You don’t fatten a pig by weighing it

You don’t fatten a pig by weighing it

This is such a great truism which was brought to mind recently when I attended a meeting about branding and image. There appeared to be an idea that with the right branding and imagery the organization can improve its customer focus.  

The two are related, but the former doesn’t lead to the latter!

What struck me was that the meeting didn’t include any customer representation and focused solely on how the organization described and presented itself rather than the actual process of engaging customers.

A long time ago someone explained to be the difference between the following phrases.

Can I help you? – This is a ‘closed’ question.  If asked this a customer can have only one logical response YES or NO. These YES/NO questions are the classic staple of automated call centers everywhere and perhaps the least favorite of customers.

How can I help you? – This is an ‘open’ question and invites a response. It is engaging and flexible and perhaps a favorite since it is gives access to endless possibilities and is about YOU the customer.

I’m here to help – This is a ‘job description’. It could be applied to anything from nursing to engineering.

When organizations say they are customer focused do they mean the customer influences the origination (what is does, how it does it) or is it about the organization convincing the customer with the right branding and image that they really care?

There is a difference: The first is about listening to change the organization to suit the customer. The other is about influencing the customer to choose the organization.

Beware! Asking How can I help you? is likely to create expectation and obligation. If you are truly customer focused this is where you can outperform your competition who are less flexible. However if, like an automated call center, you only have limited options you may be setting yourself and your customer for disappointment: Computer says NO!

Tim Rogers

Founder ciChange

timrogers@ciChange.org

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/CI-Change-4301853

ciChange seminar and networking events for 2013 sponsored by Total Solutions Group http://www.tsgi.co/

Change and Innovation

We are planning for the next ciChange event October 10^th 2013, to be on the subject of Change and Innovation. Who do you think are the best innovators in the Channel Islands? If we brought a speaker over from the UK to talk about Innovation which speaker or what aspect would you be most interested in?

You can add comments to our Blog

Or email me at timhjrogers@cichange.org

Or leave a comment on our Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/ciChange

Tim Rogers

Founder ciChange

timrogers@ciChange.org

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/CI-Change-4301853

ciChange seminar and networking events for 2013 sponsored by Total Solutions Group http://www.tsgi.co/

Promises that don’t need to deliver, to have an affect!

Promises that don’t need to deliver, to have an affect!

The Hawthorne effect is a form of reactivity whereby people improve or modify an aspect of their behaviour simply in response to the fact that they know they are being studied and not in response to any particular experimental manipulation.

I have been in a number of organisations where great plans and bold promises are made but the implementation falters and the promises are not kept. The accepted wisdom is that to promise but fail to deliver will have more of a negative impact on the people than to have not made any promises in the first case, but is that true?

The mantra is under promise and over deliver, but sometimes the ‘hope value’ of change is enough to satisfy the immediate needs of many staff. It isn’t so important that anything has changed, but that it might or that people believe it might is sometimes enough.

I have seen this first hand in an organisation which following a survey promised to implement a series of initiatives to address the problems surfaced. There were lots of meetings. There were lots of notes. There were lots of promises. But six months later I could not list any significant product or outcome which had emerged from the process, except that the process itself (listing to people) had created a belief that things had changed!

This is not a recommended strategy, but rather like the story of the emperor having no clothes, it does tell us something about style over substance and the willingness of people to believe an idea without it having to be substantially true.

My advice would be as follows..

1.       Don’t do any survey unless you are prepared to act on the results.

2.       Don’t underestimate the importance of the process as well as the outcome.

3.       Notwithstanding the above, don’t rely on a good process to trump a poor outcome.

4.       Use structure (who, what, when, where, how, why) to communicate and monitor change.

5.       Be able to point to significant products or outcomes to encourage and demonstrate success.

                                                                                                                                                                                        

For more information

The Hawthorne effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect

The Emperor’s clothes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_emperor%27s_new_clothes

Tim Rogers

Founder ciChange

timrogers@ciChange.org

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/CI-Change-4301853

ciChange seminar and networking events for 2013 sponsored by Total Solutions Group http://www.tsgi.co/

Cloud computing claims it's ready to take over as XP retires. But should it?

Cloud computing claims it's ready to take over as XP retires. But should it?

Phill Rogers writes about forced change and an opportunity to re-think…

For the first time since Y2K, businesses are fast approaching another unavoidable decision point. Nobody likes being forced into something. But with the retirement of XP now clearly within sight, a decision of what to do next is absolutely inescapable as more than 1 in 3 PCs in use are still running the ageing but soon to be unsupported operating system.

In this “post-PC era” a number of disruptive technologies have conspired to offer real change from the traditional upgrade treadmill. A new imperative for green & economic solutions. Faster & more reliable Internet & mobile networks. Fast, cheap, low-power processors. Virtualization and an abundance of mature, advanced, open source software.

While the thin-client* computing model has been around under different names since the dawn of the main frame, today's implementations can immerse the user in an experience better than the PCs they're migrating from despite using a device barely bigger than a thumb.

So why not embrace this opportunity by investing a little of your time to seriously consider how you can make the most of many years worth of technological advances during this looming transition period.

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin_client

Find out more here: http://www.NorthQuayIT.com/events

Phill Rogers July 2013

Technology is a major component of change and ciChange has been talking to an Social Psychologist working for Proctor and Gamble about Adoption by Design. Making technology (and change) easy to adopt and therefore overcoming many of the barriers to change. We hope to talk more about this in our autumn seminar.

Tim Rogers

Founder ciChange

timrogers@ciChange.org

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/CI-Change-4301853

ciChange seminar and networking events for 2013 sponsored by Total Solutions Group http://www.tsgi.co/

What can we learn from pigeon poo?

What can we learn from pigeon poo?

The statue of Abraham Lincoln is being worn away due to constant scrubbing to clean off the pigeon poo. The pigeons were there because of the spiders, and they were there because of the midges and they were there because of the lights at dusk. If the lights were switch on one hour after dust the statue of Abraham Lincoln would not be worn away.

The story illustrates why it is important to dig deeper, to ask why, perhaps many times to get to the source of issues. We instinctively know that finding the source of something is key to gaining control or power and yet our attention is often focussed on the symptoms. Moreover a focus on what we perceive (with all the prejudices and bais that comes with that) and stereotypes, can blind us to what is true but ostensible hidden.

If a project isn’t going right then deviations of time, budget and specification are obvious tell-tale signs, but they are seldom the core of the problem. You might question, More time to do what?  More money to buy what? More detail to achieve what? The answers to these questions may set you on the right path.

I recollect a project where everything seemed to be going on-time, on-budget and to-specification when it suddenly occurred to the Project Manager that the separate components of the project didn’t fit together. Each component looked ok in isolation but when pulled together it was apparent that the outcome wasn’t going to meet the agreed goals.  

Many businesses suffer a silo approach to quality where each component or process is honed to perfection but having the best wheels, the best engine and the best body-work doesn’t necessarily make the best car!

The statue of Abraham Lincoln, the business with silos of perfection and the project whose components don’t fit are all lessons in the need to balance the big picture with important detail.

7 Top Tips

Big Picture

1.       Be clear about who the customer/consumer is, who is the arbiter of what is right or wrong?

2.       If unsure about who the customer is, ask who is providing the money?

3.       Be clear on the customers’ needs: why do they want what it?

4.       Be clear on the intended outcome: preserve statue; successful project; popular car.

Important Detail

5.       Be prepared to dig a little deeper to understand the critical success factors.

6.       Don’t forget to involve the technicians to check what is intended is actually possible.

7.       Remember that the solution must be suitable, feasible and acceptable.

Tim Rogers

Founder ciChange

timrogers@ciChange.org

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/CI-Change-4301853

ciChange seminar and networking events for 2013 sponsored by Total Solutions Group http://www.tsgi.co/