Tag Archives: business thinking

June 19, 2015 · 8:15 am

The Hole Truth

This Foodie Friday, let’s delve into the world of food mysteries.  I hadn’t really noticed but apparently the holes in swiss cheese have been shrinking and no one quite knew why.  A cynical commentator (who me?) might speculate that the opposite ought to be true, as margins rise when you’re selling empty space.  Be that as it may, it was really a problem and scientists did some investigating.  The answer is instructive for anyone in business.

You know that cheese is made by the interplay of bacteria and milk.  The bacteria is added and the differences in the milk (sheep, cow, goat, etc.) and the strain of bacteria are what make different cheeses.  Swiss cheese is cow’s milk and three unpronounceable strains of bacteria, none of which had been changed;  yet over the last hundred years, and very much over the last fifteen, the holes have been shrinking.  Why?

Turns out it had to do with improved cleanliness.  Better sanitation resulted in a safer product but also removed microscopic bits of hay from the milk.  Those hay bits were critical in the formation of the holes.  That solves our mystery but also raises the business point.

We’re all familiar with the law of unintended consequences but how many of us take the time with our team to think through the effects that law might bring with every new action?  Product changes, a new marketing plan, or any other change has the potential to bring about changes that aren’t readily foreseen unless we spend the extra time to think about them.  It’s nice to tie executive compensation to our stock price but maybe that has the unintended consequence of focusing on the short-term or good financial results at the expense of better customer service.  Maybe we cut the price to get a deal but then realize we’re losing money.  Maybe we reduce quality to save on costs and watch as a competitor steals share.

Making the milk cleaner was a great idea – who wants customers getting sick and dying?  The unintended consequence was a big change to one of the product’s signature features.  After all, without the holes, Swiss Cheese is just Emmental and Appenzell.  That mystery took 100 years to solve – hopefully the mysteries inherent in your business won’t take that long.

Leave a comment

Filed under Consulting, food

Tagged as , , , , , ,

June 17, 2015 · 10:37 am

Getting Chosen

You probably have been spending a lot more time interacting with your mobile device over the last year.  You’re not alone, and much of that interaction takes place through apps.  I don’t know about you but I have a lot of apps installed (and even more that I’ve used and uninstalled over the years).  I just checked my phone and there are 131 app icons.  Putting aside that there’s probably a dozen or so that are pre-installed crapware from my carrier and the handset manufacturer (I ranted about that previously – you get a reprieve today), that’s still a large number of apps competing for my attention.  There are hundreds of thousands more in the app store too.

My reality, and I’m guessing yours too, is that I only use a couple of dozen of them on any sort of regular basis.  Turns out we’re not alone, at least according to the good folks at Nielsen:

Despite the increase in choices, the number of apps used is staying the same. A recent Nielsen analysis found that on average, U.S. smartphone users accessed 26.7 apps per month in the fourth quarter of 2014—a number that has remained relatively flat over the last two years. And consider this: Over 70% of the total usage is coming from the top 200 apps.

However, while there appears to be a consumer threshold to the total number of apps people are willing and/or able to actively use during the month, the time they spend engaging on those apps has increased. In fact, the monthly time spent per person has increased from 23 hours and two minutes in fourth-quarter 2012 to 37 hours and 28 minutes in fourth-quarter 2014—a 63% rise in two years! So the reward for being one of the chosen apps is heavy engagement by the user.

It appears our app usage mirrors our TV usage.  While we might have access to hundred of TV channels, most of us only watch 21.  As has happened with TV, the engagement deepens with the chosen few.  The challenge for any business is to become one of those two dozen.  The means making the potential user base aware that you are the best solution to their problem, whether it’s how to amuse one’s self or how to get to a place you’ve never been or how to get clothes that are reasonably priced and fit well.  It means avoiding the dreaded “uninstall” – that action that takes place whether you’re an app or not when a customer moves on since you didn’t deliver on the promise made.  Maybe you were boring.  Maybe you were bloated with ads.  Maybe you tried to sneak in a lot of extra charges.  Those things aren’t limited to apps but they’ll lose you the “chosen” status much of the time.

What are you doing to be chosen today?

Leave a comment

Filed under digital media

Tagged as , , , , , ,

June 11, 2015 · 11:36 am

Don’t Tone Me

My youngest child had an expression she would use when I would say something to her in a manner she didn’t like. You know – things like “wash your hands and come in to eat” or “don’t put makeup on the dog”. She couldn’t really find fault with what I was asking but she would look at me and say “don’t tone me.” Turns out it’s an apt business expression.

I was chatting with a former colleague this morning. Things aren’t going particularly well at his current gig and I had my life coach hat on trying to help. He shared some internal emails to illustrate some of what was causing problems and my mind was blown. Obviously I can’t quote them but the gist of the issue wasn’t what the guy’s boss was doing. It was the tone.

The memo I read was to a bunch of recipients who are not kids.  Most are over 30 and have lots of work experience.  The note outlined how they were to spend every moment of their working day and was focused on process not on results.  Well, that’s not true.  The results expected were filling out forms, making phone calls, and which font to use in presentations.  There was nary a mention of actual results.  The message was an obvious confusion of activity and progress.

More importantly, the tone was demeaning.  I don’t know the author but I found it offensive.  It would be one thing if it was a summation of what had been discussed in person as a group but this apparently came out of the blue.  With an emphasis on accuracy in the presentations the staff was to make, this note was written in multiple fonts (cut and paste job!) and had errors in it.

The takeaway is that email – and all writing – generally lacks nuance.  The recipient can assign whatever tone seems accurate and in this case vaguely threatening and demeaning seem accurate.  Moreover, never implement new procedures without a team discussion as to why you’re putting the new stuff in place.  People are willing to follow when they’re led; they’re much less willing to be pushed.  “Toning” them isn’t leading – it’s pushing (or kicking) them to a goal.  Getting out in front of them and showing them the way is a lot more productive.  You agree?

Leave a comment

Filed under Helpful Hints, Huh?

Tagged as , , , , ,