Higher education cuts are resounding throughout the country. Our universities, community colleges, and continuing education programs cannot handle the growing demand in a time when state budgets and private investment are shrinking. But why should the business community care?
Higher education does not exist solely to train people in a trade. Don't get me wrong: I don't want to be under the knife with a surgeon who does not have a degree! Higher education builds communities in which continuing education is valued. Those who know how to learn will always be able to navigate market upsets and shifts in available jobs.
If you will recall from my blog post "From Expense to Asset: How Layoffs Can Kill Your Organization", people are the most valuable asset in any organization that hopes to thrive in the information age. People need opportunities in growth and development in order to retain their competitive edge and make our businesses, in turn, more competitive. The business community's support of higher education means more resources and better talent in our communities and at our fingertips. And better educated citizens means better communities for the growth and development of all.
When higher education fails, communities fail. When communities fail, they cannot provide the types of citizens needed to work together to pull that community out of a decline. Failed higher education leads to unskilled citizens, which leads to atrophied communities, which leads to struggling small businesses, and the inability of a community to create viable, desirable jobs.
Business leaders and private citizens work together to create a job-growing economy by supporting our higher education institutions.
Keeping the world connected through issues that impact urban and regional policy and development.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
It's Time to Poke the Bear: Stop Crippling Your Organization with Inaction
Back in July 2009, I attended a Washington Technology Industry Association/MIT Enterprise Forum event in which talked about leveraging the economic downturn. One of the most valuable points I took away was that strategy isn't about what you're going to do: It's about what you are NOT going to do.
As I look around, I seen a lot of people not doing anything. Instead of leveraging the available opportunities, many are unwilling to take the necessary steps to move forward. These organizations hope to ride out this bear market and come out the other side doing business as usual.
Well, I hate to tell you the obvious, but business is going to look very different when we come out the other side of this downturn. Already, the economy is seeing a bit of an upswing. Those organizations will continue to fall behind and eventually cripple their ability to compete. They will not be ready when opportunities arise, for they won't have been proactive in reshaping their organizations for the new market. The three ways I have seen leaders use inaction to slowly cripple their organizations include:
It's time to poke the bear and keep moving forward. Let this aggressive market drive you to be proactive in developing and following a responsive strategy that works in the current and future market scenarios. It will guide your organization on the right path so that you focus and move forward instead of getting stalled by what you should NOT be doing. Most importantly, you should NOT scream poverty, get trapped in analysis paralysis, or play dead. Inaction will cripple your organization and eat you alive. Stay on the move with an effective strategy and don't be afraid of the bears you poke along the way.
As I look around, I seen a lot of people not doing anything. Instead of leveraging the available opportunities, many are unwilling to take the necessary steps to move forward. These organizations hope to ride out this bear market and come out the other side doing business as usual.
Well, I hate to tell you the obvious, but business is going to look very different when we come out the other side of this downturn. Already, the economy is seeing a bit of an upswing. Those organizations will continue to fall behind and eventually cripple their ability to compete. They will not be ready when opportunities arise, for they won't have been proactive in reshaping their organizations for the new market. The three ways I have seen leaders use inaction to slowly cripple their organizations include:
- Screaming Poverty. Access to capital is tougher than ever. It's unfortunate what's happening in the credit markets. But demanding something for next to nothing at every turn will get the organization that's always crying poverty nothing in the end. Bears don't care how much you scream. Organizations have to be proactive, creative, and resourceful in developing a strategy to deal with the bears that pop up along the path. Poverty-screaming organizations will slowly run out of cash as they waste their time wheeling and dealing instead of developing an effective strategy and leveraging currently available opportunities. Even with bears lurking, there is fruit on the trees.
- Analysis Paralysis. Many decision makers either know this or someone like this. Organizations trapped in analysis paralysis get so bogged down in weighing the opportunities, that the window of opportunity opens and shut while they're huddled in indecision. Bears like huddles: more snacks in a smaller area.
- Playing Dead. It's an old trick of camouflage that "if they don't see me, then they can't eat me." With Playing Dead, leaders cover their eyes, double over, and think that "If I can't see them, then they can't eat me." Bears have a great sense of smell. They will eat an organization whether it's being proactive or not. When leaders curl into a ball, they don't become more effective in riding out the storm. They just get eaten from behind and don't even realize it.
- Revenue has dropped sharply or crawled to a halt.
- Productivity is on a measurable decline.
- Morale is non-existent among your team members.
It's time to poke the bear and keep moving forward. Let this aggressive market drive you to be proactive in developing and following a responsive strategy that works in the current and future market scenarios. It will guide your organization on the right path so that you focus and move forward instead of getting stalled by what you should NOT be doing. Most importantly, you should NOT scream poverty, get trapped in analysis paralysis, or play dead. Inaction will cripple your organization and eat you alive. Stay on the move with an effective strategy and don't be afraid of the bears you poke along the way.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Here's why fixing your weaknesses is a bad idea
On Friday 9/18/09, I led a half-day workshop entitled Perfect Your Pitch. As a part of developing the content for a successful pitch, I took the participants through a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis. When we were evaluating Strengths and Weaknesses, I advised the group to explore their strengths and ignore their weaknesses to determine potential priorities and challenges. One participant asked: "Shouldn't we try to fix our weaknesses instead of ignoring them?"
Completely ignoring the things that your organization doesn't do well is not the whole truth. Every organization should know what they do really well. It takes an honest, objective analysis for them to know what they do poorly.
Unfortunately, many organizations waste precious resources on training, infrastructure development, and human resources to prop up an offering or line of business that is actually dragging the organization down. They do this for a number of reasons, including to look like a "full service" organization, to capture what looks like low hanging fruit, and/or to foster a culture of ownership and refuse to let go of lost causes. Inevitably, clinging to these resource drains will remove capacity from the areas in which the group is strong. This refusal to avoid weaknesses eventually appear in the form of dwindling net profits.
The way to address this is to first acknowledge the weakness. Know that it is something that you do rather poorly. It's okay if, for example, you're a law firm and do not handle criminal cases. There are plenty of capable attorneys out there who would appreciate the referrals so that you can stay focused on business law and estate planning.
Once you acknowledge the weakness, determine if it is absolutely critical to the survival of your organization. If the answer is yes, then you have a major issue. That weakness isn't really a weakness: it's a threat. Instead of throwing resources at it to enhance it, you should be doing everything possible to stamp it out. If the weakness is NOT vital to your survival, then just ignore it. Be aware of it, but find a solution that does not tie up your organization's resources.
To acknowledge what you don't do well and need to improve starts the conversation regarding whether each weak spot is a weakness or a threat. A weakness is a feature, offering, or characteristic which the organization can comfortably ignore or hire out to someone else. If your strategy integrates abilities on which you cannot profitably deliver, the entire strategy is flawed. The organization needs to take a harder look at strengths and reshape offerings to leverage only the strengths and opportunities.
Any strong organization stays focused at all times on exploring their strengths and exploiting opportunities. Threats must be confronted, and weaknesses should be avoided. If you find that you're confronting or exploring weaknesses, you're wasting your time. These fruitless activities are as tragic as avoiding opportunities. Stop fixing your weaknesses and expend those resources on exploring your strengths. Your bottom line will be so glad that you did.
Completely ignoring the things that your organization doesn't do well is not the whole truth. Every organization should know what they do really well. It takes an honest, objective analysis for them to know what they do poorly.
Unfortunately, many organizations waste precious resources on training, infrastructure development, and human resources to prop up an offering or line of business that is actually dragging the organization down. They do this for a number of reasons, including to look like a "full service" organization, to capture what looks like low hanging fruit, and/or to foster a culture of ownership and refuse to let go of lost causes. Inevitably, clinging to these resource drains will remove capacity from the areas in which the group is strong. This refusal to avoid weaknesses eventually appear in the form of dwindling net profits.
The way to address this is to first acknowledge the weakness. Know that it is something that you do rather poorly. It's okay if, for example, you're a law firm and do not handle criminal cases. There are plenty of capable attorneys out there who would appreciate the referrals so that you can stay focused on business law and estate planning.
Once you acknowledge the weakness, determine if it is absolutely critical to the survival of your organization. If the answer is yes, then you have a major issue. That weakness isn't really a weakness: it's a threat. Instead of throwing resources at it to enhance it, you should be doing everything possible to stamp it out. If the weakness is NOT vital to your survival, then just ignore it. Be aware of it, but find a solution that does not tie up your organization's resources.
To acknowledge what you don't do well and need to improve starts the conversation regarding whether each weak spot is a weakness or a threat. A weakness is a feature, offering, or characteristic which the organization can comfortably ignore or hire out to someone else. If your strategy integrates abilities on which you cannot profitably deliver, the entire strategy is flawed. The organization needs to take a harder look at strengths and reshape offerings to leverage only the strengths and opportunities.
Any strong organization stays focused at all times on exploring their strengths and exploiting opportunities. Threats must be confronted, and weaknesses should be avoided. If you find that you're confronting or exploring weaknesses, you're wasting your time. These fruitless activities are as tragic as avoiding opportunities. Stop fixing your weaknesses and expend those resources on exploring your strengths. Your bottom line will be so glad that you did.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Please welcome Mike Stephens, Customer Relationship Builder
There's a new face at TsuluWerks, Inc. You might have seen him roaming the town or heard his friendly voice on the other end of the phone. If you haven't met him already, I would like to introduce Mike Stephens, our new Customer Relationship Builder. A natural people person, Mike joins us from the IT hardware industry, bringing his management and relationship building skills from companies like EMC and Sun Microsystems. He volunteers with First Step Community Support Center to help families in need. His commitment to people and community made him the perfect fit for the TsuluWerks, Inc. team.If you want to meet Mike, please join us on Wednesday, 9/16/09 at the Smart and Simple Strategies for Small Business Conference at Microsoft Conference Center or at the Perfect Your Pitch workshop on Friday, 9/18/09. Or check out his profile on our web site and give him a call at 206-782-4040 x101. He would love to meet you!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
An Event for Securing Small Business Capital: Perfect Your Pitch Workshop
enterpriseSeattle and Tracy A. Corley & Associates (a division of TsuluWerks, Inc.) will host Perfect Your Pitch on September 18, 2009. The event, sponsored by Towers Perrin, runs from 8:00 am to noon, with registration starting at 7:30am. The informational workshop is designed to help new and growing businesses secure venture and angel funding to launch and expand their enterprises.
"Capital is tight for all businesses from all sources," says enterpriseSeattle clean energy and technology specialist Steve Gerritson. "Small businesses have to be able to quickly and clearly get their messages across to potential funders. This workshop, specially designed for us by Tracy Corley, will help them communicate their value proposition and handle any open ended questions that might come their way."
The event will be held at the enterpriseSeattle offices at 1301 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2500 from 8am to noon and is limited to 50 participants. The event cost of $95 ($125 at the door) includes the program presented by Tracy A. Corley, workshop materials, continental breakfast, and a half hour coaching session with an enterpriseSeattle consultant.
The program will cover:
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"Capital is tight for all businesses from all sources," says enterpriseSeattle clean energy and technology specialist Steve Gerritson. "Small businesses have to be able to quickly and clearly get their messages across to potential funders. This workshop, specially designed for us by Tracy Corley, will help them communicate their value proposition and handle any open ended questions that might come their way."
The event will be held at the enterpriseSeattle offices at 1301 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2500 from 8am to noon and is limited to 50 participants. The event cost of $95 ($125 at the door) includes the program presented by Tracy A. Corley, workshop materials, continental breakfast, and a half hour coaching session with an enterpriseSeattle consultant.
The program will cover:
- How to present with purpose
- Telling your story with clarity
- Organizing your presentation for maximum impact
- Selecting language that commands the room
- Deliver with confidence, even in 10 minutes or less
- Preparing for anything in open-ended sessions
- Building buy-in with stakeholders and investors
About enterpriseSeattle
For over 35 years, enterpriseSeattle has provided client-based economic development services to businesses throughout King County and its 39 cities. enterpriseSeattle's mission is to be a "difference-maker" in the community by growing the jobs and tax base in King County, its 39 cities and the greater Puget Sound region. It accomplishes its mission through a customized client services program focused on business retention, expansion and recruitment. It's objective is to become the premier economic development organization in the US. It supports businesses in the areas of Life Sciences, Clean Technology, Information Technology, International Trade and Logistics, and Aerospace. www.enterpriseseattle.orgAbout Tracy A. Corley & Associates
Using Vision Driven Results, Tracy A. Corley & Associates aligns individuals and organizations with simple, actionable strategies and precise execution for change and growth. They offer consulting, speaker services, and media content to improve cash flow, enhance competitiveness, increase efficiencies, and build confidence in their clients and their communities. The organization is led by Chief Strategist, Tracy Corley, who simplifies the strategic planning process for small businesses, nonprofits, corporations, and public agencies. Its parent company, TsuluWerks Inc., has been providing strategic consulting and marketing services to organizations since 2000. www.tsuluwerks.comAbout Towers Perrin
Towers Perrin provides global human resource consulting services that help organizations effectively manage their investment in people. We offer clients services in areas such as executive and employee compensation, employee benefits, communication, change management, employee research, and the delivery of HR services. www.towersperrin.com
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Importance of Interdependence in Politics
Last night's Washington state primary results were surprising in many of the races. Some of the surprises, in my opinion, were good ones whereas others leave me wondering what's really going on. It takes me back to the presentation put on by Express Employment Professionals that I attended a few weeks ago. The presenter hit on another very relevant topic, interdependence (I talked about another one in my last blog post).
I first read about interdependence in Steven Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The concept is that all of us are born as dependent beings. As we grow older many of us discover our independence and work really hard to define ourselves and declare what makes us unique. Highly effective people, Covey explains, move beyond independence to interdependence. Like dependence, the individual relies on others, but does so consciously, without losing sight of the things that make him unique. Interdependent folks retain their individual identity, but use it in a way to work together with other people and their communities.
I think that our political races bring a lot of surprises because our local community is made up of a large number of independent people. I applaud the Northwest's emphasis on independent thinking and forming your own opinion on issues (though not everyone is willing to express them). Where our region falls short is in interdependent thinking. When people have to come together to benefit the greater good, either the fierce thorns of independence surface, causing passionate friction and factionalism, or the dictates of "political correctness" coats over the real issues so that everyone can feel good about the uninformed decision that is being made. In interdependence, individuals have the ability to step outside of their own self-focused needs and look at how the decisions being made today affect our region as a whole, now and in the future. We're lacking that in a region where folks vote on everything, yet are making decisions based on their own commutes or religious preferences and are not thinking about the benefits or detriments that their choices will make on other people, the neighborhood, region, country, or global community in the long term. This unwillingness to work together and find common ground on disparate issues brings many surprises.
We have some great finalists in the upcoming races who have the ability to look beyond partisan issues and make tough, informed decisions based on long-term impact. On the flip side, we have some finalists who are finalists because of their hard-lined, myopic focus on popular hot-button issues. It's the difference between being a politician and being an effective, results-oriented politician. I look forward to the next two and a half months of campaigns and hope that our region will make the tough decisions and choose candidates who are committed to interdependent leadership instead of independent factionalism.
I first read about interdependence in Steven Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The concept is that all of us are born as dependent beings. As we grow older many of us discover our independence and work really hard to define ourselves and declare what makes us unique. Highly effective people, Covey explains, move beyond independence to interdependence. Like dependence, the individual relies on others, but does so consciously, without losing sight of the things that make him unique. Interdependent folks retain their individual identity, but use it in a way to work together with other people and their communities.
I think that our political races bring a lot of surprises because our local community is made up of a large number of independent people. I applaud the Northwest's emphasis on independent thinking and forming your own opinion on issues (though not everyone is willing to express them). Where our region falls short is in interdependent thinking. When people have to come together to benefit the greater good, either the fierce thorns of independence surface, causing passionate friction and factionalism, or the dictates of "political correctness" coats over the real issues so that everyone can feel good about the uninformed decision that is being made. In interdependence, individuals have the ability to step outside of their own self-focused needs and look at how the decisions being made today affect our region as a whole, now and in the future. We're lacking that in a region where folks vote on everything, yet are making decisions based on their own commutes or religious preferences and are not thinking about the benefits or detriments that their choices will make on other people, the neighborhood, region, country, or global community in the long term. This unwillingness to work together and find common ground on disparate issues brings many surprises.
We have some great finalists in the upcoming races who have the ability to look beyond partisan issues and make tough, informed decisions based on long-term impact. On the flip side, we have some finalists who are finalists because of their hard-lined, myopic focus on popular hot-button issues. It's the difference between being a politician and being an effective, results-oriented politician. I look forward to the next two and a half months of campaigns and hope that our region will make the tough decisions and choose candidates who are committed to interdependent leadership instead of independent factionalism.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
From Expense to Asset: How Layoffs Can Kill Your Organization
Thank you to Express Employment Professionals for hosting an educational event led by Russ Moen, VP, Human Resources. The 4-hour event, "The Leader's Role in Creating Fulfilling Jobs", took its lead from the book Three Signs of a Miserable Job by Patrick Lencioni.
One topic discussed was the value of people. In financial terms, human resources usually show up under "expenses" when looking at a balance sheet. In today's economy, many businesses are hyper-focused on the bottom line, looking at where they can best cut costs. For many businesses, employee-related costs result in 65% to 95% of all expenditures within a fiscal year. From a bottom line point-of-view, employees are a financial disaster. When times get tough, it looks like the fastest, most effective way to trim costs is to let folks go.
Our economy has changed significantly in the past 40 years. According to Moen, a review of a company's stock value in 1982 could be tied 65% to tangible assets (i.e. equipment, real estate, cash) and 35% to intangible assets (intellectual property, patents, systems). As we shifted from an industrial society into the information age, 2002 brought an average of 80% (yes, eighty) of stock value tied to intangible assets.
What happened? People took on growing value. In an information-based economy, innovation, service, and intellectual property contain the majority of a company's assets. Where does innovation, service, and intellectual property originate? In the minds of people. The information age has turned people from expenses to assets. People are your bottom line. Without them businesses cannot create value.
I think that choosing the right people for your organization applies not to the tasks that they can perform, but to the way they think. Diversity of race, religion, and gender don't matter as much as diversity in thought, creativity, and problem solving. The value of the people on your team has less and less to do with the cost of acquisition and benefits costs, but rather with the return on investment due to increased productivity, surge in innovation, increase in filed patents, and ability to be nimble and responsive to changing market economies.
The current market correction is showing how come companies have over-inflated the value of commoditized tangible assets and downplayed the value of the people and their innovations. I regularly see small businesses struggling to survive who are sitting on a wealth of intellectual property or innovative systems that they could share with the market to increase cash on hand and business value. Conversely, I have also seen many organizations bloat their books with intangible assets that don't exist.
What is the value of people to your organization? Where does their contribution to your success show up in your financial statements?
One topic discussed was the value of people. In financial terms, human resources usually show up under "expenses" when looking at a balance sheet. In today's economy, many businesses are hyper-focused on the bottom line, looking at where they can best cut costs. For many businesses, employee-related costs result in 65% to 95% of all expenditures within a fiscal year. From a bottom line point-of-view, employees are a financial disaster. When times get tough, it looks like the fastest, most effective way to trim costs is to let folks go.
Our economy has changed significantly in the past 40 years. According to Moen, a review of a company's stock value in 1982 could be tied 65% to tangible assets (i.e. equipment, real estate, cash) and 35% to intangible assets (intellectual property, patents, systems). As we shifted from an industrial society into the information age, 2002 brought an average of 80% (yes, eighty) of stock value tied to intangible assets.
What happened? People took on growing value. In an information-based economy, innovation, service, and intellectual property contain the majority of a company's assets. Where does innovation, service, and intellectual property originate? In the minds of people. The information age has turned people from expenses to assets. People are your bottom line. Without them businesses cannot create value.
I think that choosing the right people for your organization applies not to the tasks that they can perform, but to the way they think. Diversity of race, religion, and gender don't matter as much as diversity in thought, creativity, and problem solving. The value of the people on your team has less and less to do with the cost of acquisition and benefits costs, but rather with the return on investment due to increased productivity, surge in innovation, increase in filed patents, and ability to be nimble and responsive to changing market economies.
The current market correction is showing how come companies have over-inflated the value of commoditized tangible assets and downplayed the value of the people and their innovations. I regularly see small businesses struggling to survive who are sitting on a wealth of intellectual property or innovative systems that they could share with the market to increase cash on hand and business value. Conversely, I have also seen many organizations bloat their books with intangible assets that don't exist.
What is the value of people to your organization? Where does their contribution to your success show up in your financial statements?
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