Discovery Driven Planning: Good new book on Innovation

edit

It’s always a welcome moment when a new perspective on innovation is offered from the folks over at Clayton Christensen’s Innosight consulting firm.  They’ve just recently published a new book, The Innovator’s Guide to Growth that looks to be a very welcome read.  I’ve just ordered it and will give it a review here when I get the chance!

Share this article: Digg this post on digg.com  Bookmark to del.icio.us  Search Technorati for links to this post  Stumble This

Powerful use of symbolism by leaders of change

edit

One of the most powerful levers for leaders to use in trying to create change is through symbolism.  Symbols give meaning to activities that would otherwise lack emotion or conviction.  I was thinking about this when reading a recent Fast Company article on Michelle Rhee, recently appointed chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS).  The article cites Kent McGuire, dean of Temple University’s education school as saying “An unfortunate reality about large urban districts is that they’re set up to satisfy the adults who work in them, not the kids they’re supposed to serve.  Kids don’t vote.”

Rhee has turned this observation into something of a battle cry, with powerful symbolic effect.  In response to criticism about having fired 15% of the central office staff, she said, “Children are losing their lives because we’re not educating htem well.  But we’re concerned about the adults?  I’m not firing people because I’m mean or heartless or don’t care about people.  I’m just not willing to forsake the future of thousands of kids for the comfort of a few adults.” In a further powerful bit of symbolism, Rhee’s own children attend school in the district she is trying to reform.

Tackling large-scale change is never without controversy and it’s early days yet for the efforts to solve the intractable problems of a large district like DCPS.  But as an example of powerful symbolism, it really works. 

Share this article: Digg this post on digg.com  Bookmark to del.icio.us  Search Technorati for links to this post  Stumble This

It’s hard to grow a socially unpopular core business

edit

The Wall Street Journal yesterday reported that Altria had, after a three-year trial, pulled the plug on a whole line of Marlboro products intended to be safer for smokers than the conventional cigarettes.  As the story reports:

Marlboro Ultra Smooth, which had been sold in Atlanta, Tampa, Fla., and Salt Lake City for more than three years, drew little attention from consumers. Philip Morris USA, which had hoped to market the cigarette as a reduced-risk smoke, stopped making new shipments to its wholesalers April 1. Remaining stock is still on sale. Its other cigarettes with the new activated-carbon filters—the Marlboro Ultra Lights in Phoenix and North Dakota, and Basic Ultra Lights in Washington state—also were just discontinued, the company said.

It’s pretty clear that Philip Morris, USA, is going to have to find some other pathways to growth, as this one doesn’t seem to be working.  With aggressive marketing also unpopular, it sure does seem to leave the company in a bind.  So what could we suggest might represent new growth opportunities, even in a market that doesn’t seem to be allowed to grow (and to which the company is confined, now that it has spun off its international division)?

Well, if we follow the guidelines from MarketBusters, here are some ideas they might try.

First, perhaps there is something about the customers’ total experience that could be changed.  It does seem as though a lot of these innovations focus squarely on the product, and in the traditional attributes, not on something about the customers’ total experience.  For instance, maybe they could add in featues that improve the purchasing, usage, or disposal experiences.  Or sell cigarettes with a different model—I could see brands that are used for different experiences and settings, for instance.

Or perhaps they need to think about a whole different business model.  Maybe they could develop a subscription like model, or figure out how to sell cigarettes using an entirely different methodology.

Or perhaps it’s an attribute play.  Unfortunately, one of the reasons that many young women (particularly dancers, as a colleague of mine has famously documented) appears to be to maintain their weight at what they consider to be acceptable levels.  So given that the company is largely prohibited from promoting such attributes directly, a viral campaign might be in order.

I’m not a huge fan of smoking, by the way, and don’t smoke myself, but as a strategy challenge this one is very interesting. 

Share this article: Digg this post on digg.com  Bookmark to del.icio.us  Search Technorati for links to this post  Stumble This

Overcoming resistance - Monsanto’s stealth strategy

edit

In the book MarketBusters, we strongly encourage would-be growth companies to give some careful thought to the forces that might lead to delay or resistance as the new initiatives are rolled out.  One of our poster children for this was Mosanto, whose genetically modified seeds created a firestorm of opposition, particularly in Europe, as the products were launched.  In 2002, the company’s stock price dropped by 50% and it announced a $1.7 billion loss, due largely to its inability to overcome the opposition of critics, who included Paul McCartney and Prince Charles among their number.

From this seemingly-hopeless situation, Monsanto has been able to stage a comeback by deploying what you might think of as a ‘stealth’ strategy. 

Share this article: Digg this post on digg.com  Bookmark to del.icio.us  Search Technorati for links to this post  Stumble This

Page 1 of 1 pages