Case Studies Have No Genes - February 23, 2006

As templates for success case studies are failures.

It's possible some business types have not undergone a case study. But from the thousands that have it's time to ask, "What has been learned"? From failed businesses we learned what they did wrong; from those that succeeded what they did right. So it would seem that businesses would succeed if they avoided what the failures did and imitated what the successes did. But such is not the case. After thousands of case studies we find some companies succeed; most companies fail. Is failure caused by not reading the appropriate case study - possibly but not likely?

The cause lies in believing that case studies of successful businesses are templates for success. Case studies are not templates, they are summations of the output of talented people managed in an environment that attracts and holds talent.

A business manager with prolific case study knowledge should no more expect to duplicate a successful business than a sports team by like process should expect to duplicate a national champion. The talent and the environment in which it is managed are the nature and nurture of all organizations and these elements while identifiable are not inheritable.

In short, case studies have no genes.

Talent is the scarcest of all business resources and managing talent is the scarcest of all business skills. No case study to date has shown how the scarcity of these two elements can be made plentiful for distribution to all who desire them.

Technorati tags: Business, Case Study, Marketing, Research, Unusual Mind.

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By Robert Manna on February 23, 2006 08:15 AM to the Broadcasting category.

Living With Rigor Mortis - February 15, 2006

Rigor Mortis is a stiffening of the joints and muscles of a body a few hours after death, usually lasting from one to four days - in corporations rigor mortis lasts somewhat longer.

Group members express group attitudes through the use of cliches. Common among them are "status quo" cliches - those used when changes are proposed to a successful environment. Two popular examples are: "dance with the one that brung ya" and "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

The status quo cliche that best illustrates lack of original thought is the "ain't broke" cliche. The "ain't broke" cliche constitutes a great danger because it fails to recognize that success doesn't deter competition, it attracts it!

Roger Bannister's sub-four minute mile was hailed as one of the greatest human feats ever. John Landy beat Bannister's record just 46 days later. Landy's improvement of Bannister's record points to another status quo failure - the failure to understand improvement is not unusual - it is inevitable and it is obvious.

The status quo thinking "ain't broke" represents provides an opening for competition to intrude on another's success. This is because status quo behavior leads to corporate rigidity and by definition rigid structures can't react. In the time it takes to respond to the competition's score, the game is over.

Sustaining a successful company demands replacing status quo cliches with positive business principles. In other words, "If it ain't broke - break it. You can bet your competition is."

Technorati tags: Business, Marketing, Unusual Mind.

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By Robert Manna on February 15, 2006 09:04 AM to the Unusual Mind category.

Thinking About The Unusual Mind - February 10, 2006

Unusual Mind occurrences crop up all the time. They frequently announce their arrival with the impression, "That's obvious. I can't believe I didn't think of that!"

Why does it take an unusual mind to analyze the obvious? If something is obvious why must it be analyzed? Doesn't obvious mean self-evident?

Candles and oil/gas lamps were in use when Edison thought up the light bulb. This doesn't mean Edison wasn't an inventor. But from the standpoint of unusual mind Edisons' bulb isn't all that unusual, it's a brighter source of light.

Drums and smoke signals preceded the telegraph and megaphones preceded the electric amplifier. The need to amplify sound surely became evident early on in civilization's life cycle and I'm sure someone within a group was known as the best shouter. I'm also betting that someone cupped a hand to the ear as a means to capture and direct sound into the ear canal, and then used both hands to improve amplification of their voice. The cupped hand amplifier suggested the design of the ear trumpet and when used in reverse the ear trumpet became the megaphone - a louder shouter.

The megaphone and the ear trumpet were certainly improvements but not all that unusual. It would be more realistic to say they were inevitable.

Maybe some of what we identify as unusual mind stuff, comes from paying attention to thoughts rather than things. Part of the unusual mind may seek to improve rather than discover.

Inversion is an important trait of unusual mind thinkers.

Consider the lowly, often loose towel rack. People grab the leading edge of the towel and pull down and out jamming the towel in the narrow space between the rack and the wall. Yanking on the towel pulls the rack away from the wall.

Inverting the usual question, "how can I make it easier to disengage the towel from the rack?" leads to the idea, "how can I make it easier to disengage the rack from the towel?"

Turns out the answer is obvious - gravity. It takes no energy to make things fall. Lifting the leading edge of the towel upward allows it to disengage from the rack and fall freely.

Try it and let me know if it works for you - inversion that is. I already have a secure towel rack.

Technorati tags: Marketing, Unusual Mind.

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By Robert Manna on February 10, 2006 12:46 PM to the Unusual Mind category.

FOX News Rides To Stardom - For Free - February 06, 2006

Prior to the arrival of Fox, no national TV news outlet was identified by conservative viewers as expressing their views.

It's a wonder why such a large marketing opportunity went unfilled for so long. The absence of a national conservative TV newscast provides confirmation that it takes an unusual mind to analyze the obvious.

FOX follows the accepted TV format of attractive "journalists" supported by flashy graphics and ear bending audio. FOX makes no claim that it is better than its competitors - it doesn't have to. What FOX does, knowingly or not, is capitalize on the Law Of Primacy first documented by Herman Ebbinghaus, and promulgated by practitioners such as Robert Perry, Jack Trout, and Al Ries.

The FOX success story continues beyond becoming number one in cable network news. It has made success all that more difficult for its competitors. Whereas FOX has only to continue to meet the demands of its audience all other outlets must fight amongst themselves for non-FOX viewers.

FOX News Channel success is another example of the never-ending opportunities that unusual mind thinking uncovers - even within what are perceived to be closed and completely saturated markets.

Technorati tags: FOX News, Marketing, Unusual Mind.

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By Robert Manna on February 6, 2006 10:23 AM to the Unusual Mind category.