Whatever happened to managing with an iron hand

Have we gotten too soft?  When did a PowerPoint presentation replace communicating face-to-face?  It's time for action, not more words and presentations.  After months and months of failure you want to get everyone on the same page follow these simple steps.   

1. Create a clear and understandable vision of where the business is going. This is called Strategy.
2. Explain to people what their roles in this wonderful vision are. These are called goals and objectives. 
3. Hold people accountable to do their jobs. Help them when they get stuck. This is your job as a manager.

 But for those of you that need to hang something on the wall to memorialize the fact that you do more in your office than what everyone else thinks. 

Here is a list of the values that you should be hanging up:

1. I hold myself and others accountable.
2. I ask for help when I need it not after I have failed. 
3. I offer help to those I see struggling and if I am offered help I graciously accept it. 
4. There are NO surprises. I set the expectations and then manage myself, my team, and upper management to that expectation.  I will never be faulted for over communicating.

And please stop thinking that just because you put your thoughts on a PowerPoint presentation or in a memo that anyone read it or understands it.  Let’s get back to looking people in the eye, exciting them about the journey and telling them what is expected of them.

Write to me and let me know your thoughts...

 Oh, and TFNP

Using Day in the Life to Strengthen your Message

A day-in-the-life approach helps strengthen a product offerings value proposition.

Here's a real example: Remote Deposit Capture, the little desktop scanner that enables businesses to scan and deposit checks directly from their office, has started to gain popularity with small to mid-sized businesses. Most banks have an offering and non-bank solutions have begun to enter the market. The predominant message is focused on convenience. “Make a deposit from your office and never have to drive to the bank again.” Are the banks and non-banks missing the bigger picture? Maybe so. By using a day-in-the-life approach you can quickly get to the underlying need and develop the right message that works with your target market.

Let’s visit with two accountants, Mary who works for a small company and receives a few checks a week and Stan who works at a mid-sized company and receives checks every day. We hypothesize that the frequency of checks and the value of the check may drive the differences of how they handle bank deposits.

Low Volume of Checks
A couple of times a week Mary receives checks from her customers. When she gets them she opens the envelopes and immediately makes copies of the checks so she can file them with the corresponding invoice. Because Mary doesn’t have a lot of checks coming in on a daily basis she stores the checks in her draw throughout the week and makes one deposit every Friday. Some of the checks are large and Mary knows that if she could get them onto the bank sooner the money could be working for her. Mary matches the copies of the check with the right customer invoice and then manually enters the information about the check and the amount into her accounting system. On Friday Mary writes up the deposit slip, adds up the checks, enters each one separately on the slip and drives to the bank to make the deposit.

High Volume of Checks
Stan goes through a very similar process as Mary only Stan receives many checks every day. Because some of the checks are very large Stan wants to make a deposit every day. That usually doesn’t work out that way because although the bank is close by Stan can’t find time to always get there and checks sit for days before they are deposited. Also, because there are a lot of checks Stan spends hours coding and entering check information into his accounting system. Stan rechecks his work and sometimes has to reenter information due to keying errors. At different times during the week Stan writes up the deposit slip, adds up the checks, enters each one separately on the slip and drives to the bank to make the deposit.

Applying DITL (Day-In-The-Life) Approach
By visiting with Stan and Mary we observe that they both do a lot more with the checks they receive. In fact, we also now know that they think about higher value checks differently than lower value ones. Our investigation of the market with other merchants uncovers that how often checks are received and the value of the checks received drive a lot of the processes.

By plotting the information into a classic 2x2, volume and value we get the following exhibit. Notice where convenience is? It’s in the lower left box where volume and value are both at the lowest points. Is that the message you want to go out with to all of your customers?

Developing Targeted Messages
Using the same 2x2 we can develop very specific messages for the various target audiences. By using a DITL approach we are able to direct specific messages to potential customers.

You can also apply this to verticals. Where would a property manager fall, a doctor’s office, a landscaper or plumber? Plot verticals and with a DITL approach sharpen the message.

Stages of Innovation helps companies create, communicate and launch new products.

Rob Goldberg

--copyright 2009

Product Developments Offensive or Defensive Moves

As a practicing product developer the primary objective is providing enhancements, new and improved, or new to our customer base products and services, with the result being growth. Very offensive. When I put on my strategy hat I can’t help but think about defensive moves we need to make and how I may be able to block the competition from achieving their goals. Whether I’m playing the offense or defense product development and IP can play a role. On the offensive side IP may take a backseat to growth. I want to get my product out into the market quickly and not disclose what I am doing and how I am doing it. On the defensive side it may at times be the primary objective. I want to block others from doing this or I want to block my competitor form moving into a certain market or position.

There isn't a marked difference between invention and innovation. Don’t trade off innovation with invention. Look at invention as one potential means-to-an-end within the innovation cycle. Innovation should provide direction and help manage the gap between where I want to be (my desired end state) and where I am (my beginning state).


Need help, visit us at http://www.stagesofinnovation.com/. Our unique approach will help you understand where you need to play offense and defense to achieve your business goals.

The Hiddens Skills of Product Development

Is B2B product development a skill or an art?


It's a little bit of both but in this short article I'm going to show you how to make it more skill than art. Here's a couple of things you need to perfect as you move your product from concept to launch.


First Things First - Develop a Project Plan

Here's a good place to start because the best product development project can become derailed quickly if you don't know how to properly plan. My motto is THINK, PLAN, DO. Follow this and you will never go wrong. Over the years I've personally witnessed companies that have jumped to DO bypassing the other two steps and have found themselves unable to react during the development and incubation stages.


If you are familiar with any of the popular project software, like Microsoft Project, feel free to use it. Don't be intimidated though if you are not familiar with any of these. You don't need sophisticated software to prepare a project plan. Remember, it's not the equipment, it's the player.


OK, so you know the devil is in the details so be as specific as possible. It's OK if you miss steps but every project plan should cover processes (steps), people, and time required. The more plans you write the better you will get at it; promise.


Prepare a Budget

I'm often asked, within what margin should the budget be. It may take a while to get a feel for this so be patient and pay attention to what it costs to build your products. Whether you have to use an outside company for development or are being cross charged from an internal department, know your products, the components, and make sure you stick to your plan. Remember my motto, Think, Plan, Do. I guarantee you will overrun your budget if you go straight to DO.

The next question is should you account for the people time. Some of my larger clients who have mature product development departments are capable of allocating full time resources so it is easy to account for the cost of their time. Otherwise, these are sunk costs and trying to account for time other than x% is not worth the effort.


Translating Needs into Requirements

I use a proprietary approach I developed that allows product development teams to quickly identify the stakeholders and map to their needs. Once you know the needs of your target base it's easy to figure out what features need to be built that the customer wants, will keep you within budget, and can be launched within your time frame. Remember, you don't have to build everything in the first phase. I'm a big believer in launching the basic requirements and phasing in new features in future releases that can be publicized. The key is getting the first set right. Too many companies release products that do to much and end up confusing the target market and can't be priced correctly. My Marketing Optimization Grids ensures this never happens.


The Battle for Customers' Minds (Value Prop)
I want to spend just a second talking about value proposition. Here's my definition. I want the customer to do something different than what they do today at a cost (lower, the same or more) that will provide some added utility versus their current product or process. So you see if you add in a lot of features it makes it hard for the customer to understand how this may fit into their current process. The customer may be open to new solutions but if you make the comparison too hard it inertia takes over. And, as I always say, "you can never underestimate the power of inertia".

I'd love to know your product development stories. Write me here or visit me at Stages of Innovation.

Rob Goldberg 2009

You can't coach height

...But you can coach players and employees to play tall.

Are some people just wired in a certain way that makes them incapable of changing? Are some traits predetermined by genetics and therefore cannot be significantly improved through training?

As a manager or a coach you need to ask yourself these questions as you deal with employees and players that never seem to change.

I coach youth basketball. Every year I comment that I have the smallest team in the league. But every year I also comment to one or more of the parents how the tall the kids play. You might not be able to coach height but you can absolutely coach how to play tall.

I believe you can teach players and employees how to play tall through:

1) Practice to improve

Players and employees need to recognize their weaknesses and improve them. If you don't have a left hand you're not going to want to place that player in a situation where they need that to be successful. In business if you are not a good public speaker you are not going to put your employee in the situation where they have to make a public presentation until they are ready. The same is true for your strengths, you need to recognize what they are and use them to your advantage in games and meetings.

This is really important. If you are a good 3 point shooter get yourself open. If you are very analytical, try to provide a summary of the meeting to make sure everyone had the same understanding.

Play to your strengths, improve your weaknesses.

2) Position yourself so you always have options

This is called many different things. some say, "skate to the puck", I've heard others say, "throw ahead of the runner.".. Whatever the term you use it all means the same.

I tell my players and employees to never back themselves into a corner. When you run out of options you've held the ball too long. When you've locked yourself into a position you've lost the ability to influence.

Always leave yourself options to make things happen.

3) Fake it till you make it

I know I stole this but it works. If you do nothing else do this and eventually it will become habit.

Even if you aren't six feet tall make believe you are.


Feel free to comment here or send me your personal stories at rgoldberg@stagesofinnovation.com.

Rob Goldberg 2009

When the past no longer predicts the future

What are managers to do when past trends no longer predict the future?


We have done our budgets for years looking at past trend lines adding in seasonality and hoping variability is similar to the past. When results are good we as managers have a tendency to push aside bottom up budgets. The question every manager needs to ask about their business is. "am I seeing a structural change in my marketplace." A structural change is defined as a long-term widespread change of the fundamental structure.


Does this describe your industry?


For those of you brave enough to tackle this or those of you are struggling right now to get a better handle on this let me provide a possible structure. This will help you streamline the budget setting process by validating the underlying assumptions in the budget, developing strategies for growth, and setting objectives to close the gap between your budgeted trend line and the forecasted trend line. Some of you might be asking yourself what does this have to do with innovation. If you have read my blog you know that I believe innovation happens in the gaps. Those gaps exist between what is actually happening and the expectation of what should happen and innovation is how you get back to the high growth.

Here's an approach that should help. For more information go to my web site.


Step 1 Determine Budget Drivers and Sensitivity
Identify and test sensitivity on each budget driver. Budget drivers are a set of key factors that drive the business. Start with the P&L. Identify which items have the biggest impact on the P&L.

Step 2 Test Assumptions

Determine if the drivers you chose are leverageable by testing them with customers and further modeling. Will it be something that we will ask respondents directly, segment later during the database work, or derive through some other means. This step requires some research. It doesn't mean you have to spend a lot of money but it does require you to go out and talk to customers. When you are testing expense assumptions it will require you to talk to internal people.

Step 3 Map Learnings

Analyze data and develop trend lines. Compare against the budget trend lines. You will need a good financial modeller to rebuild your budget models with the new forecast. After you are done try graphing the results and the gaps will be obvious.

Step 4 Action Planning (The Innovation Gap)
Determine which assumptions we want to work on. This is a prioritization exercise as much as it is a action planning exercise. I'll post a prioritization method that works for my clients in another article. By now you understand the sensitivity of the assumptions and the individual impact they have on the P&L. Remember some of the assumptions are dependent on others. For example, service revenue may be dependent on renewal and new customers. The underlying assumptions that need to be worked on then would be retention and new customer acquisition.


Step 5 Objective Setting
Each strategy is broken down into a set of activities that will be used to set specific objectives throughout the organization to close the gap between the trend lines.


Step 6 Measurement / Strategic Architecture
The final step is to put in place a measurement tool to ensure the gap is closing.

Good luck and remember you can always email us for more information on how we can help your company or check our web site.



Rob Goldberg 2009

Stage of life matters when starting a business

Is the right temperament important for entrepreneurs...

For me personally and for my consulting clients I would define it not by temperament but by stage of life; single, married, number of kids, one or two incomes...

I've heard this argument before from one of my partners. We did a radio show together on small business that led to a series of consulting projects. I was always struggling with my schedule to fit everything in. He would say, "If you focus on one thing and do that well you would receive the rewards."

The reality is sometimes life doesn't allow that. Mortgage, children, the need to sleep a little every night, a lifestyle that my family has come to enjoy all add to my decision that in order for those like me to move full time to any one venture it has to replace the combined income from all of them. And I can tell you having raised VC money for a few of my ventures as well as others, investors are not happy paying salaries.

Here's what I recommend to my clients.

1) Define stability - it means something different to everyone. But as an entrepreneur you need to know what this is for yourself and your family

2) Know what your greed/risk ratio is. Here's how it works. I'm willing to assume some degree of risk for some return of reward. Logically, the more risk I assume the more reward I should receive. Based on your business model where is the ratio if you are looking for supplemental income versus replacing your income entirely. I often use this as a starting point to see how much I'm willing to give up.

3) All boats rise in a rising tide. Look for help early on. Trading 20% of your company may be worth it to get the company off the ground. Remember 100% of nothing is still nothing.

4) Try licensing your invention. You may end up giving away more of your company than you want and may have to pay a little up front fee but it is worth it if it takes off and you really don't want to take it to the next level. One word of advice - patent what you have before you talk to anyone.

I'm not trying to imply that being an entrepreneur is not hard work; it is. There are alternative ways for passionate people to feel the sense of starting and growing a business and still sleep at night.

check out my web site http://www.stagesofinnovation.com for more information about getting your invention or business off the ground.

Rob Goldberg 2009

Making Innovation Happen

What are the two or three key things managers within business need to do on a daily basis to make innovation happen...

You have to figure out what kind of innovation you want. Innovation is a term that has been misused. Most people think of innovation as new products or associate it only with revenue.

What do you focus on daily, the P&L. The P&L is the guide to 1) incremental growth, 2) transformational growth, 3) new business opportunities and 4) emerging business opportunities. Let me quickly explain how.

1) Incremental growth. The P&L shows trends over time. Compare this to your budget and forecast there maybe a gap between what was budgeted last year and currently being forecasted this year. Incremental Innovation happens in that gap and helps to close it. Determine what drivers are running the business. The innovation comes when you can determine new drivers or how you can affect the existing ones. So daily you are looking to challenge and support the key drivers of your business. Another area that falls under this category is changing your business model. Be a student of business and look at how markets other than yours operate.

2) Transformational Growth. The same is true for EBIT. Transformation programs focusing on business processes can take a long time but the payoff is well worth it. You need a lot of innovation muscle to transform business processes. There are some short-term programs that can make an immediate difference. I like to focus on business processes and determine where I can make immediate changes. Look at workflow and spend time on order to cash. Look at retention, listen to customer calls. Longer-term you can look at new technologies. Listening to customer call is also a good source of new ideas.

3) New Business Opportunities. This is one of the areas most people think of when you mention innovation. NBOs are more closely aligned with the core business than Emerging Business Opportunities. Easy things to look at are: 1) value-chain in your business. Are there obvious expansion points up or down the chain? ; 2) channel. Can you sell through another or new channel? There are many others to consider.

4) Emerging Business Opportunities. EBOs done well can provide long-term growth. There are many good methods available. Read analyst reports and understand how your customer’s needs are evolving. Technology usually plays a big role here. Find people who understand the technology. Companies expand into markets either vertically or horizontally and you need to know who is moving where.

I’m a big proponent of the concept of meaningful coincidences. Meaning the more exposure you have to other industries, value-chains, business models the more likelihood you will be able to apply innovative ideas to your business.

For more information take a look at http://www.stagesofinnovation.com/
Rob Goldberg 2009

Stepping out of Corporate Life

Stepping out of corporate life to become an entrepreneur requires bravery and passion..

...and a little stupidity. This may not be the best time to leave that secure job and go out on your own. Typically new business start ups fail. Given these market conditions it would be better odds that you would...fail quicker.

I've started a few VC backed businesses while keeping my full-time job. It doesn't make it easier but it sure helps me sleep at night.

Over the years I have had consulting businesses as well as product companies and here's what I've learned. Depending on the type of business and how well funded you are. Never underestimate the power of cash!

1) Partners can be a blessing, especially those that can handle some of the day-to-day activities.

2) As long as the process is well defined contractors can be extremely helpful to do some of the mundane more routine work.

3) Never over-promise. I'd rather give less and over-perform than fall short of what I can deliver.

4) Know your exit strategy. I'm in a venture now where I have multiple partners. Each of us has something else we do full time. We raised seed money to buy inventory, get insurance (it's a medial product), create a web site and develop marketing collateral. We are in the process of hiring the right sales people that will eventually run the business. Our exit strategy is to build a market for one of the complimentary companies in the industry and sell the company to them.

Good luck with your venture and feel free to reach out rgoldberg@stagesofinnovation.com or visit my web site http://www.stagesofinnovation.com/ for help with your start up.

Rob Goldberg 2009

Beating the Recession

This economy hasn't been easy. I have the unique perspective of working in a large company but also being a small business owner. There are a few things that I've done in both that has made it easier to survive.

1) Wait 60 days before you make any large purchases. Unless absolutely necessary put all expenses on hold. You will be surprised with what you can do without after 60 days.

2) Require customers to pay a portion up front. Cover your cost, defer your profit. Customers gets what they need, you get the the work and a revenue stream.

3) Increase the attention on your existing customers. Last thing you need is to lose customers. Retention has been a big focus this year. Take a look at http://www.stagesofinnovation.com/whatwedo/savemycustomers.html

4) Look for areas that you can cross sell other products or services. Once you have your customer's attention look for ways that you can offer more.

Feel free to contact me rgoldberg@stagesofinnovation.com or visit http://www.stagesofinnovation.com/ for more ideas on how to break the recession.

See how other companies are fighting the recession.
http://communitymarketing.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/04/how-25-professionals-create-success-in-a-recession.html

Rob Goldberg 2009