Results tagged “advantage” from stevenfeinberg.com
Advantage-Makers are strategic shifters. They interact with the world differently. In the face of constraints they consistently create superior outcomes. Their task is to shift the odds in our favor. This capacity to strategically shift is the hallmark of Advantage-Makers and advantage-making. To deal with constraints advantage-makers have high Shift IQ's (SQ).
In
these recessionary times there are leaders who always meet their numbers, do
more with less, and despite this crazy economy are able to compete and come
out on top. There are a few key reasons why the big winners are consistently
successful, and its worth knowing how the big winners do it.
I've
been studying these people, Advantage-Makers, for decades, and have figured out
that they do it by asking a few simple questions that no one else asks. I’ve
began the discussion of questions in the previous blog, let’s take it another
step forward.
The first
question for Advantage-Makers is that they question the givens.
For
example, FedEx CEO Fred Smith's, hub and spoke system questioned the routine of
how packages should be transported. How did he think that sending packages in the middle of the night to Tennessee and then distributing to the rest of the country would work? It earned him a "C" grade in his graduate school class. The professor never consulted for him. But FedEx is guaranteed overnight delivery and as we know a huge success.
Any of
you play golf? Jack Nicklaus, renown golf legend, was asked to design a golf
course for the Caymen Islands. One catch. The Island is too small for standard golf courses.
He didn’t ask golfers to change there swing, the given he questioned was the
ball. He changed the ball so it wouldn’t travel as far. Just the opposite of
what was expected. Maybe they just yell 2 when they hit it awry. Never the less, they play golf on the Caymen Islands.
Which brings us to the next question. George Prince, CEO of Synectics, an innovation firm, asked, “What is the anomaly here?” That is, what is unexpected that seems to be pushing forth. This attention to what isn’t expected has earned the company millions and produced millions more for their clientele including many in the Fortune 500.
A national Science foundation code breaker and scientist, asks,
“What
am I not supposed to notice here?” As we talked at a restaurant he pointed to a series of ceiling
chandeliers that were hanging above us. He described his thought process
beginning with the notion, “What is attempting to distract my attention.” He
pointed out that the chandeliers were attached about 30 feet above, and we weren’t
supposed to notice how high the real ceiling was. Our attention was drawn to
the light fixture and light, not the ceiling height. If most patrons had looked
at the ceiling the restaurant would not have much clientele.
My friend and colleague, George Silverman, Word-of-Mouth Marketer, asks, “What is obvious that is missing here?” It is his contention that in this information-overloaded marketplace, the product with the easiest decision path tends to win. He works with companies to make their customers decisions easier. His question, “What is obvious that is missing here?” leads him to systematically eliminate the most important bottlenecks and provide customers with exactly what they need when they need it.
My advantage-making question is, “How am I taking this ‘situation’ and making it what it could be? It drives counterintuitive solutions that have generated millions of dollars of profitability, created advantages that to others don’t even appear to exist and consistently enabled leaders and their teams to compete more effectively than others and gain credibility others lack. The key is to look for possibility, and shift your vantage point, rather than follow the expected procedure.
Other
advantage-Makers have asked, “What is the real driving force, the leverage
in this situation? By
using this question the path of least resistance was found in a major
negotiation that had been overlooked.
Once you ask the question you sort for answers, if you are doing it right the usual answers will be background while foreground will be the new unexpected solution. Just as Fred Smith’s hub and spoke delivery system and JacK Nicklaus’s golf ball for the Cayman Island sized golf course demonstrated. Real world unexpected advantages.
The difference between the managers who survive and those who fail is their ability to create advantages every day with employees, customers and vendors. 60% of daily advantage opportunities are overlooked and missed by struggling managers, who, surprisingly, seldom ask, "What else should I do?", or "What am I missing".
Are you providing the daily advantages to employees, customers and vendors that are that are hidden in plain sight? If not, you might want to start paying attention to both what is given, the anomalies and then questioning the givens.
You shift time to create possibilities. TIVO has shifted time on your television viewing. Walt Disney envisioned Disney World by imagining a future in Orlando, Florida, and then making it a reality.
You can identify your own time profile or time IQ:
The Now or Never folks need immediate reactions, but may press too hard, move too fast and miss opportunities that a little perspective may have landed.
The Eventual, Steady Eddy types who take their time and have a long time frame, they deliver results over time but they miss market changes and can’t adjust fast enough to opportunities.
The Same Old, Same Old, Past Oriented, let’s not break it if it works while the competition runs right by with innovations.
The Time Shifters who are able to adjust their time frame, they can take action now, be patient to grow organizations and companies, use what worked in the past but not get stuck in any one time frame. For Advantage-Makers there is no time like the present to create the future.
What do most people think of their time shifting?
Most people think they are time-shifters but in fact when they get stuck or shoot themselves in their own foot its because they haven’t made the right time shift.
Now or Never tends to press to hard.
Steady Eddy delays when they should be pressing the point.
Same old, Same old doesn’t consider future changes.
You can use time shifting in your negotiations. By adjusting time frames you can help overcome resistant thinking. For example, if the customer says they can't buy today, have your customer imagine doing business with you in the future rather than right now. At that point they will be more open to considering your offer. And while its likely to be later, at least it is later, and you might get them to open up a new train of thought in the process.
Pay attention to the time horizon present in your thinking, then shift it and you will find solutions you hadn't thought of before.
Advantage-makers spot opportunities in problems - and a recession can be a real problem. And there's the opportunity. Everyone wants their problems solved.
Most people think about taking advantage of an opportunity, shift to focus on how you can take advantage of a problem.
People became millionaires during the Great Depression. And while I don’t know any personally, I don’t think they were all robber barons. Some businesses typically do fine, such as automobile and truck parts.
Be an Advantage-Maker inside your organization. You can either create the horse to ride or pick a winning horse. Your choice. Finding a horse to ride may be faster, simpler and easier at this time.
The first Advantage-Point:
Adapt and Stretch - the person with the widest range of responses wins. Non-adaptiveness is costly.
It's not the best who wins, its who is most adaptive
While most people are engaged in cutting and reducing, Advantage-Makers put their attention on creating more value. Now is the time to distinguish yourself in the marketplace compared to the cut and reduce crowd.
Dr. Fleming discovered peninsulin when a pesty mold killed his bacteria culture. Not a good thing. Fleming made a dimensional shift in his thought process and saw the mold not as a problem but a solution to another problem - that of ridding unwanted bacteria. Solutions are waiting to be found in the recession. Shift your efforts to providing targeted advantages for your customers.
A person with attention deficit disorder takes his malady - short attention cycles and becomes a master at disaster recovery – ever ready to multi-task and fix things rapidly.
What solution is looking for the problem you face?
Money is on everyone's mind now.
Use the code of the advantage maker: time, interactions, perceptions, structures. (T.I.P.S) with the two main problems people are concerned with: surviving and/or saving money. Focus on shifting one or a number of the T.I.P.S. and you may find your opportunity knocking.
For example, shift payments into the future, it will reduce resistance and accelerate sales. Speed is also a time shifting advantage. Taking too long will undermine your responsiveness to customers. Remember customers are really willing to leave now, applying the different shifts can create new value.
During the recession efficiency becomes the catchword.
There is nothing more efficient than creating an advantage.
Do you notice what is there or what is missing?
First, why does it matter?
1) A technology manager accepted the vendors judgment that shutting down the data center was just like the time before. This time the system crashed and results were disastrous, millions of dollars lost. They missed the small but significant difference.
2) A sales V.P. viewed all challenges as the same old, same old. He almost lost his job because the CEO didn't think he could develop new strategies. Fortunately, we identified and changed his tendency to categorize experience with what he already knew.
Second, do you sort for sameness or difference?
Do you always notice how things are similar to what you already know and do? What's the relationship between this job and the last? Same or Different?
In other words do you look for matches for your current knowledge?
When a presenter is speaking do you find yourself agreeing with most of what they say? That's just like ...
or
In your thinking do you always find counter-examples. Ways in which what the speaker is saying isn't accurate.
Are you noticing the mismatches?
The sameness sorting pattern looks for commonalities.
The difference sorting pattern notices what stands out from the rest of the group.
Another way to say this is that there is a tendency to either match with, or mismatch what is already there.
Advantage-makers are fluent in both matching and mismatching.
If you want to spot opportunity and create advantages it is useful to mismatch, that is, sort for differences.
Advantage-Makers walk into situations with their ability to actively sort for differences. They note weaknesses, threats, and problems, as well as opportunities that others aren’t seeing. Instead of seeing what is expected, they notice what is unexpected. They are able to spot anomalies and then take advantage of them. The point is not to get caught in any rut.
Practice noticing what is different.
In a task or negotiation, ask yourself,
1) What appears obvious, along with what am I not seeing?
2) In the unlikely event that a problem occurs what will we do?
3) When you are stuck shift from sameness to mismatching, or from difference to matching.
You can spot opportunity but only if you notice difference.
How
do you categorize experiences?
Do you notice what is there or what is missing?
First,
Why does it matter?
1) A competent technology manager accepted the vendors judgment that shutting down the data center was just like in the past. The system crashed and results were disastrous, millions of dollars lost. A small difference had a huge consequence.
2) A
sales V.P. viewed all challenges as the same old, same
old. He almost lost his job because the CEO didn't think he could develop new strategies. Fortunately, we identified and changed his tendency to categorize experience with what he already
knew.
Second, Do
you sort for sameness or difference?
Do you notice how things are similar to what you already know and do? In other words do you look for matches for your current knowledge.
When a presenter is speaking do you find yourself agreeing with most of what they say? That's just like ...
or
In
your thinking do you notice counter-examples. Ways in which what the
speaker is saying isn't accurate.
Are
you noticing the mismatches in the case.
The
sameness sorting pattern looks for commonalities.
The
difference sorting
pattern notices what stands out from the rest of the
group.
Another
way to say this is that there is a tendency to either match with, or
mismatch what is already there.
Advantage-makers
are fluent in both matching and mismatching.
If you want to spot opportunity and create advantages it is useful to mismatch, that is, sort for differences.
Advantage-Makers
walk into situations with their ability to actively sort for differences.
They note weaknesses, threats, and problems, as well as opportunities that
others aren’t seeing.
Instead of seeing what is expected, they notice what is unexpected. They are able to spot anomalies and then take advantage of them. The point is not to get caught in any rut.
Practice noticing what is
different.
In a task or negotiation,
ask yourself,
1) What appears obvious, along with what am I not seeing?
2) In the unlikely event that a problem occurs what will we do?
3)
You can spot opportunity
but only if you notice difference.
- Steven
