Legacy people

In the technology world we rapidly become familiar with the term legacy systems. This term is always accompanied by a grimace and a mental image of a world of expensive pain to move away from them. 


Sure, at the time they were implemented, they were the best, but now time and context has moved on...and often the business can't because we face the huge hurdle of moving from the legacy system. 


Speaking with a recruitment specialist today we discussed a term for the other oft-quoted problem for large organisations - legacy people. People who were once the best, the right person at the right time, but now are perceived as not quite what the company needs.


But what if we look at legacy and its positive meaning? 


A personal gift by Will. 


A body of persons sent on a mission. (the original 14c. meaning)


Just because someone is different from us, doesn't mean they don't have a gift or a mission to give to our team, our company. So often we look at older people at work as 'them', what if we feel that they are 'us'? 


What can we learn from their experience, relationships and advice? From their 'brand authenticity' that comes from 10 or 20 years of service? What happens if we have honest, adult conversations about how we can work together to build the business, acknowledging their background and situation and without fear? What awesomeness could we create? 

You? Do we have time for dialogue in an environment that is so pressured for rapid change, rapid profit. Is this kind of talking just not practical? Or have you had great experiences working with your whole staff, including the legacy ones?

Selection for the curious: not the headline news in brand

Retail: Zara back in black for the first time since 2007. Zara returns to profit as new shops boost sales via@retailweek

Design: Students from Les Ateliers-Paris Design Institute have created a project called Fabrique Hacktion that aims to improve collective spaces in the city via @LSNglobal

Design: Why two brains think faster than one. Video interview with Antenna Design by @the99percent

Big ideas: No Boinking: Raising awareness of India’s population control problem with a playful ad that works even without understanding Hindi for Idea 3G, by Lowe and partners: When the power goes out, don't boink, play 3G games!

Social / Tech: White House: Twitter helped debt agreement. Virtual pressure pushed the deal, whilst Obama lost 36,000 followers.

You’ve got FAIL: Windows Office365 team Punks Gmail via @ADWEEK

TaskRabbit iPhone App Lets You Post Errands On The Move via @PSFK

Innovation: The British Egg Market—An Incubator of Innovation via @popsop_com

Fashion: nature vs nurture?

A recent article in Grazia caught my eye and made me wonder, how often do customers beat the trend makers?

Kind of like asking the nature versus nurture question, but for fashion.

The article showed examples of girls using Celine zip-up cases for keys and coins or Marc by Marc Jacobs iPad cases as very stylish clutches.

The Tipping Point highlights specific individuals starting trends. Yet on the other hand we have game-changing innovations such as the iPhone, which admittedly build upon existing behavioural changes but itself creates new ones. Walmart started a new trend in retailing not from looking at customers, but initially looking at operations, as this interesting article by Scott Davis of Prophet describes.

Modern marketing, branding and design is all about being customer-led, suggesting that all trends come from customers.

I wonder, is it possible to create a genuinely new trend, that is not at all hinted at by other events? A world-changing new spark, the trend equivalent of 'the big bang'?

You? What do you think?

Meanwhile....sharing some of my favourite trend-spotting gurus: trendwatching; PSFK; LSN; Iconoculture; Scienceofthetime; Trend Hunter.

Day 29: Religion, self and finding a path between

Observation: Whilst at a local community boxing group, a teenage girl joining the boys for a workout. She was wearing a full headscarfe and full length track suit. At one point she was so hot she stripped to her tank top. It felt shocking and intrusive seeing her flesh and I had to look away.

From my own perspective I was delighted to see this tough, challenging girl doing what she wanted. However I was dying with her as she overheated under her coverings.

Having read this guide on proper behaviour and had a brief look at the fashions and articles for women wanting to do exercise, I cannot see how in any way a Muslim woman doesn't feel at least a little compromised when exercising, even if it is completely in line with their faith to look after yourself. It got me wondering...how to stay healthy and stay comfortable as a Muslim woman?

Opportunities:

All of these would need to be vetted by people of the faith, but some ideas to begin with...

- More structured, flexible clothing that does not cling like lycra, but enables easy, enjoyable movement. Perhaps building on the structured, floating forms of Japanese designers Issey Miyake?

- A muslim woman only fitness club, complete with pool and outdoor family play area. This way women are more free to wear more comfortable clothing whilst getting healthy.

- A healthy Muslim women community group - online, social and with localised chapters. Sharing healthier food and lifestyle options, providing support and tips to get healthy and company to make exercise amongst peers safer and more appropriate.

- An exclusive his and hers Muslim fitness club where couples can each go, providing a shared but appropriate activity where they each work out in the separate male or female areas. Add exclusive couple work out rooms for hire. Kind of like a cross between the exclusive karaoke rooms model and couple's beauty treatments. Hire for an hour with your choice of services.

Image credit: Muslim women in sports

Day 22: Being in motion is being in motion

(Emotion) Observation: When out and about meeting people, seeing new things and sometimes literally smelling the roses along the way is when I really feel like I am progressing. Learning, adapting and doing.

Opportunities:

- Often small business owners can feel isolated and end up in a spiral of working too hard and becoming increasingly isolated. They get exhausted. And no one is at their best when they are exhausted. When not start an entrepreneur's walking or running club? Efficient use of time, the opportunity to get out and making sure people stay healthy too. Similar to the Hash House Harriers, we could start and end at a pub so if people want to linger, they can.

- Its amazing how the environment affects you. Hanging out in SOHO makes me want to go faster, edgier. Mayfair makes me cautious and see the value of a great board. Why not create a series of movable co-working spaces, popping up for a month, each with its own feel and strengths. Why not pitch it to a restaurant, a hotel or even a car-park that during their down-time, they cam gain extra revenue, traffic and frankly kudos with the local community. Sponsored by a 'SME friendly' bank and with the occasional talk by business people, it could work really well.

- For professional societies - have old fashioned field days. Either curated or crowd-sourced, get out there and move!

Day 20: False Claims and fashion

Observation: Old fashioned brands could claim anything.

The rules are pretty strict nowadays, particularly around health claims. But it got me thinking...when everything is new and therefore fashionable, such as many social media tools and ever more Apps...could anything be claimed because no-one is quite able to see what's real?

Admitted unlikely in our uber-transparent world where even super-injunctions no longer work.

So - here are some Real Claims that I'd like to see brands living up to:

- A real estate brand, (Bullfreemen?) - the real estate agency that only tells you the truth.

- A cereal brand (Naughty but Nice?) - a sugary treat to start the day.

- A health foods brand (Cardboard?) - all the basic super healthy ingredients that you can use to make healthy dishes, but which by themselves, taste like cardboard.

- A bank brand, called 7% - guaranteed to only ever make 7% profit. Anything else they give back to customers or re-invest in services and benefits for customers and the community.

It's fun to imagine what could be possible as brands increasingly tie their brands to Real Claims and being real is increasingly fashionable.

Some great examples include: Another Bloody Water, Honest Tea, Kashi, Patagonia and Lonely Planet.

What Real Claim brands would you like to see?

Day 15: That's rubbish

Observation: Be it London or New York, even if we accept that rubbish bags form part of the urban grunge landscape, they are still an eye sore.

What could we do differently?

Opportunities:

- Have an our city, our art project - with suppliers roped in to create specialist print bags, just for a time.

- Create grey coloured bags - at least they would blend in!

- Centralise bag drop off in each street, which does exist in Spain already, but make it the subject of an ongoing industrial design student project - finding the best, most useful version. Have mini composting bins and veggie gardens beside to re-use on the spot for the good of the community.

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?

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 6: I never knew I wanted vintage butter dish

Observation: Hundreds of people braving biting winds and an early weekend morning to trawl through piles, tables, racks and stacks of stuff at a car boot sale.

Somehow, most people end up walking away with something they never knew they wanted. In my case, a vintage butter dish. Asking people why they loved it, they responded that it is the prospect of a bargain, the joy of finding something to add to their collection, the amusement of finding so many strange things and the slightly voyeuristic interest in seeing people's lives on sale.

There is so much to take from this simple experience - from the raving fans that hunt for years for their favourite pieces, the creation of a satisfying and inspiring hunt for a bargain and the creative inspiration that comes from the unexpected.

For now, I'll focus on one opportunity, the notion of creating a delightful rummage.

Opportunities:

- Create a virtual rummage sale. Each page is 50-100 images (a cross between google images with iPhone functionality). People can quickly scan what is available, maybe location limited, click through to price, live text-haggling and standard buy-now facilities.

- Create a virtual job-lot / car boot dump (maybe in addition to the above). People literally dump the contents of what they have to sell, take a pic, people get to 'rummage' through the images, tag what they are interested in and live-chat or email to finalise the purchase.

- Marketing idea - if you have a strong brand that people re-sell or trade, be it jeans or memorabilia, why not create a virtual meet-up or a virtual flash-sale for them all to meet and trade?

Observation Day 1: My BFF

Observation: School children always seem to walk home in twos. Girls, boys. Girls in particular start dressing like each other, doing their hair like each other.

The opportunities:

- Promotional idea - for tween brands such as fashion, make-up and media - create a BFF day, limited entry - people can only come in twos! The entire day has two for one offers. Could also be harnessed by products with more emotive moments, from cards to baking mixes and teas - why not create and then own that event each year, tied with a major media partner to make it big?

- New Business idea - A BFF market to teach younger girls and boys entrepreneurial principles, with their own in-built support team?

- Brand learnings - BFFs are great because they celebrate the person we are. How can you celebrate the person your customers are and at least go some way to them liking your brand that little bit more?

Image credit: XO laptops

Observation to creation: 30 days of new ideas

What to do with a window of opportunity? Create.

So here goes, 30 days, 30 new ideas entirely based on the day's observation. Inspired by a useful exercise recommended by IDEO to train yourself to really observe the world around you and see the opportunities for improvement all around. This is also an exercise that innovation trainers often use.

The ideas here are free for you to take and run with and ideally to act as a catalyst to see new opportunities in your own business. I hope they can be a daily spark of inspiration.

Try it and let me know what you come up with.

Sounds like...

Today I realised that to understand the new, you need to start with the old. Something we do intuitively as marketers, but something that by being explicit, we can use more effectively.

Lucky girl that I am, I am currently visiting Spain. And strangely, I keep thinking about Africa. There is something about the sparse, arid vegetation, dry hot taste in the air and the tinge of burning smoke that echoes experiences in Africa. My brain is intuitively framing my understanding of this new place with the other.

Which makes sense. How do we learn, speak, understand without building on what is? From crawling to walking.

Marketing innovative new products, how do you make people want it, speed the adoption curve? Short answer: people need to get it before they buy/use it. So, start with what people know, then take them on the journey with you to a new understanding of what they can do. Examples include Salesforce.com and their "no software" graphic, Apple with their simple examples of conversations and spoof-PC ads, Intel simplifying micro-processors to a simple visual of Intel inside.

It's not the only tactic for helping people 'get' your product, but it can fast track the process.

You? What have you you described as sounds like, tastes like, feels like..?

Dreaming in BIG

Innovation and inspiration can come from any angle. But inevitably they come from dreaming of ideas.

So why dream from the possible?

Why not dream from the seeming impossible?

Why not dream in BIG?

Some great business examples include Kiva, Old Spice (the campaign), Earth Hour and Flickr.

I'm dreaming of you dreaming in BIG and it's making me dream in BIG. Fancy that.

You? What's your BIG dream?

Image and artwork credit: Christo and Jean-Claude

Prolonging the love

Following on from my post about celebrating the depression I was inspired by reading a trend-spotting, or rather trend-capturing article on Care and Repair by Jane Fulton-Suri of IDEO.

It demonstrates examples of a return to traditional notions of quality, care of items and repair, rather than ongoing consumption. Great examples include lastyearsmodel.com and Model Shoe Renew in Berkeley, California.

From a customer perspective, how could you help them get satisfaction in this new way of thinking?

- Could you offer a service to re-model and re-style people's favourite garments, giving budding fashion designers an outlet and experience and customers a chance to participate in the design process?

- Why not offer car maintenance workshops, like home depot DIY classes - but for care maintenance. Everything from tuning to the sperfect polish. Could you make it a social occassion, have a girls only session or simply create a small chance for people to have fun while helping them care for their cars? Imagine how much more into their car (and potentially your brand) they will feel once they are more comfortable under the hood?
- Could you start an organisation that provided a warm, cosy and fun place for people to learn old-fashioned 'Home Economics'? Imagine a lively space that engages older people sharing their old-time skills and younger people coming in with their shared energy and walking away with their newly made scarves, darned clothers or steaming loaves of bread.

From a brand perspective, would your brand be the one that they would re-sole year after year?

Image credit: Sewingsewingmachines.net

Is the best creative in the building your Finance Manager?

Ongoing research by Humantific in a fascinating project to understand the design thinking process, Design Thinking Made Visible, found that some students in Business Schools had the same type of creative thinking, in the truest sense of the word, as creative students. And vice versa.

So - what innovation goodness are we missing out in our marketing-led ideation sessions?

Can you invite the Finance Manager, the bus-boy or the logistics co-ordinator into the room next time you have have an ideation session? They may just be the spark that ignites your next success.

If not - you may all just have had a lot of fun in the process. Great!

Let me know how it goes :)

Hat tip to @Rubyku for sharing the research project. Thank you, it's awesome :)

Looking in the global mirror.

Recently, I read the McKinsey Five Forces Shaping the Global Economy Report and my, what an interesting read. It is a useful mirror to reflect on our level of global and innovative thinking. One of the sharp moments of reflection that this report should give any business person in a developed market is the realisation that maybe we just think we are innovative. Some snippets:

Chinese and Indian companies are developing business models at faster rate [than companies in developed markets].

US companies are least likely to amend practices to take advantage of opportunities in developing markets.

[on the list of how companies plan to act to harness opportunities in a more global market] the lowest is developing a local brand (17%).

The biggest perceived benefit of increased information flow globally is innovation (40%).

Starting with new business models. Yes, as there is increasing corporatisation in developing countries it is natural that they are more focused on evolving business models. However, this a timely reminder that just because our model has worked well for a while - have we thought about whether it will work in the future? Have you? (for some great thinking and debate, check out Alex Osterwalker)

Why is developing a local brand the lowest preferable option? This too should have an accompanying sharp stab of recognition of how self-centric companies in-market can be. Firstly, if brand is about creating meaningful connections with customers - why aren't we considering local brands? (not delving deeper into the global:local brand debate here). Who says the next big global brand won't grow from a small town in South Africa?

Ironically, despite the scepticism of the true value of creating a globalised organisation (as opposed to a more consumers = more dollars view), 40% of companies expect to improve innovation through increased global information flow. Does that mean that we are happy to continue to treat global markets as yet another data point? What would happen if you walked around an Indian supermarket with your local team? What ideas and expertise would you find?

I think this report presents a great opportunity to re-look, really-look at how global we are, and how global we can become. In terms of revenue, innovation of product and business models and of meaningful activities in the world.

Are you really global?

Innovation exhaustion

It is difficult to know where to begin, when you begin to think of innovation.

There is no common definition - one person's innovation is another person's logical line extension.
If they noticed the new product at all (think many new car launches).

Perhaps innovation should be defined by users? It has been stated that innovation is one of the strongest levers to change customer behaviour, and to generate profit. If customers don't change, is it not innovation? Or just not relevant? Does innovation by its very nature have to be relevant? For example, would a car that changed colour when in use be an innovation?

There is a new product failure rate (variably) quoted as 50-90%, with companies spending enormous amounts of money and time investing in 'innovation' at all ends of the spectrum.

Recently it seems there is an (arguable) decline in the rate of innovation in consumer goods, based on my experience and touched upon here. Is this a symptom of the financial downturn or are many organisations realising there is a problem, stopping the wastage but then not knowing how to progress?

Or is it innovation exhaustion - people, companies and industries that have been running so hard for so long with such low success rates and high levels of corporate pressure (and risk aversion - see an antidote from Neil Perkins), that it has become all too much for us all.

So we have decided that for now, we need a little lie down?

Some great examples of some (product) companies refusing to lie low are Help, Slow cow and Sipahh

I have a feeling that this is just a power-nap and the next phase will be when consumer good companies start to 'get' genuinely consumer led innovation.

Flickr photo credit: out_of_rhythm

Are big corporates a big backwater?

I am lucky enough that I get to see and work with people in both business worlds, the corporate and the entrepreneurial. The more I do it however, I wonder, is corporate the big backwater?

I am sure that there are fantastic exceptions to this, such as Google and some retailers such as Boost Juice. But the differences are often stark. These are a few of the most common, and most frightening differences:

1. A sense of urgency – when there are lot of floors between you and a customer, it is kind of hard to hear what they are saying. Same goes with the finance department.

2. Spending – A bank recently accidentally transferred $7.8million to customers. I think a smaller organisation might have noticed the extra zeros.

3. Change – 1 person making a decision is (usually) faster and more feasible than layers of decision maker.

This is not earth-shatteringly new – but I feel that the gap is getting greater, and the risk of disconnecting with the marketplace more so than ever before as web-based or micro-businesses are taking off at warp-speed. I recently had conversations with several well established global consumer brands and realised that for all the budget and talented people, their system was continuing to drive them to do the same research, NPD and promotions that they had done in the past. A little more digital dazzle (if you’re in Kids), but essentially doing the same thing, in the same way, as it has been done since Kotler.

I realised that those brands and organisations that used to be a dream to work for may have moved from being the fast track, to the slow wade.

To get you started on moving back into an entrepreneurial frame of mind, here are a few thought starters:

• Get with the start-up mentality with 13 tips from Paul Graham
• Read What Would Google Do?
• Go to an entrepreurial networking event and start to surround yourself with an alternate mind-set.
• Approach someone you admire in a smaller business, profess your admiration, buy them coffee and ask how they would change things?
• Get a genuine change expert involved.
• Talk to your customers. And I don’t mean do a survey. I mean YOU. Get on the phone or in the store.
• Got some like-minded peers – form a “no to brackishness” group to meet for beverages of some description once every couple of weeks.
• Form an internal group / IM group / forum with these people – and keep the conversation buzzing.
• Stop, and consider what YOU really think. Radical, I know…but there is a corporate group-think.

What have you done to shift your backwater? Even if it is forming a faster channel in the middle, it’s still movement.

flicker credit:farleyj

(27 May, 2009)