Made to Stick

Six principles of sticky ideas:

1. Simplicity
2. Unexpectedness
3. Concreteness
4. Credibility
5. Emotions
6. Stories

Compact ideas help people learn and remember a core message.
Coming up with a profound compact idea is difficult.

When you say three things, you say nothing.

Tap the existing memory terrain of your audience.

Schema enable profound simplicity.

The Curse of Knowledge - the difficulty of remembering what it was like not to know something.

A good news story is structured like an inverted pyramid.

High-concept pitches often tap the power of an analogy.

Naturally sticky ideas are frequently unexpected.

The surprise should reinforce the core message.

Value comes from the alignment of stories and goals.

A great script is designed so that every scene is a Turning Point. Each turning point hooks curiosity.

Story works by posing questions and opening situations.

The trick to convincing people that they need our message is to first highlight some specific knowledge that they're missing.

The vision of a pocketable radio sustained a company through a tricky period of growth and led it to become
an internationally recognized player in technology. The vision of a man on the moon sustained tens of
thousands of separate individuals, in dozens of organzations, for almost a decade.


--------------------

Concreteness

Abstraction makes it harder to understand an idea and to remember it.

Concreteness is an indisposable component of sticky ideas.

if you can examine something with your senses, it's concrete.

Concrete language helps people, especially novices, understand new concepts.

Concreteness makes targets transparent.

Concrete details don't just lend credibility to the authorities who provide them; they lend credibility to the idea itself.

Details boost the credibility of an argument.

Humanizing the statistics gives the argument greater wallop.

The Frank Sinatra test: If you can make it in NY, you can make it anywhere.

Asking customers to test a claim for themselves is a "testable credential."

Three strategies for making people care: using associations, appealing to self-interest, an appealing to identity.

Stories provide simulation and inspiration.

Inspiration drives action, as does simulation.

Challenge plots inspire us by appealing to our perseverance and courage.

Challenge plots inspire us to act.

A connection plot is a story about people who develop a relationship that bridges a gap.

The creativity plot involves someone making a mental breakthrough, solving a long-standing puzzle, or attacking a problem in an innovative way.

Getting a message across has two stages: the Answer stage and the Telling Others stage. In the Answer stage, you use your expertise to arrive
at the idea that you want to share. The same factors that worked to your advantage in the Answer stage will backfire on you during the Telling
Others stage.

For an idea to stick, for it to be useful and lasting, it's got to make the audience:

1. Pay attention - Unexpected
2. Understand and remember it - Concrete
3. Agree/Believe - Credible
4. Care - Emotional
5. Be able to act on it - Story

Winning Business Proposals

Baseline Logic
Current Situation
Desired Results
Benefit

Proposal Psychology
- Benefits
- Hot Buttons
- Evaluation Criteria
- Counters to Competition
- Theme selection and development

Proposal Slots
- Situation
- Objectives
- Methods
- Qualifications
- Costs
- Benefits

Client Problems
- Lack of insight
- Lack of plan
- Lack of plan implementation

Situation. Results. Benefits. Deliverables.
Effects.

Value Proposition
- Current situation
- Desired result
- Objectives
- Timelines
- Cost
- Benefit

Demonstrate measurable results orientation by estimating
the value of eventually implementing the plan.

While you cannot promise measurable results in all projects,
you can communicate an orientation toward such results.

A pyramid is a framework for organizing ideas.

"Bedside manner" is just as important as expertise.

Buyer categories:
- User
- Technical
- Coach

The coach arranges introductions and provides
advice concerning selling strategies.

Coaches are often interested in recognition.

The
Highlighted
Essential
Messages that
Express the character of my
Story

Themes should:
1) Address individual needs. Hot buttons
2) Respond to collective needs. Evaluation criteria
3) Counter your competition.

Choose three to five themes among the many hot buttons,
evaluation criteria, and counters to the competition.

Themes are repeated expressions of your abilities and
capabilities to address HB, EC & CC.

Proposal inquiries are an opportunity to build a
long-lasting relationship.

The green team provides the selling team with constructive,
creative suggestions.

The green team can provide a range of different perspectives,
attitudes and points of view.

The green team evaluates the logical and psychological aspects of the selling efforts

Demonstrate that you not only listened but understood the problem.

When possible, educate.

Showing always trumps telling.

Proposals contain both information and persuasion.

Why, How and Benefits.

Meet with a potential client, hammer out a methodology, workplan and agreement on deliverables.
Be sure to establish trust and chemistry.

Sometimes the sales objective is not to win but prequalify for future work.

The qualification section must focus on abilities and capabilities as tehy relate to the clients needs.

Qualifications should focus on the intersection of your abilities and capabilities with client needs or
evaluation criteria.

We are the best qualified firm:
- Description of the firm
- Industry experience
- Sector experience
- Similar studies
- Proprietary methodologies
- Consulting philosophy

Kottler on Marketing

It is difficult for an imitator to copy all aspects of a strategic architecture.
The great strategies consist of a unique configuration of many reinforcing activities that defy easy imitation.
Find profitability by segment, customer, product, channel and geographical unit.
Without a top line, there will be no bottom line.
"The aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous."
"Marketing is far too important to be left only to the marketing department."
"Companies can't give job sescurity. Only customers can."
One liner formulas that promise marketing success:

1. Win through higher quality
2. Win through better services
3. Win through lower prices
4. Win through high market share
5. Win through adaptation and customization
6. Win through continuous product improvement
7. Win through product innovation
8. Win by entering high-growth markets
9. Win through exceeding customer expectations

None of the above always work.
A company doesn't really have a strategy if it performs the same activities as its competitors, only a little better. It is simply operationally more effective.
A business has a robust strategy when it has strong points of difference from competitors' strategies.
AIDA - Attention, interest, desire, action
One of the key uses of the computer is to manage the proepect and customer database.
The main steps in the marketing management process.
R -> STP -> MM -> C
Research, Segmentation-Targeting-Positioning, Marketing Mix (Product, Price, Place and Promotion), Control
Marketing is the art of finding, developing, and profiting from opportunities.
Idea management requires and idea manager, team from various areas to meet regularly and discuss new ideas, and formal recognition program.
Jack Welch wanted more than improvement thinking, he wanted break through thinking.

The Art of the Start

Doing, not learning to do, is the essense of entrepreneurship.
Top five things an entrepreneur must accomplish:

1. Make meanings
2. Make mantra
3. Get going
4. Define business model
5. Milestones, assumptions and tasks

Good enough is good enough. Think big. You can't change the world with a boring service.
Successful companies are started and made successful by at least two soulmates.
The only result that should offend (and scare) you is lack of interest.
Use prototypes as market research.
The more precisely you can describe your customer, the better.
If you can't describe your business model in ten words are less, you don't have one.
Relate your business model to one that's already successful and understood.

Milestones:

• Prove concept
• Complete design
• Finish prototype
• Raise capital
• Achieve break-even

Assumptions:

• Metrics
• Market size
• Gross margin
• ROI for a customer

Internal strategies:
Put company first
Stay under the radar. The higher you go, the more people want to maintain the status quo.

No matter what, never admit that you are scared to other employees.
Freely discuss your ideas.
Positioning comes down to one simple question: What do you do?
When selling your service make it personal for the customer.
Speak clear english. Cascade the message.
Explain the relevance of what you do, stay at a high level, listen to audience reaction and pitch over and over until you get it right.
Guidelines for a good pitch:

• Ten slides
• Twenty minutes
• Thirty point font

Studies by consulting firms with bold projections are unreliable.
Your pitch needs to be effective:

• Above the ground but still practical
• Detail to prove you can deliver
• Aerial view to prove you have vision

Powerpoint tips:

• Use dark background
• Logo on every page
• Arial font
• No animation
• Build bullets (only one level)
• Use diagrams and graphs

Business plan is of limited usefulness for a startup because for entrepreneurs there are a lot of assumptions, visions and unknowns.
A good business plan is a detailed version of a pitch.
Ten slides are necessary for a good pitch:

• Title
• Problem
• Solution
• Business model
• Underlying magic
• Market/Sales
• Competition
• Management team
• Final projections / Key projections
• Current status

Executive summary should have four paragraphs:

• Problem
• Solution
• Business model
• Solution

Business plan:

• Twenty pages (max)
• One voice
• Financial projectins on two pages (max)
• Number of customers
• Include assumptions that drive your financial projections
• Generally investors want five year projections to understand scale, determine capital needs and assumptions

How much money is going to be required until the company can support itself from its own cash flow?
Have a list of customers that the vendor can call to discuss how much they need your service, or how much the already use your service.
Goals (what) and strategies (how)
Startups should focus on cash flow.
Ship, fix..repeat
Would I let my father or mother use this product? If yes, ship it.
One strategy is to position against the leader. Lexus: "As good as a Mercedes or BMW, but 30 % cheaper".
Everyone has major weaknesses. Find people with major strengths.
You need an introduction by a credible third party to get a decision maker to take a serious look at your organization.
Investors look for a proven team, proven technologies and proven sales.
Openly discussing your strengths and weaknesses make your strengths more credible.
Top lies entrepreneurs tell:

• Our projection is conservative
• Gartner syas our market will be 50 billion in 5 years
• X will sign a contract next week.
• Key employees will join as soon as we get funded
• Several investors are already in due diligence
• Microsoft is too old, big, dumb and slow to be a threat
• Patents make our business defensible
• First-mover advantage.

Being a "fast second" might be better. Let someone else pioneer the concept, learn from their mistake, and leapfrog them.

1. 
   

Real Money

Over the long term, high quality stocks that give a dividend outperform all asset classes.

The stock market is a humbling collection of pricing decisions involving the supply of equities and a level of demand mitigated by greed and fear, two animalistic, psychological components.

If you buy and hold GOOD QUALITY STOCKS THAT OFTEN PAY DIVIDENTS you get the benefit of the cycle.

Buy and homework. Trading and speculation can be good things.

Book: Picking Winners - Andy Beyer

The future of a stock is far more important than the past.

Always use limit orders when buying or selling a stock.

EPS and growth of earnings are the two most important factors in evaluating a stock.

Bargains can be found in small cap stocks.

Rules:

• Bulls make money; bears make money; pigs get slaughtered
• It's ok to pay taxes
• Don't buy all at once; arrogance is a sin
• Look for broken stocks, not broken companies
• Diversification is the only free lunch
• Buy and homework, not buy and hold
• No one make a dime by panicking
• Own the best of breed; it is worth it
• Discipline trumps conviction
• The fundamentals must be good in takeovers
• Don't own too many stocks
• Cash is a fine alternative
• Don't forget bonds
• Hope is not part of the equation
• Be flexible
• When high-level people quit a company, something is wrong

Read conference call transcripts

Areas you should put your money in:

• A hometown stock
• Oil (Exxon, BP, COP, Kerr-McGee etc)
• Blue chip with 2.5 % yield
• Financials
• Speculation
• Pick a secular when no one wants them (e.g. P&G)
• Pick a cyclical when it is clear the economy is going south (but soon north) and the smokestacks are being trashed (e.g. DOW, DE, CAT, Boeing)
• Technology
• A young retailer that is expanding geographically
• A hope for the future (e.g. Biotech)

Mutual funds are regulated by the SEC. Hedgefunds are not.

You have a hit the bottom:

1. The pain makes the front page of the NY Times and/or USA Today
2. Investors are less than 40% bullish
3. Two straight months of mutual fund withdrawals
4. A reading above 40 in the VIX (Volatility index)

Book: Only the Paranoid Survive - Andy Grove

There is a world of difference between the companies and the pieces of paper that trade on behalf of them, and the biggest money is made exploiting those differences at crucial times.

Check out thestreet.com/stocksunderten

"You can do it; we can help" - Home Depot

Two investment forces are always at work: capital appreciation and capital preservation.

A sign to sell is when underwritings begin to sink.

Antagonists to buy and hold

• Competition
• A company is vague about its numbers
• Overexpansion
• Government blind side
• Secondary stock sells
• Accounting mayhem
  

Fifth Discipline

Boom - Bust cycles are the nature of the systems (e.g. Boston real estate 89')
Structure influences behavior

Systemic structure

Key interrlationships that influence behavior over time

The beer game provides a laboratory for exploring how structure influences behavior
In order to succeed, others must succeed and work together
Structural explanations address underlying causes of behavior
Patterns of behavior can be changed

Compensation feedback

Change here effects there

Systems thinking is needed to make sense of complexity and vast information
The leverage in management lies in understanding dynamic complexity

1. The essence of the discipline of systems thinking lies in a shift of mind
   1. Seeing interrelationships rather than linear cause and effect chains
   2. Seeing process of change rather than snapshots

Reinforcing loops (feedback) and self-fulfilling prophecies
Balancing feedback - stabalizing
All feedback processes have some sort of delay
Learning organization
Understand the system

1. Five disciplines
   1. Team learning
   2. Building shared vision
   3. Mental models
   4. Personal mastery
   5. Systems thinking

1. Seven Learning Disabilities
   1. I am my job
   2. The enemy is out there
   3. Illusion of taking charge
   4. Short term thinking
   5. Slow processes can pose the greatest threats
   6. We don't experience the consequences of our decisions
   7. Managers find debate threatening

Getting Things Done

Operate with a "mind like water"

Identify and collect all those things that are "ringing your bell" and then plan how to handle them
What most distracts you? Describe your intended successful outcome? Then, what physical action would you do next?
Outcome thinking is one of the most effective means for making wishes reality
How do we manage actions?
What is the next action to accomplish my goals?
Projects require clarity and definition
Horizontal and vertical action management
Sit down and make a list of everything you need to do

Collections

Every open loop must be in your collection system and out of your head

Project

Any desired result that requires more than one action step

Use calendar for time and day specific action
Categorize your Next-Actions
Outcome focusing
Create list of projects and next actions

1. Do it
2. Delegate it
3. Defer it
4. Drop it

All your open loops..projects..next actions..should be reviewed once a week
How do you choose what to do? right now?

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. 
The secret of getting started is breaking the
complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable
tasks, and then starting on the first one.
- Mark Twain

Process

• Action
  • No
    • Trash
    • Incubate
    • Reference
  • Yes
    • Outcome and next action
    • Next action
      • Do it
      • Delegate it
      • Defer it

To do list should be outcomes and action
Our responsibility as knowledge workers is to define and clarify the meaning of "stuff"
The key to managing all your "stuff" is managing your actions
Lack of clarity and definition of a project is the true problem
Must define next-action steps
Capture and organize 100% of my "stuff" in and with objective tools at hand, not in my mind
Workflow....collect - process - organize - review -do
You must have as few buckets as possible
Empty them regularly
Purpose

• defines success
• creates decision making criteria
• aligns resources
• motivates
• clarifies focus
• expands options

Proposals

The proposal writer's most important job is to sell something

Needs
Outcomes
Recommendations
Details to substantiate

If you wish to persuade me, you must think my thoughts, feel my feelings, and speak my words - Cicero

Empathy. Use words your customer will understand
Focus on customer's pain and gain
Recommend a solution
Next discuss potential outcome (ROI)
Sound like you believe in it...We recommend...urge...are confident; Your recommendation should be a call to action
Prove you can do it
Show enthusiasm

Strategy
Getting to know your customer
* Pre-proposal activities are very important
* Work with the customer. Collaborate to develop a business direction
* Educate the decision maker/buyer before the proposal and during the sales process
* Use RFP as a springboard for understanding the client's situation
* Competitor websites can hint at problems others have
* Learn customer success stories
* Analyze a situation in four overlapping areas: business, technical, social and personal
* Relationship is a partnership


Solutions should have focus
* Typically a single criteria or factor determines a decision
* Decision makers seldom go beyond 2 or 3 factors before reaching a decision
* Address the customer's unique needs, values and interest
* Important goals help develop your value proposition

General tactics
* Sell on value not on price
* Offer bundled solutions
* Accentuate the positives and minimize the negative
* Recognized objects are judged to have more value than unrecognized objects
* Emphasize differentiators
* Quantify the impact your solutions make

Communication
* Say the right things in the right way
* Speak the buyer's language
* Try to speak to every member of the decision team

Writing the Proposal

Starting
* Proposals should start by addressing prospective clients needs and objectives
* Do some prudent qualifying before committing yourself to the time and effort of writing a quality proposal
* The best way to improve your win ratio is to stop bidding for work you have no chance of winning
* Statistically, in government contracting incumbents win about 90% - 100% of all rebids

Spelling and Grammer
* Choice of words and structure of sentences can either attract or repel the decision maker
* Demonstrate competence and professionalism in writing and design
* Credibility killers-misspellings, grammar and punctuation errors, use of the wrong client's name, inconsistent formats, and similar mistakes
* What words establish credibility?

Customer Focus
* Customer's name should be mentioned 3x more than yours
* Focus on your customer's organization or business of interest

Order/Structure
* Present ideas in the same order in which they matter to the reader/decision maker
* You should respond to the RFP as it is written
* Funnel. Most important - Least important
* Highlight high-value content and your main points

Proposals should be persuasive, accurate and complete
* Informative writing is factual. Facts - who, what, when, where, why and how
* Evaluation writing - facts with opinion
* Persuasive writing - facts, opinions and influential

The Actual Proposal
* Cover Letter, Title Page, Table of Contents and Executive Summary should be pragmatic
* Second part should include technical details and proof statements
* Every proposal should include calculations and graphic displays of ROI, TCO, payback period, productivity improvements and speed
* Verbal illustrations-Examples....help make your point more concrete
* Visual illustrations communicate to many people more clearly than words

Keep it Simple
* Proposal writers almost always overestimate the level of understanding of their clients
* When people feel confused, they don't buy
* Short is better than long and simple is better than complex
* Factual, technical information can be easy; persuasive, clear information can be hard but effective

Misc
* 95% of people do not like proposal writing
* A professional is someone who can profess
* Amazon provides personalized services
* For government, replace business goals with mission objectives
* Breadth of services may not be so important
* Spreadsheet comparisons reduce product to a commodity

Deadly Sins of Proposal Writing
* Failure to focus on the client's business problems and payoffs-the content sounds generic
* No persuasive structure-the proposal is an "information dump"
* No clear differentiation of this vendor compared to others
* Failure to offer a compelling value proposition
* Difficult to read because they're full of jargon, too long, or too technical

Persuassion
* The message - specificity in the details increases the persuasiveness of the message
* The receiver - develope a client centered message
* The channel - for simple presentations, audio\visual more persuasive
* The source - must be credible and appealing

Questions for a Client-Centered Proposal
* What is the client's problem or need?
* What makes this problem worth solving? What makes this need worth addressing?
* What goals must be served by whatever action is taken?
* Which goal has the highest priority?
* What products/applications/services can I offer that will solve the problem or meet the need?
* What results are likely to follow from each of my potential recommendations?
* Comparing these results to the customer's desired outcomes or goals, which recommendation is best?
* Why solve the problem now?
* What corporate objectives are being blocked?
* How will the client judge success?
* What is the most important factor in choosing a vendor?
* What factors did you use to guide your decision?

Results must be
* measurable, quantifiable
* organizational (not personal)
* connect your offering and customer's desired outcomes

Four personality types ("think my thoughts")
1. Detail-oriented
2. Pragmatic
3. Consensus-oriented
4. Visionary

Level of expertise ("speak my words")
* Expert
* Informed
* Familiar
* Unfamiliar

Roles in the decision process ("feel my feelings")
* Ultimate authority
* User
* Gatekeeper - detail oriented. Provide the gatekeeper with clear, specific evidence that you meet requirements for the RFP. Be concrete with claims...create credibility with details

Understanding the customer

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
1. introvert/extrovert
2. sensing/intuitive
3. thinking/feeling
4. judging/perceiving

Reach conclusions about the customer's preferences
Watch for a person's manner of speaking..Curt?..Detailed?..Emotional?
How is the office decorated?
What are the top ten things they are passionate about?

Four Types
1. Analytical
2. Pragmatic
3. Concensus seeker
4. Visionary

Four categories of information every proposal should have
1. Evidence you understand the problem
2. Specific solution that will solve the problem and produce positive business results
3. Evidence of your qualifications and competence to do the job on time and on budget
4. Dramatic Difference

Order of evaluation
* Appropriateness to needs
* Competence to deliver
* Attractiveness of value proposition

Jumpstart Your Brain

Translate features into benefits...And benefits into overt benefits

* directness
* bluntness
* specifics


Define your core customer
More benefits are not necessarily better
Do one thing great
To deliver great web services that matter
Define a provocative overt benefit
Corporate merencaries doing a job...not
Increase your Benefit Communication
Simply telling customers in a direct and easy-to-understand manner
If you communicate clearly to the world you can dramatically enhance your return on effort expended
The Web is a place for business
Features are not the same as benefits
The more work required by customers, the less sales
Turn technology features into customer benefits
Overt benefits generate customer interest
Credibility is the number one weakness of new business concepts
Internet Marketing must overcome the customer confidence gap
Infomercials are successful..learn from them
Make a list of overt communication that enhances credibility for you and your competition
Add unstated things, compare..customer's do this
Sales pitch should be 2 - 10 clear and focused words
You should not delegate creating a mission statement
Sell the positive
Communicate Overt benefit
The real world is chaotic and distracting...not familiar with your service
Target audience -> features -> benefits -> overt benefits
Your genuince excitement will get your customers excited
Overt Benefit provides a clear sense of calling and mission
Deciding what you will NOT be is difficult
Visualize the moment of purchase
Think about visuals
"Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see" - Ben Franklin

Stages of Creativity when using Stimuli
1. Gather stimuli
2. Multiply
3. What's in it for the customer
4. Make it feasible


When gathering ideas "free associate"...Quantity breeds Quality
We must give our customer's the courage to be great

Crafting dramatic difference
1. Provide leadership
2. Put it in writing


What makes SpringMethods dramatically different is that it is the only company to offer ? (Dramtaic Difference)
SpringMethods is the first to offer ? (Overt Benefit) that's because of ? (Real Reason to Believe)
When you are little you have to do crazy things, you can't just copy the big guys
Dramatically different ideals always cause chaos for one or more areas of your company
Brilliant ideas are crazy ideas that look obvious only after the fact

By using a unique and unexpected strategy you can break the cycle of cynicism
Never give up the search for new, fresh ways to communicate credibility
We must offer our customers a Real Reason to Believe that our solution will solve the problem

Success
Promise your customers an Overt Benefit. Then deliver on that promise


Without Overt Benefit and Real Reason to Believe customers skip to evaluating on price
The mission is to create a monopoly
When you offer a Dramatic Difference you hold a monopoly-like position in the marketplace

100% Commodity <-> 100% Monopoly


Being courageous in the pursuit of Dramtically Different ideas can help you multiply the impact of your small company in the market place
Invest long-term in innovations and efforts utilizing a portfolio approach
Pursue uncertainty to find potential areas of Dramatic Difference
Don't solve yesterday's problems

Dramatic Difference
What is the value ratio of benefits to cost

Successful selling
* Make the effort to contact
* Deliver proper message
Concept Synergy
* Target Audience - Who?
* Overt Benefit - What?
* Reason to Believe - How?
* Dramatic Difference - Why?


Excuse: I have no money...Have you written down your ideas? Unlikely
Idea matters-not money

Three laws of capitalist creativity
1. It must be stimulating..explore stimuli
2. Diversity of opinions...leverage diversity
3. Challenge your fear...face fears


When you bring external stimuli into the process, you are helping your brain work like a computer
Communicate benefits using

Kitchen logic

1. Experience
2. Skills
3. Methodology
4. Innovation
Search for something relevant yet unexpected
Ideas that offer Dramatic Difference provide clear news to tell the customer
Is your idea new to your company? region? industry? country? world?
80% of copycat efforts fail
The more you need to have an "education" to understand the point of difference, the less unique it is
Some barriers to competing or copying are time, intelligence and energy
Create a competive strength balance sheet..compare your offerings to your competitors
Observe candid comments. Why did the customer choose you?
What are you good at? Write it down?
Look at your product/service with different eyes
Relevant -> Unexpected -> Relevant "Your idea has to be an original only in its adaptation to the problem you are working on" - Thomas Edison
A study found a clear relationship between the success of each scientist and the number of hobbies he had
Books..Exercise..Crafts..Cook..Music..Meet people..Write..Travel...Museums

Borrowing Brilliance..Unrelated Stimuli

Serendipity
- One part awareness
- One part preparation
- One part optimism

Find answers in unexpected locations
Academic research can be a useful source of stimuli
Tradeshows are a low-cost method for experimentation on how to refine your marketing message
What promotions catch your eye?
Greeting cards are great for exploring ways to articulate emotional benefit
Magazines are a rich source of stimuli for business ideas. They tell you what's hot in the marketplace.
Find sources of inspiration for creating new ideas
"The weakest ink lasts longer than the strongest memory" - Chinese saying
Write and do more / Talk and think less
Writing and rewriting is the least costly and most effective business prototyping system available.
Stimulus is the catalyst that sparks ideas
Diversity fuels that spark creating a chain reaction of continuous idea creation
Try this...
1. Write down an idea
2. Have someone read it
3. Listen to their response
4. Ask them "What is the benefit"...."What do they believe"...."What is dramatically different?"
Put yourself in other people's shoes
Don't sell me software. Sell me an experience.
Whole brain types are more effective as idea generators
Left: Relevant Ideas -> Unexpected
Right: Unexpected -> Relevant
Right brains provide the spark of an idea
Left brains provide leadership in the translation of visions into practical reality
Writing is like building a house. First, build a steady left brain foundation. Then use the right brain for craftmanship.
Use right brain for creativity and left brain for discipline and focus.
"Well done is better than well said" - Ben Franklin
# of Quality Ideas = Stimuli + Diversity/Fear
Businesspeople who had recently been successful were found to be more likely to take a future risk
When we have truth on our side, there is a confidence that comes with it - Dalai Lama
The first acto of creation is often an act of destruction - Picasso
An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy to be called an idea at all - Oscar Wilde
Momentum = Mass x Velocity
To introduce new ideas, you have to be able to take a lot of ridicule
The value of the plan lies in the organizing of the thinking
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds - Emerson
Wrong!... - Jane O'Boyle
Facing Fear

1. Do the Right Thing
2. Use Pain to Motivate Gain
3. Try Your way to Courage
4. Reduce the Cost of Failure and Increase Your Courage
5. Manage Your Fears Like Your Stocks
6. Plan Probabilities, Not Certainties
7. Change Your Frame of Reference

If you're imaginative enough to invent great ideas, you should be smart enough to find ways to cost-efficiently turn thos ideas into reality
Up, sluggard, and waste not life; in the grave will be sleeping enough.
Ernest Hemingway on Writing

The hyperlink subverts hierarchy

Networking

* Constantly expanding one’s network of teammates
* Building relationships and partnerships
* Don't forget thank you notes
* Loyalty to your peers-trade
* Build your rolodex
* Who is the most interesting person you have met in the past 90 days?
* Hang out with strange and cool freaks



Technology

* The web changes everything; Embrace it, or else; Do everything through it;
* The adventure is only beginning
* Implementation is more important than the technology
* Small pieces, loosely joined
* IT enables total transparency; Privileged information is available to all
* New ways to interact with our fellow human beings
* Artificial Intelligence

Books
* The Cluetrain Manifesto
* The Rise of the Virtual State – Rosecrance
* Smart Mobs - Howard Rheingold
* A New Brand World - Scott Budbury
* Jump Start Your Business Brain - Doug Hall
* Disruption...Beyond Disruption - Jean Marie Dru
* Serious Play – Schrage

Business
* Venture Capitalists bet on Talent and Projects
* Customer profitability is my concern
* Professional Service Firm
* You are headed into commodity hell if you don't have services
* Systems Integrator of Choice
* Turnkey solution
* Changes in business processes will emphasize self-service
* If you can't make it in the real world with outside clients, you shouldn't be in the business
* What gets measured, gets done
* First Price, next Quality, now Design

Inspiration/motivation/passion

• Become purposeful. Do stuff that makes a difference to you. Get a life.
• The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to take, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a common thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars – Kerouac
• Expose yourself to the best things humans have done and then try to bring those things into what you are doing. (motivation)
• Way cool; A sense of fun; An identity that inspires; Passion, Imagination, Persistence
• The opportunity to help clients become what they want to be
• Engender passionate dedication through vision and freedom
• Big Idea Organizations....don't believe in talking to the customer....run by passionate maniacs Trademarks are passion and innovation
• Work Worth Paying For
• Do things you could never have dreamed before
• Survive and Thrive; Right Now...Live in the moment; New, Big ideas, New possibilities
• Fun, energy, excellence, reliability, creativity
• Something you care about, Something that matters; Build something great
• We aim to change the world
• Design is the soul of a man-made creation
• Passion...Huge Risks..Work that matters

Organization/Politics
* Flat. Fast. Agile
* People who lead the effort to get a community center build....do politics
* Creative Intellectual Capital
* Culture change
* A flat organization is a fast organization
* Nobody gives you power, you just take it
* Cubicle slavery
* Chain of Command = Designated and appointed guardians of yesterday
* The biggest waste of time in the world is to try to "sell" the idea "up the chain of command"
* A seriously cool idea is a direct frontal attack on the Holy Authority of Today's Bosses
* Seriously cool allies
* Politics is an exciting human puzzle
* Don't bad mouth
* Avoid, don't fight, the old culture
* You can't change culture, but you can change people

General/Misc
* Bedroom 10 X 13, Global HQ for PSF
* Tom Gullo, Managing Partner SpringMethods, Software Engineering
* Simplicity, Clarity, Beauty, Breathtaking, Scintillating, High Value-Added, Awesome
* BHAG - Big Hairy Audacious Goal
* Intellectual Capital exhibiting true distinction
* Training is an obsession
* Keep asking better questions
* 80% of success is showing up
* People aged 55-65 will rise 50% from 2003 to 2011
* Women spend a lot
* Men are transaction oriented, Women are relationship oriented
* A policy manual that is one page long
* Valley of Dramatic Dreams
* Observe..Orient..Decide..Act
* Confuse and confound the enemy by your speed
* The point of a presentation is to persuade

Talent
* Talent is the brand
* Roster...talent
* Pursue talent..talent obsession
* Movie Stars of the IT world
* Companies are Primary Engines for Creative Work
* Talent scouring
* Bezos is a developer of people

Maverick
* Break the chain of command
* Reward Risk
* Excellent Failures are better than Mediocre Successes
* Hyperlinks subvert hierarchy
* Boss free implementation of a seriously cool idea

Excellence
* God is in the details

Innovation
* Foster rather than Quash innovation
* Rip up the envelope and burn the box
* The number one source of innovation is pissed off people
* Innovation means breaking todays rules

Communication
* Remove any and all barriers to communication
* Human nature tends to support stovepipes and silos
* Integrated services

Marketing
* What's very special about you?
* How are you unique?
* Define yourself...don't let people define you
* Don't just express yourself, invent yourself. And don't restrict yourself to off-the-shelf models

Experience
* Experience makes you smile, is focused, has a plot, a reason for being, a passion.
* Think Nike, Disney, Apple, Starbucks..
* It leaves an indellible memory
* Feelings account for the success at Virgin
* Do customers rave about what we do?

Big
* Mediocre success = Big trouble
* Reward Excellent Failures...Punish Mediocre Successes

Prototype
* Abstract concept to concrete working model
* Become a Rapid Prototyping Maniac
* Effective prototyping may be the most valuable competence an innovative organization can hope to have
* Good prototypes create narratives and tell stories
* Palpable proof that this exciting new way of doing things is doable

Leadership
* Follow the rules or make new rules
* A leader does something remarkable
* Find Heroes. Do demos. Tell Stories
* To leap frog change we need Lead Frogs
* I don't want to wait my turn before doing something interesting
* Success = organized and motivated people
* Create opportunities
* Develop talent
* Break down barriers
* Forget the past
* "The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not followers" - Ralph Nader
* Network like a fiend
* Connect
* Create new markets

Sales
* All sales is politics
* Sales pitch: clear, simple, benefits, story
* Success = Sales Success
* Life is sales. The rest is details.
* Bias for Action
* Be close to the Customer
* All sales, All the time

Small Business
* Fewer than 1 in 10 Americans now work for a Fortune 500 company
* 16 - 25 million Americans are IC's
* 12 - 27 million work in companies with a size of 4 or fewer
* From cubicle slave to Free Agent
* Giant projects contain within them the seeds of mediocrity

Stories
* Riveting tales that free the imagination
* He who has the best story wins

The End of Marketing as we know it

The End of Marketing as We Know It - Sergio Zyman

Change, Competition: The game is to constantly change the definition of what you are doing, so that your competition is constantly lagging behind

creativity, Management: Creativity can be managed

Creativity: Creativity is both constructive and destructive

Talent: Hire an army of the best and brightest marketers

Hire productive people and let them do their stuff

Measure: Profit and loss statement for what you sell

Aim High: Do you want to help a D player become a C player? or a B player become an A player

Inspiration: An environment to test their dreams

Management: Clearly saying no is difficult but important

Responsibility: Decision makers are responsible for carrying it out

Never stop adding reasons to buy your product

You have a better chance of selling stuff to people who already want it. Broaden the definition of what your brand is.

Opportunities: Times of turmoil are great growth opportunities

Marketing: S.O.B. Source of Business

TACOS - Trademark + Area of Business + Size of Customer Offering = Success Where am I going to get the best ROI and profit?

The sole purpose of marketing is to sell more stuff to more people, more often and at higher prices

By defining and redefining yourself, you can constantly move away from your competitors

Growth: If you don't grow, you die

Unique: What else do you provide?

Scientific Marketing: Scientific research in Marketing

Open Mind: Keep an open mind

Flexible: Adapt to changes

Experiment: Test and Revise, Test and Revise

Execution: Define, Overdeliver, Claim success

Positioning: Narrow your competitor

Positioning: By emphasizing a strength, you weaken the competition

Customer focus: It's the customer stupid

Customer action: You don't want people that love you but never buy you

Sales and marketing: Closing the sale is part of the job of marketing

Ask them to buy

Keep selling the sold

Common ground between consumer and product or service Keep it fresh and desirable

Lifecycle of customer: 1. Awareness 2. Intent to buy 3. Will to buy

Position, define market: Starbucks expanded the market by redefining it

Unique: You can't sell sameness. You can only sell differences and emphasize them

Marketing biz: Hollywood hired to advertise

Talent: If your pay is peanuts, you will get monkeys

Pay per/person per/period...not commision

Performance driven organization

I don't want belongers, I want working partners

Management and Marketing: Manage marketing strategy. Let ad agencies manage creativity

Pricing: Pricing Promotions are like negative politics...do nothing for long term support

Motivation: Performance does not equal tenure

Making money: Marketing and advertising are about selling and making money

Marketing biz: It's the customer that figures out what to say and the ad agency that figures out how to say it effectively

Branding: Build brands using.. trademark image product image user image usage image associative image

Profit: Focus on profit not volume

Marketing: Keep giving a reason to buy

Segment: Segment to identify the most profitable targets

Plan: Plan destination, develop a strategy for getting there

Marketing is a Science: Marketing is a science. Experimentation, measurement, analysis, refinement and replication

Measure: Measure brand and region monthly

Other

The night itself would seem to sparkle and gleam A good teacher has discovered how to involve each student actively in the process of learning Do not think that this is all there is. More and more wonderful teachings exist. The sword is unfathonable. The master ane the masters path are one. Masters love to practice.

Client feedback fanatic Brand You = Sales Distinction Make your own company in the company. Get rolodex Conscious You can do homework from now until doomsday, but you will never win fame and fortune unless you also invent big ideas What your business reveals about you - and how to fix it. - Lynelle Grant Brand You World is Sales World Join Toastmasters Presentations - T ideas on 3 x 5 cards - Represent yourself - Tell stories You are not above politics Relationship Marketing - Regis McKenna Obsess about sales Ask for the sale

PM

Managing Projects in Organizations - J. Davidson Frame
Politics is the art of influence
Projects require a systematic needs analysis
A needs hierarchy forces us to identify relevant actors and their needs
Crossfunctional needs analysis teams help
MBO - Manage By Objectives. Establish clear objectives and make sure they are achievable
Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results Oriented, Timely
Project selection, planning, implementation, control, evaluation and termination - PM lifecycle
Control will measure variances. Acceptable levels of variance should be established
Evaluation involves taking stock periodically
End of poject evaluations provide lessons learned
Success = coordination & influence
Pitfalls

1. Organization factors
2. Inability to identify customer requirements
3. Poor planning and control

Gold-plating - providing a Porsche when an Escort will do
"To a four year old boy with a hammer, all the world is a nail"
Each of us sees the world through a filter
Crossfunctional groups help avoid myopia
Each person has a different perspective
Sometimes the experts do not know what is best
Avoid taking a paternalistic approach
Projects arise in order to address needs
Many project problems are rooted in poor needs recognition and articulation

SB

Focus - use leveraged levers
You are not the boss. Employees, shareholders, customers are the boss
Sometimes the secret of success is keeping secrets
Get it in writing and make and save your notes
You are working and representing your company even when you are not working
Get to the point
Present for show. Close for dough
Customers don't want to know your problems doing the job
Is there anything else prohibiting you from going ahead?
There is a difference between showing how something is done and doing it
Get lead...get appointment...Meeting...Close
A shot on goal is never a bad play
One thousand percent of the shots I don't take don't go in
Cold calls don't work
You concerns have been answered. Why don't you give it a try?
Is there anything I have missed?

Giuliani
Book: How to write, speak and think more effectively - Rudolf Flesch
Genome - Matt Ridley
Start with small successes. Combine several victories to achieve a larger result.
Understanding how something works is not only a leader's responsibility it also makes him better able to let people do their jobs.
Broken windo theory.
Prepare relentlessly
Compstat became the crown jewel of his administration's push for accountability.
It is essential to keep their morale up, to keep finding ways to thank them.
Morning meetings are the cornerstone to efficient functioning within any system.

Tipping Point
Book: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference - Malcolm Gladwell
Word of mouth is still very important
On average there are six degrees of separation between people.
A very small number of people are linked to everyone else in just six steps.
Social circle is more like a pyramid. At the top of the pyramid is a single person.
Connectsrs are people with a special gift for bringing the world together.
Connectors manage to occupy many different worlds and subcultures and niches.
Curiousity, self-confidence, sociability and energy are characteristics of connectors.
The strength of weak ties: The more acquaintances you have the more powerful you are.
Word of mouth really begins when someone tells a connector.
The possibility of sudden change is at the center of the idea of the Tipping Point.
The Tipping Point is the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point. ...violent crime in NY...hush puppies
Why is it that some ideas or behaviors or products start epidemics and others don't.
80/20 Principle - 80% of the work will be done by 20% of the participants.
In epidemics, a tiny % of the people do the majority of the work.
One of the few, through social connections, energy, enthusiasm and personality can spread an idea like an epidemic.
Stickiness means a message makes an impact.
The 3 rules of the Tipping Point offer a way of making sense of epidemics:

1. Law of the Few
2. The Stickiness Factor
3. The Power of Context

Maven is one who accumulates knowledge.


TP
Risk taking and the drive to pursue innovative ideas are the fuel that strokes the entrepreneurial spirit.
A workplace with no titles.
Adaptability is exemplified in Andy Grove, who as CEO made the decision to move from memory to chips.
How much effort employees put into their work was how emotionally attached they felt to their organization.
Employees who feel isolated and disconnected from decisions that impat their work feel little comitment to its overall goals.
Optimists see a setback as a result of factors that they have the power to do something about.
In Europe and Asia what Americans see as optimism can be seen as arrogance.
Give 80% of your time to your top 20% priorities.
Activity is not necessarily accomplishment.

Sharks

Marketing is the art of creating conditions by which the buyer convinces himself.
Hard evidence that others want the same thing is convincing.
Knowing something about your customer is just as important as knowing everything about your product.
Armed with the right knowledge, we can out sell, out manage, out motivate and out negotiate our competitors.
Know your customer's education, family, business background, special interests and lifestyle.
A great salesperson gets the order and reorder from a prospect who is doing business with someone else.
One technique: Wait in car and take note of the local bar people hang out at on Fridays.
Apply the law of large number to your prospect list. Position yourself as number two to every prospect on your list and keep adding to that list.
Your goal is to be a trusted and indespensable advisor, not a factory worker.
The best business information you can get is not-to-nose constant, immediate, unfiltered feedback from customers and employees.