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Customer Manufacturing Update |  |
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Dear Mitchell,
Here is your March Customer Manufacturing
Update. This month we're taking a look at
innovation. A hot topic in any economy, getting the
most from your innovation investment is critical now.
If you have friends or colleagues who would
appreciate receiving this Update, feel free to
forward a copy to them using the "Forward e-mail" link
at the bottom of the page.
Most executives admit their belief in using innovation to out-perform the competition. Innovating effectively is always a challenge, especially in tough economic times. Applying Lean Thinking to innovation can save precious resources and provide the vehicle for your future. Beyond the article link below, you can also gain access to more innovation resources by visiting our innovation-focused website.
Louis Pasteur said that "chance favors the prepared mind." To which we have always suggested that you go get prepared in case you might get lucky. Mitch was talking to a high school friend recently who happens to have invented and patented the "on screen" television guides that have become ubiquitous. He asked him where that idea came from, and this is what his friend shared. In the early 1980s he was watching cartoons with his son and they wondered what was on next. He reached over to look at the TV Guide and managed to spill the orange juice he had on his lap for his son. This frustration apparently triggered the "why can't the guide be on the TV screen" idea. He came up with a way to do this, but at the time, the memory required to support the application would have cost about $500,000 per user. Not economically viable. His wife suggested that the cost of memory was dropping daily and by the time he finished perfecting how to do it, it might be economically viable. She was a little off on her timing, but within 9 years it became viable, and as we all know, now it's everywhere. Spilled orange juice, an open mind and a smart wife combined to create an innovation, which became a company. Get prepared, you never know when the 'chance' will arrive.
Mitch was interviewed on radio a couple of times towards the end of last year. If you have not listened to those interviews you can do so free. Mitch was interviewed for the second time on BlogTalk radio. He spent a half-hour talking with Tom Cox on the CEO's role in managing marketing and the use of process management to improve marketing performance. You can listen free. Mitch was also interviewed on KCTE Kansas City. You can listen to his interview (commercial free, we edited them out).
Effectiveness is doing the right thing. Efficiency is doing things right. Being efficient without first being effective is waste. In other words, doing the wrong thing well is wasted effort. Most experienced business people know this, and often still forget it. Not to get on a Starbucks focus, but they have reminded us about this again. As most of you know, Starbucks hit on some difficult times, which got Howard back into the company. Howard is all about Effectiveness and, by his own admission, not really focused on Efficiency. Apparently Howard has been convinced that while Effectiveness is still king, being efficient too is now mandatory. And Efficiency does not have to undermine Effectiveness. Examples of some of the new Efficiency moves at Starbucks include:
The key for Starbucks is that Howard won't let them forget that Effectiveness trumps Efficiency, but, in today's world, Effectiveness alone is not enough.
We appreciate any feedback you can provide to help us make sure these Updates give you value each month. Feel free to respond to this e-mail with any comments or suggestions for future topics or ways we can make these Customer Manufacturing Updates more valuable to you.
Thank you for your interest, and if we can provide
any
additional assistance in sales, marketing, strategy, or
innovation to help you increase your sales,
let us know.
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