by Facilitation Expert | Jun 16, 2016 | Leadership Skills, Meeting Tools
Eddie Sung (Author) has released an easily readable book, Customer Moat: Unveiling the Secrets of Business Strategy, that some might call a primer.
Although his discussion does not break new ground (like “Blue Ocean Strategy“), he brings life and enjoyable reading to the basics of profit-building, illustrating the complex interrelationship of customer voice mixed with market factors that lead to profit. Thus, his story builds the analogy of a “moat” serving to isolate customers from competitive choices and alternatives.
His experience derives from a family-owned retail business and his rhetoric is biased by simple decision-making. Readers from more complicated commercial, industrial, and institutional environments may lack an easy conversion to their complex reality of multiple purchasing voices and influences within one customer organization. However, Eddie provides an excellent series of end notes and bibliography to both support his claims, thus making it easy for you to dive deeper based on your own, discrete scenario, and customer moat perspective. Therefore, his primary thesis builds upon eight “customer moat builders” including (alpha sort):
Customer Moat Protection
- Branding
- Cost
- Distribution
- Location
- Networking
- Scale
- Supply
- Value
(Part One)
The early premise provides a clear compendium of his MBA background and research. His explanation that customer moats impact market share, profit margin, and price is basic, although nicely illustrated. This section provides more value in growing and retaining a customer base than it does in providing insight into acquiring new customers and markets. He stresses “. . . how businesses hold on to their customers.” through operations, scale, positioning, and control. He concedes later “ . . . it is better to foster repeat customers. . . keeping existing ones is often more cost-effective.” and “The main purpose of the Brand moat builder is not to get new customers per se but to keep existing customers returning.”
(Part Two)
His detailed discussion about the eight customer moat builders remains vibrant and research-supported. While some of his examples are classic business tales (e.g., Ohno’s Five-Whys at Toyota), his writing style keeps the reader engaged as the pages turn quickly. However, he again primarily illustrates his claims with simple retail examples including 7-Eleven, Amazon, Costco, Krispy Kreme, McDonald’s, Southwest Airlines, Starbucks, Toyota (automobiles), Walgreens, and Wal-Mart among others.
His discussion on Network Effect (Scale) provides some of the freshest material and does not pre-supposes that he has the answers, he does offer up some excellent questions:
- “How do we get customers to enhance the experiences of other customers?” and
- “What types of information do our customers possess that we can use to improve their future experience?”
In the end, you should buy this book. Although I’ve never met him, I’m convinced that Eddie is a “good guy” and he certainly researched well, worked hard, and wrote clearly to make this book on customer moats available. Treat it somewhat as an updated “In Search of Excellence” as the takeaways are clear and valid, even fun. Be forewarned however that clear actionable takeaways may be lacking for readers who are not directly in the retail sector.
______
Don’t ruin your career by hosting bad meetings. Sign up for a workshop or send this to someone who should. MGRUSH workshops focus on meeting design and practice. Each person practices tools, methods, and activities daily during the week. Therefore, while some call this immersion, we call it the road to building high-value facilitation skills.
Our workshops also provide a superb way to earn up to 40 SEUs from the Scrum Alliance, 40 CDUs from IIBA, 40 Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) based on Federal Acquisition Certification Continuous Professional Learning Requirements using Training and Education activities, 40 Professional Development Units (PDUs) from SAVE International, as well as 4.0 CEUs for other professions. (See workshop and Reference Manual descriptions for details.)
Want a free 10-minute break timer? Sign up for our once-monthly newsletter HERE and receive a free timer along with four other of our favorite facilitation tools.
Terrence Metz, MBA, CSM, CSPF, PSP01, HTTO1, is the Managing Director of MG RUSH Facilitation Leadership, Training, and Meeting Design, an acknowledged leader in structured facilitation training, and author of “Meetings That Get Results – A Facilitator’s Guide to Building Better Meetings.” His FAST Facilitation Best Practices blog features nearly 300 articles on facilitation skills and tools aimed at helping others lead meetings that produce clear and actionable results. His clients include Agilists, Scrum teams, program and project managers, senior officers, and the business analyst community among numerous private and public companies and global corporations. As an undergraduate of Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) and an MBA graduate from NWU’s Kellogg School of Management, his professional experience has focused on process improvement and product development. He continually aspires to make it easier for others to succeed.
by Facilitation Expert | Jun 9, 2016 | Communication Skills, Leadership Skills
As an effective facilitator, stop saying “I”
Learn to naturally substitute the plural “we” or “us”. However, for others, it remains a significant challenge. Therefore, if challenged, consider this opportunity as the number one change you can embrace to become a more effective facilitator. Stop saying “I”.
We have witnessed many people using the word “I” over three times in one sentence and over one dozen times in one minute. In other words, don’t be that person.
For instance, look at these examples drawn from numerous self-directed comments.
- “I am going to . . .”
- could be, “We are going to…”
- “I believe . . .”
- Could be, “Do you believe…”
- “I can agree . . .”
- Could be, “Will you support…’
- “I can see it both ways . . .”
- COULD BE DELETED ENTIRELY, reflect both ways instead.
- “I expect . . . ”
- “I got it.”
- Should be, “Do you all understand that…”
- “I like it . . .”
- “I like that one . . .”
- “I need . . .”
- Should always be, “We need…”
- “I need your input . . .”
- Should be “We need your input…”
Look at these …
- “I propose . . .”
- Is never the role of the facilitator.
- “I see . . .”
- Should be, “Do you all see that…”
- “I see nodding . . .”
- Needs reflection of WHY they are nodding.
- “I think . . .”
- You were hired to facilitate, not think.
- “I think we have . . .”
- Substitute with “It appears…”
- “I want . . .”
- “I would like . . .”
Now for our favorite …
____________________________________________
- “I’d like you to help me . . .”
- But we hired you to help us!
____________________________________________
Followed by …
- “I’ll talk about . . .”
- “I’m hearing . . .”
- Should be, “We’re hearing that…”
- “I’m very interested in . . .”
- Could be, “We would all benefit from knowing…”
- “What I would like you to do . . .”
- Should be “What we need to do now is…”
- “What I’d like to do . . .”
- You don’t need permission to do your job, just do it.
- “What I’d like to do now is . . .”
- Should be, “What we are going to do next is…”
Or, using a first-person variant such as:
- “Sounds to me . . .”
- “My thoughts . . .”
- “Can you tell me . . .”
- “Tell me . . .”
- “Help me . . .”
- “My meeting . . .”
Our favorites are in bold font (“Help me”)
Since we are led to believe that the reason for engaging a facilitator is to help us (participants), simply use integrative rhetoric, substituting the plural “we” or “us” such as “We need . . .” or “We are going to . . .” The biggest challenge for many is that they remain unconscious as to what they are saying, how many times they are saying “I”, and the negative impact it has on their persona as an effective facilitator. When a meeting leader frequently uses the word “I”, such as “I”. . . believe . . . want . . . think . . . hope . . . need . . . feel . . . etc . . . focus becomes directed at them instead of the issue at hand, most importantly, the meeting deliverable. Therefore, guess who will own the deliverable at the end of such a meeting? The “I”s have it
“I”llness or “We”llness
How to Influence Ownership
To ensure that ownership of meeting output is owned and shared by everyone, and to help you become a more effective facilitator, look at the difference between the following two terms:
- Illness
- Wellness
The simple (and somewhat humorous, albeit coincidental) difference is contrasting the first person singular to the first person plural. Above all, the focus should always be on the issue and the participants, not on the facilitator.
Record yourself some time, listen to the recording, and count the occurrences of the word “I.” You may be surprised, and if so, now you can do something about it to become a more effective facilitator.
Finally, stay vigilant about saying “Thank you” too often. Optimally, you should probably never say “Thank you”, but we understand the need for you to be natural as well. However, if you are constantly thanking participants for their contributions, who does it appear the deliverable is built to serve? Therefore, transferring ownership of the meeting output begins with integrative and pluralistic rhetoric. Avoid the colloquial and stay conscious. After all, you should be there to serve them, not the other way around.
Build Immediate Results, Create Long-Lasting Impact
Our hands-on approach to meeting leadership, facilitation, and design offers immediate improvements in the productivity and effectiveness of your meetings. By focusing on purpose-driven agendas, engaging facilitation, and clear processes, we empower professionals to create meetings that yield results, enhance decision quality, and foster meaningful participation.
Are you ready to transform your meetings into opportunities for impactful decision-making and innovative problem-solving? Explore our curriculum and discover how structured training in meeting leadership and facilitation can elevate your team’s potential and enhance every session’s effectiveness.
______
Don’t ruin your career by hosting bad meetings. Sign up for a workshop or send this to someone who should. MGRUSHworkshops focus on meeting design and practice. Each person practices tools, methods, and activities daily during the week. Therefore, while some call this immersion, we call it the road to building high-value facilitation skills.
Our workshops also provide a superb way to earn up to 40 SEUs from the Scrum Alliance, 40 CDUs from IIBA, 40 Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) based on Federal Acquisition Certification Continuous Professional Learning Requirements using Training and Education activities, 40 Professional Development Units (PDUs) from SAVE International, as well as 4.0 CEUs for other professions. (See workshop and Reference Manual descriptions for details.)
Want a free 10-minute break timer? Sign up for our once-monthly newsletter HERE and receive a free timer along with four other of our favorite facilitation tools.
______
With Bookmarks no longer a feature in WordPress, we need to add the following for your benefit and reference
Terrence Metz, MBA, CSM, CSPF, PSP01, HTTO1, is the Managing Director of MG RUSH Facilitation Leadership, Training, and Meeting Design, an acknowledged leader in structured facilitation training, and author of “Meetings That Get Results – A Facilitator’s Guide to Building Better Meetings.” His FAST Facilitation Best Practices blog features nearly 300 articles on facilitation skills and tools aimed at helping others lead meetings that produce clear and actionable results. His clients include Agilists, Scrum teams, program and project managers, senior officers, and the business analyst community among numerous private and public companies and global corporations. As an undergraduate of Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) and an MBA graduate from NWU’s Kellogg School of Management, his professional experience has focused on process improvement and product development. He continually aspires to make it easier for others to succeed.
by Facilitation Expert | May 26, 2016 | Communication Skills, Meeting Structure, Meeting Support
Meeting Transition questions is highly effective because you cannot develop a plan, any plan, such as a marketing plan, by asking “What is the marketing plan?” The question is so broad as to be dull, ubiquitous, myopic, and broad (DUMB).
Three Transition Questions for Clarity and Precision
It’s not easy for participants to respond to broad questions like “How do you solve global hunger?” While appropriate, the question’s scope is too broad (and perhaps vague) to stimulate specific, actionable responses like “We could convert those abandoned mine shafts in Somalia and create food storage areas.”
Three Appropriate Yet Powerful Transition Questions
Extemporaneous leaders should develop a tendency to modify three core transition questions during meetings instead of asking broad questions like, “Are we OK with this list?” or, “Can we move on?” Therefore, use more structure and precision by relying on transition questions with these three simple, pertinent, and clear questions that can be modified to your own situation:
- Do we need to clarify anything (e.g., on this list)? (First test for clarity and shared understanding only, not necessarily agreement).
- Do we need to delete anything (e.g., from this list)? (Next test for appropriateness, relevancy, and potential redundancy).
- Do we need to add anything (e.g., to this list)? (Finally, scrub for omissions or something significant that needs to be considered in addition to what has been already captured).
The three detailed transition questions make it easier for meeting participants to analyze, agree, and move on. Consequently, after participants have agreed they understand, have been provided an opportunity to remove something they cannot support, and have been challenged to add something they may have missed, you are prepared to properly transition.
The clarity and precision of the three transition questions demand more rigorous thinking and encourage the focus most people need to apply thorough analysis. Make it easier for your participants, and avoid the vague, extemporaneous questions that result in the worst deliverable you could ever develop in a meeting—another meeting.
______
Don’t ruin your career by hosting bad meetings. Sign up for a workshop or send this to someone who should. MGRUSH workshops focus on meeting design and practice. Each person practices tools, methods, and activities every day during the week. Therefore, while some call this immersion, we call it the road to building high-value facilitation skills.
Our workshops also provide a superb way to earn up to 40 SEUs from the Scrum Alliance, 40 CDUs from IIBA, 40 Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) based on Federal Acquisition Certification Continuous Professional Learning Requirements using Training and Education activities, 40 Professional Development Units (PDUs) from SAVE International, as well as 4.0 CEUs for other professions. (See workshop and Reference Manual descriptions for details.)
Want a free 10-minute break timer? Sign up for our once-monthly newsletter HERE and receive a timer along with four other of our favorite facilitation tools, free.
Related article
Terrence Metz, MBA, CSM, CSPF, PSP01, HTTO1, is the Managing Director of MG RUSH Facilitation Leadership, Training, and Meeting Design, an acknowledged leader in structured facilitation training, and author of “Meetings That Get Results – A Facilitator’s Guide to Building Better Meetings.” His FAST Facilitation Best Practices blog features nearly 300 articles on facilitation skills and tools aimed at helping others lead meetings that produce clear and actionable results. His clients include Agilists, Scrum teams, program and project managers, senior officers, and the business analyst community among numerous private and public companies and global corporations. As an undergraduate of Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) and an MBA graduate from NWU’s Kellogg School of Management, his professional experience has focused on process improvement and product development. He continually aspires to make it easier for others to succeed.
by Facilitation Expert | May 19, 2016 | Communication Skills, Facilitation Skills, Leadership Skills
Close analysis of the PMBOK® (version 5) suggests that all skills required for effective project management are also required for program management.
The differences between project management and program management reflect the prioritization and relative importance of skills to each role.
At a high level, both project management and program management require:
- Conceptual skills
- Design skills
- Human skills
- Technical skills
However, there are clear differences between the day-shift manager at a fast-food restaurant and a program manager running a multi-billion, multi-cultural, multi-year project. Both require the skills listed above, but differences lie in their relative importance, or prioritization. If comparing the three roles on a simple basis, you might agree to the following levels of importance, where a solid Powerball is High and an empty Powerball is Low:
While your environment may be ‘unique’ and therefore not like the above, there must remain differences. Most noteworthy on the aggregate, ‘human’ skills are the most important, followed by technical skills. Since human skills rely hugely on communication skills, and effective communication relies largely on ‘listening’ skills, then arguably facilitation remains one of the most important skills for project management and program management, since the core skill of facilitation is “active listening.”
Program Management in 3-D
Expand the logic further by using Mackenzie’s “The Management Process in 3-D” as a guidepost. Here we see (from an area perspective) that “People” represent one-half of the pie. People require ‘leadership’ skills depending on the function of ‘communications’ to ensure understanding and bring about purposeful action.
Program Management: Mackenzie’s Management Process in 3-D © 1969 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
Therefore, we would argue that facilitation skills are more important for project managers than program managers. With a project manager, there may be more than one right answer. For most program management, conditions and assumptions drive optimal solutions. Both manager types need to be skilled, but the relative importance of those skills varies across management types.
______
Don’t ruin your career by hosting bad meetings. Sign up for a workshop or send this to someone who should. MGRUSH workshops focus on meeting design and practice. Each person practices tools, methods, and activities every day during the week. Therefore, while some call this immersion, we call it the road to building high-value facilitation skills.
Our workshops also provide a superb way to earn up to 40 SEUs from the Scrum Alliance, 40 CDUs from IIBA, 40 Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) based on Federal Acquisition Certification Continuous Professional Learning Requirements using Training and Education activities, 40 Professional Development Units (PDUs) from SAVE International, as well as 4.0 CEUs for other professions. (See workshop and Reference Manual descriptions for details.)
Want a free 10-minute break timer? Sign up for our once-monthly newsletter HERE and receive a timer along with four other of our favorite facilitation tools, free.
Terrence Metz, MBA, CSM, CSPF, PSP01, HTTO1, is the Managing Director of MG RUSH Facilitation Leadership, Training, and Meeting Design, an acknowledged leader in structured facilitation training, and author of “Meetings That Get Results – A Facilitator’s Guide to Building Better Meetings.” His FAST Facilitation Best Practices blog features nearly 300 articles on facilitation skills and tools aimed at helping others lead meetings that produce clear and actionable results. His clients include Agilists, Scrum teams, program and project managers, senior officers, and the business analyst community among numerous private and public companies and global corporations. As an undergraduate of Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) and an MBA graduate from NWU’s Kellogg School of Management, his professional experience has focused on process improvement and product development. He continually aspires to make it easier for others to succeed.
by Facilitation Expert | May 12, 2016 | Meeting Agendas, Meeting Support
Discovering and creating a Strategy Execution Map may proceed in four phases:
- Preparation: Evidence-based support relies on facts, opinions, and perceptions gathered during a workshop from key stakeholders. Therefore, see the questions below to guide your agenda and build your Strategy Execution Map.
- Education: This phase will describe the process end-to-end to create a common vocabulary and tell the participants what to expect. This will also include a description of the common biases that inhibit communication and decision-making when creating your Strategy Execution Map.
- Creation: In this phase, key decision makers, Subject Matter Experts, stakeholders, and others come together to create the Strategy Execution Map. This phase needs a free-flowing exchange of ideas and diverse points of view. Ergo, debates must be encouraged
- Validation: In this phase, offline Strategy Execution Map meetings consolidate, ‘clean up’, and publish Strategy Execution Map inputs.
Four Phases of Strategy Execution Map Described
| Phase |
Intensity level
|
Description |
| 1. Preparation |
Medium Intensity
|
Complete your preparation with a structured and well-prepared workshop, maybe run by a professional facilitator, who does not allow scope creep and conversations to drift. Therefore, the questions below should be used to steer your deliverable. |
| 2. Education |
Low Intensity
|
Having launched the effort, offline investments are made by the stakeholders to secure evidence including facts, trends, and examples to support their arguments. Hence, the evidence they gather will be shared in the next pre-read or at the next workshop. |
| 3. Creation |
High Intensity
|
Creating the Strategy Execution Map will require all participants to come together in a workshop format; this phase can last from one to five days. |
| 4. Validation |
Medium Intensity
|
If the preparation phase is done well, the validation phase will usually happen quickly. Validation can be done offline, involving shorter durations and a lesser number of people at a time, but then it is spread over a longer period. Thus, a brief workshop is preferred. |
Here are some questions to ask during the preparation phase.
First some strategy questions:
- What are our mission, values, and vision? Are there societal and environmental sustainability elements?
- What is in our written business plan(s)?
- How is it communicated to stakeholders?
- How is it updated?
- Who has the decision responsibility for the plan(s)?
- Are the decisions made via collaboration or directive?
- If by collaboration, who should participate?
- Are there any major transformational shifts on the horizon?
- Any mergers and acquisitions that may be announced?
- How does the M&A fit with the strategy?
- What are the value drivers for the M&A decision?
- Do we have a standard framework and operational definitions for the strategic development and execution process?
- What is our unique value proposition?
- What unique value do we bring to the marketplace?
- Stress, What do we do differently and better than everyone else?
- What are the primary sources of our competitive advantage?
- Why do/ should customers buy from us rather than from our competitors?
- Who are our key competitors?
- How do we expect to compete and win?
- What factors enable us to consistently outperform our competitors?
- How are we going to grow our company?
- Where are the market opportunities or customers that we have rejected recently and why?
- What are the barriers to entry in our market?
- How difficult will it be for others to copy our strategy?
- How are we going to stay ahead of the game, ahead of old, new, and future competitors?
- What factors enable us to create a long-term, sustainable competitive advantage?
- What are the key uncertainties?
Next are questions about our business model
In the specified business area/ product/ service line—how does this business work?
- What is our revenue generation model?
- How is this business going to generate positive cash flow and turn a profit?
- What are the key drivers of financial success?
- Is our business in a growth, decline, or status quo phase?
- What are the key performance indicators that we track and take action on?
- What is our traffic generation model?
- How are we going to attract new customers?
- How are we going to market and sell our products/ services?
- What is our customer retention strategy? How are we going to keep our customers and increase our share of wallets?
- What are the working assumptions for our business model? Organizational? Market? Customers? Employees? Regulatory? Community? Others?
- Are we fully leveraging the potential of Information Technology?
- Are our systems integrated or are they siloed (isolated)?
- Which of our systems is a bottleneck?
- Are there single or multiple sources of truth for critical data?
- What data is typically missing, incorrect, or not available promptly?
Followed by questions about capabilities and culture
Look at other areas needed to achieve the strategy.
- How do we go about assessing the capability risk?
- What key skills individual, team, and organizational capabilities do our vision, strategy, and competitive advantage require?
- What kind of culture do we need to compete and win in our chosen markets?
- How are we going to deploy our organizational levers to best create and reinforce our core capabilities and desired culture?
- How strong is our leadership pipeline?
Finally, questions about resources to execute the strategy
- Human resource needs:
- How many people and what kinds of skills?
- What is our plan for recruiting, developing, and retaining this talent?
- What is our current retention rate?
- Are we able to retain the right people?
- Do we have the right people in the right jobs?
- Financial resources:
- How much capital do we need for setting up and/ or operating the company?
- What combination of debt and equity?
- How will we manage our cash flow?
- Is our organization structure promoting collaboration or conflict or siloed in its thinking?
- What are the governance models at the enterprise, initiative, and project levels?
- Do any of our policies conflict with each other?
- Is there a gap between a policy and its implementation?
- What intellectual capital do we need?
- What are the key processes that add value to the outputs we deliver to our customers?
______
Don’t ruin your career by hosting bad meetings. Sign up for a workshop or send this to someone who should. MGRUSH workshops focus on meeting design and practice. Each person practices tools, methods, and activities every day during the week. Therefore, while some call this immersion, we call it the road to building high-value facilitation skills.
Our workshops also provide a superb way to earn up to 40 SEUs from the Scrum Alliance, 40 CDUs from IIBA, 40 Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) based on Federal Acquisition Certification Continuous Professional Learning Requirements using Training and Education activities, 40 Professional Development Units (PDUs) from SAVE International, as well as 4.0 CEUs for other professions. (See workshop and Reference Manual descriptions for details.)
Want a free 10-minute break timer? Sign up for our once-monthly newsletter HERE and receive a timer along with four other of our favorite facilitation tools, free.
Terrence Metz, MBA, CSM, CSPF, PSP01, HTTO1, is the Managing Director of MG RUSH Facilitation Leadership, Training, and Meeting Design, an acknowledged leader in structured facilitation training, and author of “Meetings That Get Results – A Facilitator’s Guide to Building Better Meetings.” His FAST Facilitation Best Practices blog features nearly 300 articles on facilitation skills and tools aimed at helping others lead meetings that produce clear and actionable results. His clients include Agilists, Scrum teams, program and project managers, senior officers, and the business analyst community among numerous private and public companies and global corporations. As an undergraduate of Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) and an MBA graduate from NWU’s Kellogg School of Management, his professional experience has focused on process improvement and product development. He continually aspires to make it easier for others to succeed.
