Category Archives: Consulting

May 1, 2013 · 8:51 am

The Big Mouth

I had the pleasure of being a mentor at Startup Weekend Stamford last weekend. If you haven’t heard about or been a part of one of these, the site gives a pretty good explanation about what the weekend is about:

Business Model Triangle

(Photo credit: Alex Osterwalder)

All Startup Weekend events follow the same basic model: anyone is welcome to pitch their startup idea and receive feedback from their peers. Teams organically form around the top ideas (as determined by popular vote) and then it’s a 54 hour frenzy of business model creation, coding, designing, and market validation. The weekends culminate with presentations in front of local entrepreneurial leaders with another opportunity for critical feedback.

My job was to wander around and help the teams refine their thinking (without doing the thinking for them) and their products.  In the process, I saw a lot of interesting group dynamics at work and that’s what I want to blog about today.  Actually, it’s less about the group than it is about one very large mouth and the negative effect it can have on an enterprise.

Now as someone who has, over the years, been accused of owning exactly that sort of intrusive, large pie-hole, this might be a case of the pot calling the kettle black. However, one group in particular had a guy who brought his vision to the table and was extremely insistent that his was THE vision for the business.  When others would raise points that conflicted with or negated something in his mind, there was head-shaking and an insistence that if only they could understand HIS vision they would succumb to its brilliance.  It got to the point where one part of the group split off and under the guise of putting together a rough presentation managed to refine the product taking everyone’s input into account.

I’ve seen this a lot in business.  One person – the one with the big mouth and the even larger cache of certainty – can derail an entire group.  In this case, several of the quieter participants has a lot of good things to say yet until I asked them to speak out hadn’t been able to interject.  As a manager, you need to make sure all voices are heard – even those who might not have much to contribute.  As a team member, you need to listen to all points of view and consider them.  Ask fact-based questions until the wisdom of the point becomes clear or falls away.

Part of what ails us these days, both in and out of business, is the shouting.  We need big ears, not big mouths, if we’re to succeed.  You agree?

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April 24, 2013 · 9:47 am

How To Ask The “Best” Question

A client asked me about the “best” social game company the other day. Like most simple questions, this one had no simple answer. How was he defining “best?” The one that made the most engaging games as measured by how long users were playing? The one that sold the most games? The one that was most profitable? Or maybe the one that creates games that really are works of art? Each of those questions has a different answer in my mind so I did what a lot of we consultant types do: I answered his question with a question.

Putting my confusion aside, that simple question raises a good business thought.  Let’s ask it about TV.  What’s the best program on TV?  I might answer that as a fan – the one I like the most and which is appointment television for me:  Homeland, The Newsroom, and even a program that’s not on “TV”, House Of Cards.  Obviously, I’m defining “best” in a way that takes writing, acting, plot, and other factors into account.  I might answer it as a former TV executive (which I am!): The Voice, American Idol, and even Duck Dynasty come to mind.  They’re watched by some of the biggest audiences, they’re not particularly expensive to produce, and they take in a lot of money.

Which is the “best restaurant ”  If one of Thomas Keller‘s places come to mind, I’d agree answering as a foodie.  As a businessperson, maybe the right answer is someplace that feeds millions and makes over a billion dollars a quarter?  Not that McDonald’s tops any fine dining lists of which I’m aware.

The point is that how we answer questions is very much tied to our point of view.  If you’re asking them, it’s important to figure out from which perspective you want the answer given.  If you’re answering them, it’s critical that you ascertain the underlying reason for the question in the first place.  As with the above examples, your answer may be very different based on that.  A little clarity can go a long way in advancing business success. Have you found this to be the case?

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April 22, 2013 · 11:38 am

How Many, Not How

Mondays are no fun.  As you might know if you’ve been on the screed on a Monday, I spend most of my weekends when the ground isn’t covered with snow playing golf.

English: Golfing in Ontario golf course, Oregon.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mondays are the days when my obsession with the game (and my lack of golfing prowess) usually shows up here.  This Monday, it’s about a thought I had while I was playing in a tournament on Saturday.  I was playing on a team with a person who had clubs that were at least 10 years old.  Golf technology changes very rapidly, and his driver was the size of my five wood (meaning it was way smaller than any modern driver).  The shaft of the club was slightly bent down by the club head and I had no clue how he could hit the ball.

Hit the ball he did – some of our team’s best drives came off that club.  In fact, he hit some amazing shots both good and bad.  My favorite was a worm-burner that rolled and rolled and rolled maybe 150 yards until it stopped rolling 10 feet from the pin.  Which reminded me of the old golf adage “it’s not how, it’s how many” which is my business thought today as well.

It seems to me we spend a lot of time thinking about and discussing the tools we use in business just as there’s an equipment obsession in golf.  Those are really about the “how.”  No matter what tools you’re using, none of them matter if you’re not being consistent and clear about what you’re trying to do with them – the “how many.” It’s easy to get caught up processes and in so doing you miss a focus on achieving the real goal.   If you haven’t clarified the things you want to accomplish over time, there’s little chance of success.  The tool or app is less important than the way you use it.  The process isn’t the business.

We’ve all had bosses who focused on when a report was delivered and then never read it to see what was inside.  Woe be to those who missed a deadline, even if the work was crap.  That’s “how”, not “how many.”  Take an extra day and achieve perfection is my preference.  Hit one long and straight with a crooked driver.  Make a par with an awful shot that winds up next to the pin.  There are no pictures on the scorecard, folks.

You with me?

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