Advice for CEOs

Well now . . . That depends on your point of view or your position in the hierarchy, doesn’t it? Should it?

Problems with Your Bank?

Previously I’ve discussed Where Are You On the Value Grid?, a central issue that every emerging growth company must face as it works to get out of No Man’s Land: how to create a business model that enables you (and not your customers) to capture much if not most of the value you create.

A couple of days back, at a meeting with my partners, we were discussing two of the four M’s in No Man’s Land: Management and Business Model. I asserted if I had to choose between great management and a really strong business model, I’d take the strong business model every time. The gasp from my partners caused the room to drain of oxygen. After all, the collective management experience in the room was a little more than 200 years, and we all considered ourselves to be capable managers and leaders.

Jim Collins was Wrong Jim Collins was wrong……and so was I. You remember Collins. He wrote the book, Good to Great. It was a huge best seller, selling more than four million copies in 35 languages. We’re told Collins used a large team of researchers who studied 6,000 articles and generated more than 2,000 pages of interview transcripts during the five year project to develop and write the book. He described seven characteristics of companies that went from good to great, one of which was. “First who, then what; get the right people on the bus, then figure out where to go.” I disagree.

I often hear business owners proclaim how important it is to build a great relationship with their customers. I must confess I find this assertion a bit perplexing. I am not at all suggesting that business owners ought to find ways in which to alienate their customers, but I believe the assertion to be double-edged. I have found that the more important the customer relationship is in the sales process, the less differentiated is the product or service.