Innovate, innovate, innovate!

Albert Einstein once said 'Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.' - A simple truth that can easily be forgotten in day to day life.

Innovation is introducing a new idea, it brings new results.
If we are not innovating on a daily basis in our personal lives and our professional lives, then nothing changes. If you want to change something, you have to innovate or you are... insane. Simple enough a concept to grasp but as anyone who has ever innovated anything will know, it can be anything but simple... as it comes with a risk.

The risk is that there is no track record you can refer to and there are no guarantees when pioneering something truly new. You are going to find out once you take the step and not before. The results may be different... and you may find change... but it may not be the one you were looking for. This, I think is one of the main reasons people are afraid to try new ideas.

But I say "Innovate, innovate, innovate!' If you do not succeed the first time, learn and try again. After all we only have one life and if we are not willing to risk a little in the hope of gaining much then we are cowards! Do not deny yourself the privilege of pioneering something truly original because you have failed or worse yet... feared you would.

As Thomas Edison bellowed to his critics: 'I did not fail 1000 times, I learned 999 ways a lightbulb will not work'

Be inspired and innovate where you want to see change!

Efficiency in the Workplace

Efficiency is paramount within an organisation that wants to rise above it's competitors. Defining your success is crucial to being efficient in the work place.

In the workplace, it has been my experience that working long hours and being busy are things to be admired. How many people have you heard moan/boast about how they work long hours or have loads to do. It is suggested constantly that the more emails you have the more important you are. Unless you are extremely busy... you are not 'doing your job'. The reason people see these problems as encouragement is because their definition of success has become skewered.

3 key aspects to delivering a good service:

1) Quality of service
2) Good value
3) Efficiently delivered

Now contrary to initial thoughts I think you will find the first two Objectives are achievable by almost any organisation. It is the third objective that is the most elusive and most important for rising above competitors.

Example:

Anyone can learn to cook a soufflé (a technically difficult desert) to a high level of quality. I hear you shout at me "That's not true!". Well actually, if time is not taken into the equation I think that with practice, tutoring and many attempts even I could produce a soufflé of high quality (My cooking skills leave a lot to be desired). But could I get a job in a restaurant as a chef? No. The reason is because chefs are not only able to produce great food but they can do it efficiently!

The definition of efficiency: 'Efficiency in general describes the extent to which time or effort is well used for the intended task or purpose' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efficiency)

This means that the less time and effort it takes you to complete a task, the more efficient you are and therefore the more valuable you are in the world of business. 'Doing your job well' should be the ability to achieve targets with the least time and effort possible.

So why have I chosen 'defining your success' to be the key ingredient in all this?
If you do not have clarity in what you want to achieve you will spend time on activities that do not benefit you achieving your target. It is as simple as that. This is I think the main culprit for people who are too busy all the time. You can be doing the 'best work' but on the wrong thing.

To quote a friend "It is important to keep your eye on where you want to arrive. I mean, how many people do you see walking one way but looking another? and if you do, what normally happens to them?"

-This post was inspired by a great post by Robert Pozen at HBR.com - http://ow.ly/5155g   Listen to the podcast if you have time, it is fantastic.

Opportunists Posing As Innovators

It is easy to point out flaws in other people's attempts but not so easy to come up with a truly original idea. I think it is pitiful when someone's highest claim is that they are not making mistakes that others are making.

An example:

Bob tries to set up a lemonade stall for his neighbourhood. He does ok and sells 10 glasses of lemonade. Unfortunately Bob didn't think to chill his lemonade so word spreads that his lemonade is warm. Fred hears about this and sets up a lemonade stall of his own, served with ice. He calls it 'The coolest lemonade for miles'.

It's a ridiculously simplistic story I know...but... the Bobs of this world are the guys who make things happen, the Freds of this world, although they have initiative... rarely produce anything of their own. Bob is the guy I would rather work with.

Be wary of opportunists who pose as innovators. Somewhere down the line you will realise they have less to offer than they let you think. The tell-tale sign of a poser is if they put more emphasis on what they aren't than rather what they are when talking about themselves and what they do! 

The Art of Marketing

I am tired of being cold-called on the telephone. Sometimes it isn't even a person on the other end of the line but a recorded message... I'm tired of the adverts on tv that don't really advertise their product. Ever watched an advert and afterwards wonder what the item does? or am I the only one? Marketing should be done in a way that does not infuriate it's receivers. Like there's a revelation...

The definition of marketing:

Marketing is "the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

Unfortunately I see many cases where marketers have spent time and effort trying to hide the fact that their product has no value to you instead of focusing on reaching an audience their product will really benefit. In fact more often than not a value is conjured for their product, that will be applicable to the masses and then it is that the marketers attempt to sell. Sometimes the concept dwarfs even the product itself.

Being on the receiving end of marketing for items that have no value to you is frustrating. If you end up buying the product, you end up eventually unsatisfied and annoyed when it dawns on you that the product is useless and you have wasted money. If you see through the conept from the start, you feel offended that someone is deceiving you into giving them your money and that your time is being wasted. ALL bad. Although there maybe short term benefits to this (getting the quick sell), the long term effects it has on your business I think are self-harming.

Seth Godin (inspiration on legs) blogs on 'selling vs inviting' which emphasises how marketing could be enoyable and beneficial to all involved when done right! Follow his blog if you are not already. It is full of wisdom and insight.

This is an art that if mastered, is very valuable.

Social Media. Giving, not taking.

In my mind a good business is one that offers a quality service and meets the needs of it's desired audience. If it does this and you value the customers you have, your business should naturally grow (via word of mouth and reputation). A company that does not look after it's present consumers has no business in attempting to attract more. This concept I think applies to Social Media...

Social Media is now recognised by most, if not all companies as a fantastic tool to reach and connect to vast audiences. I was a marketing assistant for a large UK charity for six months and my primary role was to pioneer their social media efforts. My success was gauged primarily by the amount of traffic our social media outposts generated to our official website. That and how many 'like's we got on facebook and how many 'follow's we obtained on twitter. I get the impression that many companies have realised that social media is an area of marketing they 'are not capitalising on' and are now employing people to try and 'catch up' with competition and create a 'social media prescence'. I think this is a wrong mind set to have and it can lead to bad use of social media within companies.

Ok so here is my hypothesis:
'Social Media is a tool to offer more to your customers/audience. Not a tool to boost your business. It's about giving more, NOT taking.'

Good Social Media will boost your business if it is done well, but good social media does not chase an audience... It provides for one. The success of your social media should be gauged on how well you accomodate your current audience. One of the great perks of social media is the ease at which media can be shared and promoted. There are many great tips as to how you can maximise your social media prescence but if you're primary focus is being noticed... why and what you are noticed for is equally if not more important.

So to summarise... I believe, like many others that content is King, but also your focus and intention within Social Media needs to be on providing/connecting with your current audience... not merely expanding!