Today’s post is by Thomas Butta, Founder and CEO of 21 Weeks. You can read more about him at the end of the post. Here’s Thomas:
In The Road to Value (Part 1) I revealed a powerful way to lead a changing or emerging industry by developing a roadmap that delineates the way to create and capture value in that industry. The post showcased market-based benefits to doing this leading work. It also referenced the internal value that could be gained inside the company architecting the roadmap. Internal value is the focus of this post.
Infographic by Dennis Michael Dimos
A value roadmap can provide a number of sustainable benefits inside the company that invests in the effort.
https://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.png00Mike Figliuolohttps://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.pngMike Figliuolo2012-05-09 13:02:042013-11-11 10:29:37The Road to Value – Part 2
Sometimes those failures are market-driven. A great new competitor beats you to the punch. The economy tanks and you run out of cash. Meteors take out your corporate headquarters.
However, many failures are self-inflicted. I’ve been lucky enough to be an entrepreneur for a while and I’ve also hung out with a ton of great (and not great) entrepreneurs. I’ve seen businesses thrive and I’ve seen others fail.
I’ve noticed a few things along the way that can cause entrepreneurs to fail. I’ve tried to neatly bundle them up into what I affectionately refer to as the seven deadly sins of entrepreneurship. If you want to succeed in building your new venture, I strongly suggest you avoid these sins at all cost.
Lust
Sex sells. But sometimes trying to make your product so sexy can lead to your downfall. Excessive thoughts of sexy UI’s, features, bells, and whistles can distract you from building something a little frumpier but more durable. When you spend all your time thinking about how to make a sexy javascript HTML Boolean double-quad Flash SDK widget app, you’re likely not focusing on the core functionality you need to create to solve the one or two major problems your customers actually want you to solve. Throw a non-sexy muumuu and a bathrobe on your product and build the basics.
Gluttony
Over-consumption can kill you. Just because you have the funding you need (now) it doesn’t mean you need to go buy all sorts of crap so your offices can be hip and cool. It also means you shouldn’t go out and buy up a ton of people (via hiring) unless you’re equally prepared to fire a similar number of people when your cash can’t keep up with your appetite. Know your burn rate and keep it to a minimum. Buying stuff just because you have cash will burn your business down to the ground.
https://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.png00Mike Figliuolohttps://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.pngMike Figliuolo2012-04-23 07:02:002018-06-26 16:15:38The 7 Deadly Sins of Entrepreneurship
Today’s post is by Thomas Butta, Founder and CEO of 21 Weeks. You can read more about him at the end of the post. Here’s Thomas:
Much is written about value. Even more is said about it. Value just might be the most overused word in business today.
At the organization level, we hear about customer value, shareholder value, and enterprise value. At the department level, Product Management wants its products to be perceived as good value not high cost. Sales wants to sell from value rather than feature/functions. And, Marketing is measured on the value of leads and brand equity.
Even support departments like Finance, IT and HR strive for value. Finance wants the return of value for capital deployed. IT must demonstrate value to its business unit customers. And, HR strives for a culture that recognizes the value of individuals.
If value is so important, why is there a dearth of proven ways to create and capture value in a given market space? A clear path to value would seem to be critical at a time when competitive differentiation is short-lived and the rate of change has accelerated.
My experience shows there is little content out there to help an enterprise know how to truly identify and realize top and/or bottom line value in their market. Which is enormously frustrating to client-side executives looking for clarity amidst the noise created by multitudes of companies touting their particular solution sets.
Wouldn’t it be nice to be shown the way to value rather than sold solutions? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a roadmap from a trusted advisor to guide your way to value — especially in a market that’s undergoing rapid change? You bet it would.
https://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.png00Mike Figliuolohttps://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.pngMike Figliuolo2012-04-11 13:32:532013-11-11 10:12:03The Road to Value
Our government is full of morons. I know – and the sun is hot.
But seriously – we can learn a lot from their stupidity and lack of foresight. All too often our “leaders” identify problems they want to rectify. They then create a perfect solution targeted at resolving exactly the issue they identified.
And then stupidity happens. Why? Because the world isn’t static. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction folks (can I get a holla for Sir Isaac and 10th grade physics?).
Guess what? You do stupid stuff too (and so do I). Why? Because we don’t think far enough ahead about what the reactions in our environment might be. Today I’m going to share some of my favorite moronic decisions and their corresponding reactions and I’m also going to give you a great tool for staying out of the lack-of-foresight-stupidity-trap yourself.
To illustrate these points, allow me to share five of the stupidest government decisions I’ve ever seen and their unintended consequences. After doing so, I’ll share the simple question that will prevent you from being equally moronic. So here are the five stupid decisions…
https://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.png00Mike Figliuolohttps://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.pngMike Figliuolo2012-04-02 07:02:272018-09-04 19:19:46How to Avoid Stupid Consequences by Thinking One Step Ahead
Today’s post is by Thomas Butta, Founder and CEO of 21 Weeks. You can read more about him at the end of the post. Here’s Thomas:
Do you remember the popular book, Dress for Success? It sold millions of copies based on a simple concept: If you want to get ahead you need to look the part. And that starts with what you wear. Wardrobes were updated everywhere.
Dress for Success was itself a resounding success because it nailed the fundamentals. Its basic premise made sense — appearances matter. And, it was easy to execute.
So, the individual had a playbook, albeit one book in the broader scheme of things, on how to increase their odds of success. Cool.
What about the organization? Is there an equivalent playbook for driving success for the organization as a whole? Is there something fundamental that can be executed across the organization that would also accelerate momentum, value and sustainable success? I would argue, yes, but it’s not what graces most reading lists.
Certainly, there is good thinking about the effectiveness of culture, the importance of community, and the benefits of branding. There are also new ideas about more efficient organizational structures and models. All are worth investigating and deploying.
But, none of this work gets to the root cause of why organizations are not as successful as they can be. Organizations are not achieving their full potential because organizations do not align for success. For all the talk of one corporate culture, one community, and one brand, we continue to see departments operating within their own agendas, goals and motivations.
While some success is being achieved as a result of innovative products, smart selling, and brilliant marketing, an organization will not be as successful as it can be without integrating all three of those fundamental behaviors.
https://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.png00Mike Figliuolohttps://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.pngMike Figliuolo2012-03-14 13:07:472013-11-11 09:54:29How Creating a Value Roadmap can Lead to Sustainable Success
Why is it that so many entrepreneurs believe the tech is the be-all, end-all? Where did the notion come from that if you have nothing more than a killer application, website, algorithm, or any other combo of 01001010101110110 that you can build a multibillion dollar company? (I probably just dropped an f-bomb with that combo of digits).
Wrong.
It’s about executing, people (note the comma in this sentence is *very* important).
Sure, you need good tech. It must solve a problem. But once it’s built, you have to execute. That’s a whole different skill set than writing code and drawing wiring diagrams. Think about how many awesome technologies went the way of the dodo because the company simply failed to execute. Lots of them.
So how can you get better at execution? Here are a few thoughts:
https://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.png00Mike Figliuolohttps://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.pngMike Figliuolo2012-02-13 07:02:372018-06-26 16:00:44Entrepreneurship – the Tech is the Easy Part
This year is almost over so it’s time for the year in review list of the BEST posts we’ve published in 2011. It’s time for the 2011 edition of The Figgies (here are the 2010 and 2009 editions).
This is an annual event here at the thoughtLEADERS Blog. Here’s how it goes: this list is comprised of our most viewed, most forwarded, quirkiest, most provocative work as judged by you the readers. There’s also a kicker bonus post on the list just for good measure (it’s a “wayback” – and speaking of wayback, check out the photo on the trophy… yes… that’s me ’80’s style baby!).
Enjoy. Share. We’ve loved writing them. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading them. I don’t ask a lot of you folks so I have two small requests as your holiday gift to me (you are getting me something, right?):
1. Invite all your coworkers, friends, and family to come check out the blog and become readers. The only way we get better is by raising everyone’s game. I’m not asking a lot here. If you found this blog helpful at all this year, here’s your chance to return the favor for all our hard work. Just email folks and tell ’em to come take a look.
2. Pick up a copy of One Piece of Paper: The Simple Approach to Powerful Personal Leadership. Yes – I know I talk a lot about the book but it’s not for the money (I would have made more money if I worked in a sweat shop in Asia making sneakers). I talk a lot about it because I’m evangelical about the topic. Buy it. Read it. In the words of Roland Smith (CEO of Wendy’s) “It could change your life.”
Thanks for your incredible support in ’11 and best wishes for ’12! We hope to be a part of your future success!
Enough preamble. Here’s the best stuff we’ve written all year:
Revolution is that point in time when a critical mass of people get fed up with some kind of pervasive crap and collectively decide to do something about it. That “something” is usually scary, somewhat extreme, painful, brave, and life-altering.
The American Revolution. Occupy Wall Street. Civil Rights. Wakeup Startup. Revolutions large and small. They all center around a pile of crap, some fed-up people, a cause, and a spark.
When run correctly, a revolution can bring about fundamental societal change. When run poorly, a revolution can bring about fundamental societal change. It cuts both ways folks. The good news is you can start your own revolution pretty easily providing you can galvanize people around a few critical things.
https://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.png00Mike Figliuolohttps://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.pngMike Figliuolo2011-10-17 11:32:172018-06-26 14:09:25Everyone Needs a Little Revolution
Over the past year I’ve been involved in several large and important negotiations. Failure to negotiate well in any of those situations would have had some ugly effects on my businesses. The following is some guidance that has helped me successfully work my way through those discussions and get to a place where I’ve been happy with the outcomes.
I read a great article in Fortune a while back. Joanna Shields of Bebo.com quoted her dad: “Your career is long and the business world is small. Always act with integrity. Never take the last dollar off the table.”
Fantastic advice. Unfortunately many of us never heed it. We get wrapped up in near term numbers, performance bonuses, and, yeah, I’m gonna say it, greed. In economic times like the present, these pressures are amplified.
Many folks look at business as a competition. In many cases it is (duh, hence the term “competitors”). Sadly we sometimes extend the definition of competitor to include anyone sitting across the table from us. Quite often, that person across the table is supposed to be our partner but we engage in completely dysfunctional competitive or territorial behaviors. Then bad things happen. What kinds of bad things? You know I’m going to tell you.
Shields’ father continues: “You can always do a slightly better deal, but that incremental dollar or windfall is not worth creating an imbalance that affects the relationship. You have to have the intuition to know when to say, ‘I’m going to make sure that we walk away feeling like we’ve both done well.'”
https://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.png00Mike Figliuolohttps://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.pngMike Figliuolo2011-08-29 16:38:012018-06-26 13:15:30Successful Negotiating Requires You to Leave Money on the Table
You folks know I’m obsessed with comic books, movies, pop culture, and superheroes. I’m even wearing my Green Lantern t-shirt as I write this. The reason we love superheroes is we all secretly aspire to be like them.
Now none of us are rushing out to get bitten by radioactive spiders or to jump in pools of irradiated toxic waste but I’m sure you’re willing to do a little light and fun reading to be more like a superhero leader.
Lucky for you I’ve compiled some of my favorite hero/superhero posts that I’ve written on this blog over the years and included them in this post. I’ve also saved you some time and wrote a quick abstract on what the post covers. I hope you find the posts helpful, insightful, and entertaining. They cover everything from leadership to innovation to goal setting. The characters include Snake Plissken, Master Oogway, Mr. Spock, Han Solo, Jack Sparrow, and other colorful folks from the big screen, the small screen, and the comic books.
So here goes our first official superhero roundup! Click the headline next to each photo and you’ll be taken to the full article.
https://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.png00Mike Figliuolohttps://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/logo.pngMike Figliuolo2011-08-01 07:02:572018-12-28 10:51:45How You Can Lead Like a Superhero
We’ve already talked about what a strategic plan is (and isn’t) in our discussion: “strat plan isn’t ‘budget +10%.'” Hopefully now that you’ve got a direction mapped out and a list of initiatives you’re going to pursue, you’re ready for a little tactical strategic advice (yes that phrase is supposed to sound oxymoronic but it’s actually deliberate and accurate).
Repeat after me: “No.”
Try it again. This time with conviction: “NO.”
Strategy is inherently about saying “no.” It’s about the choices we make and the choices we don’t. I’ve seen plenty of strategies completely derailed due to an inability to say “no” to that incremental initiative that’s kind of “on strategy” but not really.
Good strategists are great at leading the thinking (and I believe leading the thinking is so critical to leadership that it has its own entire section in my book One Piece of Paper – click here to get your copy). As a leader, your job is to lead the thought processes and strategic efforts of your team. That requires you to invest time in thinking about your strategy.
The more effective you are at saying “no” to non-core work and singularly focusing your team on the end vision you’ve laid out, the higher the likelihood of you achieving your strategic goals. Not saying “no,” on the other hand, leads to dilution of your efforts and strategy by incrementalism (which is rarely effective).
Let’s walk this logical strategic dog, shall we? Take the following points as true:
You know where you want to end up and what your overarching strategy is
You have a finite amount of resources at your disposal.
You’ve defined the 3-5 most critical initiatives to help you achieve your goal.
There are a substantial number of “cool” opportunities you could pursue in addition to those 3-5 you’ve already identified.
After over 20 years of interviewing some of the top business leaders in the world, I have learned that nimble business leadership requires acute reality recognition – the ability to accurately perceive the business climate in which your organization operates.
No less a business icon than Charlie Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, says that the one quality that he and Warren Buffett look for when hiring CEOs is “reality recognition.” Perceiving reality may seem like a pedestrian task but it’s not – for any of us. And when you’re at the top of an organization with hundreds of messages coming at you daily, practicing it takes daily discipline.
In my experience, the most realistic business leaders share key qualities. Andy Grove, cofounder of Intel, is one such case study. I interviewed Grove when he was CEO of the microprocessor giant. In the 1980s and early 1990s he bet his company on the rise of a device hardly anyone believed would become commonplace – the personal computer.
How did Grove come by this seemingly magical, predictive understanding of where the market was going, and how did he fortify himself to take the necessary risks to lead his company one step ahead of the future? Here are five tips I’ve learned from my interview with him:
Today’s post is by Thomas Butta, Founder and CEO of 21 Weeks. You can read more about him at the end of the post. Here’s Thomas:
