DrContrarian

Dear Mr CEO You said your job is to develop a vision and create an organisation with the right values that will make that vision a reality, so I thought I would drop this note in your lap for consideration. It is my contention that what goes for ‘strategy’ and ‘best practice’ in the modern corporate boardroom is a terminal degree of “me too-ism”. I think you have bought into a narrative that is promulgated by people who have a gnostic view of the world and specific agendas that appeal to the pseudo-thinkers of the world, but are in reality going to lead your organisation to its premature demise. OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY Over the years business organisations have been eaten away slowly from the inside by social justice warriors (SJWs). How this happened, requires us to go back a few years and in the evolution of the business organisation. Once you understand that, you will see how it has infested your organisation. Business organisations used to have a simple, clear obje...

(Or, other people’s money...) Over the years business organisations have been eaten away slowly from the inside by social justice warriors. How this happened, requires us to go back a few years and in the evolution of the business organisation. Business organisations used to have a simple, clear objective: to make a commercial return to their shareholders. To do this, they innovated, developed products and served the needs of the people in a market place where those solutions are traded for cash – at a profit. The business wins and the consumer wins. The thin edge of the wedge has been sustainability, introduced some two decades ago, by the proponents of sustainability who proffered a solution to a problem that did not exist. They suggested that organisations should broaden their focus to include an emphasis on environment and on community. Broadening the focus automatically and explicitly also equates to a dilution of focus – that stands to reason. That is the guarante...

Google is dying. Right now it seems invincible. But like all good things, it too must end. Competitors can't see the weakness in their their game plan (just yet) - but it is there; trust me. And sooner or later, it will fail to see the NBT - and then the next Google arrives. Such is the cycle of life - and business.

I thought I would shut this down. But since my official blog is pretty dry affair with lots of tips and hints on business/ retail productivity - I find that I miss the opportunity for the occasional rant. I think I will come back here from time to time. For no, this insight: Ignorance + Arrogance = Toxic workplace culture.

What’s not… I read a piece today that made me think about the difference and the impact of what is and what is not. The author draws a parallel between a style guide and a menu. ‘A manual of style () and a menu share one important point in common: both impose limitations. The word "menu" is from the Latin - minuere, to diminish. You can tell as much about a restaurant by what isn't on the menu as by what is: a chef doesn't try to cook everything, or to appeal to everyone's tastes. A stylebook imposes its limitations on the varieties of a written language: it's from these many acts of limitation and diminishment that a style is formed.’ Marketers are guilty of always focusing on the point of difference, the proposition, the benefit, the key feature. We often ignore what the product/ service does NOT do or offer. Just like a menu tells you about what you can eat, what is not on the menu possibly says more about the restaurant and the chef than the ...

Cliches are usually/ often mocked and derided. (See list below.) My take on it is that cliches (in a business sense) is really just the art of business grappling with becoming a science, and cliches become the language of the emerging science. Cliches are not bad because they are popular sayings, they are only bad if they don't add to the clarity and understanding of a discussion. Cliches only risk being a distraction if the through overuse the familiarity means that people don't listen. I don't deny that some people go overboard - every wannabe consultant usually wants to coin and own a new buzzword that will become their point-of-difference, but that is price worth paying for progress. Where would we be without the cliches such as "point of difference" and many others? Click through to see the plexo

In the spirit of the internet, I thought I'd share with you one of the greatest sources of free, quality writing about almost anything on the net. Click on the link above, and enjoy...

This is a first for me- I am just going to promote another website. The quotes below are from a manifesto called "The Hughtrain" - a play on the original Cluetrain. Quote 1: Why did I leave the big world of corporations and Amex cards... The big city is an anachronism. All those skyscrapers, architecturally impressive as they are, were built to house large, tightly controlled, centralized bureaucracies within a very small area of land, geographically near the other like-minded bureaucracies with whom they did business. You wanted to work for Corporation X? You had to buy a house within commuting distance to Corporation X ’ s Central HQ. Ninety percent of the people you needed to talk to on a daily basis were within an elevator ride of your desk. Amazing how dated something so recent can seem. Now e-mail and its spawn are the new elevators. Quote 2: Why did you start a Blog - one of those things that when you are in start-up mode, is important but not urgent. HOW TO HA...

As an entrepreneur/ consultant/ author, you are always interested in finding a new angle to write about. As a free tool, I have created a marketing buzz-generator – for all to use… Pick-and-Mix one word from each of these tables, combine…. and off you go: Integrated Brand System Connected Market(ing) Solution Authentic Customer Theory Sustainable Consumer Framework Collaborative Value Platform Dynamic Communications Proposition Strategic Community Outcome(s) (Just don’t expect me to buy the book L )

"The purpose of a company is to create a customer. ... The only profit center is the customer. ...The business has two – and only two – basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results: all the rest are costs." (Peter Drucker:)

Many people I know promise themselves that... 'one day I am going to start a business'... but then struggle to find the 'right' idea. Now I can't tell you exactly what the right idea for you is, but I can tell you where you can go and fish. I have identified 5 areas, and I am not considering any of the obvious miracle cures for diseases etc. 1. Look at a supply chain (preferably an industry that you know well) and identify areas of conflict/ friction in the supply chain. 2. Look at the people around you and identify what they are greedy and/or selfish about. (Even if it comes from Nigeria.) 3. Find a product or service that appeals to the vanity of human beings. 4. Anything that makes people safer in a new environment (internet/second life/school/ roads - whatever.) 5. Anything that makes someone think/ feel/ act younger than they really are (vanity combined with a fear of death is a particularly potent combination). I could go on, but you get the idea. The reall...