Management Blog

Five steps to disruptive innovation

Disruptive innovation – the creation a new market that displaces an existing one – is a result of skills that are within reach of every entrepreneur, according to Clay Christensen and Hal Gregersen.

The authors of The Innovator's DNA, Christensen and Gregersen discuss how organisations can foster disruptive innovation within their ranks in this Harvard Business Review webinar.

This year's biggest retail trends

Each year millions flock to the annual Black Friday sales in the US, a retail period after Thanksgiving that encourages shoppers to part with their cash in the lead up to Christmas.

With Australia's own shopping extravaganza – the Boxing Day sales – around the corner, Smart Company asks what local retailers can learn from overseas trends.

According to this article, five trends that are set to make an impact or intensify in popularity this year are:

• Apps – a growing number of smartphone apps featuring barcode scanners are connecting shoppers to the best deals
• Pre-sale sales – online stores are getting the jump on bricks and mortar shops by starting their sales before official sale periods begin
• Online coupons – the trend towards offering discount coupons that can only be used at online stores is growing even bigger
• Social networks – Twitter and Facebook savvy businesses are offering their best discounts to social media users to build a buzz

2011's best business books

Those Christmas holidays may still be a few weeks away but perhaps now is the right time to start organising your summer reading list.

To help make your purchasing decisions easy strategy + business has put together a list of 2011's best business books. Here are a few recommendations drawn from the globe's leading biz lit authors.

James O'Toole author of The Good Company Revisited recommends:

• Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul by Howard Schultz
• Management Reset: Organizing for Sustainable Effectiveness by Edward E. Lawler and Christopher G. Worley
• Higher Ambition: How Great Leaders Create Economic and Social Value by Michael Beer, Russell A. Eisenstat, Nathaniel Foote, Tobias Fredberg and Flemming Norrgren

Phil Rosenweig author of Asking the Right Questions suggests:

• The Essential Advantage: How to Win with a Capabilities-Driven Strategy by Paul Leinwand and Cesare Mainardi
• Staying Power: Six Enduring Principles for Managing Strategy and Innovation in an Uncertain World by Michael A. Cusumano
• Good Strategy, Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters by Richard P. Rumelt

Marketing Reenvisioned author Catharine Taylor is keen on:

• We First: How Brands and Consumers Use Social Media to Build a Better World by Simon Mainwaring
• Brand Relevance: Making Competitors Irrelevant by David A. Aaker
• The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk

Via 800ceoread.

The key to leading across cultures

Managing a workforce that's located across different countries is a difficult task for any professional. But is there one universal value that can accommodate effective cross-cultural leadership?

According to this Harvard Business Review video featuring management academic Christopher Adkins there is, and that value is empathy.

It's a value, it's claimed, that can be achieved by listening in a bid to win the hearts and minds of employees regardless of the workplace context and broader cultural differences.

Bossypants Tina Fey on management

She is one of the world's most successful comics, but behind the scenes Tina Fey also knows a thing or two about how to manage people, according to this MoneyWatch article.

The article says Fey's memoir Bossypants contains a wealth of advice for managers based on lessons from the author's own workplace experiences as an actor, writer and producer.

According to Fey: "Being the boss almost never involves marching around, waving your arms, and chanting, 'I am the boss! I am the boss!'"

Instead it's suggested, "being a good boss means hiring talented people and then getting out of their way."

It's claimed Fey's approach includes three key tips for managing staff, especially your more creative people. In summary these include:

• Mix it up – include people from different backgrounds in the same team as 'opposites play well together'
• Let it go – striving for perfection means a project can never end, instead aim to achieve the best outcome within a strict timeline
• Encourage focus – difficult staff can be directed to focus their energy by explaining the opportunity that a project presents for them

Not all praise is good: study

A new Stanford University study has found some forms of praise may reduce the overall performance of individual employees by making them less adaptive, hrcommunication reports.

According to the post, the researchers claim different types of praise can result in different behavioural outcomes.

It's claimed praising the intelligence of workers can result in staff clinging to a fixed mindset that limits their productivity, while commending hard work results in a more positive 'growth mindset'.

A growth mindset is the ideal cognitive approach as it encourages continuous learning and assists staff to change their behaviours to suit changing conditions.

Silly Season productivity tips

Can flexible Christmas period work schedules and high productivity exist in harmony? Do gifts from suppliers or clients drive a wedge through staff morale?

This BusinessWeek article tackles such issues by offering a series of pointers to help managers balance Christmas cheer with Silly Season strangeness.

In summary, these tips are:

• Talk it over – clarify all objectives and project deadlines that need to be achieved while flexible work schedules are being provided
• Avoid forced fun – allow employees to decide for themselves if they want to engage in workplace festive season events  
• Gift giving guidelines – have a set of guidelines in place so everyone knows where the organisation stands on gifts and outings
• Focus on the future – the end of the year is a good time to start talking about next year, a topic that can help keep everyone focused
• Expect stress – the festive season can be stressful for many; don't ignore the concerns of workers who hint at work-life challenges

A character-focused approach to recruitment

Hiring managers wishing to take the 'gamble' out of their search for exceptional new talent should focus more on character than experience, a new book argues.

According to this 800 CEO Read review, The Rare Find by George Anders suggests that gambling and hiring ultimately have much in common: both involve a degree of risk and a lot of guesswork.

It's claimed many managers tend to make their guesses based on 'what looks good on paper' and as a result are ignoring candidates with hidden talents who may have a jagged work history.

To remedy this oversight, it's suggested managers read a resume from the bottom up to determine cultural values and to ask these candidates questions about any anomalies in their employee history.

The approach may sound risky but if a little lateral thinking can help you find a brilliant new employee before a competitor does it may be an approach worth considering.

How to defeat imposter syndrome

Professionals who rise up the corporate ladder should not let impostor syndrome – the idea that they are not worthy of their new position – halt their success, according to this PR Daily post.

It's claimed imposter syndrome is a common affliction that occurs due to feelings of self-doubt or the inability to accept success. Fortunately the condition can be tackled head-on by considering these tips:

• Focus on team results – ensure measures are in place so you know when your team has achieved success
• Don't be overly concerned about a perceived lack of experience – previous experience doesn't necessarily hold all the right answers
• Give yourself permission to make mistakes – if you're making more correct decisions than wrong ones you're headed in the right direction
• Be flexible – things won't always go to plan, recognise that unpredicted developments are always to be expected
• Don't be afraid to ask for help – get a second opinion by seeking counsel from those you respect
• Perfection isn't always possible – while it's important to plan, remind yourself that not every development can be controlled

Communication is the key for visionary thinkers

Most people have ideas, but to earn the title of 'visionary' it's the ability to persuasively communicate a new concept that really matters, this recent Inc. magazine article argues.

Beyond the possession of high energy levels and a good dose of persistence, author Jeff Haden says groundbreaking thinkers are prone to follow these principles when bringing new ideas to life:

• Showcase your ideas – rather than just talking about ideas to a small group, show the world how your new concept works by writing about your research and experiences via an appropriate platform
• Be wary of yes-men – you are doing something wrong if your idea instantly achieves universal approval; remember that groundbreaking ideas challenge the status quo, so be prepared for criticism
• Smart off small – promote an idea by focusing on niche media like trade publications, local papers and blogs, all of which are more likely to cover a idea in the early days than larger mainstream publications
• Be sure it's worth it – it's claimed building a successful communication platform for a new idea is hard work; estimating the RIO on a particular idea may save a lot of grief in the long term