Entering Grand Central

I've begun to play with Grand Central - a new telephone contact service and recent Google acquisition. They are being promoted through Blogger.

In case you haven't heard of it, Grand Central is a web service that allows you to utilize a "storefront" phone number, with which to communicate with friends, family, colleagues and customers.

The service is FREE.

Once you sign up, you are assigned a Grand Central telephone number. It's THIS number that you advertise to the general public. Calls made to your Grand Central number can automatically be forwarded to any of your personal phone numbers (cell, home, business) or can be forwarded directly into voicemail.

None of your private numbers is ever revealed to potential callers.

And best of all, your voicemails are automatically captured at Grand Central for you. When voicemails are received, you can be alerted via email or SMS. Or you can pick them up via phone.

Voicemails can be saved or forwarded via email. You can even record calls on the fly and save the content as you would a voicemail.

One of the features I'm testing is the WebCall button. It's a piece of HTML code that you can embed on your website, that allows internet users to place a call to your Grand Central number. It's a great way to encourage website visitors to make direct contact.

By simply clicking on the button, the visitor is prompted to enter their phone number and Grand Central does the rest - connecting the call to whichever personal number to specified or by allowing a prospect or customer to leave a voicemail (your choice).

If you conduct business via a blog style website, you can easily solicit verbal feedback to posts and post the voicemails (as you would comments) on your website.

You can easily import existing Outlook or vCard contacts into Grand Central to automatically label messages from known contacts as they are saved in your voicemail box. Once your contacts have been setup, you can configure Grand Central to handle each contact differently. You can choose to have important customers automatically forwarded to your cell phone. Friends and family could be directed to your home phone.

Unknown callers could be immediately directed into voicemail to be called back later, added to a spam folder or permanently blocked. You can even have Grand Central play a "this number has been disconnected" message, under circumstances you configure!

So far, the service has been very intuitive to setup and use. I'm certain that over the next few days, I'll discover great new ways to use the service.

As I do, I'll let you know.

The Battle of O.D. vs. A.D.D.

Many would argue that the I.T. function became more effective after the development of Steering Teams - regular participation by company leaders discussing and debating technology policies and systems development.

The more involved senior leaders are with an initiative, department or function the more commitment, understanding and the sharper the strategic focus. It's all about alignment, expectations and buy-in. And regular exposure to the I.T. function helps foster that.

So why don't we do the same thing with Organizational Development? For many HR departments, the O.D. team is comprised of hybrid "skunkworks" HR people who don't administer policy, explain benefits or manage compensation..

They're out there in the lines of business, working as missionaries, trying to develop momentum behind the principles of succession planning, employee development and nurturing great employee performance.

But these plans seem to be developed within the bowels of HR - then sold to various constituencies within the organization. They act (and are treated) as service providers rather than partners.

Unfortunately for us all, OD efforts are often times seen as the "project of the week" instead of an ongoing (and critical) business process.

It's a battle of O.D. vs. corporate A.D.D. (attention deficit disorder).

From an I.T. perspective, I think we could benefit from a much higher degree of collaboration between I.T. and the O.D. folks. After all, achieving the benefits of systems deployment is almost entirely dependent on how well our employees understand our processes and use the systems. The O.D. team can make a big difference in system acceptance, change management, training and individual performance improvement.

But we aren't at the table.

Because there IS no table.

I'd rather dovetail I.T. user training and performance improvement within a corporate framework/strategy rather than do it independently. We aren't great communicators. We aren't great trainers. We could use your help to improve our performance.

Perhaps we could begin with an O.D. steering team?

Until then, let's have lunch.

Admiring the Problem.

A friend of mine, Jim, who helps companies navigate around major systems implementation roadblocks, has a favorite phrase;

"They're just sitting around, admiring the problem".

You've seen this behavior in everyday life - when the guy with no mechanical aptitude whatsoever, raises the hood on a disabled car and stares vacantly into the maze of metal and wires hoping that the car will magically start.

We've all seen (or done) this before.

Raising the hood makes us feel like we're addressing the problem - after all, that's the first thing a mechanic would do.

The major difference being, that a mechanic would then go though a mental checklist of possible causes, eliminating each one until (s)he found the source of the problem and fixed it. They would take action to solve the problem.

The rest of us might wiggle some wires and try to restart the car. And fail.

To those of us without mechanical aptitude, the act of "opening the hood" gives us a sense that we're moving closer to a solution, even though we really know that's not the case.

And that's what Jim means by "Admiring the Problem".

In the business world, the equivalent of "opening the hood", is conducting a meeting. We gather around and the chairperson describes the problem. Everyone nods in agreement - yes, we have a problem. You then decide that more people need to be included as part of the solution and so the outcome of the meeting is to plan and hold a second, larger meeting.

You just "opened the hood".

The second meeting is held (a couple of weeks later) and major progress is made - you decide that you need more information. And so sub-teams are formed, tasked with digging up additional facts to be debated by the larger group.

You just "wiggled some wires."

A month later, the sub-teams report back to the original body - confirming what everyone knew all along. Yes we have a problem. But at least now we know... it's a BIG problem.

You tried to restart the car. The engine didn't make a sound....

Six weeks have passed and you're no closer to a solution.

This ritual is repeated in conference rooms and board rooms across the country, everyday. And it's the reason why my friend, Jim, is such a valuable resource.

It's his job to help his clients realize the difference between actitivty and progress.

Because when you're implementing major business systems, not knowing the difference can cost you millions.

CSI: Your Company

The unreadable image above is a snapshot of the Computing Scene Investigation we undertook at one company. Company and site names (which appeared down the left hand side of the spreadsheet) have been removed to protect the innocent.

We actually printed out the spreadsheet on a very large scale color plotter and it covered an entire wall of my office.

What you're looking at is an Application Map. The sites (were) listed down the left side and all the business processes are listed across the top of the spreadsheet. Each cell within the spreadsheet identified the application that supported each business process at a specific site.

Different applications are identified by different colors. The "application color legend" appears at the bottom of the chart.

At first glance, it looks as if someone threw confetti at a wall. And this version shows the application landscape AFTER a substantial ERP implementation (the light blue color).

Think about this for a second.. 34 different applications requiring, maintenance, support, training, interoperability, data mining, security, backup and recovery planning over a mix of centralized and distributed computing platforms.

Now let me give you one more piece of information. Each plant performed essentially the same function.

If you were to do some psychological forensics by staring at this diagram for a while, what would you determine?

1. Clearly, each site's I.T. solutions were historically chosen and managed locally.
2. The variety of applications - even within the same function might lead you to believe that the sites didn't talk to one another.
3. You might expect that business processes, system security and segregation of duties would be varied and difficult to enforce, both within a site and across the enterprise.
4. Reporting to Head office would be done with a myriad of different reports, which would need to be collated and re-summarized at the Corporate offices.
5. The reporting processes would be cumbersome, slow and likely not entirely accurate (apples to apples).
6. The entire infrastructure would be expensive to maintain and slow to change.
7. No shared services.
8. The company would not likely be positioned to compete in the 21st Century.
9. Sarbanes-Oxley compliance would be a challenge.
10. Autonomy and site performance trumps overall corporate performance.
11. Very little information (customer, vendor, business processes) shared across sites.

Since I was new to the company, I had asked for an application map. None existed. It took us several weeks to put the pieces of the puzzle together. No one had ever looked at the business process support systems in this way before.

But when you do, it can tell you an awful lot about the company.

Just for fun, why not ask your I.T. folks if thay have an application map of your business processes. If they don't, you may not be able to easily understand I.T. consolidation opportunities and achieve potential cost reductions, flexibility and the ability to improve the speed of change.

If they have one, take a look at it and perform your own CSI forensics.

It'll tell you a lot about how your company operates and where your big I.T. opportunities are.

What Business Wants I.T. to Know

As promised, here's Part 2 from yesterday's post.

Here's 18 things your business wants I.T. to know. I hope both posts become a conversation starter if your I.T. and business relationships are falling short of expectations.

1. Sometimes dealing with you folks is like trying to communicate in a foreign language. Please get rid of the acronyms and speak in terms we can understand.



2. When we request a new application or enhancement, you're always too busy. If we had a better idea of what was on your plate and when the projects were going to be completed, we could do a better job of helping prioritize.

3. We need to work together to better train our employees on our applications. User manuals are NOT getting the job done.

4. We need you involved until we achieve original business benefits expectations from our projects. Simply delivering the enhancement or system isn't enough.

5. We don't have confidence in our systems. Sometimes they go down, then come back up, without explanation. We don't know why it happened, nor what you're doing to make sure it doesn't happen again.

6. You don't measure your performance in ways that are meaningful to US.

7. If we're short with you at Helpdesk, please understand that we're frustrated that some technical issue is preventing us from getting our jobs done and serving our customers. And there's nothing more important than serving our customers.

8. If the same problems occur over and over again, you can understand our lack of confidence in your abilities.

9. It would be helpful if you could let us know well in advance when systems will be down and why.

10. When you've fixed a Helpdesk problem, will you please let us know? Sometimes we're waiting for a solution that has already been delivered without our knowledge!

11. Can we please agree on a common process to evaluate and prioritize I.T. projects? What we have in place at the moment isn't working.

12. Why did we do that last system upgrade? It seems like we had to retrain all our people without any real benefits! We need to discuss this before you simply proceed with it.

13. People are suspicious of what they don't understand. The better you can explain what you do (and why) the more comfortable we will be.

14. We're willing to do whatever it takes to perform better. If you have some ideas, speak up!

15. Please don't close Helpdesk tickets until WE say the problem has been resolved!

16. Why do you always blame convoluded I.T. processes on Sarbanes-Oxley? What is Sarbanes-Oxley and why should we care?

17. Our business spends a lot of time refining business processes, trying to make them lean. Do you do that? If not, why not?

18. if you want to understand how to better serve internal customers, just ask! Provide Helpdesk surveys, Training surveys and Post-Project Forensic surveys and report back what you're doing to improve results the next time. Demonstrate your continuous improvement process.

What would you add to the list?

14 Things Your I.T. Department Wants To Tell You

In many companies, the relationship between the I.T. department and the rest of the business isn't as productive as it should be. In the spirit of reconcilliation, let me offer up 14 things your I.T. department wants you to know.

1. Our company is more focused on efficient exception handling than we are on process improvements to eliminate the exceptions.

2. Our company doesn’t really understand our business processes as well as we should.

3. We don’t share information (about customers, opportunities, accomplishments, strategy) like we could.

4. Our information security and transaction approvals process reflects a lack of employee trust and adds time and complexity to all transactions without adding value.

5. Every system we have could be utilized 50% better than currently.

6. We don’t collaborate like we should or could.

7. Our corporate information moves too slowly and is stored in too many places.

8. Despite all our automation, we still spend too much time preparing reports and not enough time acting upon them.

9. We have too much data and not enough information.

10. We could accomplish 100% of what we do now, with half of our current systems, if we retired the redundant ones.

11. The business doesn’t understand how important it is to have technology projects business led, to achieve business results. I.T. delivers systems. The business implements them.

12. You treat I.T. as a service provider, not a business partner. Our mutual relationship could be far more productive than it is now.

13. About 2% of the people in our organization account for 80% of our helpdesk calls. Why are they still here?

14. We're all on the same team. We want business success just like you do!

Tomorrow: Things business wants their I.T. departments to know.

[photo credit: escapefromcubiclenation.com]

Inspired by Alltop

I've just taken a look at Guy Kawasaki's new project, called Alltop, which is an elegantly designed pre-formatted RSS Reader.

While anyone can accomplish the same for themselves with any free RSS Reader, the fact is that many people either don't have the time or the inclination to do it for themselves.

The benefit to the blogs that he's selected for inclusion in the Alltop framework is simple - more eyeballs. By aggregating the best blogs around selected topics, each will benefit from proximity to excellence within it's category.

The idea was inspired by PopURLs, and it's very clean design was executed by Electric Pulp.

I expect that this site, like Guy's previous project Trumors, will be a success. He's removing the barriers to readership, by building the reading lists for the readers. You don't need to understand RSS or how to use a Reader. No need to organize blogs within topic. No need to spend the time to discover the most popular blogs. Users just need to know how to click on an article.

Chances are, as people discover Alltop, they'll become addicted to the various blogs featured within.

This is an idea worth adapting for Corporate use.

In my experience, the value of RSS is not being leveraged effectively within most businesses. We still rely on printed reports, or emailed presentations and time consuming update/status meetings and conference calls. Getting information is still a challenge, requiring time and effort.

Imagine a world where your company intranet was a simple interface like Alltop. Imagine headings like;

Strategy - featuring internal blog feeds on market development, sales and marketing efforts, geographic expansion or acquisitions

Talent - fed by Job opening blog (or application) and your Corporate YouTube training channel

Execution - fed by your Lean Processes Blog, 5S efforts, Process Improvement project blogs or RSS capable Project Management applications etc

Ideas & Innovation - an assembly of thought leaders blogs (hint: check out Alltop's EGOs section).

Competition - fed by pre-defined Google Alerts for your industry and direct competition as well as RSS feeds from industry related publications.

Our Priorities - internal blogs which detail progress on the most important tasks your company is undertaking.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

Create several blogs within your organization's network. Find a couple of early adopters. Get them started publishing and show them how their efforts are seamlessly published to the company via your new Alltop style intranet.

Guy - if you could donate an open source version of Alltop for internal Corporate use, you'd likely make America a far more efficient place to work. Until that happens, I.T. people, get started on your own version!

20 Tactics to Survive the Coming Recession

With a looming recession on the horizon, what can your business do differently to survive the economic slowdown?

Here are twenty things you could try. All of these suggestions could work very well during good times, it's just that we seem a little more motivated as the threat increases to our bottom line.

Obviously this isn't a complete list and applicability and circumstances differ in every company.

Here they are (in no particular order.)

1. Re-evaluate employee performance. When times are booming, average and yes, sometimes below average performance is overlooked. When times get tight, you really need to get more done with fewer people.

2. Re-organize activities. Is your company filled with under utilized specialists? Could some positions be combined or tasks be reallocated so that the work previously done by 4 people could be done by three or two? Do your processes require many approvals to complete? Are they all really necessary? Do approvals add control or get in the way?

3. Prioritize. Does your company have a dozen different projects underway? If so, at least half of them will be "pet projects" - whose benefits, if ever realized will end up under the "nice to haves" column. Focus resources and your attention on the "must have" projects and get them done faster.

4. Play offense not defense. You can't "hide in your shell" and wish your way through a recession. What are some things you could be working on now, that will put you in a strategic advantage when the economy improves? Take advantage of your competition, if they've decided to "wilt". A compelling mission can keep everyone focused during dark economic days.

5. If business gets slow, perhaps now is the time to think about re-investing in your employees. Think about professional development courses or certifications (if you can afford it). Better to improve the calibre of your players when they aren't 100% distracted with daily business activities.

6. Make a list of things you should stop doing, and kill initiatives which are delivering questionable (or unmeasurable) value.

7. Improve a process. Pick a poor process and use lean principles to elinimate waste (inventory, time, rework, QA, approvals, transit/travel time, defects). What you should be left with are activities that your customers are willing to pay for! Focus on customer facing processes first (order taking, quotes, returns, service calls).

8. Cross-train. The more flexible your workforce, the better you're able to cope with surges in activities.

9. 5S your workplace.

10. Conduct an inventory cycle count when business is slow.

11. Bring the auditors in "off-cycle" when you can afford to spend time with them, making the audit process less of a burden.

12. Brainstorm how your company will be remarkable. (So different from your competition, that people will be talking about you!)

13. Think about deploying technology strategies that allow people to spend less time in meetings and more time doing projects, tasks. Building an intranet organized by department or line of business fed by RSS feeds, will eliminte those communication meetings that suck up so much time. Try cheap, intuitive, web-based 3rd party project management tools (like Basecamp) to enable groups to communicate better, manage group task lists and auto-communicate progress.

14. Find faster, more effective ways to train employees, customers, suppliers, by learning to use video, instead of replicating one on one meetings, classroom training or worse yet, writing another user manual that no one will read.

15. Visit key customers and suppliers. During tough economic times they may be more receptive to different ways of doing business, new products or services or partnering to reduce friction within your supply chain.

16. Think about that major system upgrade. Your vendors will likely have higher caliber resources available during tough economic times and pricing will never be better. Also, the internal resources needed to really embrace the new system, may be more available now than during booming economic times. You may be able to negotiate deferred payments or beneficial financing during downturns. Better to work out the process and transaction kinks during a slower business cycle.

17. If you're unfamiliar with Web2.0 marketing concepts, buy a Seth Godin book and start a company blog. Show off your company passion for what you do. Demonstrate how you'll make your customers better (or happier or whatever). Provide free value adding information. Begin to establish or reinforce a bond with your customers. Be authentic. (Or if you can't do that, just Don't be Fake!)

18. Find a way to stand out from the crowd. EST yourself. BiggEST, fastEST, coolEST, bEST, cheapEST, hottEST, spicyEST, easiEST, fatEST, thinEST, brightEST, sharpEST or most expensive (costliEST?) in the world. If you have a product or service that stands out, chances are people will start talking. And when people start talking, the word spreads and when the word spreads you begin to draw crowds. And within those crowds, the most passionate people will open their wallets.

19. Experiment like never before. Try lots of new things. Fail often and learn from your mistakes.

20. Find a way to empower your workforce. Ask them for ideas. Listen to them. Tobasco sold more hot sauce when a factory worker suggested making the bottle opening a little bigger! Great ideas are everywhere, waiting to be discovered and developed.

Have I missed some obvious ones? Feel free to add to the list!

Discussing leadership

Charlie Rose (PBS) spends 30 minutes with John Whitehead and Bill George discussing leadership.

Listen for the comments on the value of authenticity, empowerment, values and listening.

Well worth the investment.

The One Lesson that is SO HARD to Learn

I've spent a good deal of my working life in I.T..

And if there's one thing that has helped me maintain my sanity and enthusiasm, it's that I try not to take criticism personally. I've developed a thick skin.

And I really never had a choice.

Because the alternative, is not very productive. It leads to an "us vs. them", mentality - describing internal customers as "stupid users" and mentally excusing ourselves from addressing the issue at hand.

Hey - they should RTFM (Read the F**king Manual) if they want the answer! Or I covered that question in training! What are they? Stupid? This is an easy attitude to adopt and unchecked, it can spread quickly, kill morale and poison the department's reputation within the company.

The I.T. leadership challenge is in redefining success. Success ISN'T, turning the system on. Training success ISN'T completing the user manual.

Success is reaching the company's business performance objectives - enabling your fellow employees to effectively use your systems to achieve process excellence. If they can't do that at present, YOUR JOB IS NOT YET DONE.

Seth Godin nails this concept in todays blog entry.

If you can change the discussion from us vs. them, to "How can we (I.T. AND our internal customers) execute better?", the entire dynamic changes, for the better.

It forces you to think more creatively. If no one reads the user manual, it won't be an effective training tool. Okay, perhaps we should spend out time figuring out a type of training that people will want to use. How about trying video? Let's show people what the process looks like. Let's show people how to do the transactions. Let's show people the critical steps in each process.
Let's post the videos on our intanet so new employees can learn the same lessons. Let's ask for training delivery feedback from our employees. Let's adapt.

Let's make our infrastrucutre more bulletproof and self-healing. Instead of telling users to backup their systems, why don't we have their systems do it automatically? Instead of expecting our users to remember 20 different system passwords and to change them monthly, why don't we implement single signon?

When we are told of an application error or a hardware glitch, let's make sure we not only solve the problem, but address the source of the problem, so over time, we don't have to fix the same issue over and over again.

The I.T. journey from internal adversary to corporate partner begins with a thick skin and a refocused definition of what our jobs are really about.

The sad truth is: If your internal customers tell you that you suck, they're generally right.

Would You Work for Someone Like You?

I just read an interesting article on CIO.com entitled How Do You Spot a Bad CIO? And it got me wondering.

Would you work for someone like you (if you had a choice)?


Hopefully, you're very self aware and you're answering yes. But I really wonder. Ask yourself the following questions and then answer the question I just posed.


1. Where do your new departmental ideas come from? (staff suggestions, peers or from you?)

2. What was the last staff suggestion you implemented? How long ago was it?

3. Which is more important to you; getting a project done on time with as little risk as possible or developing a staff member by challenging their abilities, even if it adds some risk to your project?

4. Which to do you first when things go wrong, seek blame or seek a resolution?

5. If a consultant were to ask each of your staff what they liked best about working in your department, what would they answer?

6. How often do you formally communicate to your staff (weekly? monthly?, quarterly?, only as appropriate).

7. When was the last time someone willingly left your department? Do you solicit feedback from employee exit interviews?

8. Who develops, maintains and improves your business processes?

9. How do you handle bad news?

10. What motivates your staff? (a job well done, a new challenge, praise from customers or peers, praise from you, all of the above, or they aren't particularly motivated.)

11. Have any of your employees ever been unpleasantly surprized at an annual performance review?

12. Does management do all the departmental hiring or do potential peers (teammates) also get involved?

13. How much autonomy do you foster within your department? (none, limited, more than 50% of the time, complete autonomy).

14. It's take your employee to work day. What is your staff saying to their kids? What are they proudest of?

15. Does each of your employees "have a legacy"? - something they've built, improved, or managed that they are particularly proud of?

16. Which is more important to you when considering a suggestion? employee rank (job title) or role (what they do in your department), both or neither.

17. What flexibility do you allow your staff to get their jobs done? (none, they can work remotely after hours, they can work remotely as they see fit, they have complete flexibility as long as they can be reached by phone, email or IM.)

18. Have your employees had any time in the last 12 months to try out a new technology, to improve a process or be exposed to a different role?

19. How would your employees describe their relationship with their managers or supervisors? challenged, managed, observed, corrected.

20. Why do your employee show up every day? (for their paycheck, for their teammates, to make a positive difference?)

21. What is the last thing you learned in your current capacity?

22. How many of these words would employees attribute to you or your management style? (inquisitive, interested, committed, challenging, listener, fair, honest)

23. Do people smile at your workplace?

Some things to think about.

Dealing with Web Applications

How do new web applications get introduced into your company?

This is a question I began asking myself as I continue to discover fantastic, simple, free (or very cheap) web based applications. My latest discovery is Jing, but that's a story for another day.

I'm betting that employees at your company are as inquisitive as I am. Likely, as they discover these applications, they're downloading them and trying them. They don't want to wait for I.T. to offer a solution. They just want to get the job done or make their jobs easier.

And this phenomenon is likely keeping your C.I.O. up at night.

And the reasons he/she can't sleep, is that they're ultimately responsible for

1. Reliable computing. At some point, this software trial, becomes mainstream within a group or department. It begins to help manage critical processes. It gets taken for granted. And that's about the time the application reliability fails. And no one in your I.T. department can help resolve the issue. You're on your own. Unmanaged and unrestricted downloading onto corporate PCs may cause issues with your standard application image, potentially causing issues with standard applications.

2. Secure computing. What assurances do your end users have that the transactions they're processing on this 3rd party application are secure from prying eyes? If you're a public company, this could pose some significant SOX implications. If you're storing customer information, you may incur privacy concerns.

3. Data Portability. Is there a way to retrieve your company data from the application provider, should you decide to migrate to a different application?

4. Data Recovery. How does your application provider insure data backups and recovery? What disaster recovery plans are in place?

5. Uncontrolled Data distribution. As new applications are adopted, corporate data begins to be distributed across more applications, more platforms, internally and externally, completely unchecked. And no one person knows where it all is!

6. Even free isn't FREE. A new application holds the potential for duplicate functionality within your company's application portfolio. Duplicate functionality usually translates into increased costs - (training, support) not only of the new system, but includes ongoing support and training of the legacy system(s) too. At some point in the future, your new application may completely supplant the legacy application (that's a good thing) but the I.T. folks may never know (that's a bad thing). Active, unused legacy applications suck up resources. Unused applications need to be decommissioned.

7. You can't easily learn from, or leverage unmanaged experimentation. How can you surface the fact that you're testing a new application? How do you spread the word about it's benefits or drawbacks? How does your company learn from your experience? Clearly, if you discover "a better mousetrap", your company might benefit from widespread adoption. On the other hand, if someone else within your organization has already tried the new application and was unsatisfied with it, how do you get the word out, so your company doesn't make the same mistake again?

Rather than trying to stamp out experimentation, I think the answer lies in a cooperative approach to new application adoption. Clearly, it is in I.T.'s best interest to be involved (but not be a roadblock to) the application adoption process.

It's important that your user community understand the potential risks of web based applications and that they try these applications, with "eyes wide open." If you can implement a policy that educates users about security, backup, redundancy, legacy, privacy and data portability issues, you're halfway home.

Next, it's important to put the experiment "on the radar". I.T. can facilitate communication (pro or con) about your application experiment. They interact with employees every day, who may be facing the same challenges that you are. If the new application works out well, it's important to spread the word. If it fails to meet expectations, it's important to know that as well.

In some cases sucessful individual trials could lead to the purchase of Corporate licenses, thus potentially saving some money on the cost of several "individual" accounts.

However new applications are introduced into your computing lexicon, I think you'd agree that some adoption policy and process is required.

Do you have one?

Training TV

For some time now, I've been lobbying anyone who will listen, that video instruction is the way of the future.

While we in I.T. consider the job done, as soon as the user manual is written (or whatever training documentation you currently use), we're usually wrong.

The done is done NOT when the materials are completed, but when the training is completed (and understood). And we can play a role in that effort.

The guys at 37signals have a post today on their blog detailing how they create their short instructional (promotional) videos.

While they typically use Macs and Mac based programs (then transition to a PC native program called Camtasia for pans and zooms), those of us who spend most of our time in the PC world can simply use Camtasia (or if your needs are very basic - Cam Studio, which is free.)

Your homework is to create a short video using whatever tools you wish. Once you discover how simple and effective it can be, you'll never write another user manual again. And you'll have an effective training product that gets used.

Google Apps Team Edition

In this post ars technia berates Google for trying to slip one by your local I.T. department. They argue;

Unlike the Powered by Postini product suite, Google Apps Team Edition is aimed at enabling user and group-level collaboration without the need for approval from the IT department.

Now I understand the mentality of the I.T. department. After all, they support your business applications. They need to make sure that the data is secure and that there is some method to recover the data in the event of loss. They also need the company to understand that the new Google apps may be a duplication of significant legacy knowledge management applications and sharing applications which are already in place (and perhaps even under utilized). And Helpdesk may be the first place employees will call for support.

I know the thinking. I used to be one of those I.T. guys.

But once the security and training issues are addressed, isn't it a better outcome for all if your users collaborate more rather than less? Isn't the goal of seamless communications and collaboration to enable faster and better decisions and project outcomes?

With the development of more and more web services applications, I.T. departments would do well to devise a strategy with their corporate leadership to address web services adoption.

After all, if you're using Sharepoint, Team Rooms, MS Project Server, individually or group shared documents on Google, Basecamp, Blogs, Wikis, Forums and any other number of applications, you're investing heavily in training and support. And your corporate knowledge is stored all over the place.

It makes sense to try new applications (especially if they're free and the "rules" are well understood.)

But in the end you'll need to agree on a data map - where stuff is kept and under what conditions, so your company can make informed decisions as to whether the newer products work well, how they'll be internally supported (if at all) and also when (and how) to sunset those duplicate legacy systems.

In the end, the decision should be a business and I.T. collaboration. Even "free" apps come at a cost.

New Lens on Change Management

I've recently started a new Squidoo lens on Change Management. It's a work in progress, but check it out and let me know what you think.

I'll be adding content over the next few months, and you have the opportunity to contribute as well. Cast a vote, nominate a great Change Management resource book, slideshow, video, cartoon or whatever.

Enjoy.

I'm Sorry.

I've just finished reading Garr Reynolds' new book, Presentation Zen.

Like his blog by the same name, this book is required reading.

Here's a link to TEDBlog with more info.

And for all of you who have ever attended one of my Powerpoint Presentations in the past, I'm sorry.

I promse to do better next time.

The Edible Man - Part 2

I've just finished reading the biography of Dave Nichol, Canadian marketing icon - the man who brought Loblaw shoppers President's Choice, No Name, G.R.E.E.N. and "Too Good To Be True" product brands among others.

In my previous post, I talked about how his innovation drove Loblaw's financial turnaround, turning the grocery store chain into the most profitable chain in Canada.

He took on major brands (like Coke, P&G, Oreos) and drove profitability by increasing margins using products created (and in many cases completely developed) by small private firms. By leveraging his shelf space and by promoting these brands cheaply, he was able to increase margins on major products to as much as 30%. Name brands for many grocery stores are often sold at cost to drive store traffic.

His innovation led a movement into Private branding and today every grocery chain in Canada, features their own private brands.

Last time I talked about six traits that drove his innovation.

Here are six more.

1. Attention to every Detail – the product name and the packaging matter as much as the product itself. If the packaging stands out, (product can easily be found on a shelf) and the product is worth talking about (has a hook), people will buy it.

2. Storytelling. Tell a story. People remember stories. Dave would tell stories around almost all of his products. In fact he had an entire line of sauces and marinades called Memories of (city name, country name)..... He led Canadian consumers on a world journey, where they could sample great cuisine in his footsteps. These stories were told in his 16 page Insider's Reports, in commercials, in Infomercials, in his cookbooks, and on in store television sets.

3. Get Noticed – to stand out you have to be different! Instead of duplicating a popular 7 bean soup, he insisted on creating a delicious 20 bean soup, making it stand out in the Marketplace - making it remarkable (as Seth Godin might say). Every product needed a hook - a reason for being, whether it was "the best I've ever tasted", or "as good as the one made at Spago's" or "contains more than twice the chololate chips of any other cookie". Dave Nichol knew the benefit of having remarkable products.

4. Product successes are built upon a littany of product failures. PC Cola took three attempts before success. In fact Galen Weston, Nichol's boss stated that "Dave Nichol created more failed products than anyone in history. Of course, he launched more products than anyone in history."

5. Never Settle. Nichol rejected literally thousands of product samples until he (and he alone) was satisfied that the product was a superior value. The product didn't necessarily have to be the best on the market, but it had to be the best for the money. Ironically, Nichol was the sole arbitor of taste. Loblaw didn't use traditional focus groups. At noon each day, he would be presented with a buffet of products under development and would travel down the buffet pronouncing his (usually harsh) critique of each presentation.

6. Stay acutely aware of cultural trends. In many ways, Nichol developed brands, like the fashion industry. He launched G.R.E.E.N. products as the environmental movement begain it's rise in Canada. His lower calorie and fat entrees reflected society's desire for healthier foods, his ready to eat entrees met the time constraints of two income families. His No Name products reflected a desire to save substantial money over name brands. He was constantly aware of the shifting marketplace and of public whim. He was so in tune with these trends, it became unclear whether society was driving the brand development or the brands were driving consumer's behaviour!

If you're interested in reading the story of one of Canada's best product innovators. I'd highly recommend the book. In 1994, it was the National Best Business Book award winner.

Enjoy.

The Edible Man

One of my favorite stores in the entire world is a grocery store. You heard me correctly - a grocery store.

When I lived in Canada (more than a decade ago), Loblaw was the epitome of innovative marketing. In those days, Loblaw was the most expensive grocery chain to shop at.

And the most profitable.

And this success was the direct result of product innovation and great marketing, led by a guy you've probably never heard of, named Dave Nichol. He was the "face" of Loblaw - their spokeman. He brought the grocery chain from "one of the pack" to a premier position in his industry.

He turned grocery shopping from a weekly mundane task, into an adventure, led by Loblaw's innovative brand, President's Choice.

So how did Dave Nichol turn around Loblaw? Here's the recipe.

1. Passion. Dave Nichol had a passion for great food. And it showed. His private branded products were samples of great foods and recipes he had experienced from around the world.

His enthusiasm showed - from the copy in print ads to his television commercials (and even 30 minute informercials) to the comic book formatted President's Choice "Insider's Reports" that featured new products, great recipies, and seasonal specials.

2. Exclusivity via Private Branding. He sought out small companies with whom to work and developed fantastic taste treats one couldn't buy anywhere else. He created President's Choice Decadent Chocolate Chunk Cookies, which eventually became the store's best selling cookie (leading all major national brands). He created PC Cola which outsold Coke. All these products commanded a a premium price and were only available at his stores.

3. Speed of Innovation. Not a month went by without some new PC product introduction or some instruction on how to create a culinary delight using new or different PC sauces, marinades or spices. During weekly grocery shopping excursions, I found myself searching out new products or innovations.

I recall one week where I stumbled upon an end of aisle display which featured different varieties of PC Pizza crusts (pre-cooked), PC specialty oils (with which to coat the crusts before applying your toppings), PC Pizza toppings, along with a videotape featuring 10 of Toronto's most famous restaurant chefs making their personal favorite PC Pizza's (using Loblaw's products, of course).

Later on (this was the mid 80s) the stores were the first in the area to feature TV's demonstrating recipies cooking techniques or providing information on PC products.

4. Best to Market. Loblaw had an internal saying that they didn't need to be first to market (although they were many times) but they needed to be Best to Market. When they introduced a new product, it had to have a clear differentiation from anything else available - something their customers could immediately recognize as value adding.

5. No Name products. More than just Priemium Brands, Dave Nichol introduced Canada to No Name (generic) branded products at significant savings over national brands. So Loblaw's was a destination for not only discriminating tastes, but also price sensitive customers who went in search of savings. A very famous ad introducing No Name to Canada, featured two shopping carts filled with groceries. In one cart were name brands and in the other cart were their generic No Name equivalents. The caption read "I saved $50 with No Name products". That was impressive. (And that's back when $50 was real money!)

6. Trust. The Loblaw's reputation rode on the consistent quality of the President's Choice brand. It made trying a new product almost risk free. If it had the President's Choice name on it, chances were you'd like it. And the mouthwatering packaging (great graphics) didn't hurt either.

I'm only part way through Nichols' 1994 autobiography, "The Edible Man".

When I finish it, I'll provide the rest of Loblaw's secret success sauce.