Lessons from a Customer

Posted on July 3, 2012 by David Shedd

Over the last month, my family and I have moved from Chandler, Arizona to Newport Beach, California. We sold our house in Chandler, moved ourselves and our belongings, and bought a house in Newport Beach.

As so many of you who have done similar moves know, we became “turbocharged customers” during this two month process, hemorrhaging money as we fixed up our former house to get ready to sell, moved, and fixed up our new house. By my latest reckoning, we have dealt with 106 stores, companies, and service providers in the course of this move.

The overall lesson from this one customer is sober.

Good Customer Service is Rare

Continue reading →

Posted in Growth and Strategy, Perform / Execution, Sales and Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Leadership Machine – Developing Skills for Your Leaders and Executives

Posted on June 26, 2012 by David Shedd

In their book, The Leadership Machine (Architecture to Develop Leaders For Any Future), Michael W. Lombard and Robert W. Eichinger discuss ways to build leaders and develop leadership competencies (skills) in any company. Although the book is a bit too full of consulting speak, it does contain useful ideas on what makes good executives and leaders. And it provides insights and ideas on how to develop specific leadership skills that may be lacking in your executives.

Why Leadership?

  • There is a leadership supply problem. There are not enough good managers and leaders in almost every company. Continue reading →
Posted in Business Acumen, Leadership, Personal Success | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The “Hard Work” Myth

Posted on June 19, 2012 by David Shedd

A few months ago, there was a lot of discussion and a bit of vitriol about Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook, and her habit of leaving the office at 5:30 pm in order to have dinner with her family. Much of the discussion has focused on the difficulty of women in executive positions to balance work and life, etc.

For me, the issue is that Ms. Sandberg is puncturing that greatest of American entrepreneurial and corporate myths:

To work hard is to work long hours.

Continue reading →

Posted in Perform / Execution, Personal Success, Team / People | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance – An Inside View of a Successful Turnaround and Culture Change

Posted on June 12, 2012 by David Shedd

In Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? – Leading a Great Enterprise Through Dramatic Change, former IBM CEO, Lou Gerstner, gives a first-hand account of how he led the turnaround of IBM in the 1990’s. I recommend the book  for businesspeople (in any industry) to see a case study in turning a company around and significantly changing a business culture.

Continue reading →

Posted in Growth and Strategy, Improve / Turnaround | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

“Do You Want Fries With That?” – An Opportunity for Profitable Growth

Posted on June 5, 2012 by David Shedd

McDonald’s employees are trained to ask all customers whether they want fries with their meal. This little question, repeated millions of times a day in thousands of McDonald’s restaurants worldwide, creates millions of dollars of profits for McDonald’s as millions of customers go ahead and purchase the high margin McDonald’s fries.

In today’s slow-growth economy, all businesses should follow McDonald’s lead:

What other related products or services can you offer to your customers at the time of purchase?

Continue reading →

Posted in Growth and Strategy, Sales and Marketing | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

The McKinsey Way – A Strong Primer on Problem Solving

Posted on May 29, 2012 by David Shedd

Way back in 1999, Ethan M. Rasiel (full disclosure: a business school colleague of mine) penned The McKinsey Way: Using the Techniques of the World’s Top Strategic Consultants to Help You and Your Business. In the book, Rasiel reveals the ways and methods by which the renowned management consultancy, McKinsey & Company, analyzes and solves problems for its clients.

Problem solving requires you to be fundamentally skeptical about everything

Posted in Business Acumen, Improve / Turnaround, Perform / Execution | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Lady Luck Always Has Her Day

Posted on May 22, 2012 by David Shedd

Whether we like it or not, a good deal of what happens to us in our lives, our careers and our businesses comes down to luck and fortunate timing.

  • The chance meeting with someone that led to a job and a career in the hottest growth industry in several decades.
  • The shift in the market that takes place just as you get to the top job.
  • The luck of the draw in getting into that school or company that makes you “in.”

Yes, luck and timing matter a great deal. Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership, Perform / Execution, Personal Success | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Oz Principle – Be Accountable, Be Responsible, Be Answerable

Posted on May 15, 2012 by David Shedd

In their book, The Oz Principle – Getting Results Through Individual and Organizational Accountability, Roger Connors, Tom Smith and Craig Hickman discuss the pervasive lack of accountability in the corporate world.

Dirty Little Secret

The dirty little secret is that most companies lack accountability and responsibility at all levels from the leader to the top executives to front-line managers to individual employees. As a result, companies do not execute and achieve what they set out to achieve. Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership, Perform / Execution, Personal Success | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Grow and Win With New Product (and Service) Development

Posted on May 8, 2012 by David Shedd

In today’s slow-growth economy, companies are struggling to find new ways to grow. All too often, current products are mature and current markets are saturated with competition.

To escape these brutal facts and find a new avenue for growth, companies are looking diligently for that new and profitable product or service opportunity.

So, what are the fundamentals for new product and service development?

Continue reading →

Posted in Growth and Strategy, Perform / Execution, Sales and Marketing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Tuned In – Valuable Insight in Finding That New Avenue for Growth

Posted on May 1, 2012 by David Shedd

In Tuned In: Uncover the Extraordinary Opportunities That Lead to Business Breakthroughs, Craig Stull, Phil Myers and David Meerman Scott describe the ‘Tuned In’ methodology that your company can use to find your next avenue for growth.

‘Tuned In’ creates a product or solution that is a ‘Resonator.’

  • Resonator
    • The perfect solution to a specific problem
    • A product or solution so powerful that it sells itself
    • An offering that connects to what your market values most
    • An idea that people immediately understand has value to them Continue reading →
Posted in Growth and Strategy, Sales and Marketing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

4 Basic (Often Overlooked) Steps to Operational Excellence

Posted on April 24, 2012 by David Shedd

Achieving operational excellence is vital to ensure that your company executes and fulfills its strategic goals.

As a result, companies have spent millions of dollars and countless hours on advanced programs such as lean manufacturing, six sigma, kaizen events, ISO 9001 quality certification, etc.

In doing so, they have often overlooked the basics of process mapping, focusing on the constraint, and keeping it simple, clean, and organized. Continue reading →

Posted in Improve / Turnaround, Perform / Execution | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Understanding Michael Porter: An Indispensable Handbook on Strategy

Posted on April 17, 2012 by David Shedd

Published in December 2011, Joan Magretta’s Understanding Michael Porter: The Essential Guide to Competition and Strategy, is an excellent and timely book about business strategy. It discusses the ideas and frameworks from the guru of business strategy, Michael Porter.

I include detailed notes here; but I encourage you to go out and buy the book (or at least borrow from the library). It will be worth your time

Continue reading →

Posted in Growth and Strategy, Perform / Execution | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Growth By Acquisition – An Introduction

Posted on April 10, 2012 by David Shedd

Mergers and acquisitions can be effective tools to speed the growth and development of your company.  Through acquisitions your business can expand into new geographic areas, enter new market spaces, broaden product lines, develop relationships with new and growing customers, and bring in new and useful technologies.  And, yes, acquisitions can be used to buy out pesky competitors, thus eliminating them from “screwing up” your market.

So, what are the basics of growing by mergers and acquisitions?

  Continue reading →

Posted in Growth and Strategy, Perform / Execution | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

How to Grow When Markets Don’t – More Relevant than Ever!

Posted on April 3, 2012 by David Shedd

Published in late 2004, How to Grow When Markets Don’t by Adrian Slywotzky and Richard Wise (with Karl Weber) is more relevant than ever in today’s slow-growth business climate.

The Growth Crisis

  • The economy is maturing and population growth is flattening out. Combine this with excess capacity and global competitors; growth is slowing especially with traditional product – centric strategies. Continue reading →
Posted in Growth and Strategy, Sales and Marketing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

To Get Things Done, We Need More Meetings…With Ourselves

Posted on March 27, 2012 by David Shedd

The majority of businesspeople are drowning in meetings – staff meetings, review meetings, planning meetings, etc….

The majority of businesspeople are inundated with distractions – colleagues stopping by open offices, a tidal wave of E-Mail, the allure of Facebook and web surfing.

The majority of businesspeople multi-task throughout their day – flitting from one issue or emergency to another…

As a result, the majority of businesspeople struggle to get done what they most need to get done. They just do not have the opportunity to create a solid block of time to work on their most important tasks.

How to solve this issue?

Simple, schedule more meetings. Continue reading →

Posted in Perform / Execution, Personal Success | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength – A Critical Book to Help You Realize Your Business and Personal Success

Posted on March 20, 2012 by David Shedd

In their excellent book, Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, Roy F. Baumeister and John Tierney discuss the importance of willpower in ensuring that you get done what you need to get done and thus achieve your goals. Please use my detailed notes on the book as a quick summary. Then, go out and buy this book or borrow it from your library. It will be worth it.

Fundamentals of Willpower

  • Willpower and self-control are vital strengths and keys to success in life.
    • Ultimately, self-control lets you relax because it removes stress and enables you to conserve willpower for the important challenges. Continue reading →
Posted in Perform / Execution, Personal Success | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Competing in a “Low Price” World

Posted on March 13, 2012 by David Shedd

In most industries, the business environment remains brutal: growth is slow or non-existent; and price competition is rampant.

The question on the minds of many business executives is simple:

How can I increase profits and grow when all my customers care about is low price, low price, and low price?

Continue reading →

Posted in Growth and Strategy, Perform / Execution | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Essential Drucker: Insights from the Original Management Guru

Posted on March 6, 2012 by David Shedd

The Essential Drucker: The Best of Sixty Years of Peter Drucker’s Essential Writings on Management is an indispensable read to help you enhance your business leadership and improve your business. What makes it particularly interesting is that much of it was written (up to) 40 years ago. It seems that insights into the fundamentals of business and leadership success really have not changed all that much over the years.

Sales and Marketing

  • The purpose of a business is to create and serve a customer.
  • The result of a business is a satisfied customer. Continue reading →
Posted in Business Acumen, Communication, Growth and Strategy, Personal Success | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

How to Rake It in When Selling Your Business

Posted on February 28, 2012 by David Shedd

For many business owners or entrepreneurs the long-term goal is to sell your company and monetize all the value that you have created.

So, what can you begin working on today to ensure that you rake it in from the eventual sale of your business?

     1.  Prepare for a Sale

Is your company in shape to be sold? For too many companies, the answer is ‘No.’ For such companies, it’s time to clean up the company and begin to operate like a company rather than a personal fiefdom. Continue reading →

Posted in Business Acumen, Growth and Strategy | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Agenda (Michael Hammer): Useful for This Decade as Well

Posted on February 21, 2012 by David Shedd

Way back in 2001, Michael Hammer authored The Agenda: What Every Business Must Do to Dominate the Decade. Slightly more than a decade later, the thoughts and insights in this book remain relevant and worth summarizing.  The key assumption in The Agenda is that customers are more powerful than ever. Of course, with the flowering of the Internet and the advent of Social Media, it is obvious that we now live in a customer-centered business climate. Based on this assumption, Hammer lays out 9 agenda items for every business. Continue reading →

Posted in Business Acumen, Growth and Strategy, Perform / Execution | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment