A powerful prelude to successful business change: the humble hunch

Recently I worked with an organisation which helps very large institutions positively change, and do so with speed and clarity. One of the interesting ways they do that is that they give credence to hunches. 


A hunch, or an intuitive reckoning, is a short-hand way for us to make sense of the information we have at hand and what this information might mean. Malcolm Gladwell explores a similar concept in depth in his book Blink, where he describes decision making on an even shorter time-scale, two seconds. He calls it rapid cognition. Pschologists call it 'thin slicing' or 'Rapid Primed Decision Making', which includes elements of pattern recognition and analysis. Gladwell explores examples of when using hunches can work, and when it should be approached with caution.
In business and in life we are taught to make decisions based on a more is better approach to information.  Making an effort to understand your situation, your customers, more deeply is never a bad thing. But the stasis that comes with too much information, the many consulting points of view can be. Because no decision is by default a decision to continue as-is. And the world never stays as-is. 


To move forward a business needs to make a decision and act on it. Using a hunch doesn't mean the hunch has to be right (although it is useful if it is, which is where having experienced heads together helps), it just needs to get you in motion. Scientists do it all the time, putting a stake in the ground as a hypothesis then actively working to prove or disprove it and its useful application along the way.

It's not easy to let go of the fear of moving in the wrong direction, wanting a little more information before we make a decision. When used by experienced professionals, however, hunches can be a very powerful way to act accurately and rapidly. An example from Gladwell's book is the Cook County Hospital, which deliberately uses hunches to diagnose chest pain. If it can be used in life and death, surely it can be used in some business decisions?


When used by people with less experience in a particular area, hunches can still tap into powerful insight around an issue, adding a fresh perspective to an or leading to new entrepreneurial ventures.

What makes the use of hunches by this organisation really powerful is that they then pair it with a form of rapid prototyping. Once they have a hunch, they describe that hunch or the how that hunch would play out into a real customer experience, directly to potential customers and other experts. Often, they play it out to other businesses facing a different view of the same challenge as a form of practical validation, gaining practical advice as to how this challenge has been successfully addressed in other ways. They rapidly prototype not products but ideas. 


Summing up this method:
1. Work up one to three hunches based on a team session with some experienced people and some different thinkers that may challenge the thinking in new ways. Start big, narrow down rapidly.
2. Validate the hunches with the ultimate decision-maker, the customer, as quickly as possible. If it turns out part of the hypothesis is wrong, they rapidly pivot the idea, often directly with the customer to make it right. 
3. The final but essential ingredient to add to this method is collaboration. One person working alone doing the above can have and present powerful ideas. A team of people doing this together, bringing people along with them, can create a movement. Think about how you can bring people along with you and your ideas develop.


The same applies not to just large organisations, but can apply to our daily life. My hunch: Using hunches for just one day will make me 20% more effective in my work. Now, to test it...


You? What do you think, is the use of hunches too risky? Or do you have ideas on how hunches can be used in an even better way? 


Please note: The company described in this article is very discrete, although they do work with some of the world's biggest brands. Please contact me directly if you would like an introduction. 

Every business is social

A business involves people. People buy the business outputs. Ergo, a business is social.

I often get asked by business owners 'what is social media' and 'how do I set up Facebook for my business'? It seems everyone wants to go social.

Sometimes what people miss is that they already are.

My answer is simple, and the acts are simple, but still, simple acts can still generate profound changes in an organisation.

The simple answer - social is an amplification of existing ways of communicating.

Instead of phoning or emailing your customers one by one, you can share information about your business with all those that 'follow' you in various ways. Instead of broadcasting using a megaphone, because someone has chosen to link with you, its like you are having a conversation in the same room. You can point at things using links, Slideshare, Youtube and Skitch. You can show how much you like what they are doing by sharing their information with your 'room'. And this can all be done in a way that is infinitely 'spreadable' in a social chain reaction.

This is true both internally and externally within a business.

So the first part of my advice is simple - map your customer touch points and start with those. Is there a way you can a) help those be better experiences and b) help spread the word about your business?

The obvious place to start is customer service - can you add more ways for people to simply connect with you and resolve a query immediately, rather than over days waiting for email or call backs? Adding Twitter and live chat could help reduce issue resolution time and potentially head count. But then lets move on to your shipments - can you add a customised message for your customer on your delivery docket, with an invitation link to see the latest trends in their industry, a secret customer-only event or a slide-share presentation on best-practice on shaving costs on shipping in their industry?

Social is being yourself (your Brand), but amplified.

My top 3 tips for businesses as they are starting to dip their toe in:

1. Give. Be useful. People share things that are useful and good.
2. Be relevant. People are time poor - give them what they want and need. If you are highly technical company with a highly technical audience, it is unlikely that they want to be friends with you on facebook. But they are likely to want to read new developments that your CTO finds interesting on your blog.
3. Be real. People interact with people, not things. Part of the enjoyment of engaging with a brand or a business is learning the real people involved in it, being one of the community with a real relationship with you, not just someone who has read the brochure.

As with any technology / behavioural adoption, once you've taken the first step, you're already in a new and exciting place.

You? Where do you think a business should start in their social adoption?

Notes: This article was inspired by an article by Jed Hallam, part 2 of a series on the social business. You should read it, it's good :)

Image credit: Faithoncampus

Day 16: Prettify, don't just stand there

Observation: Hoardings, scaffolding. Essential but often ugly. As people pass by it is like it becomes an invisible part of the landscape.

Surely the upgrade is expensive enough, without losing all value from this clearly very expensive real estate?

Opportunities:

- Hoardings as advertising medium. Cut price hoarding rental in return for use as urban advertising media. I suspect there may be reasons why this doesn't exist already but it does seem a glaring opportunity.

- Of course the number one priority is safety, but why not use the chance to get creative? If entire communities can get colourful, why can't some hoardings and structs? Could this be the point of difference and major marketing vehicle for a forward thinking construction company?

- Be the construction company leading in environmentally friendly scaffolding - use alternate materials such as the bamboo very common in Asia, add in hanging gardens at each level to provide healthy food for the workers or use environmentally friendly scaffolding covers.

- Host creative events in the scaffolding with acrobats and artists - done safely but spectacularly. A great example is this event by Target and The Standard Hotel in NYC. Imagine what the spectacle could be at night and the PR opportunity it would present for that new property?

Why not turn an invisible opportunity into a spectacular opportunity?

Day 13: In a blank space, everything is art

Observation: Strolling through an amazing exhibition at the Barbican, I noticed some of the performers' shoes beneath the stairwell. Amongst the stark background, they appeared to be making a statement all of their own.

Anything in clear space has impact.

Opportunities:

- Why not try this for your marketing communications? It could be creating a separate micro-site for a specific product, simply highlighting its uniqueness. Test it against the traffic you get on your normal site. Some of the most effective ads I have seen start with this principle, creating a visual or aural white space at the beginning of a TVC that itself creates cut-through from the clutter of the medium.

- Place your business locale where least expected (but still useful). A small village that happens to be the central point between key commercial areas, an art gallery space or a container in the middle of a dock? The space itself will help you make a statement. Where you choose frames that statement.

- Similar to the 'Blue Ocean Strategy' concept, find the clear space in your industry and go there. A great example is a friend of mine who targeted the clients no other financial advisors wanted - those with less money. He looked after these clients well, they grew wealthier and his multi-million dollar business was built on referrals.

Who is the unfashionable target in your market? Could they be your clear space?

Day 12: Selling the next step

Observation: Clothing stores selling books and home accessories.

Stores are helping people achieve the next step of someone living their brand lifestyle. In the process they bask in the reflected cool of stylish design books and gain additional revenue.

Opportunities:

- What is your next step for the lifestyle you provide? If you're a financial planner - why not (partner) to provide your clients a taste of staying in deluxe accommodation or travelling to exotic locales? If you have a cake making business why not provide cake making lessons or gorgeous party crockery to display the cakes?

- What lifestyle have you noticed people dreaming about and how can you create a business to help people experience and live it? For example, what about a millionaire for a day events business, a country estate owner weekend escape or artist retreat?

Day 9: Why does trade look like trash?

Observation: Donation or fair trade support bins are often placed near bins. In fact, they often look like one too.

One of the major issues for not for profits (NFPs) is the cost of disposing of all the rubbish and un-salable items that are placed in bins, as recently reported for donations to disaster-stricken Tokyo. This is a cost that directly reduces the positive impact of these activities. If it is a $1 per day to feed a child...and a dollar a bag to dispose of rubbish, a rough guess of 5 children don't get fed per load.

Yes, there are practicalities such as theft, commercial abuse and handling to consider, but there are opportunities too.

Opportunities:

- Start a premium donation service. It is clean, nowhere near the bins, easily accessible and really clearly branded. There are simple, positive messages to get people to do the right thing re. donations and maybe even a tracking service for people to see (roughly) where their donations end up. Potentially could work with a retailer.

- Start another tier of waste management. There is clearly a tier of waste that is perceived as too useful or too good / expensive for people to throw away that is not being addressed right now. This could be pitched as a business idea by a council, with a small grant to some bright local business students for a trial.

- Do away with bins altogether and do a deal with mail providers to ship the donations.

- Build a global street-swap party idea. It already exists as clothes swaps, car-boot sales and charity shops. Why not make it local and have one huge central table down the street, a bit of a party and a $2 donation to participate - both donating and being able to select items to take away or 'swap'.

Sounds like fun to me... :)

Observation Day 8: Multiple locations makes you hot

Observation: Many brands, such as Gap pictured here, mention location in their communications. Looking at it, for some reason it made me feel like I wanted to be a part of it. It made me feel that they are hot, happening.

Donna Karan, Jo Malone, Cath Kitson and some agencies do this. By mentioning the cities they are using the allure, the imagery of those cities applied to their brand. In addition to tapping in to a deliberate tourist dollar in high traffic cities such as London. By mentioning the cities they show scale and to some degree, sophistication.

Opportunities:

- Use the trend, but do it tongue-in-cheek. What if your locations are Stoke-on-Trent, Essex and Manchester - be proud of your anti-big city roots. Or, use your localisation - if you only serve a small town, be proud and share the pride with your customers in all your communications. If you have manufacturing in Spain, China and Thailand, why not make them the anti-heroes and get your manufacturers involved in your advertising (ok, it has risks, but could work).

- If you are looking to expand the scale of customers, how can you efficiently claim locality in their nearest city? The addition of an agent in NYC and Shanghai suddenly gives you global reach. Which would of course need to be backed by quality delivery.

- Business idea: take the serviced office idea to the next level, make it co-working spaces that extend online and inter-city as well with active encouragement to network between co-working cities. Put enough entrepreneurial people in a room and businesses will incubate themselves to a global scale.

- If you are global - you could add to the mystique and allure of being global by promotional activities - have Tokyo day in your store, arrange transfers between offices, give people a window into the other cities showing fashion shows and lifestyles in the other city - with curated city brand stories.

- My feeling is this builds on that old adage, "success breeds success". Instead of using cities, could you use growth statistics, employee promotions, number of sales, people dressed, clients served in your banners and communications. Show how hot you are - and watch people flock to it.

It's powerful.

Observation Day 7: Your normal

Observation: Walking the streaming, deliciously fragrant, multicultural and multi-coloured laneways around London's Brick Lane it becomes clear that for many there that may appear radical if placed in the heart of the trading district, this is their normal.

It's both a celebration and a chance to be one of them, if only just for one day (assuming that this isn't your normal).

Opportunities:

- Create a 'just for one day' business where people can live the life of an artist, a street vendor, a city trader or an advertising exec. Just for one day.

- Create a vertically integrated business not along production lines but amongst lifestyle lines. If your customers are middle class go-getters paying off their mortgage and supporting their children, can you add a car dealership or family holiday business. The focus (and value) is on your relationships with your customers, the expertise can be brought (or bought) in.

- Marketing idea: Are you assuming your normal is the same as others? How can you bring along new people to your view of the word, appreciating your product or service?

Photo credit: Jarek Jarosz

Observation Day 4: Portion Control

Observation: Small grocers often sell using bowls, not kilograms.

It gives them a clear minimum sale, speeds up the transaction and creates a colourful and impactful display that almost becomes an impulse purchase via the enticingly easy to grab bowl.

It's smart and leaves me with the question, what else could we portion control?

Opportunities:

- Portion control your service business. No more small value, high admin transactions - make your minimum sale a day, a week, $500. If you set the terms up front and show why you are worth it, people will accept it as good business practice.

- Start a fully portion controlled restaurant / eatery - all meals served come in 100cal, 200, 400cal sizes so you can easily manage a healthy diet. Builds on the 100 calorie snack bar trend.

- Make your product or service a deliciously appealing impulse purchase. For example, add a tick box for 5 hours consulting + 1 hour free to your next invoice. Bundle your product with a complimentary one and pitch the bundle to a retailer. Examples include drinks and a snack bar for convenience outlets (a proven successful sales driver), umbrellas + tissues, ice creams + a cooler bag or perhaps you can bundle small business tax advice with doing their personal advice too.

How can you make your product a deliciously bite sized morsel?

Can we do it in reverse?

Microloans and microbusinesses are an incredibly powerful force for positive change in developing countries. Pioneered and brought to scale by Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank (for which he won a Nobel Prize in 2006), the model has now been used in many developing countries by both aid and private organisations.

New models such as Kiva, The Acumen Fund and OrphanIT are harnessing this principle with new technologies and localised action to effect further positive change.

I wonder - could we do it in reverse? Can we use the same methods to help people in need in developed countries too?

Some examples could include:

• Microloans - A gap-filling micro-loan service tied to a major supermarket chain. A friends micro-bank, like they do with circles of women in Africa, supprting positive, repsonsible money management with minimal charges. In effect, acting like an extended family network.
  
• Kiva - replicate the model directly, for micro-businesses and supported with mentors, meet-ups, private social networks. Could be country based or local community based.
• OrphanIT - Grown from an abundance of both orphans and IT skilled people in India in particular, what do you have a local abundance of that can work reciprocally to improve a local need? Is it apple trees and young teenage mums - why not create Mother's Own pure natural apple juice?
  

The great thing about all of these models is that they all support positive, smart and responsible behaviours likely to not only breed success but stability for individuals and their families.

You? How could you reverse the models and help your community?

Image credit: Visual Photos