FROG BLOG

I’m not easily impressed - especially when I feel as if everything is going wrong. But in the end I have to grudgingly tip my hat to ComEd’s Customer Service Group even though I’m sitting here with only half power 6 days after the storm.

Did ComEd’s electronic response system make mistakes? Looks like it.

Did individual ComEd reps make mistakes? Looks like it.

Did the customer (me) make mistakes? Probably.

First, about my problem - Why am I still at half power? Turns out an electrical spike fried my breaker box. Unfortunately, ComEd kept saying the power disruption was their issue until about 5 pm yesterday so I delayed calling an electrician.

I’m writing this from a computer that is running off a series of extension cords strung from from a kitchen outlet that is also running my fridge and stove. I had never heard of half power before, but for us it means that a seemingly random assortment of lights and outlets are working in the house. When we have a power need we re-weave our extension cords to take care of it.

So, I’m a customer who’s problem was not solved or identified until well after it should have been. Why am I not peeved?

Credit goes to well trained and very sympathetic customer service reps that seemed to care no matter how upset I got.

When their electronic response system seemed to reset my request every time I called, the rep was as frustrated as I was. When I was apparently the last house in town that no one had stopped by, I could tell the rep felt my pain. When the notes from the field didn’t explain why I was still sitting in the dark and no excuse seemed reasonable - I could almost hear the conversation between managers that got a truck to my home in 15 minutes. When it turned out to be something in my house the lineman apologized that communication hadn’t been better. Everyone seemed to care and everyone seemed willing to go off script to try and help.

The empathy was what seemed so unusual and disarming. I don’t know if it was from training, from great hiring practices or both. Maybe the situation of having over half a million customers without power just broke down the barriers to create a “We’re all in this together attitude” had something to do with it.

In the end, I was left with the strong impression that they actually cared - admitting their own mistakes and doing what they could to correct them. Now here’s the question that begs to be asked: With all the emphasis on customer service in our economy, why did this feel so unusual that I felt the need to write about it?

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Every improvement in productivity seems to carry with it the risk of waisted time. In today’s world, interruptions have become enemy number one to effectively letting your creative juices flow.

Our desk used to have two primary sources of interruption. The visit and the phone. And really only one source of outside distraction, the magazine. Often we had to physically remove ourselves from our desk and head to the coffee machine to really avoid work.

Now the machine that many of us depend on to get things done also provides multiple sources of distraction that one could argue are job related (IM, email, surfing, feeds…) and not job related (games, shopping, music, video…) not to mention the interesting distractions of viruses and breakdowns. Since many of these items can be set up to be intrusive, the ability to get a half-hour of uninterrupted think time becomes next to impossible. And yet justified because so many of the interruptions involve moving work along.

So now I’ve set you up on a teeter-totter - CFE #6 is being too productive and CFE #7 is wasting time. Where’s the balance? It is in that uninterrupted thought time. Maybe half-an-hour, maybe half-a-day. It’s the time to let your brain get ahead of all the problems being thrown at it and find a better way of catching and handling them.

Wrapping up - a great way to kill creative fire is to distract yourself every minute of the day with things that can wait till later.

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Looking for creative fire starters brought back to mind a study done by the Chicago Economic Development Council where only 25% of manufacturers in the greater Midwest seemed to have a clue when it comes to recognizing the need for constant technological innovation to stay ahead of (or even keep up with) the international market.

The scary part is that for the majority of the organizations in that top 25% only the leadership was actively concerned about innovation. That means that innovation was being driven from the top down, probably seen as unnecessary or worse by the majority of the organization. Consistent, incremental and even groundbreaking innovation often comes from the bottom up. Your employees who are working with customers, working with tools, working with procedures are often in the best position to imagine improvements.

More importantly, creative fire is a state of mind. If innovation is regularly improving a companies performance and generating rewards at all levels, then the organization will be more accepting of radical innovation that may be necessary to create a new competitive landscape.

In other words, your creative fire will burn brighter if everyone is searching for fuel not just a few.

The Chicago Economic Development Council is at www.edcchicago.org.

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What is fueling your company’s desire for innovation? Is there anything even smoldering?

Great inspiration for most companies can come from within. The ideas tend to be lying around all over the place, little different from deadwood waiting for someone to light a match.

So who lights the fires of change in your organization? Are they rewarded for their efforts even if the fire doesn’t catch just right? Do you limit your creative fires to small, safe rings surrounded by hundreds of buckets of water?

As a boy I loved anything to do with fire. Burning leaves, campfires, fireworks, even special effects when my old plastic models looked a bit sad on the shelf. Over time I was taught over and over how dangerous fire can be. Can’t burn leaves. Can’t blow up models. Can’t have fireworks.

To often that is the way people who spark are treated in any organization. Can’t, don’t, ahhhhhh water… We teach them that creative fires must be controlled, allowed to burn in safe little zones.

Soon the sparks fly less and less. The joy of a creative spark disapears and the fear of the work or the hassle or the damage it can do to a career takes over.

Gather up your fuel. Teach your people to spark. Enjoy the Strategic Fire.

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When something fascinates you, do you still pick it up?

Or do thoughts of unforeseen trouble keep your hands in your pockets?

Few of us live in an industry where last year’s strategy will take us through the next decade.

Few of us have businesses where success will come from ideas handed to us by our competitors.

Sometimes the best ideas look icky when they are sitting under a rock.

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Sometimes an industry faces a long term threat that appears so overwhelming that the long term strategy appears to involve sticking management’s collective heads’ in the sand, hoping the problem goes away.

Now, it turns out that an ostrich does not stick its head in the sand. An ostrich is smarter than that. An ostrich learns to lay low, head to the ground, blending in with the scenery until it is time to jump up and run. Or jump up, kick and run. Or bite, kick and run. An ostrich keeps its options open.

Many strategic plans appear to do the same thing with long term threats. The threat gets mentioned, maybe a study group is formed, maybe a bit of research is assigned. True believers in the importance of the long term threat might even be given a ’special project’ to concentrate on.

Truth be told, this is just a different form of sticking your head in the sand. The long term threat is separated from the day-to-day operations of the company. The company isn’t ‘laying low’ waiting for the opportunity to run. It has segmented the issue, hoping something will come running to the rescue when needed.

A recent examination of U.S. automakers’ difficulty with battery technology highlights the issue. Back in the 70’s they let more fuel efficient autos in the door when fuel supplies became expensive and unpredictable. Today, once again they are behind in technology that improves fuel efficiency and it appears that competitors may have locked in years of advances in battery technology critical to catching up.

Where was the point in the strategic plan that said, “With a spike in oil prices our entire sales model will be disrupted and we will have to improve fuel efficiency because customers demand it?” You know it had to be there somewhere. They spent millions on research. They’re not idiots.

In the end, the issue was relegated off somewhere. The opportunity costs of being caught flat footed were not factored into their existing line development. The costs of playing catch-up in a world where falling behind can be terminal were ignored.

Your products face long term strategic threats. It may be environmental, it may be technological, it may be social. They exists. There are examples of great companies facing these threats head on. Building the fact of disruptive change into the day-to-day operations of their firms.

So, if you’re going to mimic an ostrich, make sure you know how an ostrich actually deals with threat — because sticking your head in the sand does not work.

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Tom Peters borrowed something I said in a post on Indifference.  Go check it out!

“The Non-indifferent War on Words”

How cool!

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I am on a soap box these days about the effect of no thinking time. So today I come to you with a simple way to add more time into your day:

• Make all 1 hour meeting 40 minutes.
• Make all 30 minute meeting stand-up.

If you do this (at least in the meetings you have control over!) you will buy yourself at least a few extra chunks of time you can set aside for thinking. Shut your door, turn off your phone, send your computer to sleep and that’s it…contemplate a problem, noodle over the future, consider the consequences, ruminate over a decision.

I double dare you to try this…You and your business will be better off because of it.

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Floor space, budget, image, key messages, partners, neighbors, product display, education… The list can go on for quite a while. All matter. All must be optimized. But the key factor to a great trade show booth is the people who are there to talk to prospects.

In small booths it’s easy to make the mistake of putting a table between you and the aisle, adding a few folding chairs and creating a situation where prospects must actively try and grab your attention. Be standing, make it easy to shake hands.

In larger booths its easy for personnel to gather deep inside the space, forcing prospects to walk-in and around before being greeted. Yes, the prospects that make it that far are more likely to be interested. And unfortunately yes, the marginal prospect has walked past.

Booth design strategy must take into account ways to encourage your peoples’ natural ‘outgoingness.’ The trade show aisle is a natural barrier to entry encouraging straight line walking. While flash and sizzle help draw prospects past the carpet tape, your people reaching out a hand to pull prospects in is what truly drives results.

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We’re always looking for ways for our marketing and development dollars to go farther. Truth is whether we have been asked to reduce budgets or not, regular reviews of what is being spent and why will help any business improve efficiency.

LaVonn outlines ten ways to ‘Do More With Less’ that are good to keep in mind through any budgeting exercise.

Here’s a link to the article. More With Less By LaVonn Schlegel

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