BIZBUZZ: Gary Hamel: Leading The Revolution

Hi, I’m Gary Brown a FocalPoint business coach.

Welcome to episode 14 of BIZBUZZ.

I stimulate conversations in order to challenge business owners to Be Different and to Act Boldly.

The following video highlights some content from Leading The Revolution, written by Gary Hamel.  This is a book that is essentially about leadership.

I am going to comment on three suggestions that grabbed my attention.

The first one is Hamel’s statement that sense of purpose, sense of accomplishment and sense of making a difference is what we are all about.  Is our leadership style supportive of these needs?

Secondly, Hamel suggests that imagination not investment drives innovation. One of the questions by which he would judge new ideas is to ask to what extent does the idea deviate from industry norms?  That causes me to ask: Are we ready to do some dreaming?  Are we bold enough to try being different?

My third choice is Hamel’s suggestion that business concept innovation is a way of going around competitors.  It’s based on avoidance not attack.  He further stresses that if the concept is not different then it is not strategic. Period.

Well, that’s it for Leading The Revolution.

Thanks for watching.

Your comments are always welcome.

Stay tuned for more BIZ BUZZ.

BIZBUZZ: Gary Hamel: Competing For The Future

Hi, I’m Gary Brown a FocalPoint business coach.

Welcome to episode 13 of BIZBUZZ.

I stimulate conversations in order to challenge business owners to Be Different and to Act Boldly.

The following video highlights some content from Competing For The Future, written by Gary Hamel. I enjoyed reading this book and it offers some interesting observations on the subject of differentiation, which is one of my favourite topics.

http://youtu.be/8MCbRuKBEgI

I am going to highlight three of Hamel’s suggestions that I find particularly noteworthy.

The first one deals with return on investment (our return/our investment). Hamel contends that we spend too much time obsessing over the denominator (the amount invested). In an environment where our competitors are growing, denominator reduction with steady revenue is simply a way to profitably sell market share. Hmm. Do we know how well our competitors are performing?  Are we paying sufficient attention to what is happening with the numerator?

Secondly, Hamel suggests that tomorrow’s competitive advantages must necessarily be different from today’s. Companies must be capable of getting different. He further states that laggards follow the path of least resistance.  However, challengers follow the path of greatest opportunity. Which are we?

There are numerous other interesting tidbits in this book but I’m going to end on Hamel’s assertion that it is not necessary to be a seer to discover the future but it is absolutely vital that you be unorthodox. Now if that isn’t a call for differentiation, what is?

Well, that’s it for Competing For The Future.

Thanks for watching.

Your comments are always welcome.

Stay tuned for more BIZ BUZZ.