Business processes are collections of  structured activities and tasks that produce a specific product/service for your customer(s); they encapsulate ‘WHAT you do’ and ‘HOW you do it’.

Does my Process look big in this?

photo credit: bogenfreund

Over time, these processes progressively become bloated, overweight, and unfit (for purpose).

The focus and effectiveness of your processes shapes your business: it determines your bottom-line costs, impacts the top-line revenue and, ultimately, the profit (or loss) made by your company. But there is much more to it than that.

Looking back, we began this series with the article:

“Still focussing on your products? You’re doomed to extinction”.

Organisations that only focus on improving processes from an internal perspective could also face the same fate as the dinosaurs – in all likelihood, they are still shooting wide of the mark when it comes to meeting the needs of the customer.

“We know our customers, and give them want they want”

If I was to ask you – what percentage of your activities add value to the customer, you would probably say 60-80%, right?  You would probably be surprised to find out that if I ask your customers the same question about those same activities, they would answer that only 20-40% of what you did was valuable to them.  This gaping chasm between the customers’ perception and your organisations perception is the direct result of your approach to improving internal process efficiencies with insufficient focus on the customer.

“Outside-in” is the new “inside-out”

The 21st century organisation must move beyond the “inside-out” thinking of manufacturing-based process approaches that seek to ‘squeeze the last drops’ of efficiency out of current ways of working. They must adopt “outside-in” thinking and methods that drive change from the external customer perspective. This external perspective is at the heart of a customer centric approach that aligns organisational structure, information and processes, to deliver products and services to both internal and external customers in the most direct and agile way.

Organisations that continue to evolve from the “inside-out” are simply building a more efficient version of the existing ways of working – further entrenching today’s complexities and poor practice.  The “outside-in”, customer-centric approach, demands that organisations re-evaluate everything that they do – identifying  simpler ways to serve the customer in ways that deliver a relevant, convenient and enjoyable experience.

But we like things the way they are!

Many organisations – and the people within them – are intrinsically resistant to change. Often, external impetus from impartial independent consultants is needed to help organisations to unearth deeply embedded inefficiencies and behaviours. Providing organisations with the necessary support, tools and techniques, external consultants can ensure that people in your company are enabled and motivated to tackle these challenges collaboratively, allowing them to model best practice themselves. By ‘embedding’ these behaviours and techniques within your organisation, customer-centricity becomes ‘business as usual’ (BAU) – enabling your team to innovate and deliver further sustainable change into the business, without continued assistance from external consultants.

Depending on the particular organisation, ‘quick wins’ can usually be identified and implemented well in advance of any mid-term/long-term strategic business changes.

So – you seek the Holy Grail?

Recent experience with a number of clients has shown that building a customer centric ethos and architecture into the heart of your business processes will improve the ultimate business benefit derived from any business change.

Indeed, by placing the customer at the centre of everything you do, it is feasible – almost inevitable – that you will achieve the ‘holy grail’ of bottom-line cost savings, as well as top-line revenue increases. By focussing on delivering these successful outcomes, organisations find that customer-centric business change programmes quickly pay for themselves.

The chasm I mentioned earlier – between what you think and what your customers think – is quiet shocking.  At the same time though, it represents a fabulous opportunity to bridge that gap by re-alligning your processes around what your customers really want from you.

So – what do you seek – do you know what customer centric processes look like? Do you know how to gain insight into what your customers really want?

And what are you going to do to avoid being “cast into the Gorge of Eternal Peril”?!

I am very pleased to say that Unleashing the Tiger was recently syndicated by Customer Think – a Thought Leadership site that covers: customer-centric business management, Customer Relationship Management, Customer Experience Management and Social Business.

photo credit: psd

CustomerThink is a global community of business leaders striving to create profitable customer-centric enterprises.

Each month, the site reaches 200,000 subscribers and visitors from 200 countries – serving over 80,000 visitors per month!

Still focussing on your products? You’re doomed to extinction (Customer-Centricity Part 1 of 6) is the first post to be syndicated.

Without people, organisations simply do not exist. People form the cornerstones and the foundations of your business, creating your products, delivering your services, serving your customers on a day-to-day basis, and ultimately, delivering shareholder value.

photo credit: Elsie esq.

They are the ‘oil in the machine’.

Except that, in the post-industrial age, most companies can no longer continue to operate successfully on such a mechanistic basis.

In the information age, the best managed customer-centric companies function on a much more fluid, dynamic basis, allowing people to interact more freely, grouping and forming new, ad-hoc team structures organically as and when required.

Dynamic teams deliver great customer value

Organisations that support a dynamic, adaptive culture foster a more creative and satisfying working environment, which in turn enables the development of more diverse internal relationships that can yield great benefits for both the people and the organisation – and more importantly for the customer.

This applies to most types of businesses and at all levels in those organisations. Dynamic teams can form as part of a formal process – say, for an internal project to implement a new computer system, or informally – say, around the desire of the employees to improve the customer service they provide, or to enhance and improve ways of working.

For the moment, we will leave aside the special case of ‘project teams’ and focus on the more informal teams.  Project teams will be examined later in another post.

Front-line staff have better customer insight than management

People working at the ‘coalface’ day-in and day-out develop a tremendous insight into:

• what customers actually want
• where the real problems are – as opposed to the problems identified through the collection of inappropriate metrics
• what works and what doesn’t work
• which approaches (ways of working) are better/easier/more efficient/more enjoyable
• how to fix situations when things go wrong

Listen to the Voice of the Employee – and reap the rewards

Yet all too often, these people do not have a voice – risk-averse ‘management’ and the widespread acceptance of the status-quo keeps them working in the same tired patterns that fail to deliver the excellent customer experience needed to keep customers happy and engaged – and buying.

Front-line employees can pool their collective experience to identify common problem trends, explore different approaches for resolving them and make recommendations regarding potential solutions. Front-line employees are also in a great position to spot niche-trends (opportunities) in customer needs.

Agile organisations provide better customer service

The agile organisation that can respond quickly to these surfaced needs by developing new features, products and services, is able to provide a superior customer service whilst generating additional revenue, and retaining more customers.

Enabling teams to drive customer-focussed change makes everyone a winner

Management should therefore be supportive of these self-forming teams – perhaps encouraging people who show interest and potential to take the initiative to start things off. In a shop-floor environment for example, this might extend to giving participants extra time (and providing refreshments) for a working lunch.

Providing an environment where employees are listened to, where they feel safe to raise new ideas and where some of those ideas can be implemented can benefit the customer, the employees and the company alike.

Inspiring, supporting and enabling your staff to make ‘grass-roots’ changes to better serve the customer ultimately provides a win-win-win situation.

What do you think? What other elements of your Customer-centric strategy can your people play a part in?

Buying in the services of an external consulting firm is a scary business for company executives. How do you really know what you will get? Will they deliver lasting value to your business? Will they enhance your reputation and career internally, or will you suffer the same fate as the avian assassin in the ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’:

photo credit: Nanagyei

Ah! well-a-day! what evil looks
Had I from old and young!
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung.
(Samuel Taylor Coleridge)

Business executives therefore have every right to be careful when selecting the right consultant.  Whilst doing so though, they also have a responsibility to take ownership of what happens both during and after the consulting engagement.  Simply ‘bringing in the consultants’ and leaving them to get on with the job in isolation is a recipe for failure.

I love this anecdote about the value that can be gained from employing a good business consultant.  I’ll let the story speak for itself.

A Consultants Anecdote – The Cookery Book Game

The Moral of the Story

A good consultant listens to the customer more than they talk.  We were given two ears and one mouth; therefore we should use them in that ratio.

This consultant provided the best possible service to that he could that day.  Not through ignorance or laziness. Rather through the insight developed during the day:

• By listening from the outset, Argyris would have gained an understanding of his clients.
• By letting the client describe the problem in their own terms, the entire group gained an understanding of the problem.
• By not offering solutions, Argyris encouraged exploration and debate.
• By abstaining from the debate, Argyris ensured that the group took ownership of articulating and defining the current problem.
• By taking the action he finally did – Argyris gives us a great punch-line and anecdote.

Key Consultancy take-away

The key consultancy skill Argyris demonstrated here was to recognise that the group already had everything they needed in the room to make the business change – i.e. themselves (and a flip-chart).  He realised that empowering them to solve their own problems would ultimately provide the longer term benefits they were seeking.

The value he provided that day was based on him keeping his mouth shut!

How inappropriate would it have been to try to justify his consulting fee by taking control of the air-time – what would have been achieved for his customer?

What do you think – was the consulting fee charged, money well spent?

Do you have any consulting ‘shaggy dog’ stories to share?

Inspirational quotes often strike a chord deep within us and can serve to encourage us through a particular phase in our life. The quote below has been with me throughout my career, and sums up my approach to life.

photo credit: Johan Larsson

Despite its attribution to the Zen Masters, it would appear that a teacher and Unitarian minister called Lawrence Pearsall Jacks (AKA L. P. Jacks) wrote it in the 1930′s (not the Pulitzer Prize winner, James A. Michener as widely believed).

So – whilst I was dissapointed when I realised it was not a quote from an old Zen text, the intention remains the same, and still sums up my approach to life.

What quote(s) has inspired you – and why?

Please share your thoughts by commenting below!

The George Lucas Star Wars franchise started in 1977 and is still sweeping the planet nearly 35 years later.  Like most pop/cultural phenomenon’s, the Star Wars series has spawned many memorable quotes.  This article explores how Yoda’s wisdom can be applied to everyday life – on planet earth.

photo credit: Orange_Beard

“No! Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try.”
This is perhaps the best known of Yoda’s sayings.  We learn to say “try” when we are very young.  As adults, we continue to say we will try to do something.  Generally though the reality is, either we will – or we won’t – do it.  As Yoda sagely points out - there really is no “trying” – you will either get up for a run in the morning – or you will not.  Which leads us on to…

“To be Jedi is to face the truth, and choose. Give off light, or darkness, Padawan. Be a candle, or the night, Padawan: but choose!”
As we go through life, we make many decisions from moment to moment – most are inconsequential, though some will have momentous consequences – perhaps even life or death.  In some circumstances, we may do absolutely nothing; we may not recognise It, but  we just made a conscious decision (specifically, to do nothing).

In the previous example, if we do not go for the morning run, it is not because we did not ‘try’ – rather because we actively decided not to!  So – be conscious and mindful of all the decisions that you make – and do not beat yourself up for not doing something, when you positively made the choice that you did! Accept that you made the right decision for you at that point in time.

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”
“Named must your fear be before banish it you can.”
“Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.”
Many negative emotions arise as a result of our fears.  Understanding – and starting to face our fears, allows us to overcome those fears, often the source of our anger and hatred.  A lack of understanding – whether at work or in our relationships, can turn into a fear of that which is unknown.  Our defence against fear and confusion could cause us to start ‘hating’ the situation we find ourselves in – ultimately causing ourselves and those around us to suffer. Facing and overcoming our fear can lead to greater insight and a sense of wellbeing.

“You will find only what you bring in.”
Our lives are full of external stimuli that nourish, guide and educate us.  However, the ‘answers’ provided by others (whether it be Social Media advice, SEO tips, career guidance or a medical prognosis) can only go so far as they are based on an external – i.e. observers – view of reality.  Our own personal view of reality is what counts – we should definitely listen to others – but must ultimately look within ourselves to find the answers that are most appropriate to us.

“Always in motion is the future.”
“Careful you must be when sensing the future, Anakin. The fear of loss is a path to the dark side.”
Time marches on and refuses to stand still. Change is inevitable….an eternal flow from the present to the future, leaving the past in the glow of our tail-lights.
It is all too easy to spend the present time fretting and fearful about what may or may not happen in the future – or what we did in the past – which of course we cannot change.  Be aware that you cannot live in the future or the past.  The only thing you can experience is the present moment – so always endeavour to be present in each moment.  Enjoy or make the most of each and every second – because you will never get it back.

“So certain are you. Always with you it cannot be done. Hear you nothing that I say?”
“You do not believe. That is why you fail.”
Did you not listen to your parents when they were telling you “there is no such word as can’t”?!  Instead of listening to your own negative self-talk, try changing the record (sorry, CD….) to a more positive “How can I achieve this?”  Or are others dragging you down?  Do not listen to them!  Change the people around you!

Get some inspiration – listen to Tony Robbins, Deepak Chopra (I’m seeing him this Saturday in London!) – or seek out inspiration from amazing folks like Srinivas Rao or Bernardo Mendez.

“But when the day comes that even old Yoda does not learn something from his students – then truly, he shall be a teacher no more.”
Every one of us, no matter how close to the ‘top of our game’ we are – can learn from others.  Keep seeking out people to stimulate new ideas, to extend your knowledge base, to enlighten you in new and exciting ways.

As Yoda says, when we stop extending ourselves, we may as well hang up our boots/hat and go home – we will not be remaining at the top of our game for long.  Interestingly, some of our best teachers are often children or the inexperienced – who bring fresh, simple and untainted questions, thoughts, opinions and outlooks to subjects that are otherwise jaded, hackneyed or just plain over-complicated and full of jargon.

“If no mistake have you made, yet losing you are … a different game you should play.”
“No different; only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned.”
“Many truths we cling to, greatly to our own point of view they depend.”
Stuck in a rut, repeating the same thing again and again – and STILL expecting different results?!  Try something different!  Look for another path!  Find an alternative solution! Start having fun mixing things up.

“Honour life by living, Padawan. Killing honours only death: only the dark side.”
This is your life – so Live It!  Do those things you’ve always dreamt of:

• run away and join the circus (my brother did!)
• start that business
• sell up and sail round the world (watch this space!)
• look at what others are doing (Srinivas Rao heading off to Costa Rica for example) and think – I can do that!

If you have a dream – surf the ‘net and find out others with the same dream managed to do it – buy books if necessary (both The 4-Hour Workweek and Sell Up and Sail: Pursue the Dream are on my bookshelf!).  research, plan and Just Do It!

As a minimum, get off the computer, go outside, play with the kids, do some sport, sing, party, have a good time!  The kids will grow up so quickly – and you will grow old so quickly.

What are you waiting for?!  Go!! Start “Livin’ la Vida Loca!”

The plethora of quotable material reflects the wide range of themes cleverly woven into the storylines – themes ranging from the Legends of Arthur, through the Greek tragedies, Roman mythology to the Japanese chambara (or “sword-fighting period drama”) genre of film, television, and theatre.  Chambara is actually a sub-group of the Jidaigeki  genre – presumably the inspiration for the term Jedi.

Religious influences are also apparent in Star Wars – the strongest coming from Taoist philosophy, and also Zen Buddhism.

Organisations that place their products and services at the centre of their corporate thinking face the same fate as the dinosaurs – they are doomed to extinction.  They need to change their culture and behaviours from the very core; to stop pushing products and to start winning customers hearts, minds – and wallet share.

photo credit: williamcho

Unfortunately, many companies are still plodding along with an outdated, and inward-facing view of their business world.  Whilst they continue focussing on themselves, the customer is moving on to develop relationships with companies that value them as individuals and that know just how – and when – to address their needs.

In order to survive (and thrive), 21st century businesses must adopt a more customer-centric business model .  This model should extend to every part of the organisation, from research, product development, marketing, sales, delivery/operations through to customer service.

Customer-centricity provides a personalised experience…

Companies that made the move from mass marketing to segmented marketing during the late 1900′s cannot rest on their laurels – the new rules of engagement dictate a customer-centric approach to doing business; one that fulfils the needs and wants of each individual customer – creating a tailored, personal experience that makes the customer feel:

“Welcomed, Wanted, Remembered, Cared For”

This particular statement encapsulates the behaviours that RitzCarlton Hotels staff use – as well as the renowned customer experience – that those behaviours deliver.

The journey to Customer-centricity…

As part of the journey to building a customer-centric organisation, we need to examine 5 key components or themes that blend together to affect the success – or failure – of a company:

• Customers – ultimately, the customer is why we do what we do – without customers, we have no-one to consume our products or services and no reason to produce or deliver them. Whether we are public sector or private sector, our customers can be internal to the organisation as well as external and the transactions do not necessarily involve the exchange of money.
• People – the foundation and cornerstones of your business, the un-sung heroes that serve your customers on a day-to-day basis, the ‘oil in the machine’.
• Process – what you do and how you do it determines your bottom-line business costs, the the top-line revenue generated and, ultimately, the profit (or loss) made by your company.
• Technology – enables people to process work more efficiently and in ways otherwise not possible; may be used as an enabler or differentiator – or may be the actual product or service offered.  It could also be the millstone round the neck of your employees, preventing them from delivering a ‘breathtaking customer experience’ and causing uneccessary bottlenecks and inefficiences.
• Change – we must understand that nothing we do is perfect, that the landscape we operate within does not stand still.  We must listen to our customers, the competition, the markets, the economy, the regulatory bodies, the legislators.  We must continually adapt and improve just to survive; if we want to be successful, we must constantly innovate and lead in our market space.

Each of these themes is explored in greater detail in the remaining articles in this series.

Q. What does an image of a newborn baby have to do with tigers?
A. More than you might at first imagine.

Sumatran Tiger

Searching through various images of tigers, no matter how awesome, powerful, beautiful, wise or magnificent the photograph of the creature was, none of the images I found resonated with the spirit of what I was trying to capture in this blog.

Obviously I needed to come at this from different angle completely. Instead of thinking in terms of a powerful image (of the ‘tiger’ that we can all become), I worked with the ‘softer’ idea of the ‘latent power’ that we all have within us (that will ultimately allow us to become that ‘tiger’). This approach led me to the image you see here – the iconic, classic black and white ‘Athena-like’ image popularised during the 80’s – the strong male character gently embracing the helpless child.

The circle of life…

The image sums up the essence of the blog in a much more subtle manner than the aggressive wildness of the tiger ever could. The newborn infant being nurtured and protected by the strong, parental hands; holding inside the infinite potential of a new life-force. Tomorrow’s world changing equivalent of Martin Luther King, Ghandi, or Mother Theresa? Or perhaps a great inventor, a breakthrough scientist or doctor, an Aldous Huxley, a Jackson Pollock, or Stephen Hawkins?

Or perhaps ‘just’ your average mother or father, proud, strong, loving and supportive of their equally helpless child. The never ending circle of life, generation after generation.

The nature vs. nurture debate continues…

Going back to the title of this post, Wikipedia informs us that:

“the nature versus nurture debate concerns the relative importance of an individual’s innate qualities (‘nature,’ i.e. nativism, or innatism) versus personal experiences (‘nurture,’ i.e. empiricism or behaviourism) in determining or causing individual differences in physical and behavioural traits.”

We can trace modern use of the phrase ‘Nature versus nurture’ to the English Victorian Francis Galton, who was influenced his cousin Charles Darwin’s book “On the Origin of Species”.

What Shakespeare had to say…

Going further back to the early 1600’s, when the Bard had Prospero say:

“A devil, a born devil, on whose nature, nurture can never stick”
(“The Tempest” Act 4, Scene 1)

he is suggesting that the basic existence of the ‘beast’ (Caliban) could never be influenced by his surroundings; he ultimately ‘reverts to type’ when he reacts based on his instincts.

The nature versus nurture debate has actually been going on since 1582, when Richard Mulcaster wrote his book, “Nature Makes the Boy Toward, and Nurture Sees Him Forward” – giving us a statement that still evokes debate today.  Modern psychologists generally view the question as being rather naive and outdated (a sort of single cause fallacy) – since both factors play such intertwined roles in human development.

Finding our own path…

I happen to think that – in nature – we all have the same access to the same universal (literally, and energetically) building blocks – that is, we have infinite scope to achieve almost anything.  However, the environment, circumstances, people around us and other external influences throughout life, will always nurture the raw materials in infinitely different ways.

Somewhere between these two positions, we must find, shape and follow our own path – ensuring that we enjoy the journey itself, rather than just focussing on the end goal.  Which sounds like the subject of another post to me!

“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.”
- Jack Kerouac

What do you think? Please share your comments below – and share the CommentLuv!

Inside all of us is a raw latent power that is just waiting to be set free. All too often, our own belief systems hold us back, preventing us from achieving our true potential.

photo credit: WTL photos

These negative thought patterns – part of the empirical ego that is shaped and heavily influenced by our parents, teachers and society – are often so deeply instilled in our psyche, that we are unable to see any way of changing.  We become prisoners of own inaction, unwilling to challenge ourselves to try, crippled by our fear of failure.

Worse still, a dread of the disapproval of those around us, the nay-sayers that would shake their heads, tutting, and saying “I told you so”.  All those other crabs in the bucket of life that will grab you as you are about to climb out and escape, pulling you back into the bucket – only to climb all over you as they try to get onwards, upwards and out, themselves.

A number of years before starting to write this blog, I knew what I wanted to write about.  My inspiration comes from many way back in my own life…..

Let me take you back to your childhood…

When we were children, we knew no fear – boldly climbing the flimsiest of trees to the very top, daring each other to do all sorts of crazy things, often with every-increasing risks. As we mature, we wisely learn to avoid these dangers – perhaps reinforced by some cuts, bruises and breaks along the way.

Children are constantly learning and mastering new skills – they are not afraid to get stuck in and make mistakes.  They will often fall flat on their faces – only to pick themselves up, and rush headlong back into what they were trying to do.  They are not self-conscious, or precious about what people think.  With charming naivete they persist until they develop a fragile mastery of the task, proudly announcing to the world how clever they are.

From naivete to mastery…

As time goes on, these initial precarious skills may bloom into excellence and mastery, or wither away through a process of natural selection by the individual child.  To a child it is all the same. Which reminds me of a Zen text that has been with me my entire working career – but that will be the subject of another post.

Somewhere along the way, we lose this childish recklessness that allows us to believe we can do anything – we lose the ability to take on the world in the belief that we can actually win!

Society puts us in a box – and keeps us there…

Of course, modern society needs us to stay in our boxes – our office cubicles, workstations, or position on the production line. Negative feedback from society (or at least the fear of it) is the learned control mechanism that actively discourages us from stepping outside the limits of ‘who we are’ (translation: what society makes us into and labels us as). Who we are becomes the arbitrary career path we find ourselves on, the dead-end job we are stuck in, our roles as fathers/husbands and mothers/wives (more-so the latter in particular).  The hamster wheels of life are what powers industry, what keeps the financial markets flowing – and ensures that those at the top stay at the top – and get richer.  But that will be the subject of yet more posts!

Breaking our programming to set ourselves free…

So – back to our belief systems – if we are able to transcend our empirical ego / programming to the extent that we are able to create a new reality for ourselves, one where we are not afraid to try new things, where we are able to step out from our hamster wheel and become master of our own destiny, then we become free and child-like again – and anything is possible! Even world peace!

The hamster vs. the tiger…

Somehow, when I was choosing a name for this blog, “stepping out of the hamster wheel” did not quite have the right ring about it – hence, “Unleashing the Tiger” was born!

Key themes for Unleashing the Tiger include:

• ‘Realising and leveraging the Potential Within’ – recognising the latent strengths and VALUE within individuals, teams and organisations
• Exploring Social CRM at the congruence of customer centricity, Customer Experience Management (CEM), ecommerce, CRM and ERP
• all things People, Processes and Technology related

Some of the ideas about ego (empirical, or mechanistic vs. trancendent perspectives), are explored in another post on this blog.

The key focus of this blog will be on ‘Realising the Potential Within‘ – recognising the latent strengths and VALUE within individuals, teams and organisations – whilst leveraging effective business processes that maximise the benefits derived from the appropriate use of technology.

photo credit: D Sharon Pruitt

Or to put it another way, looking at how we can all run our businesses and lives more effectively.

One of the themes I will examine, is ‘exploring Social CRM at the congruence of e-commerce, web, CRM & ERP‘ – looking at how social media is changing the ways that businesses engage with their audience and how that impacts each channel / touch-point – from a business process and technology perspective.