here are a few takeaways.

1. Stay true to yourself. If you don’t like politics in business, start your own company. If you want to stay in corporate America, you have to learn to play the game.
2. Build relationships around you- in the company for which you work, in your office area, and with suppliers. I used to believe that being the smartest person in the room was the key to success. A lot of people are equally smart. But it is the combination of innate intelligence (IQ), Emotional Intelligence (EQ), and Business Intelligence (BQ) built on a platform of relationships with people that will enable success.
3. Innovation is the heartbeat of business. Innovation can be in products, in processes or even the way people are treated and led.
4. Passion is critical to building a strong company. Every worker should have passion in what they are doing and feel that they can contribute to the success of their company. An engaged workforce where each employee believes they are part owner of the company- and get compensated accordingly- will help a company grow.
5.   Always look to the future. Craft a vision on where you want to be and get aligned to your vision and cause.

C-Level Partners has been established to help executives build value for their companies. Whether the company needs to increase value because the owner wants to retire, or whether the company needs to change because their growth curve has flattened, we can help. Feel free to reach out to me at dfriedman@clevelpartners.net or call me at 949 439-4503 for a free 45 minute consultation of how we can help your company grow. As Satchel Paige said:  don’t look back: someone may be gaining on you.

Do More By Doing Less

Courtesy Huffington Post

Susan Howington, founder and CEO of Power Connections, hosts a meeting of top level business executives from around Orange County. At these round tables she raises a topic of interest and executives discuss and share their points of view. It’s very interesting and engaging and all of us learn from each other.

Recently, Susan brought together a dozen executives with backgrounds in general management, operations, sales, marketing and human resources. Susan started off by reading a recent Wall Street Journal article from January 2018 entitled: How to Succeed in Business: Do Less. That article basically said that it’s best to do fewer tasks and obsess over getting them right. Another study of 5000 executives referenced in the round table, provided insight into how top producers work. In this study, the key to success revolved around mastering selectivity on what was to get done and saying NO to bosses.

It was unanimous within the group that FOCUS is critical to executive success and to a company. It was no longer the norm to work harder. The goal is to work smarter and by working on fewer “priorities” success would follow. This doesn’t mean you forget about everything that is on your list of 50+ activities that need to be accomplished. Rather, this list is maintained. Select the top three activities and then as one is complete you add another to the top three list. Focus is critical. I remember an employee at one of my companies that came to me with a list of more than 100 items and was overwhelmed. I sat down with her and tried to prioritize those 100 into some sequence to get her to focus on the most important. I cannot say it was a perfect success, but we did agree by eventually using pairwise comparison, which activities were on top of the list. And then I told her I would only evaluate her on the top three activities and when those were complete we would modify her objectives and add the next priority. She was not happy but she acquiesced.

During the round table discussion, some attendant questions were addressed:

1. How do you prioritize personal needs with business needs?
2. How do you find what is the most important in the corporate world?
3. How do you say no to bosses?

How do you prioritize personal needs with business needs?

• Executives must balance both personal and corporate needs. We hear about work / life balance and millennials especially want to ensure this balance is maintained.
• Ensure you know what you want to do. Start with a personal vision/mission statement. For example, mine is to build businesses and build the next generation of business leaders. Make sure there is time set aside each week to do one or two things that help support your self-vision.
• On the corporate side, ensure you understand the business strategy and the metrics the business will use to determine success. Then make sure you develop a maximum of one to three things and make sure your results support those corporate metrics.

How do you find out what is most important in a corporate world?

• On the corporate side, ensure you understand the business strategy and the metrics the business will use to determine success. Then make sure you develop a maximum of one to three things and make sure your results support those corporate metrics.
• Market research can be used to determine what is important to focus on. Notwithstanding the corporate strategy and business plan, market research can obtain information on what is important to the customer and how well the company performs on that attribute. The results can be plotted on a Quad map. (See my prior blogs for a detailed description.) Priorities should be given to those attributes that are important to a customer and which are performed well (leverage and maintain those activities) as well as those that are important yet not performed well. Those have to be corrected and might form strategic initiatives for the company.
• Once you determine what is important to do, you have to determine how that task or activity fits on the importance/urgency scale. Certainly if something is urgent and important, it has to get done. However, the key to success is to determine what is important and NOT urgent and prioritize those activities so you have time to do them right.

·     What happens when you have a boss that says, “We will work from morning til night until everything is done,” and then keeps adding more activities and chores to the list? I know I have had those types of bosses. Sometimes you have to say no and it is how you say no that may be critical. Of course you can try to quote Warren Buffet who said: ”The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.” In my opinion, you can do this only if you have succeeded in prior projects and earned that type of respect. But what happens when the boss is adamant?

How do you say no to bosses?

• Develop your list of activities and work with your boss to determine the top three things that need to get accomplished.
• Use the concept of SMART (specific, measurable, accountable, responsible, time limited) goals or management by objectives to set up the goal, metric for success, and time when the objective will be accomplished.
• Ask for more time or help to accomplish projects or activities that are important to the boss.
• Note: the participants at the round table suggested that if the boss will not agree on prioritization and other negative cultural habits crop up, that environment could be toxic and it might be time to find another job. Most bosses will listen to reason – at least we hope.

Once these three questions are addressed, you have to execute. Here are some prescriptions to help execute your priorities:

• Use your calendar to block specific time slots, making a meeting with yourself, to accomplish your priorities.
• Answer emails only at selected times during the day, e.g. first thing in the morning, before lunch, and before you leave for the day. Many of us hear the little email tone signaling “you’ve got mail” and we respond immediately.
• Select a personal advisory board to help you keep focused on the important tasks both personally and for business.
• Develop a corporate battle rhythm to focus on those important activities and plan them out on a calendar with the right people in attendance. As a correlate, don’t have meetings without a clear agenda and expected outcomes and don’t invite people if they are really not needed at the meeting.
• Develop executive alignment on strategic initiatives through the strategic planning process. Use a facilitator to help define the priorities. Market research that provides input from customers on importance and performance can be used as the basis for that alignment and the executive team can multi-vote on the most important strategic initiatives.

This blog is only meant to touch the surface of what we discussed and the answers in many companies are probably more complex. Yet the round table discussion was a great start to get us to think about how focus and prioritization will make us more productive. And saying NO to bosses, while scary at times, is the right way to help you, them, and the company to be more successful in the long run.

If you have any questions or want to continue the dialog, contact me at dfriedman@clevelpartners.net or Susan Howington at susan@powerconnectionsinc.com. 

Five Not So Easy Lessons on Growth Leadership

Most of us watched Superbowl 52 between the Eagles and the Patriots. Part of the charm of the

Superbowl and the parties we attend, relates to seeing the commercials. In fact, much time is used “rating” the commercials in terms of humor, appeal, and somewhere down the line the effectiveness of the advertising spend. As a piece of trivia, a Superbowl commercial this year costs $5 million for a 30 second ad PLUS the actual cost of designing, developing and shooting the commercial. Note that Nick Foles, the Eagles’ Quarterback and MVP, made only $1.6 million for the entire year. By the way, as a Giant’s fan I really liked the Eli/Odell Dirty Dancing commercial.

Last year, Coke eliminated the role of Chief Marketing Officer and reorganized around a new role of Chief Growth Officer (CGO) to integrate marketing with customer and commercial teams. Other consumer package goods (CPG) companies, such as Hershey and Kellogg, have also moved to a similar function with Kellogg instituting the function in mid-2015. How successful are those companies? It may be too early to tell. Kellogg’s results over the past few years have been passable and they might not be the best model to use. Their CGO was an advertising executive – albeit very smart and well regarded and their revenue the year after his appointment was DOWN.

We can argue that a title change may be necessary but it is certainly not sufficient for improving growth and making that revenue and growth profitable. The Chief Marketing Officer has significant issues in a corporate structure. I have seen many times that marketing is regarded as a function of planning more ads, designing creative billboards, winning the contest of the best Superbowl ad, and winning creative awards. This is more “fluff and stuff” vs the reality of hard marketing and on this basis alone, a change in title from marketing to growth officer seems warranted.

Let’s take a look at five (5) lessons that can be applied to what I call Growth Leadership.

1. Growth starts with the CEO. Without the CEO and his strategy, successful growth plans cannot be put into place. I keep reminding myself of the Alice in Wonderland quote: If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there. Companies who want to grow have to put a CEO with that objective in place and not all CEOs fit that bill.

2. The company has to have a growth mentality. While this may start with the CEO, the people he hires and the culture of the organization must be focused on growing. I know this may sound strange to some. Unfortunately, most of us have been in companies that believe growth is based only on EBITDA increasing. While that is important, EBITDA can be improved – at least in the short term – by cutting cost. I have never believed that you can shrink yourself into greatness.

3. Innovation must be a hallmark of a growth company. Without a solid business model and without good products companies will not grow. There is just too much competition and the internet and agile development around software puts many companies on an even footing. Think about companies you know. How many of them are growing? How many of them have a solid product line and product portfolio? Growing companies have solid portfolios and products in the wings – or a good acquisition strategy to acquire new products or partners that have these new products. A creative ad on the Superbowl is not sufficient. Recall the commercials you watched. Which ads pushed minor line extensions or existing product vs. new ones? I only recall two really new products: a Kia Stinger car and a new Lexus LC500. (BTW, I like both of these cars!!)

4. P=R-C. Let’s get to basics. Any officer in a company must recognize this fundamental equation and determine how they can affect the elements which create profit. Clearly, a Chief Growth Officer will be responsible for the revenue side as well as the investment which will be put to use in generating that revenue. As a correlate, growth officers must change their internal perspective of being cost centers to investment centers. They need to think about a concept called return on investment. Even good marketing officers that I have known, focus on a concept called ROMI or return on marketing investment, treating marketing as a business and not merely a creative channel. So, when we look at the Superbowl commercials, how many of these were merely “fluff and stuff” creating awareness for the company vs. a means to drive growth? Would the company be better off spending more than $5 million on alternative marketing activities that would directly drive growth? What is interesting is that small companies with lack of budget dollars focus on the bottom line and are tactically driven.

5. An integrated approach to growth can be achieved with forethought. Whether you call the executive a Chief Growth Officer, Chief Revenue Officer or Chief Marketing Officer, I believe this person is an integrative force within the company. This person, whether directly or indirectly, must be a linking pin between the outside world of the customer and the internal world of production and manufacturing. That person needs to connect and get different functions such as marketing, product, demand generation, social media, customer service, usability/user interface, and customer service to work together to a common end.

 

That person must be responsible for a) managing at least part of the investment in growth initiatives, b) managing or certainly influencing the innovation process relating to new products, line extensions, and processes to make the customer experience better, c) the overall go-to-market strategy and tactics that are broad to include all customer touchpoints. I call this Big M marketing where the company executives are aligned for a common purpose and focus on providing the best products and services to the customer.  Individual silos are eliminated and therefore a consistent brand image can be projected. And most, important, all these components need to have targets and be measured and reviewed as part of the business battle rhythm of the company.

The title of a function is important just as a brand and its meaning is important to a company. I am not a huge fan of marketing as it is implemented in many companies because in my opinion current Chief Marketing Officers have failed with regard to helping a company grow their revenues profitably. I have argued this many times before. I believe I am correct in my assessment, as the tenure of a CMO is approximately 4 years, lowest tenure in the C-suite and approximately half as long as their CEOs. But I also believe that there is an opportunity for companies to improve their top line growth and margins by following these 5 prescriptions. We, at C-Level Partners, are focused on helping small to mid-cap businesses improve their growth and margins. Write to me at dfriedman@clevelpartners.net to see how we can help your company grow.

Secrets to Create Your Own Luck

Sheryl Sandberg said:  If you're offered a seat on a rocket ship, don't ask what seat! Just get on. Here's the rub: will the rocket ship ride be successful or will it blow up? It's easy when you have made it to look back and give advice. Remember Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof when he sang "If I were a rich man..........." People would fawn on you because you made it and listen to your advice but that advice may or may not be useful.

I DO believe you can create your own luck and you need to take chances because opportunities come along infrequently. Just don't be rash. And let's be realistic – luck plays an important role in which rocket ship you jump on. So the question to me is how can you improve your luck?

Let me change course for a minute. How many of you get emails hawking a system in stock trading that says you can make $1million with an investment of only $10,000? I get those emails all the time and sometimes I am curious enough to find out how. It’s usually based on highly leveraged trades using options or other derivatives and the deals are truly based on luck. I will give you an example that has the good and the bad of both. If you would have invested $8,000 in Ethereum (ETC), a cryptocurrency, in Dec. 2016, and you sold only 7 months later you would have made $380,000!!

Hindsight is wonderful. Or if I invested only $100 in the lottery and was successful, I could have made $100 million. Makes me want to run out now and buy a ticket.

Investing $8,000 is a lot for many people and the potential for loss in the stock market is fairly high. Risking $1 or even $100 on a high potential return is less risky and most people can afford to lose a small amount of money to win something very large. Playing with your career, however, is a high risk venture so you have to be somewhat cautious and take calculated risks. Additionally, as business people you may be faced with several different projects or opportunities that you can jump on (the rocket ships) and the question remains:  “how do you select the right opportunity?” So, the question exists whether you are playing the stock market, the lottery, being an angel investor or Venture Capitalist, or just a good business person. The answer is not simple yet those successful in finding that rocket ship have a system they follow – or they are just plain lucky.

A system is a set of rules and methodologies that are used to select options from a set of opportunities. And, moreover, it is a set of principles to follow that tell you when to exit and while you are in the opportunity, how to manage the opportunity to achieve the best success. Whether it is the stock market, your business career, or the leader of projects the same general principles will apply. Jack Schwager wrote a series of books called The Market Wizards  (click the link for Schwager’s Amazon site). In short he discovered that each successful investor had different systems but the one thing that stood out is the discipline each investor had at implementing their system AND each investor had some unique skill or advantage that he/she put to use, e.g. great analytical mind, attention to detail, or understanding of a specific market.

Creating a 6-step system for luck

There is no magical system that can be implemented that creates luck. There is no service to which you can subscribe. Yet, there are some steps you can take that will improve your chances of success and make you lucky. As Thomas Jefferson said: “I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more I have of it. Here are 6 steps you can take to work not only harder but also smarter.

1.   Get organized. Create a journal of ideas and catalog them. Have a special book with tabs for these ideas. I set up a journal using Staples ARC system and have tabs on new ideas, new blogs, interesting articles and I review them regularly.

2.   Live your passion. This sounds so simple but from the perspective of building luck, living means getting out and networking and attending events with others who share your passion. I believe luck is improved when you focus on your passion. If you are a technologist live in that environment by attending events at schools, through meetups and other in-person activities. Relationships with others can lead to luck. Think about people at Harvard who met Bill Gates or Mark Zukerberg and had the opportunity to know them and eventually work for them. Attend TED events for new ideas. I am interested in AI and deep learning so I pay attention to meetings that talk about these technologies. I have become active with a group at CHOC hospital called MI3 (Medical Information and Intelligence Institute) run by Dr. Anthony Chang and whose focus is on applying AI to health care. Companies that present there and discussions on topics may give me ideas that I can enter into my journal.

3.   Improve your learning. With the Internet it is easy to learn. You can sign up through Coursera or the Kahn Academy or through colleges who offer educational information. It’s also easy to sign up for Google Alerts for things that are important to you. I also read Investor Business Daily, not only for stock information but also the sections on New Technology and New America. But don’t stop there; you can set up your reader on the internet to send you articles on topics of interest. My home page on Yahoo is set up with RSS feeds on subjects of interest.

4.   Evaluate ideas and perform due diligence. There will never be a dearth of ideas. The issue is evaluating these ideas based on attributes that are important to you. Consider risk vs. reward. If it is a new company you are evaluating (the rocket ship) look at the competition and the management team. In angel investing we pay more attention to the management team than any other factor. Do some market research, preferably first hand research. I recall a postal worker who delivered the mail years ago and he saw something very interesting. People were having red disks delivered to their homes. The company was Netflix and he invested early. In June 2002 the price was under $1 per share; now it is nearly $200. It is not as rapid a growth as Ethereum but it has been and probably will be a good ride. Another way to research something is to walk around the malls, especially for consumer goods. See where people, especially young people, are buying and what they are wearing.

5.   Act quickly. You don’t want to be rash but when opportunity knocks you have to act quickly. At this point you will have had collected ideas, learned about new things and probably evaluated ideas. When the idea is presented or the opportunity materializes you might have already analyzed it. Then make a decision and move on. As they say, success is never final; failure is never fatal. This brings us to the last point.

6.   Develop a contingency plan. Uncertainty exists and sometimes events beyond your control can put a damper on the best plans. Therefore, it is always good to reevaluate your plans and opportunities on a regular basis, e.g. every 6 months but certainly not longer than a year.

Final thoughts

The system is important and if you have a good system positive outcomes will accrue in time. If you are not getting positive outcomes either your system is not good or your “edge” is not as great as you thought. Here are some considerations for you.

• Early failure is not the end of the world. You have to get comfortable in your system and potentially tweak it. The key is the ability to fail fast and learn from your mistakes.
• Flexibility. I have written in the past that a great business executive has to be “fast, fluid, and flexible.”  This is certainly true for those in business and in improving their luck at getting on the right rocket ship.
• The method used to improve luck and success has to be right for you. Just as Schwager showed for great investors, their systems matched their personalities. You have to find a system that works for your temperament and your level of risk.
• Being lucky is not easy but luck increases with more opportunities and learning. You can make your own luck by hard work and learning from your mistakes. The key factor though may be how you personally deal with setbacks and success. It is said you learn more from setbacks and as I look at my own career, I can certainly resonate with that point.

There is no perfect system that can be implemented to improve your luck. And frankly, I believe some people are luckier than others. An actor that is “discovered” by a movie executive is one example. For others, especially in the business world seeking success or fame and fortune, it is more likely a combination of keeping your eyes open, actively seeking out opportunities, and a balance of IQ (innate intelligence) plus EQ (emotional intelligence and resilience) plus BQ (business sense which can be learned).

And maybe one day, for those readers of this blog who become successful, I will see you on the cover of Forbes magazine. For more discussions, feel free to reach out to me at dfriedman@clevelpartners.net.

The Message Map- a Cool Tool

How many times in your career did you have to make a presentation and had trouble hitting the mark?  Either your pitch was off point, did not cover the essential elements or you just rambled without having the focus you knew was needed to get your message across. Think about your having to make a presentation for funding for your pet project or presenting a strategic plan to your Board, dealing with an unruly press (of course the press is never unruly!!) or even presenting your credentials in an interview setting.

This is where message mapping can help prepare you for such presentations. I have used this template in different situations in my career and I want to send my thanks to Tripp Frohlichtstein, a media guru and founder of Media Masters, who taught me this method nearly 25 years ago and who recently passed away. It is actually a very simple architecture of building your messages using three different building blocks and is shown as follows:

Home Base:  The major point you are trying to convey and when discussions become tough the presenter goes back to the home base and restates the major point he/she is trying to get across.

Message Pillars:   The home base, major message is supported by 2 to 4 message pillars which are categories of items upon which the major message is based.

Proof Points:  These are the specific quantifiable or discrete items that support the message pillars.

Let’s take two examples. One of the examples is based on trying to sell a new idea to your board of directors.  In this case, the message map may have the following components;

Home Base:  We have a new SaaS product that is based on proprietary behavioral analytics incorporated with Artificial Intelligence that enables Fortune 2000 companies prevent cyber attacks.

Message Pillar 1:  Technology

               Proof point 1: 5 patented algorithms

               Proof point 2: Technology licensed from University of California

Message Pillar 2:  Partnerships

               Proof Point 1: Partnerhsip with IBM Watson

               Proof Point 2: Broadcom partnership for new chip

               Proof Point 3: Visualization tool provided by Palantir

Message Pillar 3:  Customers lined up for Beta

               Proof Point 1:  Fortune 10 company in aerospace agreed to test product in the US

               Prood Point 2: GSA contract in process

               Proof Point 3:  5 additional customers agreed to try before buying

Message Pillar 4: Competition

               Proof Point 1:  Cost will be 50% of existing competing products      

               Proof Point 2:  Competitive moat can be established based on patented algorithms

               Proof Point 3:  Co-branding with partner  creates distinct product set in eyes of the customer.

By visually writing these points out on a piece of paper the presenter has a great tool to use in preparation for the Board presentation. Additional data supplementing each message pillar or proof point can be developed as well.

The second example where the message map is useful is in preparation for interviews and  I have this technique to prepare them. Let’s say the person is a marketing expert looking for a new C-Level job where he doesn’t have the precise experience in the industry but has a related experience in working with recurring revenue streams. I will fill in part of the message map and perhaps the reader can think about what else needs to be filled in as proof points.

Home Base:  Marketing executive with more than 25 years experience developing recurring revenue streams in a diverse set of industries which relies on my creativity, innovation and use of third party partnerships to generate improved margins. (Note the bold elements which set up the 4 message pillars.)

Message Pillar 1: Recurring revenue streams

               Proof Point 1: Three companies where I led marketing to 4 new recurring revenue products

               Proof Point 2: Total revenue for 4 products was 200 million per year by the second year

Message Pillar 2: Creativity and Innovation

               Proof Point 1: Used Lead User research to design a platform product which was extensible                                          to 2 other market segments

               Proof Point 2:  Relied on my contacts at my alma mater to develop licensing agreement in                                           exchange for share of future revenue

Message Pillar 3: Partnerships

               Proof Point 1:  Partnership with University

               Proof Point 2:  Partnership with new sales channels including Geek Squad and CDW

Message Pillar 4: Improved Margins

               Proof Point 1:  Gross margins ranged from 40-65% on each product introduced.

While these examples are fictionalized (based on fact by the way), they illustrate the power of the message map. Clearly there are many elements of using the message map that are not covered in this blog. Yet the power of this type of tool is evident. 

If you have questions please contact me at dfriedman@clevelpartners.net and visit our site at www.clevelpartner.net for other resources and tools that can help your business grow. 

The Pen IS Mightier than the Computer- Sort Of!

Many people who know me realize that I collect pens- fountain pens. Some of my collection is shown on the left.  Last year I went to the LA Pen Show for the first time and it was packed around the mezzanine of a Marriott Hotel.   Today, I received an article from an investment group and the writer, Patrick Wilson, Senior Economic Analyst for Maudlin Economics (@PatrickW) wrote an interesting piece which resonated with me.  I wanted to share that.

As an angel investor with TechCoastAngels (www.techcoastangels.com) we listen to pitches to see which companies are investable for our investor group.  After each presentation we take notes and provide comments- both what we like and concerns.  I recall one time when a colleague was to take notes but he did not have a pen and paper and he had to find his computer.   (Of course, I offered him a pad and pen but he politely declined.)   When I read this article and thought back to my days in school and even the way I do stock and market analysis for investments, marketing, or just learning, it made me realize a few things.

First, as Patrick points out the newest technology isn’t always the best tool for the job nor as helpful as you think it might be. Recall the acronym KISS.   Pens are KISS at the right time and place.

Patrick wrote

For instance, recently I saw a Quartz article on cursive handwriting. Many schools that stopped teaching it now realize that was a mistake. Research shows that writing by hand actually helps your brain work better.

The reasons for taking handwriting seriously are worth considering even if you’re not a kid or a parent worried about education. Anyone can benefit from penmanship’s cognitive benefits, whether you’re taking notes at a meeting or just trying to figure out what you think.

Brain scans during the two activities also show that forming words by hand as opposed to on a keyboard leads to increased brain activity. Scientific studies of children and adults show that wielding a pen when taking notes, rather than typing, is associated with improved long-term information retention, better thought organization, and increased ability to generate ideas.

That matches my own experience. I used to see people at conferences taking notes on their computers and feel a little embarrassed to bring out my paper notepad. But having tried both, I found that handwriting is faster, and I retain the information better.

For all our whiz-bang technology, it turns out that a pen and notepad work better than the latest “notebook” computers and you never have to recharge them. (They’re also hackproof, at least for me. No one else can read my writing even if they steal my notepad.)

I liked the article on several levels.  First, find the right tool for the problem.  If a company is looking to do a marketing campaign, they might not need an Oracle system for a direct mail program but rather Get Response or even an Outlook plug in depending on their list size.   If a company has a large project to manage, should they use Microsoft Project or something like Odoo?  The answer is it all depends on circumstance, complexity, skills of the people using the tools and the like.

If you have questions on tools to be used in business, I would be glad to chat.  Or if you just want to talk about fountain pens we can do that as well.  BTW from left to right, the fountain pens are: Delta Dolce Vita Large, Visconti Cosmo, Pelican 800, ST DuPont Orpheo Palladium, and Waterman LeMans 100.   Contact me at dfriedman@clevelpartners.net or 949 4394503. 

Communications for Strategic Advantage: The Voice of Leadership

                          The art of communications is the language of leadership.    

                                                             James Humes, author and presidential speechwriter.  

I was always taught as a youngster that if you are smart people will listen.  How UNTRUE.  Certainly being smart is important but it is the tone, tenor and communications style you use that makes you real powerful and a person to whom people want to listen.  Think about the people in your life – be it at home or in the office- and see how you react to them in different situations.  Learning the key traits to communicating is both an art and a science.

I had the privilege of listening to Victor Dominguez, Managing Partner of Ligature Group provide a keynote talk at a recent Masters Lunch.  Victor is a communications pro and a “creative” with an advertising background. His consultancy focuses on building authentic communications with people and to move relationships from the initial stages of building trust to forming strategic partnerships.

Here are some of his pearls of wisdom from his talk.  Frankly I wish I learned this as a first time executive as I would have been able to build relationships faster.

      1. There are 10 cultural conflicts which undermine a  company’s success
            a.      Fear
            b.      Blame
            c.      Workaround
            d.      Assumptions
            e.      Backsliding
            f.       Lack of Accountability
            g.      Organizational Silos
            h.      Gossip
            i.       Disrespect
            j.       Chronic Dysfunctional Behavior

    2. Employees can resolve conflict  without special training by focusing on
           a.       Respect
           b.      Trust
           c.       Listening and identifying shared goals
           d.       Advise
           e.      Change
    3.  Align communications with ethics and actions
           a.       Do the right thing
           b.       For the right reason
           c.       Do it the right way
   4.    It’s not about the words you use; it’s about what people hear
   5.    Build trust and respect by
           a.       Asking questions
           b.       Listen actively and purposefully
   6.    Communicating with Millennials seems to be hard but is really easy
           a.     Millennials don’t like BS!
                        i.      Avoid corporate talk
                        ii      Say it straight and don’t talk down to a millennial
           b.   Focus on the end goal to solve a problem
           c.    Recognize them for their results- then again, who doesn’t like kudos and recognition?
   7.    The ability to learn faster than your competition may be the only sustainable competitive                advantage.

Of the 7 items listed I know that early in my career I violated several of these tenets.   Thankfully I have learned from my mistakes.  The good news is that many younger executives and even more “mature” ones should pay attention to these pearls of wisdom as the combination of smarts and communications skills will make you more effective faster.

Do you agree or disagree with this blog?  Let me know and please like it and share it as you see fit.