Planning for the unthinkable has become the top priority. It doesn’t matter what business you’re in. If you lead a business, you’re now in the contingency business. Everyone is now a corporate strategy planner. You have to look at the things that will never happen and then provide a workable plan to survive, and potentially […]
COVID-19 AND RE-THINKING THE BALANCE BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL PRODUCTIVITY AND COLLABORATION
I wrote a piece up on Inc.com entitled, “3 Ways to Inspire Innovation From Remote Teams,” that touches upon a critically important point that frankly needs a deeper dive than what my editors over there typically want. Thus, the double click here. There’s more to it than just saying the work from home workstyle gives companies ways to foster greater innovation […]
Identity Is the New Currency: Reputation Management and Google’s Knowledge Panels
It dawned on me after connecting a new domain and email account to MailChimp and having my first test email come back with a “we’re not sure who sent this email” error message that identity is the new currency in the digital world. This isn’t a hard sell, I’m sure. Look in your junk […]
Meet the New Capitalism. Same As the Old Capitalism.
I wrote a piece over at Inc.com the other day that should be cross-posted over here, as well, on the subject of stakeholder capitalism. It’s very much in vogue to say how capitalism is dead, or shareholder capitalism has failed, etc., etc., all of which is somewhat ridiculous on its face. What we’ve clearly seen […]
3 Rules that Define Corporate Leadership in a Digital Age
In an age dominated by technology – and where our workers have the same needs and expectations as our customers – how is a smart leader to actually lead? New research points out 3 major megatrends that define leadership in a digital age.
Walking Through the Minefield of “Brand Values” in a Divided America
Every publication in America has a lead off article this morning featuring the word, “polarized.” Without much need for deep consideration, we can all agree we’re a much-divided nation. How divided are we? Of course we have “our” and “their” TV networks, news aggregators, and websites. But we also have “our” and “their” restaurants, clothing […]
Chicken Wars, Culture Wars, and Killing Giants-style Disruption: Chick fil A vs Popeye’s vs “New Player Entering Game”
McDonalds franchisees write a letter to corporate asking for a “southern-style chicken sandwich” to compete with, ahem, Chick fil A. Popeye’s Fried Chicken launches a competitor and pokes the market leader on Twitter, attempting to start a social media flare-up that can only result in more awareness of their new offering. Wendy’s weighs in, suggesting […]
The Business Roundtable’s Almost Sensible Statement on the New Purpose for the Corporation
The Business Roundtable’s recent pronouncement that they’ve changed their stance on “the purpose of the corporation” – from maximizing shareholder equity to something more akin to recognizing the broad array of stakeholder interests, from employees to the environment to communities – has quickly made the rounds, with both kudos and catcalls coming from different places. […]
Cycles and Changes: Why and When You Need to Bring a Smart Macro Trend Framework to Your Business
Why – and when – do you bring macro trend research into play for your business? The answer is simple: you bring trend research in when you’re in a cycle that needs big picture input or when something important has changed and you need a broader worldview to deal with the ramifications. I’ve spoken to […]
Brand Values vs. Brand Militancy: A Short Series of Cautionary Tales
ESPN made a mistake. In believing that the network stood for something far bigger than sports reporting, it decided that its real role in American culture was political militancy. It paid a heavy price for this misstep, losing 15 million subscribers over a period of 8 years. Now, with its brand and finances in tatters, […]