conceptwist
I'm passionate about understanding business and creating powerful change and growth!
Search
site authors
find me on...
Tag Results
6 posts tagged Business Development
What’s the secret to train tomorrow’s technology leaders today? (It’s not what you think)
We have a problem.
It’s all around us.
It’s weaved into every part of our lives.
We can’t escape it.
There will be more tomorrow than today, more than anyone could possibly imagine.
INFORMATION
Wait, why is information a problem?
Information is everywhere, and when combined with intelligence, information becomes knowledge, and KNOWLEDGE is POWER. So why is that a problem, information is good, knowledge is good, right? Yes, it is good, but it has also caused the world to become flat, it has leveled the playing field. 20 years ago anyone from this country that worked hard, got through school, and applied themselves had a shot a job, and a pretty good job at that! 
That’s not true today. Our students are going to graduate and face competition from 10s of millions of excel proficient, technology savvy, college grads from all over the world. They are hungry, eager, their work ethic is astounding, their GPA is 4.0, and they are ready to do what ever it takes to get the job.
How will our grads compete? What is the secret.
Tomorrow we will compete with passion, purpose, & creativity. The secret is simply teaching tomorrow’s leaders how to understand “who” they are, and “what they love” to understand their unique passion. Then leverage that passion with VAST information, and simply CREATE. No longer can we compete by trying to do things faster, better cheaper. Our future will require much MORE. Gallop says that over 70% of the American workforce is disengaged with their work.
Why?
They are not doing what they love, they are not doing what they are “wired” to to!
That’s not going to cut it in the future. Our students need to learn who they are! What motivates them, what interests them. When that understanding is leveraged WITH technology and information, THAT will become powerful in the new economy. In the past business was created, and success built by doing things faster, and cheaper. In the future, business will be created, and success built by smart people leveraging their passions to create new innovations, technology, and solutions. Are we actually preparing tomorrow’s leaders correctly today?
It’s time to take action.
~Christopher Behnke
Chris Behnke on “What TV Will Look Like In 5 Years”
I was listening to a video Gary Vaynerchuck posted http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX4Hntgn50o Here are my .02 on the subject…
You might just die by these new rules… OR THRIVE!
Bottom line, the business world is changing…
no scratch that, has already changed…
For the past 100 years it was good enough to have a solid product, market it through traditional channels, sell some, have a good outsourced customer service team pretended to listen… Then sit back, relax, and watch the revenue come in…
Those days are gone…
Every single day there are new examples of companies that get it, companies that understand the power of “listening” to their customers and the key actually care about what their customer wants.
In the past it was good enough to pretend to care, pretend to listen to your customer, have a cheerful voice and get them OFF THE PHONE as fast as possible! Success inside customer service organizations was measured by how few minutes you spent with customers when they called with a question or a problem. Bonuses paid for the people that could get through the most calls in an hour!
For those companies there is a new problem: CHOICE and INFORMATION.
Not only choices, but vast information to go along side those choices, it’s good, it’s free, it’s accurate and it comes from people like you and me, people “we” trust. I can’t think of the last time I didn’t look on yelp at the reviews of a restaurant or hotel before going there, or didn’t thoroughly dig through comments on Amazon.com before purchasing something… Or browse through linked in, facebook, twitter, and others before hiring someone!
You can’t hide anymore.
If your product sucks, or you don’t “actually” care, uh I have bad news for, but if you do care, and your product doesn’t suck then you have an opportunity like NEVER before. The same reason that companies that don’t get it are going to wake up to a harsh new world can be YOUR greatest asset! You can reach people, people that want to hear you, they want buy your product, and if you’re good, they are going to tell their friends.
I see new and old companies alike thrive or die by these new rules…
Which are you?
-Christopher Behnke
Playing it safe? It may be the riskiest move you could make.
It REALLY pays off to play it safe right? ESPECIALLY in this economy!
You want to be careful not to be too edgy, not to be too aggressive, or too new school. You can’t afford to offend people, I mean times are tough right? Now is NOT the time to take risks!! Right??
WRONG!
Playing it safe is the Riskiest Thing You Can Do!
Huh? What are you talking about, isn’t taking big risks what got our economy into the jam we are in now? Aren’t the companies that “pushed the edge” the ones that got overextended and failed?
Not even close!
Of course I’m not talking about taking dumb risks, overspending, or moving without strategy, thinking, or planning, that IS dumb, but I would argue that the very companies 10 year ago you would have said were NOT taking risks were the very companies that went out of business, or failed in some other way in the last 3 years… Do you think that GM failed because their cars were “cutting edge” or because there were “in tune” with what their customers wanted, building the perfect car for their customer, OR was the fact that the WERE NOT cutting edge, NOT in tune with what the people wanted.
For the last 25 years we have enjoyed a time of GREAT business growth, thousands of companies innovated | created | grew | expanded, and then.. held on…
They worked hard, listened to the customer created some success, then they held on to that success and milked it for all it’s worth. Rather than “rinse and repeat” they held on… It was ok though because it worked, at least for the most part, it worked!
But then something happened, the world got smaller, MUCH smaller, and faster, MUCH faster. Blogs, the internet, social networking sites like twitter and facebook created a platform where everyone, EVERYONE could talk, and everyone started listening. Today is a whole new ball game, people don’t “trust” brands like they used to, instead consumers turn to their community and talk about the products and services that work and don’t work.
It’s free, it’s easy, and it’s everywhere.
The business that still “don’t get it” well, you don’t need to worry about them because in 10 years they won’t be here anymore. New technically savvy businesses that ARE listening will take their place. The smart guys are listening, and creating products that are “risky”. Risky because they are different, new, and untested, but they ARE what people are asking for. Companies like http://www.zappos.com/ have been massive success NOT because they sold awesome shoes, a lot of places sell the exact same shoes. They have created a very successful business because they listened, they cared, and they adjusted to meet the customers need. PERIOD… That’s it!
Think about it and start to take some BIG risks, it’s probably the safest thing you can do for your business!
Thoughts?
-Christopher Behnke
Pick Pocket Molly Site Launched
One of my favorite brands I have had the opportunity to work with is Pick Pocket Molly. This project has been SOOOO fun, “a lot of it is because it’s my wife’s new business :-)” But mostly it’s because of Alice’s awesome passion. She really believes in the charities that’s this business will hopefully allow her to support. She is sooo passionate about clothes, and fashion, and being able to really find a good deal, and value.
Passion plays such a HUGE role in making and building a brand like Pick Pocket Molly. Working with Alice to learn how to leverage social media tools like facebook and twitter has really been fun, and of course, since Alice is so awesome, she has been a blast to work with…
If you have a few min, check out her Awesome new online presence…
-Christopher Behnke
