The Joy Killers - A business murder Mystery.

Episode 7 Bridging the execution gap. Learn for teams who have achieved success. Apologies for the poor sound quality due to technical problems Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare. Japanese Proverb. No one individual can execute a strategic plan, it must be a team effort if success is to be achieved. Nathan Wiita, and Orla Leonard decided to look at how the mo...

With apologies for the poor sound quality of this episode Episode 6 Six reasons why your strategic plan fails to deliver. The Hidden Barriers and how to identify them. Part 2 ​ Hidden Barrier #4 Poor Coordination, a lack of willingness. Most companies work well within silos, but any project worthy of the name strategy will work across silos. Possibly across geographies. And this is where coordinat...

Episode 5 Six reasons why your strategic plan fails to deliver. The Hidden Barriers and how to identify them. Part 1 With apologies for the poor sound quality - microphone problems Based on HBR article by Michael Beer “6 Reasons Your Strategy Isn’t Working”. Published June 2020 Some or all these hidden barriers may exist in your organization. They may go unrecognized; they are often not discussed...

People are rethinking about the sense of agency they have over their lives. The continued rise of the side hustle or gig economy has made it easier to seek out new income streams. The increase in the “me vs we” mentality will have implications on how organizations lead their employees. Covid has been with us for nearly two years which has changed we live our lives. People are rethinking who they a...

It is a given of business thinking that good managers motivate employees with their vision for the future, their passionate delivery and great plans. Add in some incentives to do the right things, and everyone falls in line and success is achieved. But the reality is much different. Few managers are good at rallying the team, and expecting them to do so can make them feel guilt ridden. Research sh...

If you Google motivating hourly employees you will get 6.8 million results, Google motivating salaried employees and will see 181 million results. Nearly 30X the hourly figure. Nearly 60% of workers in the US are hourly and many are part time. The percentage may be higher or lower in other countries, but it is likely that globally well over 50% of workers are paid by the hour. The much talked abou...

Episode 1 Employees seek career progression. Lean business structures make this difficult. What alternatives are available? In exit interviews one of the leading reasons given for leaving is the lack of career progression, by which they mean promotion. When I started work, more years ago than I care to remember, there was plenty of opportunity for career progression. I was hired as Senior Manageme...

Some experts suggest that potential investors will spend over 30% of their time evaluating the financial page of your pi 20 pages long, you will understand that the numbers get a disproportionate amount of attention. It’s probably only secondary in importance to your executive summary. If your executive summary has not caught their attention then they will not read further and never get to the fin...

CB Insights puts the wrong team as number 7 on the list of reasons High Tech startups fail with 14% of companies citing this as one of the reasons they did not succeed. As we learned in episode 49 hiring the wrong people is a common contributor to businesses going under. How can you avoid hiring mistakes? It starts with having a hiring plan. By having a plan you will give yourself time to find the...

The CB Insights tech market intelligence platform analysed why 110 Tech Companies failed. The leading cause of failure was that they ran out of money. The second most common cause of failure was that there was no demand for the product or service. How can you avoid spending hours and money developing your business only to find that no one, or at least not enough people, wants your product or servi...

Episode 49: How to avoid the 7 most common mistakes that lead to startup failures. When studying serious accidents or incidents it is noted that there is a chain of events that lead up to the ultimate tragedy. After spending hours looking at startups that have failed, I found was firms that went under usually had at least three or more of the following characteristics. · They scaled up too fast ·...

While we may not all be aspiring to be a multi-billion business the fundamental drivers of growth are the same whether we are aiming for $100,000 turnover life style business, or as in the case of Delivery Hero a $300 billion corporation. You start from nothing and scale up. In this episode I will share the observations of Delivery Hero’s CEO Niklas Ostberg when he talked with McKinsey & Compa...

Three ways to sell value in B2B Markets published in MITSloan Management Review. Authors Joona Keranen, Harri Terho and Anita Saurama. Do you want to boost your margins and competitiveness? Of course, you do. The authors claim that value-based selling (VBS) can deliver that boost but you need to move beyond the one size fits all approach commonly used today. In today’s business environment where c...

The once or twice a year performance review is a staple of many companies both large and small. Usually, it is handled poorly or avoided completely. Even those managers who are strong advocates of appraisals often are poor in execution. Sometimes it is treated as a tick the box exercise with little value to the employee. Then the review is filed away and not look at again until it is time for the...

In November 2021, the company (GE) said it would spin off its last remaining three business divisions – aviation, healthcare and power – into separate publicly traded companies. GE Announcement If you read business articles from the 1990’s to early 2000’s it is likely they will cite GE as an example of a highly successful, well managed business. Yet today, slightly more than decade later it is a s...

Based on How Collaboration Needs Change from Mind to Marketplace. Jill E Perry-Smith MIT Sloan Management Review ​ Link to article: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/how-collaboration-needs-change-from-mind-to-marketplace/ If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.” – Reid Garrett Hoffman It can take a long time from initial concept to final produc...

(Based on article of the same name published in HBR Nov-Dec 21 issue. Authors: Cyril Bouquet, Jean-Louis Barsoux and Michael Wade) Link to article: https://hbr.org/2021/11/stop-sabotaging-your-ability-to-innovate There’s a way to do it better; find it Thomas Edison Innovators can be their own worst enemies. Confidence optimism, traits that are important for innovation can derail a project when tak...

Episode 41 Need quick results? Use Agility Hacks. ​ (Based on an article by Amy C Edmondson and Ranjay Gultai of Harvard Business School published in HBR November – December 2021) Link to article https://hbr.org/2021/11/agility-hacks Speed Agility and Responsiveness are the keys to future success Anita Roddick Some business processes are well suited to structure and bureaucratic systems. Although...

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work Thomas A. Edison We know that most initiatives fail, and that failure is commonly a failure of execution. The steps needed to execute are well known, yet companies, individuals, charitable institutions, governments often fail at the execution stage. Why should that be? Some ideas: We fail to face up the subject of prioritization. Prior...

Without execution, 'vision' is just another word for hallucination. Mark Hurd Working longer hours in not a practical solution for most of us. Here are four sustainable ways to improve your execution skills. ​ Be clear and methodical Avoid the temptation to jump into activities and get started before you get organized, create a plan, or make sure what you are doing is aligned with the company stra...

I may walk slowly but I never walk backwards Abraham Lincoln As the old saying goes – when the going gets tough, the tough get going. There will be times when executing your business plans seems an insurmountable challenge. It’s not but it can seem that way sometimes. Remember setbacks are inevitable, defeat is not. You need to be proactive, keep the mood positive, calm your team when needed, rema...

Play to your strengths – they are your greatest asset Wendy Anderson Nothing happens without people and unless you are a solo practitioner you will be working with others as you launch your business. Your partners, employees, backers are not perfect, and it is your role as the leader of your business to keep the team together and provide an environment where they can perform at their best. ​ An ar...

Episode 35 Entrepreneurs often overlook key parts of their financial plan. What’s missing from your plan? Some elements of a financial plan should be obvious to every entrepreneur. Sales, Costs of production, Gross Margin, Overheads etc. But some cash intensive demands are often overlooked, especially by first time entrepreneurs who do not have a finance background. The objectives of your financia...

Episode 34 Does your financial plan make sense? How to use KPIs to be sure Key performance indicators of KPIs are an excellent tool for assessing your financial plan and for tracking your business’s performance. Some KPIs are common to most businesses, some will be more focused on your industry and some maybe specific to your business. These are the crucial metrics for your business. Potential inv...

Episode 33 Developing your financial plan – the heart of your pitch deck. ​ Some experts suggest that potential investors will spend over 30% of their time evaluating the financial page of your pitch deck. As a typical pitch deck is 15 to 20 pages long, you will understand that the numbers get a disproportionate amount of attention. It’s probably only secondary in importance to your executive summ...