Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
WE’RE LIVING AND conducting business in a time of unprecedented technological revolution, with exponential change happening at breakneck speeds. So how do we as business leaders stay savvy in a changing environment, and more importantly, lead our organizations with confidence into the future?
Wouldn’t it be great if we could put on some magical glasses with lenses that allowed us to see the whole new picture of business as it is unfolding before us? I believe that in any industry — and particularly those dominated by artificial intelligence, machine learning and digital interconnection — leaders can be best equipped by drawing metaphorical insights from an age-old machine: the agile human body. The following are five ways you can mimic the human body and its many ecosystems to inform and guide your strategic business decisions.
Like the human body where connections between our brain, our nerves and organs are paramount to survival, businesses today need to prioritize fluid connection points in their business. Before the connected, digital revolution, the physical office space was one of the most important aspects of the design of an organization. It was the conduit for how and where information was shared, stored and collaborated on. Today, the most important buildout in your organization is the digital systems that will be connecting all projects and people. Like a central nervous system, digital systems inform critical aspect of our business, and from it flow communication, collaboration, innovation, performance, operations, product design and much more. Employees will continue to work in much more flexible ways, and from mobile devices everywhere.
Additionally, the scope of people that organizations need, are listening to or communicating with will continue to become larger and more global. Beyond hardware and software for the basic running of the organization, the spinal cord of our day includes everything from customer-relationship management systems to social media, cloud-based platforms and mobile accessibility. The design (or redesign) of these connected systems is one of the most important considerations for leaders today.
When everything is connected like it is today, research and practice have proven how much better it is to have people working together rather than separately. The implications of this insight can rearrange your physical office space or the organizational design beyond silos. Innovation, performance, speed of response to customers and more depend upon the idea of a series of organ systems working together to keep the whole body — your organization — functioning properly. Collaborative space and software, openness to crowdsourcing and evaluating, listening and learning are all elements of this focus on teams, rather than individual employees.
The speed at which products or services can become obsolete can now be measured in weeks, not years. The companies that are listening intently to customers and responding quickly and strategically are leaving in the dust organizations that do not have eyes and ears tuned in. This applies to sales, marketing, reputation management, customer experience, product design and much more. It’s no longer unusual for a company to crowdsource new-product ideas.
As an example, take the fashion industry. At a forward-thinking clothing company, designers can post a number of ideas for a new dress, and their online fans pick out the ones they like best. Then the company narrows down the choices and the online audience votes on which ones they like the most. The organization makes the final dress choices available for purchase, with different fabric choices. Once customers order, the company takes a digital scan of their body remotely and custom-makes the dress to fit exact specifications. In this case, two-way communication with the fan base is implemented every step of the way.
Interconnectivity has a few downsides, one of the most dangerous of which is cybersecurity. This means that you need to have an immune system in place that is as effective as the human body is at fighting off so many intruders.
I recently heard about a local company that was compromised. While the CEO was on vacation, the receptionist unknowingly responded to a phishing e-mail, sharing her passcode with intruders. When this executive received the phone call about what happened, all he could picture were client tax I.D. numbers, financial statements, personal information and credit cards leaking out beyond their company. Fortunately, he had a cybersecurity firm in place to mitigate the damage and negotiate the return of information. Cybersecurity is a top of the house issue today, so take it extremely seriously.
One of the great differences between machines and living human beings is the unbelievable capacities of the human brain, which allows the body to improvise and adapt to the world around it. Ten or 20 years ago, businesses had the luxury of developing their strategies every year or so, then standardizing business practices and workflows that would carry them through until the strategy was revisited. I worked with one client whose strategic plan notebook weighed eight pounds after its completion. More to the point, it was never looked at again.
With the speed of change today, interconnectivity and competition of new proportions, brain function-like innovation, adaptability, experimentation with new products and services, is mission critical. Competitive advantage is often temporary at best and businesses today need to be dynamically evaluating their strategy to stay ahead of the curve. This requires a new role for strategy in your business. Rather than relegating strategy to a document or binder on the shelf, it needs to be an ongoing discussion backed by perpetual new information, ideas, feedback and outcomes.
The human body and its various systems offer a useful lens into so many aspects of our businesses today that can offer actionable insights for organizations to stay relevant and successful.
