Sometimes after a long day at work (like today, 14 hours) I reach home pining to create something, to arrive at a new insight, to develop something on my own. This comes out of deep desire to feel independent and like I can determine my future after spending many hours punching away at excel sheets.
My insight for today is "The Time Trump Card"
Probably the most discussed and researched management question of the last 50 years is "what makes great leaders effective?" There are multiple ways to approach the topic. McKinsey (the ilk I come from) says structure. Take a problem and break it into pieces. Identify the sub-questions, then the sub issues. Locate a source for each set of data. Construct a work-plan, put names next to sections and execute rigidly. I once heard Jack Welsh speak and he frequently talked about how personal accountability is critical to team leadership and accomplishing goals. Other people say learn from experts. Latch on to the best and soak up what you can. And still others spout the age old tune, its who you know not what you know.
The best and highest bang for your buck starting point in my opinion is to look at one simple factor: time. How do you spend your time? Drucker argued that since time is the scarcest resource we have, treat it like its gold. Record how you spend your time over a couple weeks and you may be surprised. For me? On my latest project its been time alone that drives the most results and has proven the most effective use of the day.
Time is also a sharp lens into consumer behavior, cutting through the noise of what many people say but don't mean. It all comes down to a simple question about human nature. What do people really value? Answer: Look at how they spend their time. (This is also a great tool in assessing individual character - it quickly separates the well wishes from the impact agents). The key learning here is that how people spend their time frequently contrasts how people say/think they spend their time.
I have been stapling candy wrappers up on my cubicle wall to see how much I really eat. So far its been 1 week. The results are staggering (and tasty).
- Often, just watch where people's eyes go and begin counting - The wrappers on my wall told me that my eyes frequently go to the candy bowl. The amount of wrappers per day tell me the quantity of my engagement with Totsie Rolls. It probably my most repeated activity other than checking in with my direct team mate and e-mail.
- What tools does the individual require? - By far the greatest driver of my eating this candy is convenience. I would not go across the street or even down the hall for the candy. Consequently, the most important, in fact the critical factor of Totsie Roll's success, is their access point - in this case the dealer, our office assistant Carrie.
- Debunkify Myths - 'JP is a good guy that I bet takes care of himself at every chance he gets' ...debunkify... he eats a teaspoon of sugar a day. News today is just terrible, what can America do? ...debunkify... USA today is the fastest growing newspaper in America. Are readers complaining? Bottled water hurts the environment and it popularity is decreasing rapidly ...debunkify... Whole Foods (the haven of the environmentally friendly, features as its number one seller, wait for it, yep Bottled Water!
Fun stuff.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Insights from the protein shake industry
My mom recently sent me a great article on protein drinks from the nytimes (http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/10/18/fashion/
20071018_PHYS_SLIDESHOW_index.html). Bellow is my response e-mail that outlines the key takeaways from the aritcle.
Thanks for sending the NY Times article on protein drinks. Isn't it interesting that these workout drinks have seen steady growth recently? Functional drinks seem to be the hot product right now. It struck me that the article provided some solid learnings on how to approach a fragmented high growth beverage market.
I took away two key points:
1. Established brands stretch into new product lines - 3 of the 5 drinks featured are well known brands in other beverage or workout categories. This transition of a brand to a new product line can work extremely well as long as the core equity isn't stretch too far. Successful Transition: swiffer - its brand has been expanded into air freshners and dusting tools. Unsuccessful Transition: Coke - coke plus, its tough to think that consumers will ever consider a soft drink healthy...learning: invest in new categories (water for example) to capture health segment (maybe refrain from using the coke name all together).
2. Product attributes must build upon eachother - EAS's screw on cap sets it product apart from the competition in a distinct, visual and repeatable way. As the woman said I "absolutely loved the resealable container". The intriguing detail however is that the "Muscle Milk" product also had the screw cap (saw it in the picture), but it wasn't mentioned by the author. This tells me that the cap is not the primary driver of purchase but instead the secondary or tertiary driver. My guess is that the design of the bottle comes first, with contents and taste second, and package function third. The funny thing is, frequently the fundamentals (design in this case) must be met before a consumer will consider additional attributes. This hits on a concept I have been exploring: on the margin businesses. What does it take to get to the margin? What must be delivered upon just to be considered? The thought quickly pushes you to simplicity if you're thinking about starting something new. Its also the key advantage of expanding established brands into new categories, they're frequently already at the margin from day 1.
20071018_PHYS_SLIDESHOW_index.html). Bellow is my response e-mail that outlines the key takeaways from the aritcle.
Thanks for sending the NY Times article on protein drinks. Isn't it interesting that these workout drinks have seen steady growth recently? Functional drinks seem to be the hot product right now. It struck me that the article provided some solid learnings on how to approach a fragmented high growth beverage market.
I took away two key points:
1. Established brands stretch into new product lines - 3 of the 5 drinks featured are well known brands in other beverage or workout categories. This transition of a brand to a new product line can work extremely well as long as the core equity isn't stretch too far. Successful Transition: swiffer - its brand has been expanded into air freshners and dusting tools. Unsuccessful Transition: Coke - coke plus, its tough to think that consumers will ever consider a soft drink healthy...learning: invest in new categories (water for example) to capture health segment (maybe refrain from using the coke name all together).
2. Product attributes must build upon eachother - EAS's screw on cap sets it product apart from the competition in a distinct, visual and repeatable way. As the woman said I "absolutely loved the resealable container". The intriguing detail however is that the "Muscle Milk" product also had the screw cap (saw it in the picture), but it wasn't mentioned by the author. This tells me that the cap is not the primary driver of purchase but instead the secondary or tertiary driver. My guess is that the design of the bottle comes first, with contents and taste second, and package function third. The funny thing is, frequently the fundamentals (design in this case) must be met before a consumer will consider additional attributes. This hits on a concept I have been exploring: on the margin businesses. What does it take to get to the margin? What must be delivered upon just to be considered? The thought quickly pushes you to simplicity if you're thinking about starting something new. Its also the key advantage of expanding established brands into new categories, they're frequently already at the margin from day 1.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Learnings from James D Watson
Doctor Watson, author of double helix and winner of the Nobel prize, has come out with a new book entitled "Avoid (other) Boring People". I particularly enjoy his a clinical writing style. For each chapter he starts with "Manners from (insert stage of his life)" and closes with 5 to 8 key learnings.
Peter Drucker, the late famous management guru, frequently emphasize the usefulness of the self-reflective approach utilized by Watson. The study of past performance at attaining goals Drucker argues, is the most effective and arguably only method of assessing what you're good at.
Below are my 5 key learnings from the past 2 years in life and business.
1. Dancing is critical to happiness - You don't like dancing? Comon! I know your true feelings. As Prof. Moroson, hallowed Russian Literature professor at Northwestern, said while sharing life lessons with students during my Last Lectures series, "don't forget to play".
2. Depth = learning - Getting into a subject, synthesizing it, reiterating, reiterating, reiterating, showing your thoughts to experts, getting back at it, refining it are so critical and the roots of intellectual joy. (I've refined this post 6 times now)
3. Attitude can make or break you - A thirst for life actually changes what exists not solely what you see.
4. We all excel in certain areas and not others - For me: my key strengths are people, marketing intuition, and delivery when times are tight. My opportunity for growth is structured planning/thinking.
5. Offbeat is more fun than onbeat - (Even when creating new words!)
Peter Drucker, the late famous management guru, frequently emphasize the usefulness of the self-reflective approach utilized by Watson. The study of past performance at attaining goals Drucker argues, is the most effective and arguably only method of assessing what you're good at.
Below are my 5 key learnings from the past 2 years in life and business.
1. Dancing is critical to happiness - You don't like dancing? Comon! I know your true feelings. As Prof. Moroson, hallowed Russian Literature professor at Northwestern, said while sharing life lessons with students during my Last Lectures series, "don't forget to play".
2. Depth = learning - Getting into a subject, synthesizing it, reiterating, reiterating, reiterating, showing your thoughts to experts, getting back at it, refining it are so critical and the roots of intellectual joy. (I've refined this post 6 times now)
3. Attitude can make or break you - A thirst for life actually changes what exists not solely what you see.
4. We all excel in certain areas and not others - For me: my key strengths are people, marketing intuition, and delivery when times are tight. My opportunity for growth is structured planning/thinking.
5. Offbeat is more fun than onbeat - (Even when creating new words!)
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Building a product
I recently read an article on a redesign of a car air freshner in Packworld magazine that highlighted three key steps in the design process.
Goal: Clear through the clutter
Step 1: Customer research - conduct an awareness and usage study with target customers across multiple geographies with 4 products (including your current offering) to identify needs not currently met. In this case it was an ability to smell and test the Aero Metrics product before purchase.
Step 2: Choose the most important points of differentiation and begin redesign process. The Aero Metrics team described this step as particularly challenging with the small space provided on the product for words and visual information. They chose the test and sniff function and designed a sniff hole in the product.
Step 3: Store and shelf research - Products exist in physical environments and it is important to understand their place on the shelf. Aero Metrics saw that most competitor products banged up against each other on the shelf and that store lighting reached only the first couple rows. The team shrank the size of the packaging to reduce friction and muted the grey color to bring out further visibility of products way back in the shelf.
Two thoughts regarding the above approach.
1. Solid methodoical and process driven approach to redesigning a product
2. It seems they did not have a core definition of their own brand equity from the start. Single-mindedness on what you offer and consequently what you mean to customers should be cristal clear. Re designs like this, especially with regard to new functionality, should occur rarely and executed with the utmost care.
Goal: Clear through the clutter
Step 1: Customer research - conduct an awareness and usage study with target customers across multiple geographies with 4 products (including your current offering) to identify needs not currently met. In this case it was an ability to smell and test the Aero Metrics product before purchase.
Step 2: Choose the most important points of differentiation and begin redesign process. The Aero Metrics team described this step as particularly challenging with the small space provided on the product for words and visual information. They chose the test and sniff function and designed a sniff hole in the product.
Step 3: Store and shelf research - Products exist in physical environments and it is important to understand their place on the shelf. Aero Metrics saw that most competitor products banged up against each other on the shelf and that store lighting reached only the first couple rows. The team shrank the size of the packaging to reduce friction and muted the grey color to bring out further visibility of products way back in the shelf.
Two thoughts regarding the above approach.
1. Solid methodoical and process driven approach to redesigning a product
2. It seems they did not have a core definition of their own brand equity from the start. Single-mindedness on what you offer and consequently what you mean to customers should be cristal clear. Re designs like this, especially with regard to new functionality, should occur rarely and executed with the utmost care.
My Start Up Life
As Ben quotes at the end of his book.
"Mavis Leyer once said, "The object of life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting, Holy shit, what a ride!!!"
Networking - highlights from Ben Casnocha
Ben Casnocha, author of "My Start Up Life" has some great tips on networking and why its critical to business success.
Networking 101
1. Know yourself - What is your pitch? What unique skills, perspective, knowledge do you bring to the table?
2. Set goals - Develop a network before you need one
3. Do research - If you are about to reach out to someone know who they are and where your skills match with theirs
4. Develop a platform - Write a blog. Then you can ask questions like "I would like to do an article about you"
Networking 202
1. The "what you know" is important - While who you know is critical, its important to establish value to continue these relationships
2. Weak ties vs. strong ties - both are important
3. Maintenance - This one I like the most
a. e-mail newsletter - once a month
b. send some "touch base" snail mail
c. send articles to people
d. make introductions - a couple a week
Networking 101
1. Know yourself - What is your pitch? What unique skills, perspective, knowledge do you bring to the table?
2. Set goals - Develop a network before you need one
3. Do research - If you are about to reach out to someone know who they are and where your skills match with theirs
4. Develop a platform - Write a blog. Then you can ask questions like "I would like to do an article about you"
Networking 202
1. The "what you know" is important - While who you know is critical, its important to establish value to continue these relationships
2. Weak ties vs. strong ties - both are important
3. Maintenance - This one I like the most
a. e-mail newsletter - once a month
b. send some "touch base" snail mail
c. send articles to people
d. make introductions - a couple a week
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
www.kiva.org
This is what business is about. Helping people help themselves. For that matter, thats what life is about too.
check it out.
www.kiva.org
check it out.
www.kiva.org
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