Tag Archives: Strategic planning

March 18, 2013 · 10:02 am

Social Is As Social Does

Let’s start the week with a little food for thought.  I came across a great report from the Altimeter Group concerning how businesses evolve around social.  The report makes a distinction between companies implementing a social media strategy and those that are building a social business.  It’s really an eye-opener, especially the finding that just 34% say there are clear metrics used throughout the organization that associate social activities with business outcomes.  Then again, given how too many businesses are always chasing the next shiny object without considering how or if it works for their enterprise, maybe it isn’t.

Here is how they made the distinction between social strategy ad social business:

A social media strategy lays out the channels, platforms, and tactics to support publishing, listening, and engagement. A social business strategy is the integration of social technologies and processes into business values, processes, and practices to build relationships and spark conversations inside and outside the organization, creating value and optimizing impact for customers and the business alike. The most important criteria for a successful social business strategy are twofold: clear alignment with the strategic business goals of an organization AND organizational alignment and support that enables execution of that strategy. However, in a survey conducted by Altimeter of social strategists and executives, only 34% felt that their social strategy was connected to business outcomes.

Yes, I said that last point a second time – I think it’s that important!  It gets to the first of the success factors of a successful social business strategy:

The biggest cause of social strategy failure was the lack of alignment around business objectives. Businesses that uncover the gap between business objectives, social media strategies, and internal challenges and opportunities will open dialogue that both closes the gaps and creates alignment in the process.

The report goes on to list six others:  Having a Long-term vision for becoming a social business, key executive support, having a roadmap in place for all your initiatives along with a timeline, process discipline and ongoing education, staffing properly, and choosing technology only after strategy is set.  Each one of those points would make a fine topic for a longer post but it’s a pretty good checklist from which to work.

I encourage you to read the report a couple of times and let me know what you think.

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February 20, 2013 · 12:51 pm

Solitaire

Is there anyone who hasn’t played solitaire? It seems as if it’s available on every PC and Mac addicts can grab it in Game Center. I have it on my phone as well as on a Nook, and I’ve come to the realization that it’s a pretty good business tool. Let me explain why.

English: A GNOME version of Klondike (solitaire).

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There’s the obvious – it gets your brain cranking.  I find, however, that there are some other skills that are required to finish many hands.  The first is patience.  It’s rare that you get through the game the first time you leaf through the deck.  In fact, I’ll often use that first pass as a form of research that helps me figure out the strategy for the rest of the game.   Doing that research before settling on a strategy is another often overlooked business skill.

I’ve found that the key to solving the puzzle (and I’m playing the most common version of the game called “Klondike“) is to get the down (covered) cards turned up as quickly as possible.  In business terms this is removing the unknowns so you can get a clear look at the situation.  I’ll usually keep attacking the biggest stack of covered cards just as in business we should focus on the areas where we know the least.

Since a finished pile – the stacks beginning with the Ace  – is an objective, there is a real temptation to add cards from the board to the Ace stack.  I only do that when I know I still have a place to put a lower card that still remains.  In business we sometimes make that mistake – we try to finish a task without thinking about the rest of the dependencies.

Sometimes you hit a wall.  All the cards are red and you’re only turning up additional red cards or you get to where you must turn over a specific card to keep going.  That’s when the creative thinking kicks in – how can I move something that’s already there to free up a slot?  Keeping the same suits (Hearts, Clubs, etc.) in the same lines can be helpful.  This often means delaying the play of a card into an obvious opening with an eye on something other than top-line data – the card’s number.  Yes, that may be a nuance but using all the information I have – number and suit – helps with the long-term solution, sometimes at short-term expense.  Sounds like a smart business practice, doesn’t it?

You probably have a solitaire game on whatever device you’re reading this.  Spend 5 minutes and try looking at the game in a different way.  After all, that’s how we need to approach business too, right?

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