Disruption

  This week my copy of "Big Bang Disruption" arrived.  Downes and Nunes argue that "Strategy in the Age of Devastating Innovation" has changed irrevocably, that Michael Porter's three generic strategies (low cost, premium offering, niche) have been superseded with a new model.  Specifically, an "undisciplined" (Downes/Nunes word) approach that attempts to compete on all strategic dimensions at once, with better, cheaper and customized, provides a much better model for success in today's new world.

I work with people who are moving aggressively to help our customers understand how process, content and work flow can be managed more efficiently in this new world.  Are we (am I?) as agile as we need to be?  How do I insure I am well placed to add the kind of value that will improve my own returns on time and other resources, to insure the best is available for my little girls and others I care about?

Good questions.  More to follow...

Do Elections Matter?

  So many citizens in democracies around the world don't come to the polls.  The USA has a terrible record.  One would think elections don't matter... Winston Churchill called Democracy "the worst form of government known to man..."

This past election day, the Democratic party swept statewide offices in Virginia.  A few weeks before the election, with a 12 point percentage lead according to the polls, Terry McAuliffe began admitting he wanted to tighten laws against right to bear arms.  Terry's lead faded... Virginia believes in right to bear.

But Terry won anyway.  So did Ralph Northam for Lt Governor.  And Mark Herring for Attorney General.  This past week Jennifer Wexton beat John Whitbeck to claim Mark Herring's State Senate seat.  And John Whitbeck led the  committee to select the form that the 10th Congressional District will use to select its candidate to run for Frank Wolf's seat (Frank announced he would retire after this term).

Frank's seat isn't a safe Congressional seat... although he made it appear to be one since winning the seat in 1982.  We expect he will endorse Barbara Comstock, a former staffer who serves in the Virginia State Senate (and who attended Whitbeck's committee meeting earlier this week).  Barbara had that meeting well orchestrated...

A canvass at ten locations in April will serve prelude to a GOP convention to select the candidate in May.  Any bets on who will win the nomination?  But the more important question:  who will win the election against the Democratic opponent?  I should mention that Winston Churchill completed the statement above with the words, "... except for every other type."

Enjoy work?

  One of the more entertaining (and useful) speeches in years from a senior exec in a bureaucracy above me... asserted that "work is work.  If it was fun, it wouldn't be called work.  Get over it... there are things I require from you," etc.

Which is a useful frame of reference for many of us, who find our day to day toils baths of minutia, which we conquer with very little apparent resulting improvement of our little world (much less a wider world).  There was a time in my life when I was responsible for a few hundred people... and contemplated responsibility for many more.  I have often pondered what activities a business leader/manager can engage to improve organizational effectiveness.

Every organization has its nuances.  People respond in varying fashion to leadership prompting, whether carrot or stick.  So I was intrigued recently to read a Wall Street Journal article suggesting that small acts of kindness among workers improved recipients' affection for the workplace in general and even resulted in improved efficiency.

So it would seem that an analytic mind that understands key drivers to organizational success and methods for measuring said drivers so communication and evaluation systems can be engaged ... may actually be less helpful than nourishing a "pay it forward" attitude.

Go figure!  Of course, an organization that is headed the wrong direction may profit little from efficiency therein.  More next time... be nice!

Zephyr Two

  My writing doesn't reflect some new wave of technical innovation... and I was never a "board surfer," in any event.  If anything, my thoughts here include a review of materials that, based on my experience, provide a new perspective or innovative implementation approach.

I am more of a body surfer... or, perhaps more extensively, a triathlete.  When I contemplate jumping in a pool (or open water, for that matter), there is always a period of adjustment.  A lap or hundred yards where my body is growing accustomed to the temperature, when my joints are warming up and when my cardiovascular system is adjusting to a faster pace of activity.

As a runner, I don't recall feeling the proverbial second wind.  But as a swimmer, almost every time I get in the water, a short while after beginning my work-out, I feel my body settle in, find a groove... when suddenly, the currents are at my back and I am moving efficiently, comfortably, through the water.  Not a second wind... call it "zephyr two."

Thanks for reading.  Follow my tweets at "godston6" ...

Writing engages 100 brains

  According to James Altucher, one of my favorite tweeter/bloggers, writing is great for you because it engages your brain (causing your conscious reasoning capability to multiply).  While I haven't forwarded this particular Altucher blog (because the intro is more outrageous than usual and the only white guy who could get away with those statements would be Herr James himself), I thought it was one of the best packages of advice I've read in the New Year.

I read lots of advice when the New Year dawns, so that statement means something.

Am hoping you will visit my blog.  And subscribe to my tweets.  I promise I will be entertaining and hopefully helpful.

See you next time!

Priorities

  Should the nation eliminate chem-capable weapons in Syria, forge forth with Obama-care or cut budgets to sequestration targets?  Shall we repeal Obama-care, and if so, how? 

The first part of these questions:  Shall we?  Key policy questions that drive to the kind of people we are and how we feel the world should approach problems and opportunities. 

But the second:  if so, how?  I can help you with that efficiency challenge.  Yes, "Shall we" questions are very important to me.  My opinions are well considered (when enacted, result in good things!)...

But "if so, how," is where I earn my living.  Not writing reports.  But making it so.  Clinger-Cohen.  IC ITE.  And more practical, more immediate also. 

But the time has come to examine personal "shall we's" for tomorrow.  Then consider the "if so, how's."  Onward.  Upward.

Syrian Strike

  In response to an alleged chemical weapons attack from Syria's Assad Regime,  President Obama announced yesterday he plans a "limited, narrow" attack against Syria.  Apparently he will not seek UN Security Council validation or a resolution from the US Congress.

My intent here is to influence as well as inform.  This attack targeted non-combatants in rebel controlled regions of Syria, evidently killing well over a thousand men, women and children.  The attack demonstrates Syria has the capability and will to use whatever weapons (however atrocious) it can produce.  Our questions for the next few days:  Should the US attack Syria and if so, why?  How should we attack Syria and the accompanying question: what should US goals be for such at attack?

Taking a considered view on our democracy, what should the procedural requirements be for a US President to employ the formidable firepower of the US government on another country?  Should we seek international consensus for such attack also, and if so, how? What are the moral imperatives for such an attack (and for abstaining from the attack)?  There are, of course, Constitutional and legal perspectives on the process, but the most vital question to consider is this:  given the world and the US government today, what should the US President decide and how should he implement the decision?

The first response answer is this:  the US must eliminate Syrian ability to launch successful attacks on its citizenry, US allies in the region and the US itself.  We must do so because we can do so.  Larger questions such as whether we seek to overthrow the Assad regime at this point and to what extent attacks target existing military equipment and associated production facilities, avoiding innocent loss of life, are considerations for selecting US targeting approach, weapon selection and strike delivery.

The most important question:  where are Syrian weapon systems implicated in and capable of these attacks?  Important related questions are where and how were these systems built and how did all the components for the systems and ammunition arrive in Syria?  But are we truly ready for such follow-on questions?  Although nearly 50% of US citizens favor an attack on Syria, we are weary of war:  more than one presidential term ago, we elected Barack Obama to extricate US Forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, not find us a new war (or wars) to conduct.

Eighty (80!)% of US citizens say President Obama should seek Congressional support for such an attack (according to a poll NBC News commissioned, quoted also above).  Intriguing and important fact.  Get back to Washington, Congressman (and woman, Senators included)!  Your country needs you and it doesn't appear the President plans to ask for your opinion...