Pearl Zhu's Blog, page 1391
November 3, 2015
How to Maximize the Link between what Customers Value and What Companies Provide
The key issue is to maximize the link between what customers value and what companies provide.
Building a customer-centric business is in every forward-thinking organization’s agenda. The customer-centric organization has the ability to capture what's going right, not so right, customer trends, insights and where improvements are needed. And it's about to align everything you do with a solid business strategy in which Customer Experience is an important pillar. But how can you measure Customer Value effectively?Customer Value Added: The ratio of the value you add to your customers, and the value your competition adds to its customers. It correlates to loyalty, market share, and profits. Customer value should not only be measured based on the product or service but also upon the overall total experience, timing, digital touch point which are all important factors to consider. It shows the fallacy of simplistically competing on costs or on price. What matters is the margin between costs and perceived value.
NPS: Too often it is used as a transaction metric as opposed to an outcome metric with people looking at daily or weekly scores in response to a minor process changes that have been implemented, often capriciously. A specific caution to NPS: In most of the cases it asks people about their own network (for recommendations) and their own intentions (to recommend). None of them is given, reality might look quite different, especially in terms of recommendations to people with buying power and ambitions. So often, there is a gap in that customers are signaling a high portion of value coming from 'product,' but business don't understand explicitly what. NPS only goes one inch deep, businesses shall dig three-feet in-depth to find the root cause of business problems.
The key issue is to maximize the link between what customers value and what companies provide. There’s measurement discrepancy between what matters for business and what matters for the customers. Often, what is most important is what the customer does not tell you -- their unarticulated needs. For example, an intense Voice of the Customer program that starts with extreme flexibility and openness in soliciting customer wants, and then narrows down the process using detailed quantitative studies that first narrow the field, and then get into the trade-offs so that businesses know that what they are giving the customer is both what they really want and what they are willing to pay for (conjoint/discrete choice). The latter step is critical to ensure that the goal of "adding value to the company by adding value to the customer" is achieved. In addition, Total Customer Delight is an index of Total Participation in the Growth of the Enterprise, directly or indirectly. It defines the degree of value ownership of customers in the enterprise.
There are both objective and subjective component, direct & indirect factors to measure customer value effectively. Whatever tool is used, it must be able to provide actionable data. Metricians tend to be left brainers, they can only operate by addictively trying to measure things. The whole-brain view can intuitively perceive and pinpoint what one really needs to know, and can do it within seconds. What does anyone feel is the most effective way to link the hard measures with the desired soft outcomes is how the customers are experiencing the business, and adding value to the company as well. The measurement needs to keep the ultimate goal in mind - to build a customer-centric organization.Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Building a customer-centric business is in every forward-thinking organization’s agenda. The customer-centric organization has the ability to capture what's going right, not so right, customer trends, insights and where improvements are needed. And it's about to align everything you do with a solid business strategy in which Customer Experience is an important pillar. But how can you measure Customer Value effectively?Customer Value Added: The ratio of the value you add to your customers, and the value your competition adds to its customers. It correlates to loyalty, market share, and profits. Customer value should not only be measured based on the product or service but also upon the overall total experience, timing, digital touch point which are all important factors to consider. It shows the fallacy of simplistically competing on costs or on price. What matters is the margin between costs and perceived value. NPS: Too often it is used as a transaction metric as opposed to an outcome metric with people looking at daily or weekly scores in response to a minor process changes that have been implemented, often capriciously. A specific caution to NPS: In most of the cases it asks people about their own network (for recommendations) and their own intentions (to recommend). None of them is given, reality might look quite different, especially in terms of recommendations to people with buying power and ambitions. So often, there is a gap in that customers are signaling a high portion of value coming from 'product,' but business don't understand explicitly what. NPS only goes one inch deep, businesses shall dig three-feet in-depth to find the root cause of business problems.
The key issue is to maximize the link between what customers value and what companies provide. There’s measurement discrepancy between what matters for business and what matters for the customers. Often, what is most important is what the customer does not tell you -- their unarticulated needs. For example, an intense Voice of the Customer program that starts with extreme flexibility and openness in soliciting customer wants, and then narrows down the process using detailed quantitative studies that first narrow the field, and then get into the trade-offs so that businesses know that what they are giving the customer is both what they really want and what they are willing to pay for (conjoint/discrete choice). The latter step is critical to ensure that the goal of "adding value to the company by adding value to the customer" is achieved. In addition, Total Customer Delight is an index of Total Participation in the Growth of the Enterprise, directly or indirectly. It defines the degree of value ownership of customers in the enterprise.
There are both objective and subjective component, direct & indirect factors to measure customer value effectively. Whatever tool is used, it must be able to provide actionable data. Metricians tend to be left brainers, they can only operate by addictively trying to measure things. The whole-brain view can intuitively perceive and pinpoint what one really needs to know, and can do it within seconds. What does anyone feel is the most effective way to link the hard measures with the desired soft outcomes is how the customers are experiencing the business, and adding value to the company as well. The measurement needs to keep the ultimate goal in mind - to build a customer-centric organization.Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
November 2, 2015
IT as a Business Solution Provider
Define, Manage, Optimize to build an agile IT as a business solution provider.
With emergent digital technologies, many IT organizations reinvent themselves to ensure value and quality of deliverable. The core vs context is a business decision and not just an IT discussion. CIOs are gradually realizing that their organizations are not in the commodity server business or just a back-office cost center. With a growing trend in Cloud Computing, namely Managed Cloud, the agile IT of today via an enlightened CIO is becoming a "service broker," and business solution provider, instead of just a "service provider."
Define, Manage, Optimize, Commoditize. Every business has a large number of necessary but non-differentiating functions to manage; these are areas where well-considered multisourcing solution will always play a role. As soon as something becomes commoditized, you can leverage cloud or other sourcing solutions to free up your employees hands and rather use their brains. Also at the beginning, when you do not have the required skill, you can source and then make a strategic decision later on whether this is something that you want to have in-house, or rather just manage.The strategic and differentiating capabilities should always be managed closely, whether in-house or with trusted partners. The best companies are ones that understand the difference. Short version - Unless you can justify the overhead, focus on what you want and need from technology, and bring in folks to provide it for you. Effective service providers typically have a wide range of exposure, and are not tied to any one network, solution, or technology, they gain insight from working on hundreds of environments across many verticals. They have seen more environments in one day than most in-house staff see in a lifetime; that is typically worth the investment alone. More importantly, companies should look toward finding strong technology partners who will co-innovate with them - doing more with innovation, not just doing more with less.
Aligning IT agility to the Capex/Opex appetite is what drives the cloud adoption emerging as trends. CIOs expressing a need to free up their staff from commodity activities to spend more time on strategic or business initiatives. The use of a range of Cloud Services delivered by a range of niche companies as a unified internal solution to the end users and governed and owned by the internal IT function seems to be the present and the immediate future. Why is this occurring? Of course, there is still a widespread need to reduce costs. But, increasingly, there is a need for increased agility and a desire for usage based cost models. These, and a few other strategic needs, are driving IT organizations to look at alternative hybrid delivery models. Those who are not there yet, risk falling behind their competition. These automated and often niche cloud-based Managed Services allow organizations to assemble a unique and agile portfolio of services consumed from third parties whilst maintaining control of their strategy and direction. The main drivers remain access to capacity, skills, and flexibility over ramping up and down according to project demands, amongst others. Overall in the long run it seems whatever you do there is a similar price to be paid and time penalty incurred. The time phasing and cost profile varies between the choices. Moving to SaaS or Cloud based services is not the panacea for IT management issues, and in many cases brings more challenges with less control. There needs to be a good mix of sourcing solutions, so that employees, customers, and IT management can safely meet together over a short path decisions.
IT is business, and IT strategy is an important component of business strategy. IT is an integral part of the business with the omni-channel. This brings different perception on sourcing strategy. C-levels are listening more into the IT Strategy and how this has become the fundamental part of company's future. That's why it is fundamental for the business to have an in-house and pro-active IT team, which will be able to create the future path for the companies, Still, cost optimization, immediate availability of talents, scalability of operations, 24x7 global operations are effectively delivered through the cloud or other sourcing solutions. IT alignment with business design, project portfolio management, continuous innovations are typical in-house retained activities. Companies are now looking at a little higher level of help in advisory and consulting services first. Many industries/businesses are looking to update their IT to make it more agile and responsive to the business while further reducing the cost. Leveraging cloud, mobility, and analytics are means to achieving the same end - better decision making for increased revenue and profits.
Either IT chooses to build products in-house or leverage cloud solutions, there is not a black and white answer here. One needs to selectively look at the corporate culture and needs of the business to determine where it makes sense to out-task or keep in the house. Numbers always are important, but not investing in technology also can become a very negative side in the company's future. With the criticality of technology for most businesses, you need some way of growing talent that understands your particular business, and a comfort with technology to help envision and architect what tomorrow should look like for you. IT leaders need to continue to “trim” and refine IT via consolidation, integration, modernization, and optimization. You also need to keep in mind the human nature of reacting to change and going too far one way or the other (a pendulum), but hopefully over time settling somewhere in the middle. In short, IT should always laser focus on the ultimate business goals as a solution provider and business enabler regardless of which approaches you take.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
With emergent digital technologies, many IT organizations reinvent themselves to ensure value and quality of deliverable. The core vs context is a business decision and not just an IT discussion. CIOs are gradually realizing that their organizations are not in the commodity server business or just a back-office cost center. With a growing trend in Cloud Computing, namely Managed Cloud, the agile IT of today via an enlightened CIO is becoming a "service broker," and business solution provider, instead of just a "service provider."Define, Manage, Optimize, Commoditize. Every business has a large number of necessary but non-differentiating functions to manage; these are areas where well-considered multisourcing solution will always play a role. As soon as something becomes commoditized, you can leverage cloud or other sourcing solutions to free up your employees hands and rather use their brains. Also at the beginning, when you do not have the required skill, you can source and then make a strategic decision later on whether this is something that you want to have in-house, or rather just manage.The strategic and differentiating capabilities should always be managed closely, whether in-house or with trusted partners. The best companies are ones that understand the difference. Short version - Unless you can justify the overhead, focus on what you want and need from technology, and bring in folks to provide it for you. Effective service providers typically have a wide range of exposure, and are not tied to any one network, solution, or technology, they gain insight from working on hundreds of environments across many verticals. They have seen more environments in one day than most in-house staff see in a lifetime; that is typically worth the investment alone. More importantly, companies should look toward finding strong technology partners who will co-innovate with them - doing more with innovation, not just doing more with less.
Aligning IT agility to the Capex/Opex appetite is what drives the cloud adoption emerging as trends. CIOs expressing a need to free up their staff from commodity activities to spend more time on strategic or business initiatives. The use of a range of Cloud Services delivered by a range of niche companies as a unified internal solution to the end users and governed and owned by the internal IT function seems to be the present and the immediate future. Why is this occurring? Of course, there is still a widespread need to reduce costs. But, increasingly, there is a need for increased agility and a desire for usage based cost models. These, and a few other strategic needs, are driving IT organizations to look at alternative hybrid delivery models. Those who are not there yet, risk falling behind their competition. These automated and often niche cloud-based Managed Services allow organizations to assemble a unique and agile portfolio of services consumed from third parties whilst maintaining control of their strategy and direction. The main drivers remain access to capacity, skills, and flexibility over ramping up and down according to project demands, amongst others. Overall in the long run it seems whatever you do there is a similar price to be paid and time penalty incurred. The time phasing and cost profile varies between the choices. Moving to SaaS or Cloud based services is not the panacea for IT management issues, and in many cases brings more challenges with less control. There needs to be a good mix of sourcing solutions, so that employees, customers, and IT management can safely meet together over a short path decisions.
IT is business, and IT strategy is an important component of business strategy. IT is an integral part of the business with the omni-channel. This brings different perception on sourcing strategy. C-levels are listening more into the IT Strategy and how this has become the fundamental part of company's future. That's why it is fundamental for the business to have an in-house and pro-active IT team, which will be able to create the future path for the companies, Still, cost optimization, immediate availability of talents, scalability of operations, 24x7 global operations are effectively delivered through the cloud or other sourcing solutions. IT alignment with business design, project portfolio management, continuous innovations are typical in-house retained activities. Companies are now looking at a little higher level of help in advisory and consulting services first. Many industries/businesses are looking to update their IT to make it more agile and responsive to the business while further reducing the cost. Leveraging cloud, mobility, and analytics are means to achieving the same end - better decision making for increased revenue and profits.
Either IT chooses to build products in-house or leverage cloud solutions, there is not a black and white answer here. One needs to selectively look at the corporate culture and needs of the business to determine where it makes sense to out-task or keep in the house. Numbers always are important, but not investing in technology also can become a very negative side in the company's future. With the criticality of technology for most businesses, you need some way of growing talent that understands your particular business, and a comfort with technology to help envision and architect what tomorrow should look like for you. IT leaders need to continue to “trim” and refine IT via consolidation, integration, modernization, and optimization. You also need to keep in mind the human nature of reacting to change and going too far one way or the other (a pendulum), but hopefully over time settling somewhere in the middle. In short, IT should always laser focus on the ultimate business goals as a solution provider and business enabler regardless of which approaches you take.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Have You Focused on Fixing the Wrong Cause of a Problem?
The company is trying to fix a symptom, not the real problem which is stifling staff creativity, innovation, and communication.
As human species, we are still facing many problems and challenges. Either for individuals, organizations, or society as a whole, the problem-solving capability is crucial to surviving and thriving. However, many decision-makers fail to fully grasp and accurately perceive what leads to problems and difficulties. Often, events and patterns are observed on the surface, and then the action is taken, but that is too early. After observing events and patterns, there are the underlying structures, the mechanisms, that cause problems. And people lack critical thinking are usually never question because "it's the way things should be." Problem-solving in the majority of organizations today is woefully inadequate, so what happens when you focus on fixing the wrong cause of problems?
The company is trying to fix a symptom, not the real problem which is stifling staff creativity, innovation, and communication. It may be an attempt to fix an assumed cause, in which case, the effort to fix it wouldn't be a total loss. It would eliminate a possible cause and move you closer to the actual or real cause. Often times, we have a tendency to try to fix a symptom which results from the actual cause of the problem. When we do this, we throw good money after bad. We allow problems to grow under the surface, out of sight, out of mind, until it’s too late. Until the underlying problem is addressed, the symptom or result will continue to return. So trying to fix the wrong cause of a problem will waste time and resources, increase anxiety, and leave industries full of opportunists that see long-term rewards by offering solutions that address symptoms & results rather than problems. A better solution that crosses all industries is to keep peeling back the layers to find the root cause via asking five WHYs, or taking other systematic approaches - to discover the real cause, and address it.
The trick is to recognize negative trends early enough to change direction. "Metrics" is important, first, measure the right things, and then measure them right. If you can't measure it, quantify it, it’s difficult to change and "improve" it. Not only must there be a way to measure and quantify a condition; there must be a willingness to want to improve the condition. In the business world, if the change doesn't translate to the bottom line, it’s doomed. Although quantitative measures do play a valuable part in assessing measuring/ quantifying anything. However, quantifying is only part of the pie. Many times, in the business world, the metrics do show a pretty pie chart and that is what management want to see (the numbers add up). But, when managers walk out on the "floor," the morale is down, the burnout rate is high, the sick-days is taken, a breakdown in communication and turnover is high. When these areas diminish, there is a huge problem. Unfortunately, many leaders will identify the wrong cause of the problems and inadvertently waste time, money and resources trying to fix problems.
Silo thinking is often one of the thought processes focusing on symptoms, not the root causes. At their heart, silos are not a structural issue, they are the result of poor thinking. Or is it small thinking that causes silos and slowness? Managers tend to respond to silos by reorganizing, but this is hardly ever the most important aspect or the place to start. What we need to do is change thinking. The silo issue is more a question about thinking and attitude than a pure organizational/structural issue. The silos can only be broken down if you change people’s attitude - working together to achieve the most for the company as a whole - sometimes it requires that "your" department have to take on more work, step back etc., in order for the whole business to prosper even more. Often people seem to be prisoners of their habits and behaviors - resulting from their thoughts, beliefs, and paradigms. How to change thought models and attitudes? That is only a start to awareness of something new, broader perspective and a possibility of something new. How to make this necessary change in thinking into new ways of working together - and giving up the safe old silo culture? Complexity science has the potential to take care of that for those who can learn to live with the uncertainty. One work-around solution that can be effective in the short term is the creation of temporary project organizations comprised of members of the silos to deliver transformative change. If well designed and led the team can deliver a rewarding experience for everyone…
A systematic approach with “OODA” decision cycle to problem solving can be effective: Step #1 is to "observe" -- this is where you collect data from every possible source. There may be symptoms, assumptions, conjecture, ancillary causes, root causes, and everything else buried in the mess, but you still collect the information from different sources. Step #2 is to "orient" - to synthesize the data and separate out the fact from fiction, and drill down to the true facts and the root cause. It is the step to "frame the problem." Step#3 is to "decide" - to take the identification of the facts and root cause, and mold into a solution based on the objectives and other extenuating circumstances. It is also the step to identify and prioritize alternative solutions." Step #4 is to "act" - to actually execute on the decisions that were made.
System based analysis can surely contribute to solving most of the problems in organizations. Besides logic, there is a role for intuition. Maybe the comprehensive answer to excellence in problem solving is a combination of both.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
As human species, we are still facing many problems and challenges. Either for individuals, organizations, or society as a whole, the problem-solving capability is crucial to surviving and thriving. However, many decision-makers fail to fully grasp and accurately perceive what leads to problems and difficulties. Often, events and patterns are observed on the surface, and then the action is taken, but that is too early. After observing events and patterns, there are the underlying structures, the mechanisms, that cause problems. And people lack critical thinking are usually never question because "it's the way things should be." Problem-solving in the majority of organizations today is woefully inadequate, so what happens when you focus on fixing the wrong cause of problems?
The company is trying to fix a symptom, not the real problem which is stifling staff creativity, innovation, and communication. It may be an attempt to fix an assumed cause, in which case, the effort to fix it wouldn't be a total loss. It would eliminate a possible cause and move you closer to the actual or real cause. Often times, we have a tendency to try to fix a symptom which results from the actual cause of the problem. When we do this, we throw good money after bad. We allow problems to grow under the surface, out of sight, out of mind, until it’s too late. Until the underlying problem is addressed, the symptom or result will continue to return. So trying to fix the wrong cause of a problem will waste time and resources, increase anxiety, and leave industries full of opportunists that see long-term rewards by offering solutions that address symptoms & results rather than problems. A better solution that crosses all industries is to keep peeling back the layers to find the root cause via asking five WHYs, or taking other systematic approaches - to discover the real cause, and address it.
The trick is to recognize negative trends early enough to change direction. "Metrics" is important, first, measure the right things, and then measure them right. If you can't measure it, quantify it, it’s difficult to change and "improve" it. Not only must there be a way to measure and quantify a condition; there must be a willingness to want to improve the condition. In the business world, if the change doesn't translate to the bottom line, it’s doomed. Although quantitative measures do play a valuable part in assessing measuring/ quantifying anything. However, quantifying is only part of the pie. Many times, in the business world, the metrics do show a pretty pie chart and that is what management want to see (the numbers add up). But, when managers walk out on the "floor," the morale is down, the burnout rate is high, the sick-days is taken, a breakdown in communication and turnover is high. When these areas diminish, there is a huge problem. Unfortunately, many leaders will identify the wrong cause of the problems and inadvertently waste time, money and resources trying to fix problems.
Silo thinking is often one of the thought processes focusing on symptoms, not the root causes. At their heart, silos are not a structural issue, they are the result of poor thinking. Or is it small thinking that causes silos and slowness? Managers tend to respond to silos by reorganizing, but this is hardly ever the most important aspect or the place to start. What we need to do is change thinking. The silo issue is more a question about thinking and attitude than a pure organizational/structural issue. The silos can only be broken down if you change people’s attitude - working together to achieve the most for the company as a whole - sometimes it requires that "your" department have to take on more work, step back etc., in order for the whole business to prosper even more. Often people seem to be prisoners of their habits and behaviors - resulting from their thoughts, beliefs, and paradigms. How to change thought models and attitudes? That is only a start to awareness of something new, broader perspective and a possibility of something new. How to make this necessary change in thinking into new ways of working together - and giving up the safe old silo culture? Complexity science has the potential to take care of that for those who can learn to live with the uncertainty. One work-around solution that can be effective in the short term is the creation of temporary project organizations comprised of members of the silos to deliver transformative change. If well designed and led the team can deliver a rewarding experience for everyone…
A systematic approach with “OODA” decision cycle to problem solving can be effective: Step #1 is to "observe" -- this is where you collect data from every possible source. There may be symptoms, assumptions, conjecture, ancillary causes, root causes, and everything else buried in the mess, but you still collect the information from different sources. Step #2 is to "orient" - to synthesize the data and separate out the fact from fiction, and drill down to the true facts and the root cause. It is the step to "frame the problem." Step#3 is to "decide" - to take the identification of the facts and root cause, and mold into a solution based on the objectives and other extenuating circumstances. It is also the step to identify and prioritize alternative solutions." Step #4 is to "act" - to actually execute on the decisions that were made.
System based analysis can surely contribute to solving most of the problems in organizations. Besides logic, there is a role for intuition. Maybe the comprehensive answer to excellence in problem solving is a combination of both.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
November 1, 2015
Leaders as Coaches
A good leader manage, but not manipulate; participate, but not micromanage; delegate, but also guide through.
Substantially, leadership is all about future and change; direction and dedication; influence and innovation; in styles, there are authoritarian, delegation, and participation leadership styles. With organizations are transforming from mechanical industrial mode to organic digital mode, the command and control authoritarian leadership style is less effective to manage today’s multi-generational, multi-cultural, and multi-devicing workforce. And leaders today are not the one who always have all the answers due to the information overloading and shortened knowledge life cycle, but often they need to participate in framing good questions, and encourage teams to find more than one answers, and always discover a better way to do things. The coach leads by asking: "How would you like to do it"? "Are there any other ways of doing it"? "Can you compare them"? "Which is best”? also, continue to update her/his own knowledge, coach and learn at the same time.
Coaching and mentoring are going to be increasingly important now. Mentoring has always been a very integral part of an organization’s success. In the past the key was for the younger workers without experience to come into a company or organization with new ways of doing things and be attached to more experienced workers to be trained on how the company actually work and overtime the younger workers would see a better way to do things and the older workers would benefit by being shown new ways of doing things so that the company could remain sustainable. In the past, the share and spread of knowledge and skills could survive in isolation. However, in the new age, the faster the dissemination, the better the response. Some of this teaching has to be culturally driven by the leaders and not just limited to discretionary skill. Philosophy to build a winning team and develop other leaders is to encourage the creation of an environment in which all feel the need to demonstrate leadership, to take responsibility for the results, to unlock the teaching potential of your company's best and brightest.
The benefit of Coaching: A good leader welcomes new potential leaders, encouraging and bringing out the potential of leading the others. It is developing the employees, in terms to make them real performers. The coach/mentor can show the team how to explore their own natural skill sets, talents, and strong sides, take into account their own objectives in line with working needs. Additionally, to show them that there is always a way to earn what they dream of - if they are willing to spend the time and energy in self-development. The titles and qualifications, if well managed, are needed in every society: ensuring respect for the person who has that title, reflect the degree of responsibility, they are synonymous with order and efficiency. But imagine what would be the performance of a company that spreads the leadership at all levels of the organization! Imagine if all employees feel leaders in their work, that is competent and responsible for productivity, the quotient of innovation, teamwork and the degree of customer satisfaction. Any organization that forms the leaders at all levels would cross easily change caused by these times of uncertainty.
Humans always need to develop and grow and practice skills. Coaching doesn't mean micro-managing: It means to encourage the team to always embrace the other point of view, and help glue a clear and more colorful picture for business growth, and cultivate the culture of learning and be agile to adapt to the changes. Often leaders provide internal and regularly scheduled workshops around their business that employees can attend. One would simply make sure that it is not a forced initiative but a fluid one that a leader can develop his/her own skill sets.
People have been asking if there is something "magical" or "special" about being a leader since time began. Leadership is methodical, but there is some magic in there. Effective leadership is methodical, it takes hard work and endurance, the substance of leadership never changes, but it has to shift the styles to adapt to the changes. Learning, coaching, and practicing leadership is a methodical process that is improved by constant learning and practice. A good leader never stops learning. And a good leader manage, but not manipulate; participate, but not micromanage; delegate, but also guide through; to make leadership both art and science, look magical.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Substantially, leadership is all about future and change; direction and dedication; influence and innovation; in styles, there are authoritarian, delegation, and participation leadership styles. With organizations are transforming from mechanical industrial mode to organic digital mode, the command and control authoritarian leadership style is less effective to manage today’s multi-generational, multi-cultural, and multi-devicing workforce. And leaders today are not the one who always have all the answers due to the information overloading and shortened knowledge life cycle, but often they need to participate in framing good questions, and encourage teams to find more than one answers, and always discover a better way to do things. The coach leads by asking: "How would you like to do it"? "Are there any other ways of doing it"? "Can you compare them"? "Which is best”? also, continue to update her/his own knowledge, coach and learn at the same time.
Coaching and mentoring are going to be increasingly important now. Mentoring has always been a very integral part of an organization’s success. In the past the key was for the younger workers without experience to come into a company or organization with new ways of doing things and be attached to more experienced workers to be trained on how the company actually work and overtime the younger workers would see a better way to do things and the older workers would benefit by being shown new ways of doing things so that the company could remain sustainable. In the past, the share and spread of knowledge and skills could survive in isolation. However, in the new age, the faster the dissemination, the better the response. Some of this teaching has to be culturally driven by the leaders and not just limited to discretionary skill. Philosophy to build a winning team and develop other leaders is to encourage the creation of an environment in which all feel the need to demonstrate leadership, to take responsibility for the results, to unlock the teaching potential of your company's best and brightest.
The benefit of Coaching: A good leader welcomes new potential leaders, encouraging and bringing out the potential of leading the others. It is developing the employees, in terms to make them real performers. The coach/mentor can show the team how to explore their own natural skill sets, talents, and strong sides, take into account their own objectives in line with working needs. Additionally, to show them that there is always a way to earn what they dream of - if they are willing to spend the time and energy in self-development. The titles and qualifications, if well managed, are needed in every society: ensuring respect for the person who has that title, reflect the degree of responsibility, they are synonymous with order and efficiency. But imagine what would be the performance of a company that spreads the leadership at all levels of the organization! Imagine if all employees feel leaders in their work, that is competent and responsible for productivity, the quotient of innovation, teamwork and the degree of customer satisfaction. Any organization that forms the leaders at all levels would cross easily change caused by these times of uncertainty.
Humans always need to develop and grow and practice skills. Coaching doesn't mean micro-managing: It means to encourage the team to always embrace the other point of view, and help glue a clear and more colorful picture for business growth, and cultivate the culture of learning and be agile to adapt to the changes. Often leaders provide internal and regularly scheduled workshops around their business that employees can attend. One would simply make sure that it is not a forced initiative but a fluid one that a leader can develop his/her own skill sets.People have been asking if there is something "magical" or "special" about being a leader since time began. Leadership is methodical, but there is some magic in there. Effective leadership is methodical, it takes hard work and endurance, the substance of leadership never changes, but it has to shift the styles to adapt to the changes. Learning, coaching, and practicing leadership is a methodical process that is improved by constant learning and practice. A good leader never stops learning. And a good leader manage, but not manipulate; participate, but not micromanage; delegate, but also guide through; to make leadership both art and science, look magical.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
#2300th Blog Posting: Life is a Progress Journey Starting with a Growth Mindset
A growth mindset believes - all dreams have the potential to be translated into fulfillment.
It is the beginning of the month, it’s also the time to post the #2300th blog of the “Future of CIO.” Life is a progress journey, starting with a growth mindset which must believe - all dreams have the potential to be translated into fulfillment. The key here is BELIEF. A growth mindset refers to those who solve problems or target the goals with the belief that their ability level was nothing more than a snapshot in time and eminently changeable as they continued to learn and develop. The focal point for such mindset is to make continuous progress by asking: Who am I? Am I focusing on the right things? What can I learn? What would I do differently next time? What can I change? At society level, making collective progress starts with the collective wisdom, the right mindsets, the positive attitudes, and the collaborative effort to achieve the common goals.
Positivity - Positive attitude lifts up one’s spirit and it’s the engine of the human progress. It is a natural urge that every individual seeks every available opportunity and mold it to the positive advantage throughout the journey of life with utmost interest and seriousness. It is important to keep an open mind, respectful, and empathetic while, simultaneously, maintaining a steady dedication to accuracy and knowledge. Awaken your heart and liberate your mind to obtain accurate knowledge and wisdom, because it gives you a more holistic view of a problem or situation, If the problems or negativity are all you see, then you are part of problems. Want to be part of the solutions, then stop focusing on the problem and focus on the solutions. Once you see the big picture and are in alignment to have a positive result, true progress can be made. Sow positive thoughts = create positive change. Sow negative thoughts = negative change. It’s your choice and your responsibility.
Mindfulness: For change in the self, after awareness, reflection, regulation to change, the force of habit is required. Mindfulness is a requirement for the inner change to occur and for the progress to make. Our magnificent brains are capable of conjuring up brilliant, original, and creative ideas, besides creativity, clarity and consciousness are crucial as well. Mindfulness is more about mastering at multidimensional thinking processes, and the best way to develop thinking is in solitude turning within for discovery of yourself and beyond: Start yourself - discover yourself - express yourself - refine yourself -proof yourself - maintain yourself -preserve yourself -protect yourself should be the path to follow. The world is far away from perfect, and most of the problems are caused by miscommunication, poor decision making, or dig deeper, the unbalanced mindsets lack of Emotional Intelligence. Emotional Brilliance comes because of balance, not extremes of any kind. And human’s collective progress needs to be achieved via being mindful, be empathetic, and be collaborative.
Forward-looking: The past is part of who you are, learning from the past can help us to make continuous improvement, but you don't have to be defined or limited by that past. Solutions are forward thinking, because out of dated perception is like time glue that keeps you still while the rest of the world moves on which creates another problem-resentment and more negative thinking. The past is like looking into a rear-view mirror in your car. That takes a quick peek but do not stare. Use the front windshield as your path to your future. Why? Because the windshield of the car is in front of you and is a lot bigger and wider than the rear-view mirror. Furthermore, the past is called the past for a reason....it has passed and done with. Move forward. It doesn't matter how fast you're moving forward, but fail over and move forward. When you have freed yourself from the overload of the past, or other people’ judgment, everything will start to flow naturally. It is just a matter of getting used to being you, and not what others have made of you. Improvement comes by discovering and exploring self. To learn, and to succeed requires humility and the support of people. And moreover, it will become a joyful and interesting journey: the discovery of how to live your existence in the most appropriate way for you, being authentic and being mindful.
Life is continuous evolving. There is nothing like a straight line in reality, either connecting the dots, drawing the circles, or painting the colors, the progress is made via positive and growth mindsets, humble learning attitudes, and emotional brilliance. It is the good combination of talent, opportunities, and support. Progress can not be made without knowledge, the ultimate aim of knowledge is wisdom. Every bit of knowledge we acquire either increases our confidence, or betters our judgment, or then does both to make progress sustainable.Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
It is the beginning of the month, it’s also the time to post the #2300th blog of the “Future of CIO.” Life is a progress journey, starting with a growth mindset which must believe - all dreams have the potential to be translated into fulfillment. The key here is BELIEF. A growth mindset refers to those who solve problems or target the goals with the belief that their ability level was nothing more than a snapshot in time and eminently changeable as they continued to learn and develop. The focal point for such mindset is to make continuous progress by asking: Who am I? Am I focusing on the right things? What can I learn? What would I do differently next time? What can I change? At society level, making collective progress starts with the collective wisdom, the right mindsets, the positive attitudes, and the collaborative effort to achieve the common goals.Positivity - Positive attitude lifts up one’s spirit and it’s the engine of the human progress. It is a natural urge that every individual seeks every available opportunity and mold it to the positive advantage throughout the journey of life with utmost interest and seriousness. It is important to keep an open mind, respectful, and empathetic while, simultaneously, maintaining a steady dedication to accuracy and knowledge. Awaken your heart and liberate your mind to obtain accurate knowledge and wisdom, because it gives you a more holistic view of a problem or situation, If the problems or negativity are all you see, then you are part of problems. Want to be part of the solutions, then stop focusing on the problem and focus on the solutions. Once you see the big picture and are in alignment to have a positive result, true progress can be made. Sow positive thoughts = create positive change. Sow negative thoughts = negative change. It’s your choice and your responsibility.
Mindfulness: For change in the self, after awareness, reflection, regulation to change, the force of habit is required. Mindfulness is a requirement for the inner change to occur and for the progress to make. Our magnificent brains are capable of conjuring up brilliant, original, and creative ideas, besides creativity, clarity and consciousness are crucial as well. Mindfulness is more about mastering at multidimensional thinking processes, and the best way to develop thinking is in solitude turning within for discovery of yourself and beyond: Start yourself - discover yourself - express yourself - refine yourself -proof yourself - maintain yourself -preserve yourself -protect yourself should be the path to follow. The world is far away from perfect, and most of the problems are caused by miscommunication, poor decision making, or dig deeper, the unbalanced mindsets lack of Emotional Intelligence. Emotional Brilliance comes because of balance, not extremes of any kind. And human’s collective progress needs to be achieved via being mindful, be empathetic, and be collaborative.
Forward-looking: The past is part of who you are, learning from the past can help us to make continuous improvement, but you don't have to be defined or limited by that past. Solutions are forward thinking, because out of dated perception is like time glue that keeps you still while the rest of the world moves on which creates another problem-resentment and more negative thinking. The past is like looking into a rear-view mirror in your car. That takes a quick peek but do not stare. Use the front windshield as your path to your future. Why? Because the windshield of the car is in front of you and is a lot bigger and wider than the rear-view mirror. Furthermore, the past is called the past for a reason....it has passed and done with. Move forward. It doesn't matter how fast you're moving forward, but fail over and move forward. When you have freed yourself from the overload of the past, or other people’ judgment, everything will start to flow naturally. It is just a matter of getting used to being you, and not what others have made of you. Improvement comes by discovering and exploring self. To learn, and to succeed requires humility and the support of people. And moreover, it will become a joyful and interesting journey: the discovery of how to live your existence in the most appropriate way for you, being authentic and being mindful.
Life is continuous evolving. There is nothing like a straight line in reality, either connecting the dots, drawing the circles, or painting the colors, the progress is made via positive and growth mindsets, humble learning attitudes, and emotional brilliance. It is the good combination of talent, opportunities, and support. Progress can not be made without knowledge, the ultimate aim of knowledge is wisdom. Every bit of knowledge we acquire either increases our confidence, or betters our judgment, or then does both to make progress sustainable.Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
October 31, 2015
Which Factors should a Strategy for Change Contain?
A strategy for "change" should focus on betterment.
The speed of change is accelerated, Either individuals or organizations spend significant time and resource to deal with the big changes such as radical digital transformation or small changes such as daily betterment. What’s the strategy behind the change, and which qualities or factors should such a strategy for change contain?
Vision: A strategy for change calls for a clear vision of the future and a roadmap for how we can get there. Change is not for its own sake, focus on the business purpose behind it. The change platform approach should focus more on establishing the right enduring organizational values and capabilities to enable continuous improvement. A change in the fundamental way you look at what you are doing is needed. Why are you trying to make changes? What are you going to do with it? Who are you going to help with it?
Planning: A strategy for "change" should focus on betterment. Change for the sake of change doesn't help anyone. The most important factor for positive change is flexibility in planning. Theoretical solutions will encounter problems in the real world. Those who plan the solutions need to also be capable of implementing them. Only this coordination between the plan and implementation can succeed. It needs to be done in real-time. And the problem solving / crisis resolution must be handled in real time by as many involved parties as possible.
Emotional charge: World-changing-acts need to be delivered together with a positive emotional charge. The emotional charge keeps the memory of the act alive for a longer period. The receivers of the act that please them, respond intuitively in a similar fashion. The pleasing act also slightly changes the receivers’ perception of others in a positive light...Change is the one constant in life. Some changes should be resisted, and some should be embraced. The purpose of all changes is to make the improvement. At the individual level, we must bring in a transformation in our personality to fix higher or noble ideal like self- realization and pursue it with determination. perseverance, and steadfastness until that ideal is achieved. At organizational or societal level, change means to make collective human progress with the focus on social and community responsibility with an emphasis on advancement, innovation, and sustainability.
Process: Processes underpin organization’s change capability. Hence, pay attention to the processes under the surface, in order to be aware of them, as an organization. Change is a constant. Platforms support constants. Change is not an event. Events can be managed top down. Change can be supported top down, but change cannot be fully managed or controlled top down, it has to be proactively made bottom up. including planners in the implementation phase is a valid process improvement. It can make them aware of potential crossroads they previously hadn't foreseen, and it can involve them in crafting a solution to the new problem. This way, the plan can be altered on a daily basis, according to individual problems in each community. Most large-scale plans fail because the planners do not envision the problems.Change is happening all the time, the management just has to acknowledge and appreciate that.
Creativity: Creativity today asks for a new mindset. Real change and creativity is deprogramming old mindsets, letting go of "the voices from the past," reprogramming our minds with new values, norms, and attitudes; establishing a new blueprint for how we want to create our future reality. This is a task for visionary or entrepreneur-minded leaders to convey and make an impact. Finding ways to satisfy key players also takes a lot of creativity, each one has a different agenda and rarely is it centered on what's best for the organization. Creativity is a key to satisfying these agendas and achieving the benefits of the change.
Change is inevitable, and change is a strategic imperative. Taking the time to know who you are and what you like and the big WHY about the changes. Collectively, if we are to become a healthier race of humans we have to deal with change in every area of our life and each of us is the only one that can say what it is right for us. Reformation, refinement or evolution of the individual through self-realization is the most ideal aim for the betterment of Humanity.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
The speed of change is accelerated, Either individuals or organizations spend significant time and resource to deal with the big changes such as radical digital transformation or small changes such as daily betterment. What’s the strategy behind the change, and which qualities or factors should such a strategy for change contain?
Vision: A strategy for change calls for a clear vision of the future and a roadmap for how we can get there. Change is not for its own sake, focus on the business purpose behind it. The change platform approach should focus more on establishing the right enduring organizational values and capabilities to enable continuous improvement. A change in the fundamental way you look at what you are doing is needed. Why are you trying to make changes? What are you going to do with it? Who are you going to help with it?
Planning: A strategy for "change" should focus on betterment. Change for the sake of change doesn't help anyone. The most important factor for positive change is flexibility in planning. Theoretical solutions will encounter problems in the real world. Those who plan the solutions need to also be capable of implementing them. Only this coordination between the plan and implementation can succeed. It needs to be done in real-time. And the problem solving / crisis resolution must be handled in real time by as many involved parties as possible.
Emotional charge: World-changing-acts need to be delivered together with a positive emotional charge. The emotional charge keeps the memory of the act alive for a longer period. The receivers of the act that please them, respond intuitively in a similar fashion. The pleasing act also slightly changes the receivers’ perception of others in a positive light...Change is the one constant in life. Some changes should be resisted, and some should be embraced. The purpose of all changes is to make the improvement. At the individual level, we must bring in a transformation in our personality to fix higher or noble ideal like self- realization and pursue it with determination. perseverance, and steadfastness until that ideal is achieved. At organizational or societal level, change means to make collective human progress with the focus on social and community responsibility with an emphasis on advancement, innovation, and sustainability.
Process: Processes underpin organization’s change capability. Hence, pay attention to the processes under the surface, in order to be aware of them, as an organization. Change is a constant. Platforms support constants. Change is not an event. Events can be managed top down. Change can be supported top down, but change cannot be fully managed or controlled top down, it has to be proactively made bottom up. including planners in the implementation phase is a valid process improvement. It can make them aware of potential crossroads they previously hadn't foreseen, and it can involve them in crafting a solution to the new problem. This way, the plan can be altered on a daily basis, according to individual problems in each community. Most large-scale plans fail because the planners do not envision the problems.Change is happening all the time, the management just has to acknowledge and appreciate that.
Creativity: Creativity today asks for a new mindset. Real change and creativity is deprogramming old mindsets, letting go of "the voices from the past," reprogramming our minds with new values, norms, and attitudes; establishing a new blueprint for how we want to create our future reality. This is a task for visionary or entrepreneur-minded leaders to convey and make an impact. Finding ways to satisfy key players also takes a lot of creativity, each one has a different agenda and rarely is it centered on what's best for the organization. Creativity is a key to satisfying these agendas and achieving the benefits of the change.
Change is inevitable, and change is a strategic imperative. Taking the time to know who you are and what you like and the big WHY about the changes. Collectively, if we are to become a healthier race of humans we have to deal with change in every area of our life and each of us is the only one that can say what it is right for us. Reformation, refinement or evolution of the individual through self-realization is the most ideal aim for the betterment of Humanity.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
October 30, 2015
CIO's Digital Agenda I
Digital is all about flow - Data flow, information flow, and mind flow.
The “Future of CIO” Blog has reached 1.1+ million page views with about 2300th blog posting in 59+ different categories of leadership, management, strategy, digitalization, change/talent, etc. The content richness is not for its own sake, but to convey the vision and share the wisdom. Here is the CIO’s Digital Agenda I with a set of featured “Future of CIO” Blogs.CIO’s Digital Agenda I 1. Do you have Enterprise-Wide Data/Information Strategy? Data is lifeblood in modern businesses today, however, from industry survey; a very real gap exists with just over one-third of respondents having an enterprise-wide information management strategy in place currently. What’s holding these organizations back from building out an enterprise-wide information management strategy? What’s needed to close the gap? Also keep in mind, data/information strategy needs to be the key element of the IT strategy, which is also an integral component of the overall corporate strategy.
2. What are the Strategic Conversation between CIO and Other CXOs all About? IT is no longer running as an isolated function or back office utility, nowadays, IT has to add more business value and delight both internal and end customers. Hence, CIO needs to talk about business with other C-Level more often, but not about IT. This is the major issue in companies. IT is a way to innovate business and improve processes, but it's not a solution if CIO doesn't understand business areas. CIOs must be adding value to the business and it is essential in decisions businesses ever make. However, as CIOs, how should you interpret IT aspects as a business issues to the CXOs? How do you avoid the details of any IT decision and still convince the CXO it is the good strategy to make or best action to take?
3. What are CIOs’ Top Challenges: Due to the changing nature of technologies, CIOs seem to be always at the “hot seat” in the face of increasing business demand, talent shortage, budget limitation or numerous critics from businesses. Now, information is permeating into every corner of business, what technology is expected to do has changed significantly over recent years, although every company has its own circumstances, overall speaking, what are the common challenges facing today’s IT organizations, how can CIOs leverage resources to stay focus, and continually improve IT agility and maturity, to become an integral part of business?
4. How to Manage Business Requirements for IT Initiatives? IT is business, every IT initiative needs to have a well-defined business requirement and well-supported business sponsors. What are the most effective vehicles for understanding business requirements? What are the effective ways to ensure that non-IT stakeholders are engaged and performing their appropriate roles? Talking to business partners is clearly essential, but are informal discussions sufficient? How does IT get the right executive sponsorship and commitment, who should they be, and perhaps more importantly, what are the roles that they must play?
5. A Holistic IT Governance: Digital IT is permeating into the very fabric or core processes in modern organizations. Thus, IT governance is crucial to steering business toward the right direction and make effective business decisions. However, what is the best approach to begin implementing formal IT Governance specifically aimed at improving the quality of demand? How can the "competition" for finite dollars be structured so that the end game, best benefit for the enterprise, is achieved? How much of a decision-making body (vs. advisory or discussion forum) is the IT Steering Committee (ITSC) and how do they make those decisions? How does one keep the ITSC focused on WHAT IT should work on and not HOW IT accomplishes it?
Blogging is not about writing, but about thinking; it’s not just about WHAT to say, but about WHY to say, and HOW to say it. It reflects the color and shade of your thought patterns, and it indicates the peaks and curves of your thinking waves. Unlike pure entertainment, quality and professional content takes time for digesting, contemplation and engaging, and therefore, it takes the time to attract the "hungry minds" and the "deep souls." It’s the journey to amplify your voice, deepen your digital footprints, and match your way for human progression.Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
The “Future of CIO” Blog has reached 1.1+ million page views with about 2300th blog posting in 59+ different categories of leadership, management, strategy, digitalization, change/talent, etc. The content richness is not for its own sake, but to convey the vision and share the wisdom. Here is the CIO’s Digital Agenda I with a set of featured “Future of CIO” Blogs.CIO’s Digital Agenda I 1. Do you have Enterprise-Wide Data/Information Strategy? Data is lifeblood in modern businesses today, however, from industry survey; a very real gap exists with just over one-third of respondents having an enterprise-wide information management strategy in place currently. What’s holding these organizations back from building out an enterprise-wide information management strategy? What’s needed to close the gap? Also keep in mind, data/information strategy needs to be the key element of the IT strategy, which is also an integral component of the overall corporate strategy.
2. What are the Strategic Conversation between CIO and Other CXOs all About? IT is no longer running as an isolated function or back office utility, nowadays, IT has to add more business value and delight both internal and end customers. Hence, CIO needs to talk about business with other C-Level more often, but not about IT. This is the major issue in companies. IT is a way to innovate business and improve processes, but it's not a solution if CIO doesn't understand business areas. CIOs must be adding value to the business and it is essential in decisions businesses ever make. However, as CIOs, how should you interpret IT aspects as a business issues to the CXOs? How do you avoid the details of any IT decision and still convince the CXO it is the good strategy to make or best action to take?
3. What are CIOs’ Top Challenges: Due to the changing nature of technologies, CIOs seem to be always at the “hot seat” in the face of increasing business demand, talent shortage, budget limitation or numerous critics from businesses. Now, information is permeating into every corner of business, what technology is expected to do has changed significantly over recent years, although every company has its own circumstances, overall speaking, what are the common challenges facing today’s IT organizations, how can CIOs leverage resources to stay focus, and continually improve IT agility and maturity, to become an integral part of business?
4. How to Manage Business Requirements for IT Initiatives? IT is business, every IT initiative needs to have a well-defined business requirement and well-supported business sponsors. What are the most effective vehicles for understanding business requirements? What are the effective ways to ensure that non-IT stakeholders are engaged and performing their appropriate roles? Talking to business partners is clearly essential, but are informal discussions sufficient? How does IT get the right executive sponsorship and commitment, who should they be, and perhaps more importantly, what are the roles that they must play?
5. A Holistic IT Governance: Digital IT is permeating into the very fabric or core processes in modern organizations. Thus, IT governance is crucial to steering business toward the right direction and make effective business decisions. However, what is the best approach to begin implementing formal IT Governance specifically aimed at improving the quality of demand? How can the "competition" for finite dollars be structured so that the end game, best benefit for the enterprise, is achieved? How much of a decision-making body (vs. advisory or discussion forum) is the IT Steering Committee (ITSC) and how do they make those decisions? How does one keep the ITSC focused on WHAT IT should work on and not HOW IT accomplishes it?Blogging is not about writing, but about thinking; it’s not just about WHAT to say, but about WHY to say, and HOW to say it. It reflects the color and shade of your thought patterns, and it indicates the peaks and curves of your thinking waves. Unlike pure entertainment, quality and professional content takes time for digesting, contemplation and engaging, and therefore, it takes the time to attract the "hungry minds" and the "deep souls." It’s the journey to amplify your voice, deepen your digital footprints, and match your way for human progression.Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Dynamic Capability as Resource
Dynamic Capability is the ability to reconfigure your organization in the way that has the effect of increasing its "variety."
The dynamic capabilities' are defined as: "the firm's ability to integrate, build, and reconfigure internal and external competences to address rapidly changing environments." With the increasing speed of changes and unprecedented uncertainty, dynamic capabilities thus reflect an organization's ability to adapt to changes, build new capability, and achieve innovative forms of competitive advantage given path dependencies and market positions. Do 'Dynamic Capabilities' (DCs) qualify as a business resource? Is DC a firm-specific asset that is difficult if not impossible to imitate?
Organizational Capabilities have outcomes; they collaborate with each other and are enabled by processes. They include resources (manpower and maybe raw materials), processes, technology (systems) required and human capital (talent potential as asset and capital, not just as resources), identify those companies that consistently deliver best shareholder returns do so by focusing hard on the customer and re-designing their operations from the customer back into the operation. The maturity of a business capability would be based on the ability for the capability to deliver on customer needs or to achieve the desired capability outcome, as the digital era is the age of customers.
It's worth noting that being able to delineate between what is a 'resource' and what is a 'capability' is essential to be able to think about strategy in a nuanced and precise way. Without such nuance and precision, the strategy concept is a muddle, one that we see most of the time in organizations and hear about in conversations with the officers and employees who staff them. The psychological and organizational factors get in the way of understanding the critical dimension of true 'digital strategy' that is about disrupting the conventional ways of creating value within established markets. The other building blocks are processes for coordination and integration, guided learning and reconfiguration, and paths (strategy) to vision. Business resources include technological, financial, reputational, market structure and institutional capitals and assets.#1. Financial capital: Funds from investors and lenders. Examples: borrowing capacity, liquidity, ability to raise equity capital, and sustainable growth rate.#2. Physical capital: The physical endowments a firm requires. Examples: productive capacity, investment service, dedication to maintenance, flexibility of fixed assets, technological commitment, access to suppliers.#3. Human capital: Resources of the individuals who comprise the firm (knowledge, education, training, insights, etc.). Examples: education, training, knowledge, employee commitment, leadership ability, trust, experience.#4. Organizational capital: Aggregate attributes of those who comprise the company. Examples: loyalty, teamwork, reputation, product innovation, process innovation, speed.
Dynamic Capability is the ability to reconfigure your organization in the way that has the effect of increasing its "variety" - its ability to match variety in the environment where variety is a measure of complexity. Looking at it from a quite different and systemic perspective, Anything that increases the reach, scope and capability of a resource set is in effect increasing the value of that resource. If you can do twice as much with a given resource, then effectively you have doubled resource, not in its substance, but in its effect. A poor strategy may compromise the effectiveness of dynamic capabilities. A DC might be a resource, but not necessarily so. A DC that is a resource might be a source of competitive advantage, but not necessarily the argument about whether "doing more with less" should be counted as an increase in resource. This blurs the boundary between capability and resource and where you stand on that rather depends on whether you choose to regard resource as "something that is" or as "something that does."
Dynamic business capabilities are more complex in design, with synthetic nature requiring cross-functional collaboration, embedding agility into processes for adapting to the changes. Whether it is a resource or not, DC is not just about “doing more with less,” but more about “doing more with innovation,” with continuous renewal for transformation, and the right set of unique Dynamic Capabilities directly decide the overall organization’s competency, and how well they can make digital transformation, deliver the value to the customers and build long term winning position.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
The dynamic capabilities' are defined as: "the firm's ability to integrate, build, and reconfigure internal and external competences to address rapidly changing environments." With the increasing speed of changes and unprecedented uncertainty, dynamic capabilities thus reflect an organization's ability to adapt to changes, build new capability, and achieve innovative forms of competitive advantage given path dependencies and market positions. Do 'Dynamic Capabilities' (DCs) qualify as a business resource? Is DC a firm-specific asset that is difficult if not impossible to imitate?
Organizational Capabilities have outcomes; they collaborate with each other and are enabled by processes. They include resources (manpower and maybe raw materials), processes, technology (systems) required and human capital (talent potential as asset and capital, not just as resources), identify those companies that consistently deliver best shareholder returns do so by focusing hard on the customer and re-designing their operations from the customer back into the operation. The maturity of a business capability would be based on the ability for the capability to deliver on customer needs or to achieve the desired capability outcome, as the digital era is the age of customers.
It's worth noting that being able to delineate between what is a 'resource' and what is a 'capability' is essential to be able to think about strategy in a nuanced and precise way. Without such nuance and precision, the strategy concept is a muddle, one that we see most of the time in organizations and hear about in conversations with the officers and employees who staff them. The psychological and organizational factors get in the way of understanding the critical dimension of true 'digital strategy' that is about disrupting the conventional ways of creating value within established markets. The other building blocks are processes for coordination and integration, guided learning and reconfiguration, and paths (strategy) to vision. Business resources include technological, financial, reputational, market structure and institutional capitals and assets.#1. Financial capital: Funds from investors and lenders. Examples: borrowing capacity, liquidity, ability to raise equity capital, and sustainable growth rate.#2. Physical capital: The physical endowments a firm requires. Examples: productive capacity, investment service, dedication to maintenance, flexibility of fixed assets, technological commitment, access to suppliers.#3. Human capital: Resources of the individuals who comprise the firm (knowledge, education, training, insights, etc.). Examples: education, training, knowledge, employee commitment, leadership ability, trust, experience.#4. Organizational capital: Aggregate attributes of those who comprise the company. Examples: loyalty, teamwork, reputation, product innovation, process innovation, speed.
Dynamic Capability is the ability to reconfigure your organization in the way that has the effect of increasing its "variety" - its ability to match variety in the environment where variety is a measure of complexity. Looking at it from a quite different and systemic perspective, Anything that increases the reach, scope and capability of a resource set is in effect increasing the value of that resource. If you can do twice as much with a given resource, then effectively you have doubled resource, not in its substance, but in its effect. A poor strategy may compromise the effectiveness of dynamic capabilities. A DC might be a resource, but not necessarily so. A DC that is a resource might be a source of competitive advantage, but not necessarily the argument about whether "doing more with less" should be counted as an increase in resource. This blurs the boundary between capability and resource and where you stand on that rather depends on whether you choose to regard resource as "something that is" or as "something that does."
Dynamic business capabilities are more complex in design, with synthetic nature requiring cross-functional collaboration, embedding agility into processes for adapting to the changes. Whether it is a resource or not, DC is not just about “doing more with less,” but more about “doing more with innovation,” with continuous renewal for transformation, and the right set of unique Dynamic Capabilities directly decide the overall organization’s competency, and how well they can make digital transformation, deliver the value to the customers and build long term winning position.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
How to Cultivate a Positive Culture
Strategy guides change and culture is the pathways for the change.
Culture is "the pattern of values and behaviours prevailing in the organization or society." It’s invisible and untouchable. A company's culture helps define what a company is like. What it means to be part of the company, how to act in the company, what others in the company believe and strive for even how others see the company. So what’s your culture “expression”? Overall, do you have a positive or negative culture?
To maintain a healthy culture in corporate environments requires attention to corporate health. Nature and culture are classical opposites or complements. By nature we are "born that way"; by nurture we learn to become civilized. In one sense, "nature" refers to everything generated or produced. Etymologically, the Latin natura is the source from which all springs forth. For metaphysical naturalists, perhaps also for methodological scientists, nature is all that there is, without contrast class. Humans evolved within nature. To maintain a healthy culture in corporate environments requires attention to corporate health, which includes deep democratizing and inclusivity. Otherwise, there is in-coherent conflicts and dissonance and downfalls. There is an unhealthy organization, striven and driven, by in-fights and conflicts, to create life-sustaining permacultures, which nurture our human nature and fulfil the needs of those within the productive culture and those beyond. so that production and supply harmonizes, to develop as integral behaviour.
Culture is collective mindset and attitude, staying positive is certainly critical as you move through change. There is no growth without change. Change is a part of our daily life yet how we approach it is quite complicated sometimes. After all, we know the definition of insanity - doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. It seems that many humans have an autonomic reaction to environmental change that can range from skepticism to much worse. Is this part of human DNA? As for culture change, the most difficult part is the first step of getting others in the group/team to acknowledge there's a problem - that behaviours and attitudes are negatively affecting business objectives and growth. That involves people being open and honest about ignoring the problem and/or how they are reacting to those unhelpful behaviours and attitudes. A positive culture encourages people to be accountable of not only what they DO, but also what they SAY. Creating accountability in the ever-expanding workplace is a multi-layered and multi-dimensional issue in today’s environment. Accountability is about ownership of an area of responsibility. Ownership creates pride in one’s work and goes a long way towards delivering excellence.
A culture is created and recreated each and every day by all the actions individuals within that culture take. Cultivating a positive culture is easier at the earlier stage of business. So shaping a mission and values at the earliest stages, if you have that ability during the founding phase, is the ideal scenario. Because building an environment from scratch is likely easier to do than changing one that has already been established and values present are accepted as status quo. Changing behaviors that are negatively affecting the company's ability to make a profit is clearly critical, A positive culture can lift a so-so strategy, but a negative culture can sink a good strategy which is indeed linked to Vision and Purpose - and only if one is positive, so is the other. Does that make change impossible - no. It just means you need to keep that in mind as you navigate and strategize any changes you want to make in organizations. To change a culture you need to change those actions, and change enough of them to cause a shift in the culture. Organizationally that is why culture change is so hard. And often when people talk about the need for culture change they are really talking about the need for climate change (not the weather but the atmosphere in a company). Strategy guides change and culture is the pathways for the change.
The core of culture has to do with the way people are treated. For example, a positive culture requires respect, responsibility, self-discipline, autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Contrast that with a typical corporate culture, which is bureaucracy, silo, centered around control, distrust, external discipline, dependence, and hierarchy. Changing culture is just like to change personality, it is hard, but it’s changeable.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
Culture is "the pattern of values and behaviours prevailing in the organization or society." It’s invisible and untouchable. A company's culture helps define what a company is like. What it means to be part of the company, how to act in the company, what others in the company believe and strive for even how others see the company. So what’s your culture “expression”? Overall, do you have a positive or negative culture?
To maintain a healthy culture in corporate environments requires attention to corporate health. Nature and culture are classical opposites or complements. By nature we are "born that way"; by nurture we learn to become civilized. In one sense, "nature" refers to everything generated or produced. Etymologically, the Latin natura is the source from which all springs forth. For metaphysical naturalists, perhaps also for methodological scientists, nature is all that there is, without contrast class. Humans evolved within nature. To maintain a healthy culture in corporate environments requires attention to corporate health, which includes deep democratizing and inclusivity. Otherwise, there is in-coherent conflicts and dissonance and downfalls. There is an unhealthy organization, striven and driven, by in-fights and conflicts, to create life-sustaining permacultures, which nurture our human nature and fulfil the needs of those within the productive culture and those beyond. so that production and supply harmonizes, to develop as integral behaviour.
Culture is collective mindset and attitude, staying positive is certainly critical as you move through change. There is no growth without change. Change is a part of our daily life yet how we approach it is quite complicated sometimes. After all, we know the definition of insanity - doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. It seems that many humans have an autonomic reaction to environmental change that can range from skepticism to much worse. Is this part of human DNA? As for culture change, the most difficult part is the first step of getting others in the group/team to acknowledge there's a problem - that behaviours and attitudes are negatively affecting business objectives and growth. That involves people being open and honest about ignoring the problem and/or how they are reacting to those unhelpful behaviours and attitudes. A positive culture encourages people to be accountable of not only what they DO, but also what they SAY. Creating accountability in the ever-expanding workplace is a multi-layered and multi-dimensional issue in today’s environment. Accountability is about ownership of an area of responsibility. Ownership creates pride in one’s work and goes a long way towards delivering excellence.
A culture is created and recreated each and every day by all the actions individuals within that culture take. Cultivating a positive culture is easier at the earlier stage of business. So shaping a mission and values at the earliest stages, if you have that ability during the founding phase, is the ideal scenario. Because building an environment from scratch is likely easier to do than changing one that has already been established and values present are accepted as status quo. Changing behaviors that are negatively affecting the company's ability to make a profit is clearly critical, A positive culture can lift a so-so strategy, but a negative culture can sink a good strategy which is indeed linked to Vision and Purpose - and only if one is positive, so is the other. Does that make change impossible - no. It just means you need to keep that in mind as you navigate and strategize any changes you want to make in organizations. To change a culture you need to change those actions, and change enough of them to cause a shift in the culture. Organizationally that is why culture change is so hard. And often when people talk about the need for culture change they are really talking about the need for climate change (not the weather but the atmosphere in a company). Strategy guides change and culture is the pathways for the change.
The core of culture has to do with the way people are treated. For example, a positive culture requires respect, responsibility, self-discipline, autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Contrast that with a typical corporate culture, which is bureaucracy, silo, centered around control, distrust, external discipline, dependence, and hierarchy. Changing culture is just like to change personality, it is hard, but it’s changeable.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
October 29, 2015
The Weekly Insight of the “Future of CIO” 10/29/2015
Leadership without influence, just like the air without oxygen!
The “Future of CIO” Blog has reached 1.1 million page views with about #2300th blog posting in 59+ different categories of leadership, management, strategy, digitalization, change/talent, etc. blog posting. The content richness is not for its own sake, but to convey the vision and share the wisdom. Here is the weekly insight of the “Future of CIO” blog.
The Weekly Insight of the “Future of CIO” Blog 10/29/2015 Employee Engagement Strategy: Does it Work : Statistically, less than one-third of employees feel engaged in the work, what’re the root causes to the low employee engagement, and what’s your strategy (that actually works) to do something about it? At the age of digital, businesses today need nothing less than a paradigm shift in their thinking about the fundamentals of how organizations work to build an engaging workforce.
Three “V”s in Running Digital IT: IT provides competitive leverage to business’ long-term growth: Because more often, technology is the cause to innovation disruption and information is the lifeblood of business; How to run a digital IT which understands stakeholders’ expectations and propose a service/solution portfolio that correspond to both demand and cost drivers with a focus on business priority, and develops the professional competencies needed for successful business solution delivery? There is an “alphabetic soup” in running a digital IT which must lead in reaching high-level performance and maturity; besides triple “I”s - Information, Innovation, and Integration, triple “A”s - Automation, Analysis, and Agility, triple “C”s - Change, Collaboration, and Cloudification, triple “P”s - Principle, Process, and Performance, triple “E”s Enablement, Exploration, and Effectiveness & Efficiency. Here we introduce triple “V”s in running a high-performing and high mature digital IT.
How to Shape a Strategist’s Mindset: A common definition of strategy is the choices made by a firm on where and how it chooses to compete and cooperate in order to achieve its goals and objectives and strive to fulfill its mission. "Strategy" should be in the DNA of anyone who is a member of the leadership team of an organization, but, as we know, that doesn't make it so, unfortunately. What’s the effective way to study and craft strategy, and how to shape a strategic mindset?
Three Missing Elements to Fail Talent Analytics People are always the most invaluable asset in businesses, but most of HR organizations only play the supporting role as an administrative function; talent analytics becomes the very tool to help HR in their digital transformation journey. However, some pivotal organizations who adopt talent analytics earlier than others do not achieve the expected result, what’re the missing elements, or the pitfalls in doing talent analytics, and how to learn from others’ failures?
What do Positive Policies Look Like: Generally speaking, the policy is a set of principles for decision making or guidelines to drive behaviors. A policy is implemented via a protocol, process or practice, etc. When having positive policies, what do they look like, and how do they affect organizational performance and maturity? What do positive policies look like in action- they look like making the right things easy to do by everyone and the wrong things hard to do by everyone.
Can you Move Out of your "Comfort Zone"? Change is the new normal. Change is situational. It happens when something starts or stops, or when something that used to happen in one way starts happening in another. But acceptance of change is transitional, and “moving out of your comfort zone" can be used in all levels and as a starting point for change. It might sound like a cliche, the trick is understanding that moving out of a comfort zone leads to the creation of a new comfort zone which in turn will require you to move out "of" it again. This continuous moving "out" of your comfort zone is complemented by the cycle of self-development. There is a classic fable about a lion and a gazelle to analogize such a "surviving and thriving cycles": The lion wakes up and starts running otherwise it will not catch lunch. The gazelle does the same but, in this case, to avoid becoming lunch. Either way, you have to move to survive. This principle can be applied in a physical sense as well. The human body is designed for motion and physical effort.
Are You Actively Participated in your Vision: Vision is to zoom in the future as if it were closer. We always measure ourselves in terms of our vision - what we intend to be or to accomplish, and what we leave behind is our action upon those intentions. We contemplate, we reflect, we learn, we act, we perceive, and our vision evolves and leads us - the reason we usually see that what we have accomplished is always less than our potential. The future is based on your visions. Either as an individual or an organization, do you allow them to evolve, and actively participate in it?
Blogging is not about writing, but about thinking and innovating the new ideas; it’s not just about WHAT to say, but about WHY to say, and HOW to say it. It reflects the color and shade of your thought patterns, and it indicates the peaks and curves of your thinking waves. Unlike pure entertainment, quality and professional content takes time for digesting, contemplation and engaging, and therefore, it takes the time to attract the "hungry minds" and the "deep souls." It’s the journey to amplify diverse voices and deepen digital footprints, and it's the way to harness your innovative spirit.
Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
The “Future of CIO” Blog has reached 1.1 million page views with about #2300th blog posting in 59+ different categories of leadership, management, strategy, digitalization, change/talent, etc. blog posting. The content richness is not for its own sake, but to convey the vision and share the wisdom. Here is the weekly insight of the “Future of CIO” blog.
The Weekly Insight of the “Future of CIO” Blog 10/29/2015 Employee Engagement Strategy: Does it Work : Statistically, less than one-third of employees feel engaged in the work, what’re the root causes to the low employee engagement, and what’s your strategy (that actually works) to do something about it? At the age of digital, businesses today need nothing less than a paradigm shift in their thinking about the fundamentals of how organizations work to build an engaging workforce.
Three “V”s in Running Digital IT: IT provides competitive leverage to business’ long-term growth: Because more often, technology is the cause to innovation disruption and information is the lifeblood of business; How to run a digital IT which understands stakeholders’ expectations and propose a service/solution portfolio that correspond to both demand and cost drivers with a focus on business priority, and develops the professional competencies needed for successful business solution delivery? There is an “alphabetic soup” in running a digital IT which must lead in reaching high-level performance and maturity; besides triple “I”s - Information, Innovation, and Integration, triple “A”s - Automation, Analysis, and Agility, triple “C”s - Change, Collaboration, and Cloudification, triple “P”s - Principle, Process, and Performance, triple “E”s Enablement, Exploration, and Effectiveness & Efficiency. Here we introduce triple “V”s in running a high-performing and high mature digital IT.
How to Shape a Strategist’s Mindset: A common definition of strategy is the choices made by a firm on where and how it chooses to compete and cooperate in order to achieve its goals and objectives and strive to fulfill its mission. "Strategy" should be in the DNA of anyone who is a member of the leadership team of an organization, but, as we know, that doesn't make it so, unfortunately. What’s the effective way to study and craft strategy, and how to shape a strategic mindset?
Three Missing Elements to Fail Talent Analytics People are always the most invaluable asset in businesses, but most of HR organizations only play the supporting role as an administrative function; talent analytics becomes the very tool to help HR in their digital transformation journey. However, some pivotal organizations who adopt talent analytics earlier than others do not achieve the expected result, what’re the missing elements, or the pitfalls in doing talent analytics, and how to learn from others’ failures?
What do Positive Policies Look Like: Generally speaking, the policy is a set of principles for decision making or guidelines to drive behaviors. A policy is implemented via a protocol, process or practice, etc. When having positive policies, what do they look like, and how do they affect organizational performance and maturity? What do positive policies look like in action- they look like making the right things easy to do by everyone and the wrong things hard to do by everyone.
Can you Move Out of your "Comfort Zone"? Change is the new normal. Change is situational. It happens when something starts or stops, or when something that used to happen in one way starts happening in another. But acceptance of change is transitional, and “moving out of your comfort zone" can be used in all levels and as a starting point for change. It might sound like a cliche, the trick is understanding that moving out of a comfort zone leads to the creation of a new comfort zone which in turn will require you to move out "of" it again. This continuous moving "out" of your comfort zone is complemented by the cycle of self-development. There is a classic fable about a lion and a gazelle to analogize such a "surviving and thriving cycles": The lion wakes up and starts running otherwise it will not catch lunch. The gazelle does the same but, in this case, to avoid becoming lunch. Either way, you have to move to survive. This principle can be applied in a physical sense as well. The human body is designed for motion and physical effort.
Are You Actively Participated in your Vision: Vision is to zoom in the future as if it were closer. We always measure ourselves in terms of our vision - what we intend to be or to accomplish, and what we leave behind is our action upon those intentions. We contemplate, we reflect, we learn, we act, we perceive, and our vision evolves and leads us - the reason we usually see that what we have accomplished is always less than our potential. The future is based on your visions. Either as an individual or an organization, do you allow them to evolve, and actively participate in it?
Blogging is not about writing, but about thinking and innovating the new ideas; it’s not just about WHAT to say, but about WHY to say, and HOW to say it. It reflects the color and shade of your thought patterns, and it indicates the peaks and curves of your thinking waves. Unlike pure entertainment, quality and professional content takes time for digesting, contemplation and engaging, and therefore, it takes the time to attract the "hungry minds" and the "deep souls." It’s the journey to amplify diverse voices and deepen digital footprints, and it's the way to harness your innovative spirit.Follow us at: @Pearl_Zhu
