A Perfect Storm Creates the Perfect Sunset

Today I Learned I Can Be a Transformation Super Hero

Guest Column

Strategy consultant Rosemarie Truman, managing partner at Leesburg, VA-based RHT Consulting, LLC and transformation consultant Robert Berg offer tips on how to roll with the punches just like a Super Hero.  

2009 had the true "perfect storm”: Web 2.0 became obsolete—hail Web 3.0.  The Great Recession drove unemployment higher than even in the Great Depression.  The employment landscape is redefined with a labor force that hates their employers. These seismic shifts converge to change market dynamics in every industry.  To be successful, companies need to start asking and answering how they should transform to take advantage of these shifts:

Web 2.0 (Social Media), and now Web 3.0.: When my 78 year old mother starts to use something, then I know it’s truly arrived.  She’s on Facebook and can Twitter be far behind—Web 2.0!  Now she's starting to work these channels on her cell phone—Web 3.0. The growth of social media in terms of adoption rates, unique views, hours spent, etc. has been a phenomena and the next phase of having these outlets becoming more pervasive and prolific is starting to occur.   How do we capitalize on the phenomenal adoption rates and usages using effectively and efficiently?

The Great Recession:  Companies have radically reduced costs and staff. They are carefully considering their next moves and are being very cautious about what they invest in. Companies know they need to be smarter. Data shows that companies that continue to invest in innovation during economic downturns outperform companies that don’t.  Futurists predict that 50% of the jobs being filled 5 years from now will be in positions that don’t exist today.  How will companies truly be smarter in a sustainable way?

The Loss of Employee Loyalty:  Surveys indicate that 60% of workers will leave their jobs once the economy returns. The next two to three years will bring the largest shift of American workers. The shift will be across industries, developing more blurring of industries than ever before.  How will companies rebuild loyalty?

The New Consumer: The rise of the prosumer. The frugal consumer cooking at home. Reducing debt.  Using cash, not credit. The graying of America. Minority segments become the majority. The American identity  diversifies.  Instant transparency. How will companies develop long-term relevancy to their core customer segments?

To address these issues, a company must step back and evaluate the impact on the big picture.

Many companies have not evaluated the broad impact of these forces.  They are not prepared, and in many cases, not capable of responding to these forces across their entire business.  When responses to occur, they are reactive to each of the issues, not considering the impact when these forces unite. 

Companies are getting engaged with social media sites.  Companies are right-sizing their costs relative to their costs.  They are  leveraging the lack of job openings to keep people They are using bland words and products at consumers  And when all this fails, they buy smaller companies who actual know what these consumers need.

To harness the value of these four forces, companies need to:  An irony is that these four forces are transforming organizations, whether it is in a company’s strategy or not.  Companies that want to drive extreme grow can leverage disruptive forces.  There are two imperatives to drive this growth:

STRATEGY: drive integrated strategies to direct vertical and horizontal insights and actions challenging current operational structures, business models and products/services/solutions.  The new strategy should create a new definition of value.

TALENT: develop talent who can effectively operate within and across organizational boundaries.

Let’s explore them.

The "What":  Strong strategies are formulated on the basis of disruptive trends, leveraging them to create "net new" insights.  Insights are then used to create a blueprint for the future that doesn't just make incremental change, but hits the "bull's eye" that will drive extreme growth, making an impact on the industry. 

The "How": Strong strategies require consistent fulfillment of the company’s promise through all the contacts a company has with its stakeholders. Employee behavior, goals and performance must be aligned to the messages and strategic goals of the organization.  “Pushing” a message and drowning out all the negative responses may work for the very large corporations that can buy and drown out share of voice; however, that is not going to work for the vast majority.  At one time, McDonald’s filled TV, radio and print media that their hamburger meat is 100% pure beef minimized information from the news that they were using “canned” or cancerous cows. The practice is to remove the cancerous parts of the cow and “save” the rest as usable and less expensive beef—100% to be sure. The meat industry is a whole other topic. That tactic hasn’t worked on social media.     

Talent: A strategy is only effective if it is implemented.  Would you rather have a brilliant strategy poorly executed or a mediocre strategy brilliantly executed?  Simple strategies well-executed have driven more value creation than brilliant strategies poorly executed.  Wal-Mart.  Southwest Airlines.  Frito-Lay. We believe that anyone can become a better strategic thinker and become more effective contributor, when given the appropriate training and situation.  You don’t need an MBA and you don’t need to spend three years in a consulting firm. They will accelerate the learning by exposing one to more situations, theories, techniques, processes and tools faster. 

Companies that develop a process for developing these employees will be more adaptive, be more nimble, will have a consistency of purpose that crosses organizational boundaries and will find a path of innovation and transformation that keeps it as a top performer in its industry.

We call these individuals Transformation Super Heroes.  Why Transformation Super Heroes?  Can’t they just be agents of change or evangelists or champions?  The Super Heroes we have grown up with embody the characteristics that are necessary to allow long-term transformation to occur. 

Super Heroes understand what to do to drive extreme growth:

They integrate insights: this is a tall, tall order—customer insight, operational insight, technology insight, business model insight, regulatory / social insight, market dynamics insight, etc.—what's important here is to know what the insights are; be acute enough to dig into your doubts / questions and analyze things from multiple dimensions

They are relentlessly rigorous, adhering to old and new norms: we've all heard of work-hard, play-hard.  What this means is that one doesn't just perform surveys to get data, but there is a need for a proven, systematic approach to creating the strategy and gaining insights. It means that one needs to rely on both old quantitative measures as well as mining qualitative measures such as UGC.

They are practical: in judgment, think and contemplate about what is actually doable—full stop

Super Heroes also embody critical characteristics:

• They are the that others want to have as a friend: genuine, most importantly (whether you are fun, entertaining, or just a seriously serious person) honorable, classy yet down to earth; be perfectly delightful all the time

• Have special abilities and they work hard to cultivate and control these abilities

• Are modest in their abilities (unless provoked), but rise up when needed and they generally use their abilities only when absolutely necessary.

• Want to be normal and blend in with the community, but they are not afraid to use what makes them different.

• Have strong values and behave consistently with those values

• Maintain others’ free will and allow individuals to make a choice

• Work effectively as a team and individually

• Allow change to occur and find ways to limit the personal destructive nature of change

• Love the action and their own fortress of solitude