Weekend #1 Reflection

Well, the relatively non-techie made it through the weekend!  My mind is swimming and I'm wondering how I am going to find the time to read all the blogs I just subscribed to (and, I'm sort of wondering how life went on before subscribing . . .).  I find myself left with many of the same questions I was noodling around with before we started class.  Like, how companies are really going to adapt and adopt technological and real collaborative strategies?  How do we recruit and retain net gen employees in a baby boomer organization?  I'm just going to have to continue to think on those.  The opportunity to discuss the book with my peers was great as it really opened my mind to some different ways of processing the information.

In terms of practical application, boy, where do you start?  I think the poll everywhere site will allow me to implement some new techniques into a rather stale audience experience.  I had no idea that there were so many useful aspects of google.  I've mainly utilized the site as a way to find a good restaurant or searching for websites that sell long pants for tall people.  Setting  up our own blogs was a great experience and I can see that this will be a wonderful way to learn from everyone else in the class as we process through.  And, in case you forget how to get back on to add a new post, it's http://www.blogger.com/!

Is the Customer or the Company the Most Important?

While we have, for many years, valued the customer in terms of a means for purchasing the products that we (all knowing companies) developed, the future holds a much different path. The customer really is the most important part of the business as they are in control and often times creating the product they want to purchase. The openness of the internet and interconnectivity it has created allows for customers to collaborate and drive production in the direction that is important to them. So, while traditional businesses have said they have the best interests of their customers or clients at heart, it is doubtful they really did. In fact, they had their business strategies and profit margins at heart.


Now, customers collaborate and design their own businesses to create the products that they want to purchase. Companies that realize this and provide a platform for this to occur will develop the ultimate prize, a relationship with the customer. This relationship is the one thing that will keep a customer coming back to them to purchase their products, the one thing that can not be commotitized.

I would imagine that this revelation is frightening for companies that are behind in the technological aspects of being able to provide this customer experience. In addition, there is little understanding of the net generation. There is significant interest in capturing their attention, but little effort in developing the systems and processes they want to engage in to capture them. Again, it seems to be ego driven in that there is a belief that these customers will do business with us because we’ve been around for a long time, we are the market leader. When in fact, they may want a very different experience than what can be provided by the old guard. Failure to embrace and provide the experience that is desired by this new customer will drive them away. Thus, losing a significant opportunity to gain market share. The bottom line is who will be willing to change, invest and open up to allow this new customer to be a partner in the business instead of just a customer.

I see this unfolding within my organization. We want ever so badly to capture the “youthful” market. That is where true growth will come. But, it seems at every turn, we are hampered by our legacy systems, reason upon reason why we can’t do something and old thinking. We are our worst enemy and can’t seem to break out of a perpetual downward cycle. It’s sort of like Happy Days (not to date myself here), when everyone wanted to be cool like Fonzie, but they just couldn’t pull it off. No matter how much you practiced saying “AYYYY”, you just looked like a poser. To attract the net generation, you have to go all in and make the changes that are really necessary to recreate yourself as a company that will be inviting to them. I’m not at all sure we can pull that off.

The revolution isn't coming, it's here! Oh great . . .

We are moving through another revolution, on that touches every aspect of our global society. This revolution is opening new and exciting doors to all social and economic areas of our society. It allows for all to participate regardless of where they live, what race they belong to or what organization they are affiliated with, all we need is a hook up to the internet; however we decide to hook up!


So, what does that really mean to us individually and professionally? It certainly gives us an opportunity to be involved with many more aspects of society than we have been able to in the past. Connectivity used to be within local neighborhoods, now it is within local communities that are spread throughout the world via the internet. Our children will grow up with cyber friends across the world, while we felt it was “cool” to have a pen pal from Pennsylvania. The impact on their thinking and the way they process information is formidable. Their minds are not bound by the constraints that we were socialized to as we grew up. They truly are the future of not just this country, but this world.

Professionally, the impact of the globalization of the consumer will be significant. I can’t help but wonder though, what will happen to the ego? In a world of collaboration or peering, how will the majority of corporations and individuals feed their egos? I believe it is this ego that stands in the way of most effective collaboration. Notice, effective collaboration. Will the threat of extinction be enough for companies to open themselves to the opportunities presented by letting others inside their hallowed walls? I find that difficult to believe. I think many companies will go down without understanding what happened to them. If collaboration really is the new leadership currency, companies will have to learn how to foster and encourage real collaboration that results in changes and enhancements, not the traditional attempts that foster idea sharing with little execution.

Openness, peering, sharing and acting globally will require the relinquishment of well established ways of doing business. It will be frightening for most individuals and corporations. However, the possibilities are endless. Today, the small business person can play on even ground with the large corporations. In fact, they may be in a better position to drive growth because they are not hampered by the baggage many established firms are. Larger organization should be looking to partner and leverage relationships with these emerging businesses to grow and develop their markets. The message is that the opportunities are limitless, if you are willing to engage differently in the marketplace.