JACK MIXNER STRATEGY

www.mixnerstrategy.com

A very useful tool to figure out your cash flow. It helps you end up with depreciation, amortization, taxes calculations, and comparison to RMA standard ratios, if you look very closely. 

Reference 

U. S. Small Business Administration, SCORE Financial Projection Model, Ann's Nursery, http://www.score.org/downloads/SCORE%20Financial%20Projections-Anns%20Nursery-May%202010.xls

Posted by jackmixner at 10:53 AM | Permalink

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References

Christensen, Clayton M. How Will You Measure Your Life? Harvard Business Review. July-August 2010. 46.

Martin, Roger L. The Execution Trap. Harvard Business Review. July-August 2010. 64.

Posted by jackmixner at 08:28 AM | Permalink

www.mixnerstrategy.com

Why worry about telling stories? Your employees need to hear you say what you mean about that new strategy.  When you do say it, say it right, so folks remember, care, and, take action.

Schumpeter makes the point that art should return to the executive suite, not physical art, but personality art (as it were). An interesting point? George Orwell's Why I Write as a useful management text.

Martin suggests a continuum on strategy formulation (in the executive suite) and execution, well, across the company (Martin, 71):

1. After the choice has been made, explain it - and it's rationale.
2. Recognizing that management made a choice (which they explained in step one), allow the next layer of management to make their own choice. Yes, management might say what they see as the next choice to make, and may even give their advice on which of the alternatives to make. However, the actual choice is made by that next layer of folks, not the management team.
3. If choices get all clogged up - or basically remain unmade - management has a role in assisting those choices to be made expeditiously.
4. This is the best of all the points: revisit your choices regularly, from the highest levels and their choices, to the local levels and the choices you or your team made there. Admit errors and make changes. Faster is a lot more profitable than later.

References

Guber, Peter. Tell to Win. 2011.

Martin, Roger L. The Execution Trap. Harvard Business Review. July-August 2010. 65.

Schumpeter. The Art of Management. The Economist. 19 February 2011. 76.

Posted by jackmixner at 10:07 AM | Permalink

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The Top Five Tactics for Accelerating Strategy Execution (Neilson, 61):

1. Everyone has a good idea of the decision and actions for which she/he is responsible.
2. Important information on competitive environment gets to headquarters quickly.
3. Once made, decisions aren't second guessed.
4. Information flows freely across organization boundaries.
5. Field and line employees usually have the information they need to understand the bottom-line impact of their day-to-day choices. 

Six Classic Mistakes (Miles, 69):

1. Cautious management culture.
2. Business-as-usual management culture
3. Initiative gridlock
4. Recalcitrant executives
5. Disengaged employees
6. Loss of focus during execution. 

Seven Steps for Working an Issue (Professional Service Providers):

1. What is the issue?
2. It is significant because?
3. My ideal outcome is?
4. Relevant background information?
5. My options are?
6. Direction I'm headed?
7. Help I would like from my group? 

Reference

Miles, Robert H. Accelerating Corporate Transformations (Don't Lose Your Nerve!). Harvard Business Review. February 2010. 69. 

Neilson, Gary L., Karla L. Martin, Elizabeth Powers. The Secrets to Successful Strategy Execution. Harvard Business Review. June 2008. 61.

Professional Service Providers. PSP Issue Outline. Professional Service Providers. February 2011.

Posted by jackmixner at 04:49 PM | Permalink

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Nine types of stories that people most like to talk about (Moffitt, 115, after Kelly, Beyond the Buzz: The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing):

1. Aspirations and beliefs help form emotional connections to a company. Occasionally, you meet an intense young person who really believes she can save the world. Maybe they can't articulate the next steps, but you are pretty sure they are going to figure them out.
2. David versus Goliath stories let you root for the underdog. In Orange County we have start-ups galore. Ever heard one of them tell you how their product is going to unseat the market leader - and why? Try it with your product.
3. Avalanche about to roll stories are inspiring. We got to watch Botox launch a couple years ago when it migrated from fixing diseases in the eyes to fixing wrinkles around the eyes. Those kinds of stories are all over the place. A coming example? Allergan (marketer of Botox) just got the LapBand approved for a more general portion of the population. Avalanche forming if you watch carefully.
4. If you challenge assumptions, you might have a story that gets talked about. Wisconsin assumes that unions in state government don't mix any more. That is a story with assumptions going both ways. It'll be interesting to see how it comes out.
5. Anxiety and uncertainty inspire action. The future in Bahrain certainly, and Egypt maybe, is uncertain. Folks there are taking action because they are inspired by the possibilities.
6. Personalities give your company a face. Robert Grant spoke repeatedly about possibilities when you was President of a division at Allergan. Botox was something that clearly got him excited. He just moved on to lead a division of Bauch and Lomb. The story - his excitement about the story - about what B&L is going to do to mimic the Botox success isn't written yet. Believe me, when Grant finally starts talking about his plans, the story will be personal to him - and very interesting to you and I. And the Bauch and Lomb investors.
7. How-to stories work. How to write a five work values statement is a good story. How to combine that values statement with short vision, mission, objectives, and strategy statements, and, then, get it on one page, is one of our most interesting how-to stories. And, oh, yes, it makes companies more profitable.
8. Glitz and glam sell. Botox gets injected a lot on the Upper East Side in New York City. That story drives a lot of sales on the Upper West Side - and in the Bronx, and in, well, your town. For sure.
9. Seasonal stories are interesting. In California we don't have fall, or spring, either, for that matter. We have flood season (or mud-slide season, more like), and fire season, and, every now and then, earthquake season. I used to meet with a CEO in a camper outside his abandoned manufacturing facility while we planned the next stages of his company's growth. Why outside? The building was, basically, rubble after the latest earthquake. That was a real story that he used to his advantage. Manufacturing went on in all sorts of places by a dedicated workforce who pitched in to save the company while they saved their community. What are your seasons?

What is your story?

Reference

Moffitt, Sean and Mike Dover. Wiki Brands. Reinventing Your Company in a Customer-Driven Marketplace. McGrawHill. 2011. www.wiki-brands.com

Posted by jackmixner at 12:25 PM | Permalink

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Reference

Kahan, Seth. Getting Change Right. How Leaders Transform Organizations From the Inside Out. Jossey-Bass. 2010. www.gettingchangeright.com

Posted by jackmixner at 10:46 AM | Permalink

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"Get the Best From Your People." That's the cover headline on one of the latest issues of Harvard Business Review (October 2010). It goes on to say, "What You Need to Know About Your Staff: Secrets from Google, Best Buy, Comcast, and more."

Most of us don't own companies like Google, Best Buy or Comcast. What do we do? Let's have a look. 

Google says, "People stay because of 'the mission, the quality of the people, and the chance to build the skill set of a better leader or entrepreneur (Davenport, 57).' "

Best Buy can predict how much more operating income a 0.1% change in employee engagement is worth: $100,000 (Davenport, 53).

Sysco has shown that employee job satisfaction and turnover go hand-in-hand. Increase satisfaction, turnover goes down (Davenport, 54).

Google, obviously, is very used to analytics. Best Buy is bigger than most of us. So is Sysco. What to do?

• Carefully define your mission. What is your product or service? What is your market? And, importantly, is that mission inspiring to your current employees? Ask for help from your team in re-crafting your mission, get better job satisfaction among your employees, and, yes, better profitability.
• Turning over folks in one of your departments? Consider job satisfaction. First step? Talk to the team. Watch the team. Engage the team in a solution. A good first question that will work at any company? "Would your recommend this company as a good place to work - to your best friend?" That'll spark conversation, for sure. All you've got to do is listen.
• What about employee engagement? A simple way to measure employee engagement in one of your departments is to consider that department's manager? How can you help her become more engaged? Just asking what she thinks isn't a bad first step. Sitting down with her - and her team - makes sense, as well. Open-ended conversations can get things started. Then start to focus on how to improve.

No, we're not the biggest companies out there. That doesn't mean we can't think like a big company.

Reference

Davenport, Thomas H., Jeanne Harris, and Jeremy Shapiro. Competing on Talent Analytics. Harvard Business Review. October 2010. 53.

Posted by jackmixner at 11:06 AM | Permalink

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Undercurrents to successful strategy:

• Strategy Doesn't Have to Take Lots of Time.
• Values Count.
• People Are Important.
• A Strategy That Isn't Implemented Is Useless.
• Re-Evaluating a Strategy Frequently Makes a Difference.
• Keep Things Simple.
• Competitive Environment Matters.

Posted by jackmixner at 08:45 AM | Permalink

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Useem talks about making decisions quickly, especially when you don't have all the information you need. One key point: in high-stress situations, when you have 70% of the information - readiness and consensus - you need, make the decision and move on your decision (Useem, 89). 

Weiss makes points on how to strategize - negotiate - in the middle of the action (Weiss, 68-74). Be curious - get the big picture. Collaborate - "why is that important to you?" Get buy-in - "What should we do?" Build Trust - respect comes first. Process focus - slow the pace if you've got to.

Interesting. Now we've got two opinions. Make your decision and act. Or build consensus by negotiation in the middle of the action. Normally, I'm more likely to try action. There are times, however, when my interest to learning, acting and correcting doesn't make sense, especially in complex environments with multiple players.

Reference

Useem, Michael. Four Lessons in Adaptive Leadership. Harvard Business Review. November 2010. 87. 

Weiss, Jeff, Aram Donigian, Jonathan Hughes. Extreme Negotiations. What U. S. soldiers in Afghanistan have learned about the art of managing high-risk, high-stakes situations. Harvard Business Review. November 2010. 67.

Posted by jackmixner at 03:01 PM | Permalink