Archive for April, 2010

A bad piece of meat will always be a bad piece of meat!

I don’t often go to Tesco to buy real food. Not only because I find it annoying how the people working there always seem to insist on packing the eggs first…and finish with the very heavy bottle of sparkling water….but mainly because I have a Waitrose around the corner (and really why would you go anywhere else?).

Well the other day, being in a hurry, I made an exception and popped into Tesco for some meet and vegetables. Nothing wrong with this meet, I think you’ll agree! I would go as far as saying a nice pair of steaks, and at an amazing price (£5 if I recall correctly)!

Well not so much! Getting ready to start cooking for my brother I opened the package, grabbed the steaks, and there it was, the whole ugly truth!

I will never understand why companies think deceiving customers in this way is a good idea. Yes you have succeeded to flog an item, or if you are a consultant a project…but the truth is a bad piece of meat will always be a bad piece of meat!

I usually put more thought into where I buy my dinner, and the one time I didn’t I ended up having to run for take away. Far from a disaster I agree, especially as I prefer Sushi to steak any day!

However, and on a more serious note, I’m often amazed at the criteria used by an organisation when choosing who to partner with, or who to hire as a supplier or consultant, where the stakes are a lot higher than buying meat.

There seems to be three extreme camps.

1) The decision of who to work with is often based on a shiny exterior like a fancy website, a cool office, or a flashy presentation at a conference, this without questioning the depth of the offer, or the long-term validity of the solution (yes the steak looks great!).

2) Or the decision is based on price, without much consideration for the lost opportunity of working with a lesser quality supplier, or the potential negative impact to the business following inexperienced advice can have (the steak was cheap!).

3) And finally, the selection criteria is based on size or brand name. We want to be seen to work with the biggest agency, consulting firm or organisation, ignoring that the high price tag that comes with working with these companies does not necessarily reflect the quality of the advice or work, but rather the high cost structure (OK so this one may not be relevant I hear you think, after all ‘every little helps’ is possible because Tesco is big – yes, but then what about quality?!).

Please don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying that any of the above will automatically lead to a disastrous outcome! Often it doesn’t.

What I’m saying is; when you base your decision of where to buy your meat simply on being in a hurry, and on the basis that it looks good from the outside, and when you think you got a real bargain because of a cheap price tag, don’t be surprised if you end up having to throw it away and run for Sushi.

If you choose your suppliers based on the wrong criteria, there is a chance that  you will end up wasting a lot of time, and money, in addition to potentially damaging your reputation.

So don’t do what I did, instead choose them based on their reputation and experience, in my case that would have meant going to Waitrose!

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2010
04/25
CATEGORY
Strategy
Thoughts
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The smell of hope!

As tradition has it I drop my strategy and business hat during holidays in favour of my storytelling hat.

Today as I stepped out of my mum’s house in Lausanne, Switzerland to a sunny but cold day I was welcomed by a familiar smell that reminded me of my childhood.

As a kid in Uppsala, Sweden my favourite day of the year was always the same one, the first day when I could feel the tarmac under my soles rather than snow. Nothing beat that feeling, the feeling of, after a long, cold, dark winter full of snow, being able to touch, and see hard ground again.

Every year, on that day, I would go to the cupboard and dig out my clogs and my skipping rope, I would run outside and find a square meter of snow-less ground and I would skip and skip and skip and skip for hours while breathing in the ‘almost spring air’ – and that air always had a special smell!

Today I was reminded of that smell, a smell that to me signifies something fresh, a new beginning, a smell that always filled me, and still does with excitement and hope!

For many companies this has been the winter of discontent. For many companies the winter darkness must have made it impossible to see light at the end of the tunnel.

For many companies it must have felt like no layers of clothing could keep them warm. For many companies the last year must have felt like wading through heaps of snow. For many companies the last year must have felt like a Swedish winter.

So I really hope that all of you working in these companies have your own version of my story, your own version of what signifies a new beginning, your own version of what makes you feel hopeful, your own special smell – because nothing beats how I used to feel in that moment when I knew that the snow was finally melting away and that I would be able to skip and ware clogs for many many months to come!

As I walked down the street I wished the shops weren’t closed as I found myself wanting to go downtown to buy myself a pair of clogs and a skipping rope so that  I could spend the rest of the day skipping. But I still celebrated my day, sitting by the lake, breathing in THAT air, smelling THAT smell!

So on this Easter Monday do pull out ‘your moment’, the one that makes you feel everything is possible,  who knows what business miracles may come of it!

And let’s not forget that winter, no matter how tough of a one it was, will ALWAYS be followed by spring!

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2010
04/05
CATEGORY
Thoughts
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