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Winning the Fraud and Cybersecurity Race: A Go-to-Market Blueprint for Competitive Edge
Fraud and cybercrime have become a systemic, trillion-dollar drag on the global economy—but the fight to turn the curve is more than a market opportunity.
Over the past few years, I have worked alongside cybersecurity and fraud-management teams in government, banking, and payments, and nothing is more satisfying than seeing a new solution stop a romance scam or prevent a pensioner from losing their life savings.
#1 Way to Innovate: Execute
Thu, Jul 5, 2012 — As business leaders, we’re seduced into believing that innovation is the key to competitive advantage. How could anyone argue that an industry-changing product wouldn’t be a company’s ticket to leadership and success? Well, Jim Collins and Morten Hansen make a compelling and empirically-grounded counter argument in “Great By Choice”. Their 10X companies (those with substantially greater long term performance) are actually less innovative than their more innovative but less successful counterparts. Ultimately, it’s the company that “innovates” incrementally that is better prepared (and productively paranoid) that wins the day. The Cambridge Group has written fairly extensively on innovation. In their book “How Companies Win” Kash and Calhoun start with a compelling definition: “Innovation is finding unsatisfied profitable demand, then fulfilling it.” They go on to describe dimensions of Total Innovation: Invention New Product Innovation Product Enhancement Innovation Commercial (non-product) Innovation Operational Innovation Business Model Innovation
Rising Above Organic Growth
Sat, May 5, 2012 — A successful small to medium size business often runs the risk of feeling “too comfortable." Even though revenue is coming in, your customers like you, and your sales force is calling on customers regularly, you aren’t seeing the growth you are looking for. This lack of desired growth may be a result of new competitors, new products or services in the market, or that the market itself is growing stagnant. Get Outside Your Comfort Zone If any or all of these things are happening it should cause you to take a hard look at your business and consider going out of your comfort zone to continue to grow. It may be time to consider looking for new markets for your product. If you've grown comfortable selling to one or a few vertical markets, going beyond them may cause fundamental changes in your company. You may have to learn new industries, call on different kinds of buyers, and maybe have to recruit new sales people with knowledge of this new category. Market Expansion Most of all, you will have to take a hard look at your business and decide what kinds of problems you can be solving for new and different companies. Really getting into the guts of your business and looking beyond the obvious answers can sometimes be a painful exercise. You may be required to change the culture of your company in order to accommodate this new market opportunity that you have uncovered. But, the growth that comes with it is definitely worth the effort.
Growth Opportunity: The Demand Chain
Mon, Mar 19, 2012 — Efficiency Only Goes So Far The last ten years of American business have been focused on integrating and perfecting operational efficiencies through the perfection and active management of the Supply Chain. For the last couple of years of economic turmoil, many companies have almost exclusively focused on supply chain efficiencies as a strategy for survival. Now the challenge is taking the expertise and company culture focused on linear thinking and introspection of the supply chain and start growing again.
The Challenges of Introducing New Medical Technologies
Mon, Jan 30, 2012 —
DRIVE: What Motivates Millennials?
Sat, Nov 26, 2011 — Recently, I spent a week working on a project about 90 minutes away and decided to make my commuting time "profitable" be listening to an audio book. Since I was driving, I chose "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us" by Daniel Pink. It was an inspired choice. It is especially relevant to those of us who work with today’s “Millennial” generation and since, in addition to my work as a Chief Outsider, I also teach an undergraduate course at Rutgers University, its message really resonated with me. Pink shares lessons from four decades of scientific research on human motivation. He explores what science knows about the subject and compares it with what business does — and does not do. He examines the three elements of true motivation — autonomy, mastery, and purpose — and offers simple ideas for putting these concepts into action.
Four Must-Have Strategists Every CEO Needs
Sun, May 8, 2011 — Every CEO has the responsibility to set the vision and make certain the strategies to address this vision are created and implemented. The CEO must determine what resource options are best suited to help develop and implement the various strategies and budget accordingly.
CEOs: Getting Business "From Here to There"
Sun, Sep 12, 2010 — I spent part of last month enjoying and being "filled" at the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit. One of my favorite concepts was something so simple and yet so rich that I can't stop thinking about it: the idea that leadership is all about getting from HERE to THERE. Bill Hybels tee'd up the notion. And then soon after, Jim Collins built upon it in his "How the Mighty Fall" discussion.