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

Getting prospects to call you back

No matter how persuasive, compelling or brilliant you may be, it's difficult to build a relationship with a prospect if you can't get them to call you back.…

When prospects don't call back ask yourself these two questions.

1) Are you talking to the right person?

2) Did you say the right thing?

I developed this methodology to help my clients remember to focus on stakeholder needs. Want to find the right person and say the right thing. Work through the first 2 grids.

Here's some helpful pointers.

Stakeholders can be users, influencers and decision makers. They often overlap and they definitely all have different sets of needs. Know who you are speaking to.

Needs typically come from deficiencies in the workflow. This is not the easiest thing to do. So start with the features of your product or service and think about why you developed them. What were the requirements from the customer?

Requirements is a fncy name for features. Features drive benefits that satisfy needs for your stakeholders.

Follow this process and you will always find the right person and say the right thing.

For more information visit my web site at http://www.stagesofinnovation.com/

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