Tag Archives: business thinking

August 8, 2014 · 11:36 am

Baked Oatmeal

Foodie Friday and our topic today is oatmeal.

Oatmealraisins2

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I know – not the best thing for breakfast on a hot summer morning but I know plenty of people who start the day with a steaming bowl of grain no matter what the weather so I’m pressing on.  I was reading one of the many food blogs I scan regularly and it made a great point.  The piece is called Why You Should Stop Boiling Your Oatmeal and Start Baking It.  I’ll admit I’m one of those lazy slobs who throws my oatmeal of choice (Irish Oats, thank you) into the microwave.  The Mrs. boils hers almost every morning – obviously she is a lot more patient than her husband.  Baking never entered either of our minds.  Maybe it should have:

With baked oatmeal, all you have to do is toss it all in a baking dish and slide it into the oven. In about 30 minutes, you’ve got a dish of steaming, tender oats. To enrich it, I use milk instead of water, and just one egg lightens the texture. It’s the perfect stress-free hot breakfast to serve to guests. Why? There’s no à la minute cooking: the oven does all the work.

There is a business point in here too.  In many cases it’s not what we’re doing that’s an issue but how we’re doing it.  People tend to believe their memories instead of facts.  When a business does things in a certain way, that’s a memory.  The facts we might gather if we stepped back and assessed the situation with an open mind might tell us that the process is inefficient or unproductive.  It’s not the what – we need to accomplish the task – but maybe there is a better way to do so.

We need to think about baking the oatmeal in our business lives by asking if there is a better, more efficient, more profitable way to go about it on a regular basis.  Maybe over breakfast?

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August 7, 2014 · 1:09 pm

What Price Ethics?

So here is an interesting question for you.  I was reading the results of a study conducted by the good folks from Trade Extensions that concerned how consumers view ethics and sustainability and how they affect purchasing decisions.  When you ask people how important it is that companies behave ethically and with an eye towards sustainability, four out of five consumers regard it as important.  That would suggest that doing the right thing (whatever that may be) is a critical factor in purchasing, right?

Not so much:

When asked to rank the three most important attributes when shopping, the most important factor is price – 40% of consumers ranked this number one.  The second most important factor is value for money – 30% ranked this number one. And the third most important factor is quality –  16% ranked this number one.  Choosing an ethical company or brand when shopping is the most important factor and ranked number one for 2% of UK and US consumers.

Hmm.  So is that a license for a company to do whatever they want as long as prices are low?  Given some of the voices speaking out against Walmart, for example, over things such as foreign product sourcing, treatment of product suppliers, environmental practices, etc., apparently not.  Like most things in business, it’s not quite that black and white.  The research shows a desire from consumers to buy ethically but ultimately price, value and quality are the deciding factors.

Other studies have shown similar results.  One from Accenture found that sales and competitive pricing (61%) are by far the most critical factors in getting consumers to make a purchase. Superior products (36%) and customer experience (35%) are also key, according to respondents, followed closely by customer loyalty programs (31%) and relevant promotions (26%). Ad campaigns and celebrity endorsements trailed by a significant margin, presumably as they’re more influential in driving awareness than completed purchases.

So back to ethical behavior.  Can any company afford to ignore it?  I suspect it’s very possible to do good while doing well and to enhance the quality of consumer’s lives in an honorable way.  Maybe it’s not much of a selling point because so few companies have that focus?  What is your take?

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August 4, 2014 · 10:17 am

Homework

One of the things you might hear at a college graduation party is “well, at least there is no more homework!”

English: Don't waste your time and do your hom...

English: Don’t waste your time and do your homework! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When I hear that I don’t have the heart to tell them that the past 16 years of homework they’ve done in school are nothing compared to that which they’ll probably need to do out in the real world. Let me explain.

I’ve written before about the critical skills one needs to learn in school.  In addition to the critical thinking skills I wrote about in that post I’d add the ability to do homework to that list.  After all, what is homework but independent research and preparation for what is about to happen in the next class?  In my mind even when the homework is review it’s making sure that the concepts the teacher was trying to instill have taken hold.  The very act of having the discipline to work outside of the class setting without a teacher looking over your shoulder is a great skill as well.

Fast forward to business.  I expect that when I walk into a meeting everyone in the room (assuming they know that I’m coming) have already checked me out thoroughly.  They’ve read some of the screed, they’ve checked my website, maybe they sampled my Twitter feed and they most certainly checked my LinkedIn profile.  If they haven’t, they haven’t done their homework.  I used to tell my team that if they walk into a meeting and don’t know the agenda, the questions that might be asked, the others around the table, and what they want to have accomplished as they leave the meeting they have not done their homework.  As an ex-teacher, not doing one’s homework puts you on my bad side.

There is nothing more annoying than having a salesperson begin a meeting asking what they can do for me or my organization.  Even worse is when they ask a lot of questions that could have been answered with 10 minutes of searches.  Everyone’s time is valuable and offering solutions and value based on having done your homework decreases the time needed for things to get done.  Doing one’s homework no matter on which side of the table one sits is a basic and critical business skill.  Is it one you’re using?

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