Missing Bags

A walk up 5th Avenue in New York on Saturday provided telling evidence of the state of the economy. The sidewalks were completely jammed with people as mid-town normally is during the holidays. Good.. right?.. but further observation found something missing… Shopping Bags. Of all of those would-be shoppers, very few were actually carrying colorful signature bags from the various retail brands that normally punctuate the crowded sidewalks and crosswalks. Stepping into a store or two… Façonnable and Hugo Boss were on my list.. revealed huge sales of 30-50% off nearly everything.. and virtually no customers. The sales associates of these upper-end stores, normally scriptedly aloof.. seemed hollow-eyed and nearly desparate to help.  So, did I buy anything?? Yes.. after all somebody has to stimulate the economy! But I must confess that those 30% off tags at Hugo Boss were some incentive.. not to mention the additional 20% friends and family coupon from my neighbor… Thanks Kerstin!

Who is on your Transition Team?

The country now prepares to inaugurate new leadership, the transition team is in overdrive, and our new President is quickly assembling his inner circle of staff and advisors. With the ever evolving and uncertain state of world politics and the economy, it begs the question “Who do you want to surround yourself with?”. Family and friends should always be first on that list in good times and bad. And as we move into a period of change unprecedented in our lifetime, your “inner ring” of close business associates, strategic partners and employees becomes more critical than ever. Choose them wisely, make sure they share your core values, and disengage from relationships that are not healthy and productive. Make sure that your Transition Team going into 2009 is the right one!

What phase are you in?

Early stage entrepreneurs who intend to commercialize their idea/product/service (that’s the whole idea, right?) need to have a clear understanding of the Phases of Commercialization, a realistic view of where their company is on the path through those phases, and a well thought out plan of how to get to the next phase.

A company that is in Incubating Phase for example, cannot typically skip the Demonstrating Phase and go right to Market Entry or Commercialization.  An entrepreneur’s overly optimistic view of where their company is on this continuum leads to: 1) Under estimating the time and money required to commercialize their product and ultimately become profitable; and 2) Difficulty in raising external funding (if desired) as potential investors are likely to see the status of the company more clearly than the entrepreneur.

Below is a summary of the Phases of Commercialization (Copyright 2004 BizLogx LLC) which I hope will be useful.  They are used by the Ohio Department of Development in describing early stage companies, and increasingly used as a common language in the Venture Capital and Angel investment community.  I also plan to post and expanded version of this information to the Cobalt Group website.

Phases of Commercialization

Imagining: The Imagining Phase begins with the techno-market insight – the linking, if only in concept, of a technology and a market opportunity. Activities focus on the generation of a “proof of principle”, generally defined as the demonstration in a laboratory setting of critical components of the technology.

Incubating: The Incubating Phase focuses on the performance of the technology in context of product performance specifications. Activities revolve around defining required performance specifications and then determining whether the technology can meet those specifications. For the most part, the activities prove the technical capabilities in a laboratory rather than a commercial setting.

Demonstrating: The Demonstrating Phase focuses on the performance of the technology in a commercial context – generally, in the hands of a current or prospective customer. In the Demonstrating Phase, the source of proof begins to switch from internal to external – from the lab to the market. Resource providers generally require the following types of proof: (i) the incorporation of the technology into a market-ready product with the performance characteristics required by prospective customers; (ii) evidence that the product meets the required performance specifications in the hands of customers; and (iii) evidence of manufacturing capabilities that meet performance, quality, and cost requirements (those assumed in the Commercial Concept or Business Plan).

Market Entry: In the Market Entry Phase, the activities are those typically associated with the introduction of a new product to market by an existing business – production, quality, service and product performance. The company has embedded the technology in a product or service and is aggressively marketing the product or service to prospective customers. The product or service is used by an increasing number of existing customers. The opportunity has attracted the resources necessary to expand marketing, sales, and support.

Growth and Sustainability: The Growth & Sustainability Phase involves the execution of a comprehensive product development plan to increase market share and/or extend the existing or new technologies into new products, services and markets. In the Growth & Sustainability Phase, the objective is to achieve the ongoing growth of revenue, margins, and profits in ways typically associated with a viable and profitable business

Do you want to be King or be Rich?

This blog entry by Becca Braun, COO of JumpStart, Inc. is right on the mark and I wanted to share it.

http://blog.jumpstartinc.org/index.php/archives/35

Know what you do not know

One of the most dangerous threats to any company, organization or government is a leader who lacks the self awareness to “know what they don’t know”. Even more dangerous is a culture that makes people at any level afraid to ask for help, leading to isolated, un-informed decision making and layers of unintended consequence.  Good leaders know how to use their knowledge and strengths to the advantage of all. Great leaders learn to recognize their blind spots and seek out the right resources to help them holistically navigate through the ever present challenge of change.  These resources can come from many sources: bosses,employees, peers, coaches, mentors, consultants, board members, friends, education and others.  Effective leaders work hard to be aware of what they don’t know and take action to fill in the gaps.

What is Sustainability?

Trends, buzz words and power phrases come and go (who remembers “paradigm shift” or “right sizing”?). But the concept of Sustainability, by its very nature should defy temporary status or ever being relegated to the ever-growing glossary of business terms that a few people make money writing books about, and then are moved aside for the next catchy expression that someone else will try to cash in on.

I humbly submit this from the Cobalt Group Values and Principals:

Sustainability and Profitability – Make choices for the long-term, be they for the environment, our relationships with other people, the profitability of our company, the proliferation of our practice model, and the advancement of democracy and entrepreneurship in our country and globally.

We are at the birth of a global financial crisis that has incubated for the past 20 years as the US helped to build a world economy that we are now ill prepared to compete in. This will be a generational transition that will see many more personal and corporate tragedies before it is past.

“Sustainability” started its celebrity status as a trend that became a growing mantra as the price of gasoline topped $4/gallon this year. Sustainability must now forever forward become the lifeblood of every decision made in every household, every boardroom and every community.

Leadership Crisis

The financial crisis that has filled the news has both overshadowed and highlighted that real crisis facing our country is a crisis in leadership. This crisis is not new. It is not partisan. It will not be fixed with bail out plans. It has not been fixed with term limits, oversight committees, independent council appointments or congressional hearings. You and I represent the only solution to this crisis. It sounds nearly cliché to say “get out and vote”.. but that in fact is the only thing that will change the course of history.  Change starts at the local level. The leadership of both mainstream political parties has failed us.  Regardless of your party affiliation or views, help put responsible leaders into the process locally so that someday we may have better choices for our President, Vice President and Congress. PARTICIPATE!

Capturing Culture

VALUES are the LANGUAGE of culture. PRINCIPLES are the PRACTICE of culture. The culture of an organization can be both obvious and elusive at once. It is obvious to any long time member of an organization, who may describe it quite differently than the management of that same organization (and too often only with assurance of anonymity).  Culture can be elusive to new members of an organization, who often find they have to learn by trial and error what the shared values, principles and behavioral norms are. Weak leadership tries to compensate for this lack of clarity through lots of specific “rules”.  True leadership recognizes the need to express culture by formalizing a set of shared values for the organization, and to operationalize culture through a set of principles which guide the translation of those values into daily behaviors that all are held accountable for.

Summer Break

I have become increasingly conscious that my last blog entry prior to today was June 16. It has been a very busy and productive Summer both personally and professionally. Cobalt Group and the Leaders whom we serve have great opportunities and much to accomplish. I am now renewing my self-commitment to this writing as a way to express my views on leadership, art, the economy, public policy, our country, world events and other topics. My goad is to inspire change, stimulate debate and engage in conversation. I hope you will join me!

Creating Value

The single most important thing a leader can do is create value for his or her organization. However, value cannot be measured simply in revenue, profit, growth or stock price: though all of these are clearly outcomes of value creation. Creating SUSTAINABLE Value has to to with creating an organizational culture that fosters value creation. Clear Vision, Mission and Values that are demonstrated consistently by leadership will go a long way toward creating Human Capital. It is a strong portfolio of Human Capital that ultimately creates value.