Todos vão perder

O século XX foi o século de Metropolis, o século de Magnitograd, o século de Levittown, o século das linhas de montagem, o século da escala e do volume, o século do Normalistão. O século do crescimento canceroso.

Razão tinha Popper em defender a ideia de que temos de estar sempre alerta, só porque hoje se vive melhor do que ontem, não quer dizer que amanhã se viverá melhor do que hoje.

Em Dezembro de 2014 escrevi "Ter razão antes do mainstream é tramado". Nesse texto sublinhava a ironia da ministra da Agricultura de então, actual dirigente do CDS, chegar ao mesmo modelo para a agricultura portuguesa que o saudoso ministro socialista Jaime Silva preconizava. Ou se calhar, não chegou, apenas leu o que alguém lhe "botou" no discurso. Na altura ela disse: "Cristas quer colar a Portugal o rótulo de país da "joalharia da agricultura". Algo que jogava bem com a marca Portugal, recordo este outro texto de Junho de 2014, "A marca Portugal".

Mas uma coisa são os agricultores que espalham bosta nos campos e que daqui a 10 ou 20 anos vão continuar por lá, eles ou os seus filhos. Outra são os que mandam semear ou plantar hoje aqui e quando não der, deitam abaixo o pau do circo e mudam-se para outro lado.

E o que está a acontecer no Alentejo é a cópia de tudo o que nos afasta da joalharia agrícola, é a cópia do Mar del Plástico.

Meter um país pequeno, com terras pobres, a mergulhar na produção intensiva ... só vai dar asneira... "A outra face do sucesso do Alqueva é um Alentejo envenenado por químicos"

Mongo, aka Estranhistão, será o mundo da variedade, o mundo da diversidade, o mundo em que não queremos ser tratados como plancton. Outros, sabem fugir do crescimento canceroso e da tragédia dos comuns apostando na joalharia:

• Danish farm sells potatoes for 1,500 kroner per kilo
• Olhar para o problema sob uma perspectiva diferente (Maio de 2014)

BTW, os fabricantes low-cost de cortinas em PVC para a casa de banho deram cabo do produto. Hoje, já ninguém usa esse material, mesmo que seja produzido por fabricantes com cuidado. No redemoinho turbulento da tragédia dos comuns ninguém se safa... o Rei Lear: Uma estória amoral, todos perdem os bons e os maus.

Todos acabam por perder, mesmo o que não seguem a via cancerosa, porque a marca Portugal vai ficar queimada.

Unintended consequences

Unintended consequences, tão comuns com jogadores amadores a praticarem bilhar. A via negativa é mais inteligente do que se possa pensar à primeira vista.

Ler "San Francisco Had an Ambitious Plan to Tackle School Segregation. It Made It Worse."

"Without focus"

"Without focus a company cannot achieve an execution culture....unfocused companies pursue too many objectives and have too many initiatives. ...the greater the number of strategic objectives and priorities, the more unfocused are the are the employees. Alternatively, the more focused is top management, the clearer employees and departments are about what they need to do on a daily basis. When priorities cascade down the organization, the result is often a distorted focus - a frequently a significant distortion. ...Another significant consequence is that lack of focus leads to lack of discipline in executing organizational objectives. Focus imposes discipline because staff at any level know what to do at any point....One of the most dramatic consequences of being an unfocused company is the impact on staff. Lack of clear direction and priorities causes staff to be unhappy in what they do because they do not understand how their work contributes to the company's goals. ...Managements needs to decide every year  how to distribute the company's limited resources, specifically its staff and financial assets. Decisions regarding how much and where to allocate resources are not easy. Management at an unfocused company often fails to regards these decisions as part of their key responsibilities because they lack clarity about the run-the-business/change-the-business dimensions. Consequently, the distribution of work within the business becomes totally unbalanced and grow out of control."

Trechos retirados de "The Focused Organization: How Concentrating on a Few Key Initiatives Can Dramatically Improve Strategy Execution".

Alinhamento

Uma conversa esta semana, durante uma reunião mensal de gestão, fez-me recuar no tempo até a Veronica Martinez e este postal "Escolher, escolher, escolher" que referi aqui no blogue em 2007, mas também em 2008 e 2009.

O artigo é "Aligning value propositions in supply chains":

"Despite the plethora of studies on value that have been undertaken to date, our exploratory analysis found that organisations are still failing to identify their value propositions, particularly in aligning their resources and capabilities with their value creation processes in their supply chains.
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The value propositions directly impact business’ strategies; e.g. they impact the market where businesses are competing, the acquisition and development of core competencies and capabilities, selection of members of the supply chain and the financial priorities. The value propositions also impact operations, e.g. market research, new product development, supplier relationships, production processes, customers’ relationship and delivery systems. In other words the value propositions shape any subsequent plan and decision that companies make.
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we can conclude that:
1. Strategic/key members of the supply chain are those who hold the core competencies of the chain.
2. The value propositions of strategic members of the supply chain should be aligned to enhance the value proposition of the entire supply chain.
3. Other members which are not strategic members of the supply chain can have different value propositions, but should support the value proposition of the overall supply chain.
4. The value proposition of strategic members of the supply chain dictate the value proposition of the overall supply chain.
5. The value proposition of the overall supply chain is the same as that of the company that is facing the end customer.
6. The alignment of individual value propositions with the overall supply chain ensures the alignment of strategic competencies.
7. The collaboration with strategic members is focused on the improvement of the supply chain competencies."

"You should be asking who"

“What’s the single most important question you should ask before you start your business?
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There’s no shortage of good business ideas or people with the drive to go after them. So why all the failure? How can it all go wrong when you seemingly do everything right? You may create a brand, produce your website, write your emails, make your product, utilize every resource you have, and spend valuable time and money (that you may or may not have), yet still not find success in your venture.
Some people blame the economy or business loan interest rates or bad decisions about vendors. Some people blame themselves, thinking, If only I had worked harder or been more creative or were just more cut out for business. I’m here to tell you that none of the above is what will cause your business to fail out of the gate. While there might be some contributing factors on that list, none of them will single-handedly determine your fate.
But there is one thing that will, and it’s this: choosing the wrong market.
If you choose the wrong market, your business is destined to fail before you even begin.
Guaranteed.
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Instead of asking what—what should you sell or what should you build?—you should be asking who. As in, who should you serve?
The what is a logical question that will come soon enough, but starting off with who is the foundation from which all other things are built.”

Quem são os clientes-alvo? Uma preocupação de raiz e na raiz deste blogue.

Algures aqui no blogue escrevi alguns postais sobre as empresas que, por causa da autenticidade, não podem alterar o produto que fabricam. Por isso, a alternativa é procurar mercados que valorizem o produto, porque mudar o produto seria mudar de ADN e isso só daria asneira.

• Ofertas antigas e mercados novos (Julho de 2016)

Na verdade, nuns casos é o produto que não pode mudar, mas em todos os casos, para as PME, é o ADN das empresas que não pode mudar. Quem podemos servir com base no nosso ADN?

Trechos retirados de “Choose” de Ryan Levesque.

Maio

Computador protegido por 12 meses.

Têm de fechar ponto

Dois títulos que revelam a iliterata económica que grassa no país:

• "Autarquias alarmadas com concursos de obras desertos"

Se os concursos de obras ficam desertos, aumentem os preços que estão dispostos a pagar.

Se faltam trabalhadores para a AHRESP, aumentem os salários, seduzam as pessoas.

Se as empresas não conseguem pagar melhores salários, havendo alternativas de emprego... têm de fechar ponto.

Recordar:

• Como aumentar a facturação quando não se pode aumentar a produção por falta de pessoas? (parte IV)
• "Espero que não vos tremam as pernas quando as empresas começarem a cair como tordos"
• Gabiche (parte III)

"you do not fight complexity with complexity"

"“Modern finance is complex, perhaps too complex. Regulation of modern finance is complex, almost certainly too complex. That configuration spells trouble. As you do not fight fire with fire, you do not fight complexity with complexity. Because complexity generates uncertainty, not risk, it requires a regulatory response grounded in simplicity, not complexity”
...
Heuristic strategies are simple rules of thumb that solve complex uncertain situations precisely because of their simplicity, not despite it. More calculation, time, and information are not always better. Less can be more.
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A good heuristic can be better than a complex strategy when used in the proper environment. Less can be more. The recognition heuristic is ecologically rational when a correlation exists between recognizing an option and the criteria for judgment.
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One main point in the business world is that entrepreneurs can generate profit in the markets, à la Knight, precisely because they intelligently deal with immeasurable, irreducible uncertainty.
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In most business situations knowledge is much less than perfect and uncertainty prevails over risk. Heuristic strategies that are successfully used in business decision-making exploit the structure of information in the environment, rely on simplicity to overcome the complexity of situation, and are indispensable when faced with irreducible uncertainty. One central observation is that less can be more. That is, less information, calculation or time, can be beneficial under particular circumstances to achieving a given task."

Trechos retirados de "Risk, uncertainty, and heuristics" de Shabnam Mousavi e Gerd Gigerenzer, publicado por Journal of Business Research 67 (2014) 1671–1678

Locus de controlo interno e optimismo

Lembram-se do locus de controlo interno? Por exemplo, "Que diferença" (Setembro de 2009) e "We' re in control" (Novembro de 2007).

Acredito que pessoas com o locus de controlo interno têm maior sensação de controlo da sua vida, e não esperam que um qualquer salvador externo lhes veja resolver os seus problemas.

Acredito que assumir um locus de controlo interno é meio caminho andado para ter uma atitude optimista na vida. Por que é que o optimismo é importante? Por isto, "The Financial Upside of Being an Optimist":

"After controlling for wealth, income, skills, and other demographics to level the playing field, the data clearly showed that optimists were significantly more likely to experience better financial health than pessimists, and engage in healthier habits with their money. For instance, we found that 90% of optimists have put money aside for a major purchase, compared to 70% of pessimists. Nearly two thirds of optimists have started an emergency fund, while less than half of pessimists have. Additionally, optimists are more likely to seek out and follow advice from someone they trust. In my opinion, the most compelling finding was how optimists felt, reporting that they stressed about finances 145 fewer days each year as compared to pessimists.
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Optimism is a lucrative investment beyond one’s finances. Optimists do better over the course of their careers as well. They make more money and are more likely to be promoted."

Dívida organizacional

Ontem mencionei a frase "dívidas organizacionais", frase que aprendi com Clayton Christensen. Depois, fui à procura do artigo onde a li. Não a encontrei, mas cheguei a um texto lapidar de Steven Blank, "Organizational Debt is like Technical debt – but worse":

"While technical debt is an understood problem, it turns out startups also accrue another kind of debt – one that can kill the company even quicker – organizational debt. Organizational debt is all the people/culture compromises made to “just get it done” in the early stages of a startup.
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Just when things should be going great, organizational debt can turn a growing company into a chaotic nightmare.
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Growing companies need to understand how to recognize and  “refactor” organizational debt."

Lean no estado - cuidado! Pensamento de um cínico (parte II)

Parte I.

Outro exemplo da mentalidade velha que domina o aparelho do estado que nos apascenta:

"As queixas por atrasos no pagamento dos reembolsos da ADSE têm vindo a multiplicar-se desde o início do ano. Na maioria dos casos, os atrasos variam entre os três e os seis meses, avança o Correio da Manhã, este domingo. O instituto que gere o subsistema de saúde dos funcionários públicos reconhece os atrasos e justifica-os com a falta de pessoal.
...
O representante dos beneficiários no Conselho Diretivo da ADSE reconhece alguns atrasos e diz que o tempo de espera é “em média, entre dois meses e dois meses e meio”. Eugénio Rosa justifica a situação com falta de pessoal e salienta: “Não há falta de dinheiro, mas de pessoal. Temos 184 pessoas no quadro. Devíamos ter 265”."

Recordo sempre os primeiros dias em que entrei ao serviço de uma empresa onde estive quatro anos. Quando comecei a empresa teria 240 trabalhadores e produzia 70 mil toneladas. Quando saí, a empresa teria 120 trabalhadores e produzia 105 mil toneladas. Durante esse período, sobretudo na área do pessoal indirecto, a empresa fez uso da tecnologia existente (1989 - 1993) e optimizou processos, reduzindo a necessidade de pessoas. Acabou com a figura dos contínuos que faziam circular o correio internamente, acabou com o funcionário administrativo que atendia os pedidos de dinheiro. No entretanto, na altura instalou o AS400 para ligar a Qualidade, a Comercial, as Compras e a Financeira, por exemplo. E toda uma série de tarefas passaram a ser feitas automaticamente.

Imaginem o que seria aplicar o conceito de re-engenharia aos processo do estado... esquecer o que existe, começar com uma folha em branco, escrever "um cliente com uma necessidade" (obter o pagamento de um reembolso) no extremo esquerdo da folha  e, escrever "um cliente recebe o reembolso" ou "recebemos a confirmação de que o cliente recebeu o reembolso". E sem amarras, sem custos afundados, sem "dívidas organizacionais", desenhar de raiz um circuito rápido, seguro e eficaz entre um extremo e o outro.

Claro que isto nunca irá acontecer porque isso iria pôr em causa os direitos adquiridos de muita gente instalada. No entanto, pensem na quantidade de tecnologia e serviços que foram disponibilizados online nos últimos 10 anos...

BTW, algures no blogue relato o caso da secretaria de uma escola onde foram a uma formação para aplicar a abordagem por processos... sabem o que era processo para eles? Um processo é um dossiê, é um ficheiro em papel... uma comédia que é uma tragédia.


Trechos retirados de "Falta de pessoal provoca atrasos nos reembolsos da ADSE"

"not trying to be "the everything store""

"Among the successful strategies these big brands used, which you can try when faced with a bigger competitor:
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Turning your weakness into strength, for example how Best Buy put the focus on in-person experience over online convenience.
Partnering with your bigger competitor (Kohl's reaction).
Focusing on people as much as products, like at Costco.
Attacking their strengths (as Walmart has tried, by basically declaring itself a tech company).
These aren't easy solutions of course. And they're not all applicable to all competitors.
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But if your business is suddenly up against Amazon, you do likely have advantages: nimbleness, customer relationships, and the intense knowledge of your products and customers that comes specifically from not trying to be "the everything store.""

Trecho retirado de "Amazon Was a Real Danger to Kohl's, Costco and Best Buy. Here's How They Survived and Thrived"

Considerar também "What the Grocery Stores Holding Their Own Against Amazon Are Doing Right" e "E-commerce is the 'future for a lot of markets,' Adidas CEO says"

"is a matter of focus"

"In the face of such intimidating competition [Moi ici: A Amazon e a Google], I was curious how companies like August, SimpliSafe, Wyze, and Netatmo planned to survive with their own connected cameras and security systems. Here’s how they plan to outsmart the tech giants:
...
For SimpliSafe CEO Chad Laurans, taking on the behemoths is a matter of focus.
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“What we do is we wake up every day thinking about security, and how we change those outcomes, and how we create a better value proposition in security,” Laurans says. “I strongly suspect those folks don’t wake up every day thinking about that. They wake up thinking about how they monetize data.”
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The notion of a small, focused company taking on larger, lumbering competitors can seem cliché, but Laurans points to examples of where SimpliSafe’s singular mission is advantageous.
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Do what tech giants (probably) won’t.
On its own, August Home might’ve struggled to take on tech giants while expanding from smart locks to doorbell cameras. But in late 2017, the company was acquired by a giant in its own field, Swedish lock conglomerate Assa Abloy. Together, they plan to focus on access control, with their smart locks and security cameras working together in one integrated solution.
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“We’re not aiming to be a broad smart home play, with light controls, and thermostats, and making the entire home smart,” says Martin Huddart, the head of Assa Abloy’s smart home division. “We’re a security company first and foremost.”"

Trechos retirados de "These home security startups aren’t afraid of Amazon and Google"

Meter o curling na abordagem por processos!

Sou um fã da abordagem por processos desde há muitos anos quando, exasperado, deixei de recortar uma empresa e colar na norma e recortei a norma e coleia-a num fluxograma que representava o funcionamento de uma empresa de trabalho temporário.

Por isso, é com muito gosto que consegui fazer lobby por este webinar, marcado para o próximo dia 2 de Maio pelas 19h00 - Free webinar – The Process Approach - What it is, why it is important, and how to do it.

Considerem-se convidados!

Até o curling entra!

"There is a shift from “commoditization” to “personalization”

"Experience has emerged as the new basis for exchange. Schmitt (1999, p. 53) opined that “companies have moved away from traditional “features-and-benefits” marketing towards creating experiences for their customers”.
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This approach is based on the foundation that a consumer lives by consuming experiences offered by products, services, events or a series of multisensory interactions between customers and organizations at every touchpoint in pre-purchase, purchase and post-purchase situations.
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There is a shift from “commoditization” to “personalization” – personalized co-created consumption experiences. The customer value is derived during the entire consumption process as “internal and subjective responses” through co-creation experiences. The organizations act as resource integrators to facilitate experience creation by providing experience environment.
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Interaction is central to experience creation. ... consumer responses (approach or avoidance) are determined by interaction between stimulus (organizational or environmental) and organism (consumers – emotional state of pleasure, arousal and dominance). Holbrook and Hirschman brought experiential perspective and described consumption experience as “a phenomenon directed towards the pursuit of fantasies, feelings, and fun”. They further commented that “the consumer behaviour is the fascinating and endlessly complex result of a multifaceted interaction between organism and environment”. Addressing the dimensions of customer value, Holbrook explained that “Value is an interactive relativistic preference experience”. ...  “All experiences are ‘consumption experiences’ and that these consumption experiences constitute most of what we do during our waking and even our non-waking lives”
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“The traditional system is become obsolete [...] In the emergent economy, competition will centre on personalized co-creation experiences resulting in value that is truly unique to each individual”. They emphasized on customer value derived from purposeful and meaningful personalized interaction between customer and organization. ... “The customer is always a co-creator of value. Value creation is interactional” and “Value is always uniquely and phenomenologically determined by the beneficiary. Value is idiosyncratic, experiential, contextual and meaning laden”. ... “Commercial experiences need to be considered as a product offering to avoid commoditization and price competition”.

Trechos retirados de "Customer experience – a review and research agenda", Journal of Service Theory and Practice, Vol. 27 Issue: 3, pp.642-662, de Rajnish Jain, Jayesh Aagja, Shilpa Bagdare, (2017)

O paradoxo da escolha, again

Quantas vezes, numa sala de reuniões de uma empresa, ouvi o argumento:
- Temos de ter todas as opções, temos de ser uma one stop shop, não podemos correr o risco de deixar uma opção para ser fornecida pela concorrência.

Quantas vezes tento explicar o paradoxo da escolha... algumas sem sucesso. Demasiada escolha mata a escolha. Excesso de escolha mata a escolha. E mais isto.

Seth Godin e "Anything you want"

Lean no estado - cuidado! Pensamento de um cínico

Recordo, de Janeiro de 2018, "A glimpse"

Em Julho de 2018 - "Há quem espere há mais de seis meses por pensão" - "Ministro promete soluções para breve para reduzir o tempo entre o pedido da reforma e o deferimento."
Em Setembro de 2018 - "Vieira da Silva admite "problema" nas novas pensões, a resolver "até final do ano"
Em Janeiro de 2019 - "Vieira da Silva garante que vai resolver atrasos nas pensões no primeiro semestre".

Curiosa evolução "à la ala pediátrica": breve -> até ao final do ano (3 meses) -> até ao final do 1º semestre (6 meses)

É nestas alturas que pergunto: Torram tanto dinheiro em tanta coisa inútil, por que não contratam alguém para fazer uma análise lean a um desafio destes? Deve ser dos desafios mais básicos para a metodologia lean. No fim teriam uma surpresa, ainda se arriscavam a não ter de pagar mais pelo novo modelo de funcionamento.

1. Qual o processo, que passos ocorrem desde que um requerente mete os papéis para a pensão até que recebe o primeiro cheque?
2. Quanto tempo se demora em cada passo?
3. Quais são os passos que consomem a maior parte do tempo? (Normalmente a distribuição dos tempos não é normal, é quase sempre uma distribuição de Pareto:

4. O que deve ser alterado SÓ naqueles dois ou três passos que consomem a maior parte do tempo?

Claro que também posso dar azo ao meu lado cínico e recordar este gráfico:

E especular que enquanto o pau vai e vem, contribui-se para a baixa do défice.

NOTA: Claro que a aplicação desta metodologia teria de ser cuidadosamente vigiada pelos sindicatos. Ainda se correria o risco de a sua aplicação alastrar, o desempenho dos serviços do estado melhorar e ser preciso menos pessoal

"The problem with priorities"

“Of course, strategy is usually about market domination, not erudition. It’s about where to play and how to win. But in an Evolutionary Organization it can be hard to tell the difference between doing something because it’s strategic and doing something because it’s the right thing to do.
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When purpose is paramount, anything that serves the purpose is strategic, even if it’s not overtly commercial.
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Regardless of your values, strategy is about identifying that which is critical—the factors that will make the difference—and determining how to leverage what is at your disposal to maximize your chances of success.
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The problem with priorities is that we have too many. The word “priority” didn’t even have a plural form until the 1900s; before that it meant “the very first thing.” Unfortunately, when you prioritize everything, you prioritize nothing. Just because you want absolute low cost and absolute quality doesn’t mean you can have both in equal measure. When push comes to shove, something’s gotta give. The “Agile Manifesto” used “over” statements such as “responding to change over following a plan” to make trade-offs explicit in service of better software.
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Your purpose is clear. Your essential intent is well defined and regularly tuned. Using these beacons, people are “voting with their feet” and energizing the projects that matter most. Your even over statements are shaping a thousand smaller decisions. It’s fair to ask, Do we even need a plan? Yes, but not a plan that says what must happen, a plan that says what might happen. Scenario planning has the potential to open us up to possibilities that we might otherwise not consider."

Trechos retirados de “Brave New Work” de Aaron Dignan

O fim de um ciclo

Quem segue este blogue sabe da minha relação profissional especial com o calçado.

Ontem, olhando para os dados do IEFP reparei que se fechou um ciclo.

Em Agosto de 2009 escrevi sobre o desemprego em Felgueiras: terra de vinho verde, kiwis, pão-de-ló e ... sapatos.

Em Outubro de 2010 a variação homóloga do número de desempregados no sector "Indústria do couro e dos produtos do couro" foi finalmente negativa: -0,1%. Os dados mais antigos a que consigo a aceder no IEFP são de Janeiro de 2003. Em Janeiro de 2003 a variação homóloga do número de desempregados no sector "Indústria do couro e dos produtos do couro" foi superior a 48%. Foram tempos tenebrosos, o choque do modelo da china europeia da altura, Portugal, com a verdadeira China. 

Pois bem, a série de evoluções homólogas negativas no sector "Indústria do couro e dos produtos do couro" acabou no mês passado. Sim, em Março de 2019 a variação homóloga do número de desempregados no sector "Indústria do couro e dos produtos do couro" foi novamente positiva: + 5%.

Viveremos um 2020 interessante com um jugo fiscal que faz de Gaspar um menino... sempre a cavar mais fundo o poço.

Curiosidade do dia

"Todo o mundo é feito de mudança, mas o que espanta é que não continue a mudar como mudava. Ter uma ideia em política só vale se tiver a capacidade para distinguir o possível do impossível perante a mudança das circunstâncias.
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Há quem esteja na política porque tem interesses a defender, servindo-se das ideias para ocultar as suas intenções efectivas. Esses não reconhecem as mudanças nem estão dispostos a aceitá-las quando a realidade efectiva das coisas as tornam evidentes. Se perdem o contrato que celebraram com os seus protectores, não sabem se voltarão a encontrar quem os sustente. Reforçam a expressão das suas convicções até as tornarem dogmas, dividem em vez de mobilizarem, iludem em lugar de orientarem. Refugiam-se no distributivismo do interior para evitarem a competição com o exterior, promovem os monopólios do Estado para não se sujeitarem à comparação da eficiência e eficácia em mercado competitivo."

Trecho retirado de "Interior e exterior"

Tão bom!!!

Great example of the power of expectations to shape perception: The visual system is so determined to see faces as convex, rather than concave, that it’s virtually impossible not to see the illusion – even when you know what’s going on. pic.twitter.com/ElguK5ErqI

— Steve Stewart-Williams (@SteveStuWill) April 20, 2019

"In real life, belief is an instrument to do things, not the end product. This is similar to vision: the purpose of your eyes is to orient you in the best possible way, and get you out of trouble when needed, or help you find a prey at distance. Your eyes are not sensors aimed at getting the electromagnetic spectrum of reality. Their job description is not to produce the most accurate scientific representation of reality; rather the most useful one for survival.
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In that sense harboring superstitions is not irrational by any metric: nobody has managed to reinvent a metric for rationality based on process. Actions that harm you are observable.
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Survival comes first, truth, understanding, and science later [Moi ici: Tão poderoso!!!]...
In other words, you do not need science to survive (we’ve done it for several hundred million years) , but you need to survive to do science. As your grandmother would have said, better safe than sorry.
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bounded rationality: we cannot possibly measure and assess everything as if we were a computer; we therefore produce, under evolutionary pressures, some shortcuts and distortions. Our knowledge of the world is fundamentally incomplete, so we need to avoid getting in unanticipated trouble.
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Judging people on their beliefs is not scientific
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There is no such thing as “rationality” of a belief, there is rationality of action.
The rationality of an action can only be judged by evolutionary considerations...
The axiom of revelation of preferences states the following: you will not have an idea about what people really think, what predicts people’s actions, merely by asking them – they themselves don’t know. What matters, in the end, is what they pay for goods, not what they say they “think” about them, or what are the reasons they give you or themselves for that. (Think about it: revelation of preferences is skin in the game). Even psychologists get it; in their experiments, their procedures require that actual dollars be spent for the test to be “scientific”. The subjects are given a monetary amount, and they watch how he or she formulates choices by spending them. However, a large share of psychologists fughedabout the point when they start bloviating about rationality. They revert to judging beliefs rather than action.
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Actually, by a mechanism (more technically called the bias-variance tradeoff), you often get better results making some type of “errors”, as when you aim slightly away from the target when shooting. I have shown in Antifragile that making some types of errors is the most rational thing to do, as, when the errors are of little costs, it leads to gains and discoveries.
This is why I have been against the State dictating to us what we “should” be doing: only evolution knows if the “wrong” thing is really wrong, provided there is skin in the game for that."...
Rationality is not what has conscious verbalistic explanatory factors; it is only what aids survival, avoids ruin.
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Rationality is risk management, period."

Tão bom!!!

"How to be Rational about Rationality"

Mongo e a arte

A minha mãe estava a folhear o Jornal de Notícias e vi um título.
- Espera, deixa-me fotografar esse artigo.
- Não sabia que gostavas de motos!?
- Não são as motos, é a costumização...

Não são as motos, é Mongo!

"É uma forma de arte. [Moi ici: Arte e Mongo, uma conjugação que faço aqui há muitos anos] Transformar motos de série em peças únicas, que se distinguem pela sua singularidade e apostas arrojadas, num visual alternativo, é uma paixão que ganha adeptos em Portugal. Este sábado, algumas dezenas de entusiastas da customização dos veículos de duas rodas juntaram-se em Espinho.
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O mote para o encontro foi o 1º Motorcycle Design Contest, promovido pela "Backdoor Shop", onde diversas motos se perfilaram num desfile de originalidade."

Curiosidade do dia

É só juntar as peças:

• Défice das contas externas agrava-se para 1.181 milhões
• O jugo fiscal continua a espetar bandarilhas no lombo dos contribuintes líquidos
• Guerra dos spreads ao rubro: 5 bancos já baixaram margem mínima este ano
• BBVA desce previsão de crescimento do PIB português para 1,5% em 2019

Back to Outubro de 2015.

"Anticiparse, anticiparse, anticiparse"

O amigo Rui Moreira mandou-me o documento "Informe de la moda online en España 2017".

Nele leio:

"Anticiparse, anticiparse, anticiparse
...
La tecnología no deja de plantear desafíos en los que la clave es anticiparse.
.
¿He dicho anticiparse? Sí, tres veces, como si invocase un hechizo mágico. Anticiparse a los cambios sociales, culturales, económicos o de cualquier otro tipo es la forma en la que las empresas, en todos los sectores, logran sentar las bases de su competitividad futura, la manera en que logran perdurar en el tiempo.
...
las empresas de moda deben anticiparse a las nuevas formas de consumir que está trayendo consigo el desarrollo de Internet.
...
En los últimos tres años el peso del canal online se ha duplicado, como consecuencia de que el número de consumidores que compran alguna prenda por Internet cada año es hoy más del doble que en 2013."

O significado daquele "Anticiparse, anticiparse, anticiparse" revelou-se em toda a sua dimensão quando cheguei a esta página:

"España se encuentra claramente por detrás de otros países del entorno europeo en términos de cuota de mercado del comercio electrónico en el sector de la moda. Aspectos climáticos, culturales y empresariales influyen en esta realidad, en la que también resulta clave la menor tradición de venta por catálogo respecto a otros países. Entre los cinco mayores mercados europeos para la industria de la moda la delantera corresponde claramente a Alemania, un país que, antes de la popularización de Internet, ya contaba con una importante tradición en las ventas de moda a distancia.
En Reino Unido y Alemania, donde las ventas online tienen un peso mayor, la cuota ha seguido creciendo a ritmos de doble dígito en los últimos años, especial- mente en Reino Unido, donde la cuota de Internet en las ventas de moda ha subido 5,3 puntos porcentuales de 2013 a 2016, hasta el 23,9%"

Sendo os dados de 2016 procurei logo na internet se havia alguma versão mais recente:

As compras de moda estão a transferir-se do retalho físico para o retalho online, nuns países mais rapidamente que noutros. Como é que a sua empresa se está a preparar para esta transição? Vai esperar até quando?

Por exemplo:

Falta de profissionalismo, venezuelização, falta de liderança

Ontem em casa da minha mãe folheei o último número do Expresso e ao deparar com o título "Mortalidade infantil aumenta sem explicação" suspeitei logo de mais um episódio de esquizofrenia estatística, uma continuação de Janeiro último em "Mortalidade infantil e esquizofrenia".

Desta feita, com os dados da taxa de mortalidade infantil cheguei à mesma conclusão:

Estatisticamente não se pode dizer que 2018 foi pior que 2017, ou que 2010 foi melhor que 2012.
Daí que subscreva na íntegra:

"“Não se identificaram causas que justifiquem o aumento. [Moi ici: Em 2018] Não há uma relação causal,
...
O recorde absoluto foi batido em 2010, com uma taxa de 2,5. Também aqui não foi possível apurar explicações. “Estudámos tudo, como estudamos sempre, e não encontrámos uma causa”, admite a médica."

Procurar explicações para a variabilidade estatística normal é a base para a esquizofrenia analítica tola.

O que no artigo verdadeiramente me chamou a atenção foi este trecho:

"Outra das conclusões é a falta de informação e o excesso de mortes inconclusivas. O estudo revelou registos omissos, com regiões do país onde nem sequer se sabe qual foi o tipo de acompanhamento que a mulher teve durante a gravidez. Na verdade, ironiza a diretora-geral da Saúde, “a única causa que aumentou nos certificados de óbito foi a ‘causa desconhecida’, que não devia constar” e que leva as autoridades de saúde a pensar em “tornar obrigatórios alguns campos para que outros não fiquem por preencher”."

Interpreto-o como um sintoma de falta de profissionalismo, de venezuelização, de falta de liderança:

• É o profissional que não investiga e opta pelo mais fácil;
• É a chefia directa que não revê, que não controla, que não chama a atenção para a falta de informação;
• É toda uma cadeia de controlo da qualidade da recolha da informação que falha até chegar à directora-geral da Saúde.

Como é que se podem tomar decisões baseadas em factos se não temos factos?

Curiosidade do dia

Um almoço de Páscoa em casa da minha mãe permitiu sacar uma série de jornais que há muito deixei de ler.

Dois títulos interessantes e que estão certamente relacionados.

Dinheiro Vivo de 13 de Abril último - "Metade do PSI 20 tem antigos governantes na administração"

Dinheiro Vivo de 20 de Abril último - "PSI 20. Menos lucros mas o mesmo prémio aos accionistas" de onde sublinho um outro subtítulo - "Empresas portuguesas são as mais generosas nos dividendos"

Páscoa 2019

"Verdadeiramente este homem era Filho de Deus!"

"You see, but you do not observe"

Excelente texto, "To Change the Way You Think, Change the Way You See":

"Great creators, innovators, and entrepreneurs look at the world in ways that are different from how  many of us look at things. This is why they see opportunities that other people miss.

 ...

When we look at the world, we should not just examine, but examine with a deliberately different  perspective.
...
Sherlock Holmes famously said once to Watson: “You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear.”
...
Our brains are designed to stop us paying too much attention. This is well demonstrated by the optical illusion called Troxler fading (named after the nineteenth-century Swiss physician who discovered the effect). If presented with a steady image in the area of our peripheral vision, we actually stop seeing it after a while. This phenomenon — the general neuroscientific term is habituation — probably points to an efficient way in which the brain operates. Neurons stop firing once they have sufficient information about an unchanging stimulus. But this does not mean that habituating is always our friend.
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We can think of the effort not just to think differently, but also to see differently, as a way of countering our built-in tendency to habituate, to sink in to the familiar way of seeing and experiencing.
...
by seeing differently, we can end up seeing what no one else has yet seen. This is how the future is built."

In most organizations, #innovation isn’t hampered by a lack of ideas, but rather a lack of willingness to look at ideas with a different perspective.

Get away from:

“We’ve tried it before”
“That’s not how we do it”

And get going on the future state – what’s possible. #CEO pic.twitter.com/hdbAf3rFGK

— Tiffani Bova (@Tiffani_Bova) April 19, 2019

Sexta-feira Santa 2019

Prepare-se!

Estou a escrever estas linhas antes de sair para uma caminhada matinal arriscada, está a chover, onde vou ler um artigo que me enviaram ontem. A mensagem principal é: antecipe!

Antecipe a entrada no mundo digital, enquanto a sua sobrevivência é assegurada pelo retalho tradicional.

Nos últimas semanas já devo ter lido mais de 10 títulos onde a palavra recessão aparece. E isso já é um indicador avançado de algo. Quem me conhece sabe que vaticino um 2020 doloroso economicamente, sobretudo para quem vive do mercado interno.

2019 vai ser penoso para o PS, 2020 vai ser penoso para os portugueses https://t.co/LOvSUOMnAG

— Carlos P da Cruz (@ccz1) March 3, 2019

Fundamental a vitória do PS em 2019, para ter de lidar com recessão europeia e lixo debaixo do tapete em 2020 https://t.co/CZaCzetU81 já comprei as pipocas

— Carlos P da Cruz (@ccz1) October 7, 2018

Por isso, recomendo aos empresários das PMEs que leiam todos os artigos que possam encontrar sobre esta temática "How to Survive a Recession and Thrive Afterward".

Façam como as vacas, leiam e ruminem sobre a coisa. Ruminem para destilar o que será relevante para o caso de cada um. Alguns tópicos:

"during the recessions of 1980, 1990, and 2000, 17% of the 4,700 public companies they studied fared particularly badly: They went bankrupt, went private, or were acquired. But just as striking, 9% of the companies didn’t simply recover in the three years after a recession—they flourished, outperforming competitors by at least 10% in sales and profits growth. A more recent analysis by Bain using data from the Great Recession reinforced that finding. The top 10% of companies in Bain’s analysis saw their earnings climb steadily throughout the period and continue to rise afterward. A third study, by McKinsey, found similar results.
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The difference maker was preparation. Among the companies that stagnated in the aftermath of the Great Recession, “few made contingency plans or thought through alternative scenarios,” according to the Bain report. “When the downturn hit, they switched to survival mode, making deep cuts and reacting defensively.” Many of the companies that merely limp through a recession are slower to recover and never really catch up.
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Decentralized firms were better able to adjust to changing conditions.
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How should a company prepare in advance of a recession and what moves should it make when one hits? Research and case studies examining the Great Recession shed light on those questions. In some cases, they cement conventional wisdom; in others, they challenge it. Some of the most interesting findings deal with four areas: debt, decision making, workforce management, and digital transformation. The underlying message across all areas is that recessions are a high-pressure exercise in change management, and to navigate one successfully, a company needs to be flexible and ready to adjust."

Countering commoditization begins with ... (parte III)

Parte I e parte II.

O quadrante "Core" é o ponto de partida para muitos dos desafios em que acompanho as PMEs. 

"Core This quadrant, low on both value-adding dimensions, is a starting point where the offer lacks sufficient differentiation to avoid becoming a commodity. Customers do not perceive compelling differences between the firm and its rivals in their value propositions. What is offered is not sufficiently adapted to the specific requirements of individual customers or their segments, nor does it have an added ‘bundled’ value besides the core product. Under this scenario the firm is obliged to look beyond its core for the missing differentiation that comes with added value."

As hipóteses são:

"Targeted Extension This quadrant represents a strategy that aims to add value by extending its core offer to more closely meet the special and possibly unique needs of the market segments or even the individual accounts it serves.
...
System Development Firms choosing to compete in this quadrant develop a package of products and services that offer the synergistic benefits of a ‘system’.
...
Solutions Innovation What happens when the firm’s offer consists of a full set of bundled products and services that are specifically targeted at certain customer segments or individual accounts?"

A figura que se segue ilustra com o exemplo da SKF:

 Interessante como o quadrante das Total solutions = Solutions Innovation é um exemplo perfeito da máxima "Privilegiar os inputs sobre os outputs". Não vendem rolamentos, vendem os resultados que os clientes procuram. Os rolamentos foram um instrumento inicial para o arranque da conversa.

Cuidado com esta gente à frente de empresas

Escrevo sobre o eficientismo há muitos anos:

• A crença louca na eficiência, quando se lida com gente - com links de 2012
• Cuidado com a eficiência - Dezembro de 2017
• Eficácia, eficiência, e produtividade - com links de 2008
• Para lá da eficiência - Junho de 2017

E sobretudo, "aposta noutro mindset", de Julho de 2015 de onde retiro:

Agora leiam:

• Why Anxious Customers Prefer Human Customer Service
• Unlocking the Creative Value of Inefficiency
• The Efficiency Delusion

Cuidado com esta gente à frente de empresas que não podem competir pelo preço...

Curiosidade do dia

"É esta capacidade para interiorizar o exterior que decide o lugar de Portugal no mundo e é a comparação com os resultados que os outros conseguem que denuncia a mistificação das políticas internas que rejeitam a moderação racional, função dos resultados, para impor a polarização emocional, função das identidades."

Trecho retirado de "Polarização e moderação"

Countering commoditization begins with ... (parte II)

Parte I.

O desafio da Parte I é um desafio que muitas vezes está na base dos meus projectos nas PME:

"So what are the strategies that could possibly counter the commoditization scenario cited above? To begin, there are no quick fixes to the pervasive power of commoditization. As a permanent feature of today’s marketplace, it will continue to challenge business organizations, even the best managed."

Os trechos que se seguem, retirados de "3 Countering Commoditization: Value-added Strategies and Aligning with Customers" de Kamran Kashani, encheram-me as medidas:

"Though there is no panacea, we can nevertheless identify three possible strategic trajectories that can bring much-needed differentiation to a commoditized core. These generic strategies are highlighted in the ‘value space’ of Figure 3.2 and are further explained below.

...
By moving to the right along the horizontal axis the firm is increasingly segmenting its current and potential customers and, in doing so, customizing its offers around the particular needs of those segments.
...
By moving up on the vertical axis, on the other hand, a firm is augmenting its value proposition beyond its core product, by ‘bundling’ related or even unrelated products and services into a single offer. In other words, there is more to the offer than the commoditized core product, thereby allowing greater differentiation.
...
examples of bundling include add-on services accompanying the core product such as financing, technical support and a general warranty for the total offer. The extra customer value that comes with bundling can be measured in the greater speed and convenience of working with a single supplier, a lower transaction cost and a more complete quality assurance for the augmented offer.
The two value-adding dimensions described above lead to four possible combinations identified in Figure 3.2 as the Core and three value-adding strategies: Targeted Extension, System Development and Solutions Innovation."

 

Nem quando a maré sobe ela sobe para todos

No mesmo dia, com minutos de diferença, o Twitter apresenta-me:

• Órbita perde pedal em Lisboa e cai num buraco negro
• 100 Million Extra E-Bike Purchases By 2030, Graphs NGO Using 2018's Stellar EU Sales Figures

Às vezes nem quando a maré sobe ela sobe para todos.

speed = value

Às vezes estou a ler um texto e não consigo deixar de exclamar:

- DUH!

Desta vez foi com "Fashion Needs a New Business Model. Speed is the Answer":

"call out the conventional supply chain model as “dead.” The same report downgraded Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger parent PVH for the first time in eight years. Although Calvin Klein sales increased by $876 million since 2013, profit declined over that period by $20 million. PVH’s inventory turns hit all-time lows, while total inventory hit all-time highs. Sales growth based on higher inventory risk, the analysts argued, is no longer acceptable.
...
As an alternative, they offered a new thesis: speed = value. Cowen demonstrates that even modest change in speed equates to gross margin improvement, a model which can be projected across the sector and to clothing and accessories.
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Supply chains must move faster if they are to be more responsive to accelerating changes in demand. More important than cutting weeks of time out of the design-to-delivery calendar is building a link between retail supply flexibility and market value. Citing work by Warren H. Hausman of Stanford University, the critical metric is capital based on process innovation that reduces finished goods’ lead times from months to weeks.
The source of being fast is supply flexibility in the first mile of the supply chain, in contrast to last mile logistics. This means upstream management to delay – or postpone -- finished goods commitments. The impact of this strategy is to reduce or remove fashion uncertainty and exploit much shorter working capital cycles.
...
Speed, in summary, is not an operational challenge in sourcing alone. It is a firm-wide cultural commitment to speed decision-making, to be responsive to trends and to synchronise and share value across partners."

Recordo:

• Janeiro de 2007 - Flexigurança, fiscalidade e competitividade 
• Dezembro de 2009 - Aproveitar as nossas armas
• Fevereiro de 2012 - Cadeias de fornecimento mais curtas
• Março de 2012 - Hora da batota?

Preço e contexto no dia-a-dia

Li o título, "Senhorios sobem rendas para trabalho sexual de prostitutas", e sorri ao reconhecer o contextual pricing, ao pensar na evolução do value-in-exchange para o value-in-use, ao pensar que o preço não é baseado no custo, mas no valor co-criado pelo cliente.

"value is always co-created in markets because value is phenomenologically derived and determined by a service beneficiary (e.g., customer) through the use of a market offering. This view on value differs from traditional economic measures of value. In particular, Vargo et al. (2008) discuss two measures of value that have been deliberated since the time of Aristotle – value-in-exchange and value-in-use. Whereas value-in-exchange represents the nominal amount for which something can be exchanged, value-in-use represents the value derived through integration and use, or application, of an available resource. Vargo et al. (2008) point toward the need for conceptualizing “value-in-context,” which they propose as an extension of value-in-use because it centers on value derived through use, but influenced by a particular context (e.g., time, place and social setting). In this way, value is always contextual because it is based on a phenomenological perspective and influenced by time, place and social surroundings, as well as other environmental factors, including access to other internal and external resources."

Trecho lido em mais uma caminhada matinal em "The context of experience", Journal of Service Management, Vol. 26 Iss 2 de Melissa Archpru Akaka, Stephen L Vargo e Hope Jensen Schau.

Countering commoditization begins with ...

"Figure 3.1 shows a typical scenario of how the combined effects of commod- itization and buyer concentration, common in many industrial sectors, can over time lead to margin erosion. It begins with a steady decline in the differentiation of the core offer. In other words, the firm’s customer-value proposition begins to lose its uniqueness and, with it, most or all of its differentiating power. Customers view all competing products alike and dismiss any vendor claims to the contrary. When combined with buyer concentration, i.e. when a growing share of sales is generated from a declining number of large customers, the consequences of commoditization can be dramatic: a loss of control on prices (when the seller is no longer a price setter but a price taker), in addition to losses in supplier identity, customer loyalty and brand equity. The scenario’s negative impact on margins and profitability is all too predictable.
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Countering commoditization begins with a re-examining of the core business and its customer-value proposition. When all customers appear to look alike and the firm’s value offer has a one-size-fits-all quality to it (both features of many commoditized markets), it is time to ask a couple of fundamental questions: beyond the lowest price, what do the customers really value and how could the commoditized offer, product or service, be redefined to better reflect the often unarticulated needs of its customers?"

Trechos retirados de "3 Countering Commoditization: Value-added Strategies and Aligning with Customers" de Kamran Kashani

"The ever-changing store" (parte II)

"The vast majority of leaders I meet believe that their job is to ensure perfect execution. Mistakes are verboten. Failure is unacceptable. And so we use our considerable experience (and energy) to run our teams like well-oiled machines. There’s only one problem: they are not machines. They are complex, adaptive systems—human systems—in an age of rapid change. By focusing on execution, we limit the potential for growth in the system. By making ourselves indispensable, we make our teams and organizations less resilient. In complexity, our job isn’t perfection, it’s building a culture that is always learning. And that requires letting go. Of course, clients often respond that they can’t trust their teams to make decisions and take action. I remind them that one of two things is true: either they’re wrong and their teams are capable of far more than they realize, or they’re right and they need to make an immediate change. What is not okay is to linger in a state of distrust and second-guessing."

Em linha completa com a Parte I.

Acrescentar também "Unleashing the power of small, independent teams"

Trecho retirado de “Brave New Work” de Aaron Dignan.

"The ever-changing store"

Este artigo, "The ever-changing store: Taking an agile, customer-centric approach to format redesign", é muito mais do que um artigo sobre a evolução do retalho. É também um artigo sobre Mongo, um artigo sobre como organizações habituadas a uma sede central que tudo decide não estão preparadas para um mundo que requer tentativa e erro, um mundo que requer "think beta, not best".

"many retailers still only refresh their store formats in three- to five-year cycles. That’s an eternity in today’s world, where consumer demands and behavior are changing rapidly. Furthermore, traditional format redesign is a costly, multiyear effort that involves overhauling several departments or even the entire store. It carries significant risk, because retailers have no guarantee that the redesign, once it’s complete, will generate the desired results. It could turn out to be a tremendous waste of time and money."

A falta de fogo no rabo

"Wthout focus a company cannot achieve an execution culture. As mentioned previously, unfocused companies pursue too many objectives and have too many initiative. During the workshops conducted with senior managers, I asked them to list their company's top three objectives. There was never unanimous agreement. If top management is not dear about the initiatives on which to focus the company's efforts, then staff will never know where to invest their time. ... the greater the number of strategic objectives and priorities, the more unfocused are the employee. Alternatively, the more focused is top management, the clearer employees and departments are about what they need to do on a daily basis. When priorities cascade down the organization, the result is often a distorted focus — and frequently a significant distortion.
...
Another significant consequence is that lack of focus leads to lack of discipline in executing organizational objective. Focus imposes discipline because staff at any level know what to do at any point.
...
A final sign related to lack of focus and execution culture is when companies brainstorm the same ideas again and again."

Um dos temas que há muitos anos me apoquenta, ao lidar com as iniciativas estratégicas... a falta de foco, a falta de fogo no rabo, iniciativas que se arrastam no tempo, iniciativas que não têm qualquer prioridade sobre a gestão corrente do dia-a-dia:

• Fogo no rabo (Dezembro de 2016)
• Schwerpunkt (Janeiro de 2008)

Trechos retirados de "The Focused Organization: How Concentrating on a Few Key Initiatives Can Dramatically Improve Strategy Execution". 

"In complexity, our job isn’t perfection, it’s building a culture that is always learning"

“The vast majority of leaders I meet believe that their job is to ensure perfect execution. Mistakes are verboten. Failure is unacceptable. And so we use our considerable experience (and energy) to run our teams like well-oiled machines. There’s only one problem: they are not machines. They are complex, adaptive systems—human systems—in an age of rapid change. By focusing on execution, we limit the potential for growth in the system. By focusing on execution, we limit the potential for growth in the system. By making ourselves indispensable, we make our teams and organizations less resilient. In complexity, our job isn’t perfection, it’s building a culture that is always learning. And that requires letting go. Of course, clients often respond that they can’t trust their teams to make decisions and take action. I remind them that one of two things is true: either they’re wrong and their teams are capable of far more than they realize, or they’re right and they need to make an immediate change. What is not okay is to linger in a state of distrust and second-guessing."

Trechos retirados de “Brave New Work” de Aaron Dignan.

O que dizem e o que fazem

O amigo @pauloperes mandou-me este artigo "Why did Shoes of Prey fail? Because it listened to customers":

"Shoe retailer Shoes of Prey toppled over like Bambi in heels last week. And no wonder, because according to chief executive officer Michael Fox, the founders trusted what their customers told them.
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In outlining the reasons Shoes of Prey failed, Fox pointed to a yawning gap between customer intent and actual behaviour: “While our mass market customer told us they wanted to customise …what they were consciously telling us and what they subconsciously wanted … were effectively polar opposites.”"

O artigo fez-me recordar vários postais ao longo dos anos sobre o tema:

• You can’t ask customers what they want (Junho de 2016)
• Acerca da medição da satisfação dos clientes e A merecer reflexão (Outubro de 2016) 
• "Many companies fall into the trap of asking consumers" (Dezembro de 2016)
• "don't put their money where their mouth is" (Fevereiro de 2017)

"Poorly executed strategy"

"the fundamental difference between success and failure depends on which projects top management decides to invest in and how those projects are executed.
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In other words, finding ways to achieve the strategic goals is what today is known as 'strategic planning,' while 'strategy execution' is the method used to achieve those goals. The three most important elements of successful strategy execution are:

• Identifying the company's core competencies that will differentiate it from the competition.

• Selecting and prioritizing the initiatives that will exploit those core competencies and create sustainable growth via the company's strategic plan.

• Organizing company resources so as to optimally execute the chosen strategy. 

...
Once a company's structure and resources are aligned to its chosen strategy, the key question is whether the organization is focused enough to deliver the intended result. If the answer is no chances are that the strategy will not be successfully executed. This will be discussed later, but successful strategy execution is not so much about how well the strategy is defined; instead, success depends on project selection, effective organizational alignment, relentless execution and focus.
...
Being unfocused means that strategy objectives have not been clearly articulated or communicated to the entire organization. Often, there are too many objectives or even worse, the objectives are not prioritized. Top management wants to do too many things and does not involve employees in the strategy formulation. Thus, employees neither understand nor buy into the long-term mission.
...
If the strategy is poorly executed, the financial objectives will be difficult to achieve. Unfocused companies typically generate significant costs over the years. They often run too many projects, not recognizing that projects are expensive and consume both financial and staff resources. In addition, they frequently lack a clear, transparent and objective project selection process (or investment committee). Investment decisions are made on partial information and the tendency is to start all projects whose business case 'looks good on paper."

Trechos retirados de "The Focused Organization: How Concentrating on a Few Key Initiatives Can Dramatically Improve Strategy Execution".

Curiosidade do dia

Muitas vezes recuo a 2007 e a este título “Nós não estudámos até ao fim todas as consequências das medidas que sugerimos”

Recomendo a leitura de "O mal de Mao":

"Lembro-me frequentemente desta história pela sua eloquência na ilustração de como decisões, quiçá bem-intencionadas, podem produzir efeitos devastadores e até contrários ao propósito que as motivam, quando não se estudam bem os problemas e todas as relações envolvidas, quando não se consideram todos os efeitos directos e indirectos. E espero que quem está encarregado de pensar políticas públicas não a ignore."