Today we take for granted the idea that businesses are supposed to be consumer-centric. This wasn’t always the case. One of the men who introduced a revolutionary idea was Theodore Levitt who wrote a very influential article titled, “Marketing myopia.” The reason an industry declines is not because demand declines, but because the same needs […]
Every entrepreneur’s dream is to innovate – to create a new product that no one else is offering. But that’s not so easy. One idea that could help came from W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborne. Red oceans are filled with competition. They are cut throat and bloody – hence the color “red.” Blue oceans […]
Causing disruption Innovation, much prized by management thinkers, can put others out of business. Technology that eventually destroys the dominant product is known as “disruptive” and its chief chronicler is Harvard professor Clayton Christensen. Disruptive innovation, as Christensen points out in The Innovator’s Dilemma, takes a number of forms. One is “low-end” disruption, where the […]
Business slowly adjusts to the new, but when it does, it captilasizes very aggressively. But some think that “this time is different” – although there are others who disagree. Back in the 1960’s, the communications possibilities of packet-switching and networking emerged. The first network of computers that communicated over a phone line was built in […]
An adhocracy is the direct opposite of bureaucracy. The former is unstructured, decentralized and, at least in theory, responsive. In a bureaucracy, the structure is more important than the people. An adhocracy, on the other hand, is designed to bring out the best in people. A bureaucracy is “a hierarchical administrative system designed to deal […]
Ideation Unexpected results. If you find a guy who succeeds at something even though he is nothing like his competition, then figure out why. Incongruity: Find the difference between what reality is – and what it ought to be. Uber started out by questioning whether hailing a cab (the reality) was the way it should […]
In Liar’s Poker, Michael Lewis recalls his experience while working for Solomon Brothers. An interesting dialogue that he details is one that took place between him (Michael) and Alexander (his colleague). Alexander taught Michael an important life lesson – to always ask: what if? When the Chernobyl disaster hit, for example, Alexander reasoned to Michael […]
ONEitis is insecurity run amok while a person is single, and potentially paralyzing when coupled with the object of that ONEitis in an LTR. The same neurotic desperation that drives a person to settle for their ONE whether healthy or unhealthy is the same insecurity that paralyzes them from abandoning a damaging relationship – This […]
A woman never quite feels desired and appreciated enough. She wants attention, but a man is too often distracted and unresponsive. The Rake is a great female fantasy figure—when he desires a woman, brief though that moment may be, he will go to the ends of the earth for her. He may be disloyal, dishonest, […]
A man is often secretly oppressed by the role he has to play—by always having to be responsible, in control, and rational. The Siren is the ultimate male fantasy figure because she offers a total release from the limitations of his life. In her presence, which is always heightened and sexually charged, the male feels […]
The School of Poker 