Curiosidade do dia

Na senda de:

• só os ocidentais é que podem ter carro;
• só os ocidentais podem comer carne;

Agora um: 

• só pode viajar quem nós decidirmos que pode

A propósito de ""Os hóspedes do alojamento local gastam muito menos dinheiro e geram muito menos empregos"" interrogo-me se em Mongo o modelo de emprego do século XX é o padrão a seguir, se o modelo de emprego do século XX é um critério de decisão?

Interrogo-me se o critério da quantidade de dinheiro gasto é válido, ou superior a outros.

Gosto de ver os episódios de Poirot com David Suchet. Não deixo de pensar que esta gente quer voltar a esses tempos: só uma elite é que viajava.

Juntar peças

Primeiro comecei por ler o título no Jornal de Negócios: "Dono da Colunex: “Portugal é atractivo porque paga salários de terceiro mundo”". Depois, ouvi Camilo Lourenço no FB também fazer referência ao texto.

De onde vem o dinheiro para os salários? Do valor acrescentado, da riqueza criada pelas empresas. Como é a riqueza criada pelas empresas em Portugal? Recordar "Riqueza produzida pelas PME portuguesas fica pela metade da média europeia".

Entretanto, no dia anterior tinha lido este texto de Ricardo Arroja, "A qualidade da gestão. O que falta fazer" de onde sublinhei:

"A questão da medição da produtividade é, de resto, a área mais relevante. Aquilo que não é medido não pode ser avaliado. A questão é saber medir o que realmente interessa medir (algo que nem sempre acontece). Em geral, os empresários têm uma boa noção das suas receitas e dos seus custos. Todavia, frequentemente, estes mesmos empresários não sabem se estão a ganhar ou a perder dinheiro. Pode parecer paradoxal que um empresário conheça os seus proveitos e os seus custos, e que não saiba se está a perder ou a ganhar dinheiro. Porém, não é invulgar. Uma empresa cria valor se a rentabilidade operacional dos capitais investidos for superior ao custo médio ponderado do capital."

À tarde, numa empresa, perguntei ao contabilista se era possível fazer uma análise cliente a cliente para saber com quem uma empresa perdia dinheiro:

- Nem pense nisso! 

Tudo isto se encaixa com uma série de postais: "Tecto de vidro? Uma hipótese de explicação (parte XVIII)" e também joga bem com o postal de quinta-feira, "Especulação perigosa".

Um tecto de vidro é uma barreira invisível. Ela está lá, mas ninguém a vê.

Uma citação que uso muitas vezes é:

"nature evolves away from constraints, not toward goals"

Querem salários altos?
Precisam de empresas com produtividades mais elevadas!
Como vamos a caminho de Mongo não se conseguem maiores produtividades a produzir em massa.
Como vamos a caminho de Mongo , maiores produtividades só se conseguem com uma subida na escala de valor.
Subir na escala de valor implica muitas vezes mudar de vida: encolher; mudar de mercados; mudar de clientes-alvo; mudar de proposta de valor; mudar de cultura; ...
Acham que é fácil?
Quase que parece o Brexit...

O Brexit é como o canto das sereias:

Conta-se uma estória, o povo engole e vota a favor da estória.
Ao pôr-se em marcha a estória alguns começam a perceber que as sereias afinal são rochedos ou monstros e querem voltar para trás, mas a corrente vai esmagar o navio.

Agora voltem à "Especulação perigosa". Qual será o impacte de uma subida drástica do salário mínimo?

Até tenho medo de onde estas reflexões podem levar alguém.

25 de Novembro de 1975? Que pena o resultado não ter sido outro.

Por cá o mainstream acha que o papá-estado tem de estar por trás de tudo.
O mesmo mainstream também considera que ganhar dinheiro é pecado e perigoso.

Depois temos isto:

Em 180 países, na avaliação da liberdade económica Portugal está no 72º lugar e os trouxas dos irlandeses estão no 6º lugar.

Irrelevante dirá o mainstream:

E a relação com o crescimento do PIB é interessante:


Enfim!

Para quando o triunfo da Via Negativa em Portugal?

E Deus, que é eterno, começou a chorar e respondeu:

Oh! Nunca verei esse dia!

Assim, quando vejo quem celebre o 25 de Novembro de 1975, cada vez mais tenho pena que o resultado não tenha sido o oposto. Teria sido uma vacina e hoje estaríamos muito mais próximo do crescimento polaco e romeno do que da estagnação actual.

Ver para lá do que se conhece

A propósito de "Implante no cérebro permitiu usar 'tablets' com o pensamento", se é possível com um tablet é possível com um exoesqueleto. E se é possível com um exoesqueleto... não há limites.

Um tema que sigo há anos e que associo à incapacidade das empresas incumbentes verem para lá do que conhecem:

• Conseguem imaginar os job-to-be-done? (Fevereiro de 2015)
• No caminho da "magia" (Março de 2015)
• Isto é Mongo! Código na agricultura mas bottom-bottom: a democratização do código (Abril de 2016)
• Um exemplo de miopia na vida real (Setembro de 2016)

Será que a sua empresa comete o mesmo tipo de erro, está tão dedicada à melhoria incremental que não vê um universo novo que se abre?

Project Based Organisation

Mongo também passa por isto:

"The number and importance of projects are increasing steadily. Projects are being used to deliver innovative products and services, to perform change and transformation and – in general – get things done in organisations.
...
A project based organisation (PBO) is ... one in which the project is the primary unit for performing certain tasks.
...
Processes in a PBO are organised from the client to the client, a value stream of activities, orchestrated by a project manager, using agile or traditional methods, tools and techniques. The culture of a PBO is clearly project-friendly, client-centric and oriented towards “doing the right things right”, which means combining effectiveness and efficiency.
...
A PBO may comprise several firms, for example a project consortium or network organisation, and thus is temporarily organised, flexible and adaptable to the specific circumstances of the project, its context and partners.
...
The more we see a change from products to services, from mass production to individualisation, from single organisations performing projects to a co-creative network of partners, the more we´ll see PBO as a role model. So PBOs are a trend which will change the way of organising, and the transformation of many organisations prove that this process is already taking place. We need to see this from an economic perspective, identify the drivers for this change and the impact it may have for traditional organisations."

Trechos retirados de "Will project-based organisations be the new normal?"

Especulação perigosa

A propósito de "Riqueza produzida pelas PME portuguesas fica pela metade da média europeia", primeiro o disclaimer:

• Tenho um medo que me pelo dos engenheiros sociais, daqueles que não têm dúvidas e sabem o que é melhor para a comunidade. Recordo a Via Negativa que aprendi com Nassim Taleb.

Depois, algo que aprendi em 2007 com Maliranta e a experiência finlandesa:

"It is widely believed that restructuring has boosted productivity by displacing low-skilled workers and creating jobs for the high skilled."
Mas, e como isto é profundo:
"In essence, creative destruction means that low productivity plants are displaced by high productivity plants."

Por fim, Maliranta confirmado por Nassim Taleb:

"Systems don’t learn because people learn individually –that’s the myth of modernity. Systems learn at the collective level by the mechanism of selection: by eliminating those elements that reduce the fitness of the whole, provided these have skin in the game"

Estão a ver onde isto nos leva? O que aconteceria se o SMN fosse aumentado para 1000 euros/mês? Teríamos uma mortandade tremenda a nível de empresas, teríamos um crescimento em flecha do desemprego. O que aconteceria à produtividade? Aumentaria! Depois do choque, as novas empresas que apareceriam teriam de ser muito mais produtivas.

Os teóricos teriam a sua alegria com a melhoria estatística.
Entretanto, os desempregados viveriam a desgraça do desemprego.
Entretanto, quem depende do estado assistiria a uma quebra brutal das receitas que os sustentam. Viria nova onda de austeridade.

Claro que os engenheiros sociais são gente sem constância de propósito. Recordar "Acham isto normal? Ou a inconsistência estratégica! Ou jogar bilhador como um amador!"

Desenhar experiências

Sem muito esforço... aliás sem nenhum esforço, três artigos sobre um tema actual: a economia das experiências e o duelo online/offline no retalho

• Disney is Pouring Billions Into its Parks--and That's Worth Studying for Every Entrepreneur

"From the moment you arrive, your Disney World experience is carefully thought out. The most minute details are covered from the design of the rides to ease of transportation.
.
By mapping out any possible scenario a guest may find themselves in, Disney World eliminates the need to overanalyze. This gives way for people to truly soak in and enjoy their time on the property.
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When is the last time you analyzed what your customers or clients experience when working with your company? Most likely, the answer is "not often."
.
Evaluate the experience your customers have with your brand. The more you can create a memorable and enjoyable experience the likelihood of them returning as customers, again and again, goes through the roof."

• In the era of online shopping, the retail store is immersive theater

"“What I see in this store, and I hope you do too, is the most experiential and immersive expression of the Nike brand,”
...
“This is basically all about inspiration, and this will be version 1.0, call it, of what we’re doing through the personalization and customization experience,”"

• Experiential new ways of buying fine wine and spirits

"In the spirits room, whiskies from Scotland, Ireland, England and Japan are grouped by style rather than region – “fresh fruit”, “oak spice”, “smoke” – to encourage experimentation.
...
 “You can buy so many things these days ust sitting at home on the couch, so we differentiate ourselves from online by focusing on the experience,”"

Passos para construir um plano estratégico

Um texto em linha com o que escrevemos aqui há milhares de anos, "6 Steps to Make Your Strategic Plan Really Strategic":

"Step one is to recognize your dependencies, i.e. your key stakeholders. [Moi ici: Qual é o ecossistema?]
...
The trick is to identify stakeholder roles. The same group of stakeholders can occupy more than one role.
...
An essential second step, and one that I’ve been guilty of not stressing enough with clients, comes with the word “target.” It’s vitally important to identify your “target customer” before moving forward. [Moi ici: Não é miudagem, são os clientes-alvo, é olhar olhos nos olhos]
...
Isolating the target customer has massive implications, including in other stakeholder groups. ... Your strategic plan can’t be all things to all customers. So, take your time here to clearly define your target customer.
...
The third step requires you to work out what your organization wants from each key stakeholder group for your organization to prosper. [Moi ici: O que procuramos e valorizamos e o que temos de dar aos outros, porque procuram e valorizam - win-win]
...

The fourth step is to identify what these stakeholder groups want from you. These are the key decision-making criteria that stakeholders use when interacting with your business. For example, these might include the factors influencing the decision to purchase from you (customers), work for you (employees), supply to you (suppliers) or invest in you (shareholders).
.
It’s essential that you know how each stakeholder group thinks about these — that you focus on their point of view, not your own.
...
Strategy design, your fifth step, involves deciding what your organization’s positions will be on the identified strategic factors for each key stakeholder group. This is shaped by the objectives you’ve set for your organization and the knowledge you’ve gleaned about your stakeholders’ current and future needs on strategic factors. This is where “focus” again delivers in spades.
...
The sixth step is continuous improvement. Recognize that no matter what you decide, there is no certainty in the result once you embark on implementation via an action plan and scorecard."

O poder das emoções e dos sentimentos

A propósito de "The Genius of Our Lizard Brain" e de:

"The age-old distinction between the heart and the head is completely wrong.
...
Emotions and feelings [Moi ici: As emoções e sentimentos] are often regarded as evolutionary relics handed down to us from an ancestral “reptilian brain”—mere physiological responses that cloud our ability to think rationally. According to Damasio, however, we underestimate the importance of feelings in our lives—and for civilization itself."

E agora, relacionar este trecho:

"Organisms strive for pleasant feelings and emotions that promote well-being, rather than unpleasant ones, which can be detrimental to health. In other words, homeostatic mechanisms not only maintain order within single cells but also play the critical role of “life regulation,” tipping the balance toward positive feelings and emotions. And emotions, combined with creative intelligence, led to what we call culture: art, music, and poetry were developed because of their positive affect, and medicine emerged out of the need to alleviate pain and suffering."

Com este artigo "This researcher studied 400,000 knitters and discovered what turns a hobby into a business" e:

"She found that even on one of the Internet’s great niche social networks, offline encouragement and feedback helped most talented hobbyists recognize their ability and take the first steps toward monetizing it. Success on the Internet was propelled by real-life interactions.
...
To better understand what transforms pattern users into pattern sellers, Kim reviewed 99 interviews with knitters on a niche newsletter and three blogs. The most common answer, by far, was that they’d been encouraged by people they knew, such as husbands and friends. Many had already been modifying patterns and designing their own yarn gnomes and cat costumes, but until they heard from others, they lacked the confidence to step out on their own." 

Mongo e o fim do "Orange": talvez a maior mudança na minha visão do mundo desde os meus 20 anos - afinal a racionalidade não é tudo no mundo dos negócios.

Por fim, relacionar com:

"ESBZ is a grade 7-13 school in Berlin, Germany, that is extraordinary on many counts. Students self-manage their learning to a large degree. Teachers self-manage too (the school is structured in “mini-schools” of three classes and six teachers), and so do the parents who contribute three hours per month to the school in self-managing teams. Students and teachers credit one practice as particularly defining for the school’s extraordinary spirit of learning, collaboration, and maturity: the “praise” meeting (which is entirely prepared and run by students). Every Friday afternoon, the school’s big hall is packed with three hundred children, teachers, and administrators.
.
Every praise is essentially a miniature story that reveals something about two people— the storyteller and the person being praised or thanked—in their struggles and in their glories."

Trecho retirado de "Reinventing Organizations: An Illustrated Invitation to Join the Conversation on Next-Stage Organizations" de Frederic Laloux

"markets are being pulled in two different directions"

“The concept of levels of value describes the way markets are being pulled in two different directions. Where no real value creation is necessary, where what is being purchased is a true commodity, prices are being reduced to the lowest point possible. Companies are competing by being super transactional, removing the friction of buying and lowering costs. This is the strategy of Level 1 and Level 2 value providers. It is important to note that when a company makes this decision, it is a strategic decision. Super transactional does not simply mean discounting or making pricing concessions. This is how these companies consistently compete.
.
The opposite strategy is super relational. This is high trust, high value, high caring. This approach is the very opposite of super transactional, placing greater value on providing results, being proactive, developing customer intimacy, and having deep knowledge and expertise.
.
When decisions are complex, with many factors at play and many possible paths forward, relationships of value matter a great deal. This is the strategy of Levels 3 and 4, and because most B2B sales organizations have been creating Level 3, selling the tangible return on investment and solving their client’s existing problems to the point of its being a commodity, success in creating opportunities and acquiring and retaining clients requires Level 4. Level 4 is disruptive in that it allows you to compel change.
.
If you behave like you are super transactional, intentionally or unintentionally, you will be treated like a commodity. You will be an attractive alternative only to prospects who care mostly about price, even if they do so to their detriment. This is to be a vendor or supplier (two words that you should be horrified to ever hear your client utter when referring to you), not a trusted adviser (words that produce the sweetest  “sound to your ears).
.
Alternatively, if you are super relational, you will attract companies and people who want better results. You will be interesting to people who are growth oriented and people who want to address their systemic challenges and threats and move their companies forward. Being super relational is what makes you a trusted adviser.”

Qual é a direcção da sua empresa?
Que indicadores segue?
Acha que a gestão requerida por uma direcção é a mesma que a requerida na outra direcção?
Acha que a cultura requerida por uma direcção é a mesma que a requerida na outra direcção?

Já pensou a sério nisto? Não?! Talvez seja isto o que lhe está a acontecer: "If you behave like you are super transactional, intentionally or unintentionally, you will be treated like a commodity."

Excerto de: Anthony Iannarino. “Eat Their Lunch”.

Agora a ordem tem de ser outra

As empresas que praticam na internet o tipo de publicidade que resultava no tempo dos mass-media nunca vão descobrir isto:

"The other kind of marketing, the effective kind, is about understanding our customers’ worldview and desires so we can connect with them. It’s focused on being missed when you’re gone, on bringing more than people expect to those who trust us. It seeks volunteers, not victims."

No tempo da internet, no tempo de Mongo, não adianta vomitar algo e depois tentar vender. Agora a ordem tem de ser outra:

"It doesn’t make any sense to make a key and then run around looking for a lock to open.
The only productive solution is to find a lock and then fashion a key.
It’s easier to make products and services for the customers you seek to serve than it is to find customers for your products and services.”

Excerto de: Seth Godin. “This Is Marketing”. Apple Books.

"Avé, Avé, Avé Maria"

Quem me conhece sabe que às vezes começo a cantar em modo rápido uma versão do "Avé, Avé, Avé Maria" como outros contam até 10, para não hiperventilar e perder a cabeça a dizer coisas de que me possa arrepender. Claro que a maior partes das vezes é usada para demonstrar o meu desacordo, ou quase desespero com o que acabei de ouvir.

Apeteceu-me cantar um "Avé, Avé, Avé Maria" ao ler em Novembro de 2018, como se fosse uma novidade descoberta recentemente:

"“O envolvimento dos vários stakeholders da cadeia de internacionalização faz com que as empresas aumentem a sua quota no mercado externo e o sucesso passa por agilizar processos, mais do que reduzir custos ou outros aspetos que se mantém relevantes”"

Afinal, o que é que pregamos neste blogue desde 2005 ou 2006?

• Uma adega? Não uma "boutique" de vinhos! (Junho de 2006)
• Como assegurar a sustentabilidade desta comunidade? (Outubro de 2006)
• Flexigurança, fiscalidade e competitividade (Janeiro de 2007)
• Quem se concentra na defesa do passado, perde a oportunidade de ganhar o futuro (Maio de 2007)
• Flexibilidade, flexibilidade, flexibilidade (Julho de 2007) 
• Tirem-me deste filme (parte III de IV) (Julho de 2008)
• Pregarás o Evangelho do Valor (Março de 2011)

Quem é que contou esta "novidade"?

"afirmou Jorge Rocha de Matos, presidente da Fundação AIP,"

Rocha de Matos? Ainda não se reformou? Ah! Arranjaram-lhe uma prateleira de onde continua a controlar. Como é que alguém se mantém tanto tempo à frente de organizações privadas?

Trecho inicial retirado de "Agilizar é palavra de ordem na nova estratégia das exportações"

"rather than just following a procedure"

"This article is based primarily on feedback from Orion Registrar’s U.S. staff and auditors regarding clients who were certified to older versions of ISO 9001, prior to their certification to ISO 9001:2015....What “Bad” Have You Seen in ISO 9001:2015 Implementation?.The most common responses to this question involved shortcomings in implementation, including the failure to:...Retain documented information that is required by ISO 9001:2015, both that which was formally referred to as records and also that which is necessary for the effectiveness of the management system. Some clients view the reduced requirements for documented procedures as a reduction in the requirements, without understanding that the focus is on the processes and improving them, and on being more data driven in their approach, rather than just following a procedure."

Ao longo dos anos tenho encontrado empresas que "agarram" a ideia de apostar no uso de indicadores para monitorizar e tomar decisões, e quase sempre têm evoluções tremendas. Também tenho encontrado outras empresas que resistem à ideia de usar dados, que preferem usar o instinto, que preferem navegar à vista... e quase sempre não saem da cepa torta.


Trechos retirados de "ISO 9001:2015 Implementation: The Good, the Bad and the Trending"

"Your job is to make all things unequal"

"On the continuum of value creation, we put Level 1 value on the left end, and the farthest point at the other end is Level 4, strategic partner. This is what we mean when we say, “Enter the conversation from the right.” It means that we start with the highest level of value.
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Levels 1 through 3 are not advice. The features and benefits of a product won’t help you understand why you can no longer generate the results you need in a world of constant, accelerating, disruptive change. The services and support that create the experience of being easy to do business with don’t help you achieve your longer-term strategic goals and outcomes. The fact that you produce tangible business results, while being critically important, doesn’t help me understand what I need to do to deal with a future that will require me to make changes I haven’t yet considered. A long-term strategic partnership now requires someone who can occupy the role of trusted adviser and offer good counsel. This requires playing at Level 4.
Level 4 means that you have the business acumen and situational knowledge (in other words, the experience) that allow you to create a strategic level of value. It means you understand and can explain the dissonance your dream client is experiencing; you can explain why they are struggling to produce the results they need and are challenged by their current circumstances. .
You can explain to the client why and how they need to change before they need to make that change. This is the “advice” part of “trusted adviser.
...
To remove your competitor from your dream client’s account, you need to create value that is strategic. This is the kind of value that provides them with a competitive advantage. It’s built on insight and ideas. It’s made up of your ability to help guide their business to a better future state. It also requires the ability to develop the relationships necessary to make change inside their company.
For our purposes here, we will use this operating philosophy: All things being equal, relationships win. All things being unequal, relationships still win. Your job is to make all things unequal [Moi ici: Numa empresa, o objectivo é trabalhar para desnivelar o terreno, para criar a concorrência imperfeita, para desenvolver uma vantagem competitiva] by creating greater value by creating trusted relationships, the kind that allow you to deliver your advice—and have that advice taken. ”

Trechos retirados de “Eat Their Lunch” de Anthony Iannarino.

Até que ponto pode resultar?

Um pouco contra a corrente referida aqui acerca da logomania, em "The VC-fueled anti-brand that could upend luxury fashion" um modelo de negócio:

• venda por subscrição;
• venda de produtos sem marca, mas com qualidade semelhante às das marcas de luxo e feitos, supostamente, nas mesmas fábricas.

Até que ponto pode resultar?

"people’s attachment to a specific brand name varies a lot from person to person. Some people will only buy their sheets from luxury bedding maker Frette, but don’t care whether their leather bag has a fancy logo on it, as long as it is durable. Another person will drop $4,000 on a Celine bag, but will buy drugstore aisle makeup as long as it looks good. Cai’s goal is to provide a wide variety of products so that there’s something on the site for every kind of consumer.
.
While there’s been a resurgence of logomania over the last few years, with brands like Gucci and Louis Vuitton plastering logos on products, a 2015 report by Goldman Sachs found that millennials prefer clothing without logos and branding. Italic is a direct response to this trend. “We’re cutting out the brand, which is the largest middleman of all,” Cai says."

O mundo a mudar

A propósito da evolução do retalho, mais uns dados:

"As compras de vestuário e calçado através de retalhistas que estão apenas na internet deverão aumentar 67,4% nos próximos cinco anos no Reino Unido, atingindo 7,5 mil milhões de libras (aproximadamente 8,6 mil milhões de euros) em 2023, representando mais de um terço das compras online de vestuário e calçado. O estudo da empresa de análise de dados GlobalData revela ainda que o crescimento das vendas de players puros online inovadores vai ultrapassar as do sector online (antecipa-se que seja de 40,3%), uma vez que os retalhistas multicanal têm dificuldade em manter-se a par das rápidas mudanças. De acordo com o estudo “Online pureplayers in UK clothing & footwear 2018-2023”, o futuro será negro para os atores da moda que não têm ainda uma forte penetração no canal digital. «Embora os retalhistas multicanal dominem o consumo online em vestuário e calçado, estão sob ameaça dos atores puramente online que estão continuamente a desenvolver a sua proposta para oferecer a melhor experiência de compra»"

Trecho retirado de "Retalho online vai dominar no Reino Unido"

Horus e as empresas

Depois de ouvir Jordan Peterson fui à procura da interpretação da Trindade: Osíris, Horus e Isis. Encontrei este texto, "Lectures on Personality by Jordan Peterson—#2 Mythological Representations":

"Osiris (center) | is the god of tradition & culture—a pillar—he’s an abstraction of the patriarchal force that stands behind tradition. “Tradition” is a way of behaving and cooperating with one another, which is a pattern of behaviors.
...
Order (Osiris) and Chaos (Isis) | They are wedded together. Humans cannot exist without a frame of reference, a solid structure that allows them to navigate their way through life. On the other hand, there will always be unknowns that could arise suddenly that we can’t cope with. (e.g. you’re in a solid relationship with someone and then they tell you they’ve been having an affair the entire time. This crosses the border between what you thought you knew (order) into the great unknown (chaos)…
Horus (left) | Order and chaos can unite and create a third thing, the god of attention. Horus is depicted with the head of a falcon, because of the animal’s superior sight. They fly over everything in the sky, and they can see everything. Horus is alert, with his eyes open. (See also, the Egyptian eye). For example, if everything is going well (too much order), you might get bored or lazy, and fail to pay attention to potential warning signals that chaos is imminent. You need just the right amount of chaos to keep you alert and push yourself, but not so much that will paralyze you."

Depois, fui buscar um texto lido ao fim da tarde, "Why Companies Should Blow Up Best Practices":

"Relying on best practices does not guarantee future success. Today’s accelerated speed of change means that business leaders need to ditch old habits and bring a fresh perspective to their operations if they want to get to the top and stay there.
...
Many people or companies assume that best practices are good for a firm. Can you explain why that’s not always the case?
.
Geoff Tuff: No, it isn’t. There’s a good reason why best practices exist. For many, many years, people learned the lessons of their forebearers as the way to operate their businesses, whether they were generally in an industry or within any specific company. When things don’t change that quickly, when things change on a linear basis and you can predict the way that things are likely to turn out in the future, that’s completely fine. Doing the things that people have done before actually is a good way of being successful.
.
However, when change accelerates and we can no longer rely on the lessons of the past to do things well, that’s where best practices become really dangerous. [Moi ici: Recordar Zapatero e os outros] The great fallacy about best practices is that they can somehow create some competitive advantage. But if everyone is following best practices, there is no advantage there. Best practices don’t become best, they become average.
...
The No. 1 attribute is curiosity. The notion of beginner’s mind, which is something that’s spoken about in a lot of business circles these days, comes originally from Zen Buddhism. There’s a famous quote in Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki that’s something along the lines of, “In the beginner’s mind, there are many options. In the expert’s mind, there are few.” What we’re challenging companies to do today is not to bring an expert’s mind to the table, not to presume that we know the way things will operate, we know the way our markets will unfold, we know the way our competitors will react if we do certain things. Instead, look at things afresh, which is exactly what entrepreneurs do when they try to bring a new, disruptive business model to an industry."

"You don’t win by focusing on your competition" (parte II)

A propósito da parte I.

Esta mensagem sintoniza-se bem com a mensagem deste blogue:

“Finally, you need to let go of beliefs about your competitors that get in your way when it comes to selling effectively. Believing that your competitors lie and that their approach or pricing model is responsible for your losses is unhealthy. It is disempowering because it absolves you of the responsibility of knowing how to position yourself, your company, and your solution as creating the kind of differentiated, compelling value that would have beaten them. [Moi ici: Recordam o choradinho dos que se queixavam dos centros comerciais? E o choradinho dos que se queixavam dos chineses? E o choradinho dos que se queixavam dos ...  ] It’s your job to get the client to perceive the value you create, and it is that perception that allows you to win. If you hold yourself responsible for a loss, you can change your approach and improve. If you blame your competitors, you absolve yourself of responsibility—and you continue to lose. [Moi ici: Locus de controlo no interior!!! ]

You cannot do anything about your competitor. Nothing you say or do will make them change their behavior, their approach, or their pricing. Even when you start to win their clients by creating greater value, your competitors are likely to respond by doubling down on their existing practices, so your focus has to shift to improving how you sell.”

Excerto de: Anthony Iannarino. “Eat Their Lunch”. 

"You don’t win by focusing on your competition"

"Most of us work in mature industries that are overcrowded, where we are perceived as commodities (even when we are not), and where competition is ferocious. We work in industries where growth requires capturing market share from our competitors, and in many cases requires that we take their clients from them while they attempt to take our clients from us. How else do you grow by 12 percent in an industry that is growing by 2.7 percent annually?...
Your company goes out into the market to win new clients. You believe that what you sell—and how you sell it—is better than what your competitors sell. Your intention is to better serve those companies and customers that are not getting what they really want or need.
...
You don’t win by focusing on your competition. What makes you a dangerous competitor is how you play the game. Let’s start by eliminating the things that your competitors routinely do in an attempt to cause you problems and take your business, the things that make them weak competitors.
Some of your competitors compete on price alone, offering a poorer service than you do at a lower price point, while falsely promising the same results you can offer. They will win the most price-sensitive customers in the market, many of whom will live with their shortcomings for much longer than you might imagine. While these competitors usually win clients who perceive only the lowest price as value, they will occasionally win good clients, clients who will stick with them until you find a way to displace them. Know that you cannot do anything about a competitor with an irrational pricing structure. It doesn’t change your pricing model or strategy, so your only response should be to compete in a way that allows you to win with a higher price."

Trechos retirados de “Eat Their Lunch” de Anthony Iannarino.

2020 vai ser interessante

Há dias sugeria: "Agora imaginem que as exportações de automóveis se constipam..."

Hoje: "Protesto portuário ameaça fazer parar a Autoeuropa"

Esta semana:

• Economia alemã contrai pela primeira vez em três anos
• Itália rejeita exigências de Bruxelas e mantém Orçamento do Estado
• Aterrissagem suave ou pouso forçado? O que esperar da alta dos juros nos EUA
• Governo reduz défice à custa do PIB, juros e dividendos, diz Conselho das Finanças Públicas