I saw a presentation by Shaun Smith at the London Business Forum on his new book to be published towards the end of the year today.
Smith argues that a major shift is happening in business and society currently and that organizations need to become bolder, braver and more innovative to remain relevant. One can’t argue with that.
Although the ideas aren’t new (at least not to the regular readers of these pages) he had a couple of interesting examples to make his case. Let’s have a look.
Be Bold.
- Think big.
- Challenge traditional industry thinking.
- Start with customer insight.
The example he gave was Virgin Galactic. That’s indeed bold, isn’t it. Without going into all the details, the bit I found most interesting was that after the first space ship had successfully taken off, Branson apparently told his engineer that they had to redesign the ship, as it couldn’t satisfy what the customers were looking for in space travel: get the big picture view of the earth, float around in the cabin and share the experience with fellow passengers. Branson has always been good at looking at the customer and asking her what she wants and needs. Furthermore Virgin Atlantic has created an end to end experience. It’s not only about the flight, it’s about being part of a community right from the start, even before taking off. Have a look at the website.
Be Brave.
- Set clear expectations and be clear about what you stand for.
- Commit – even when the going gets tough.
- Engage your customers in the process.
Now this example was new to me: Six Senses Resorts & Spa. What makes them so brave is the fact that the environment comes first (yes, even before the customer), they do turn customers down, if staff feels that Six Senses just isn’t for them (like to lady that refused to take of her shoes while being on an island), the fact that the organization chart looks more than a universe (they call it “sphere“), and they engage the customer in the process: if you help in the local community you can stay an extra week for free (actually I’d argue that if I have to work for my stay then it isn’t really free, but anyhow…). Most interesting was the fact that Six Senses requires its hosts (that is the employees) to sense when a customer isn’t happy and actually do something about it at least 40 times per month. Employees are entitled to spend up to 2000 USD to solve the problem and satisfy the customer beyond his expectations.
Be Innovative.
- Create a new business model.
- Create a different kind of experience for customers AND employees.
- Measure what matters.
Here examples included Apple, O2, and TNT China. TNT China went to great length to foster a service culture and make its employees happy. Staff turnover decreased from some 30% to 8% in just 4 years. The goal was not only to offer great service, but also to be a great place to work, which is truly special for Chine.
O2 found out that loyal customers want to feel valued, which led to the O2 arena in London, where loyal customers can get free tickets to attend events.
Be Purposeful.
He saved this one for last. Having started with RyanAir (the Irish low cost airline), which is bold, brave and, to a certain extend I would argue, innovative. Still the audience thought that RyanAir was not a company they’d like to buy from (although more people fly them than BA for example). So why don’t we like RyanAir. The key, according to Smith, is that it has no purpose beyond making money. No social goal, no grand vision. But that’s we’re looking for, that’s what we admire, and that’s what we want to see from companies and organizations.
A final word
Unfortunately Smith was not very bold, brave or innovative when presenting to us, but rather boring. His personal purpose also remained in the dark. At one point he even requested that no pictures of his slides were taken!? Now where is the purpose of that? Pretty boring indeed. It’s always easier to tell others that they need to be innovative. It’s difficult, I know. But so is outer space travel I guess…
