What is the right price?
A dictionary will define price as something like: “The amount of money for which something is sold’ Pretty obvious. However, price can mean many different things to different people in different...
View ArticleHow to win almost any argument
What happens if you are on the receiving end of negative feedback during a debate, or an ‘executive heckle’ during a presentation? How do you respond? Our natural reaction is to push back, to defend...
View ArticleTransaction costs: The friction that comes from scaling.
Some great minds have worked in increasing the performance of management. Einstein is one of them, although may not have known it when he said: ‘Everything should be made as simple as possible, and...
View Article2021: What a shitty year!
The PM has made an absolute mess of it, bouncing from one headline to another like a clown on speed. You must give credit for the energy, pity it is expended on trivialities rather than tackling the...
View ArticleThe 10 most read StrategyAudit posts of 2021
At the end of the year, it seems sensible to have a look at the posts that generated the most traffic. Surprisingly, none are posts that have gone up in this most challenging year, not an outcome I...
View ArticleA final New Years eve quickie
I had not intended to publish another post until 2021 was behind us after the review a few days ago. However, the decision of national cabinet yesterday, coupled with today’s Covid numbers changed my...
View Article2022: here we go!!
There are more predictions posts than you can poke a stick at written at this time of the year. This is not one of them to add to the pile. The following is a review of the forces and trends I see at...
View ArticleThe digital unicorns’ growth secret
Question: What has enabled the geometric growth rates of Facebook, Google, Amazon, Atlassian, and other digital unicorns? Answer: Wide and deep feedback from the market enabling them to aggressively...
View ArticleTop speed is irrelevant
While contracting as GM of a Federal body some time ago, I used to travel from Canberra to Sydney’s western suburbs on a regular basis. I had the choice of driving which took a predictable three...
View ArticleThe unfortunate unintended consequence of Google.
Google has been a revelation, all the answers you need at your fingertips, or so it would seem. What is the consequence of this instant question gratification? Do we ask better questions, or just...
View ArticleHow useful is your strategy statement?
It is the beginning of an uncertain new year, following two chaotic ones. Many will have found that performance has been stunted, not just by the chaos of Covid, but by the lack of a capacity to...
View ArticleIs decision making momentum a competitive advantage?
Momentum as we all learnt in high School physics is Mass X Velocity. Decisions made have no mass, but they do seem to have the characteristic of building momentum. Those businesses in my experience...
View Article6 hidden characteristics of successful manufacturing businesses
As I observe the better performing manufacturing businesses around, I see some components not spoken about in any of the verbiage that comes from the various interest and political groups. These...
View ArticleAustralia Day 2022. Monty Python must be laughing fit to burst!
I am sitting here on January 26, 2022, contemplating another year gone, with the new one coming at us, wondering if anyone in power has ever heard Henry Ford’s quote: “If you always do what you have...
View ArticleNDG: The critical supermarket supplier KPI
Life in FMCG world is, almost unbelievably, becoming more competitive than it has ever been. However, the nature of competition has changed radically over the last 25 years. Performance measures...
View ArticleHow will an inexperienced management respond to inflation?
The Reserve Bank released the latest inflation figures a week or so ago. The year-end number was 3.5%, significantly influenced by a few highly volatile items like petrol. Stripping those out, the...
View ArticleThe seven levers of management control.
Successful people will tell you to concentrate on the things you can control, be aware of, and prepared for those you cannot. Stressing about those you cannot control adds no value, the best you can...
View ArticleTechnology Intensive Differentiation: The new marketing El Dorado.
There is a reallocation of capital from advertising to R&D evolving. Elon Musk may be the typifier. Tesla spends nothing on advertising, relying on Elon and social media, plus all the commentary...
View ArticleDoes familiarity really breed contempt?
When you do something over and over, you get better at it, the actions become automatic. Remember the first time you drove to that new job? You looked up the route, probably put the address into the...
View ArticleTwo key questions to get stuff done.
Do you ever struggle to do something you know how to do, and should be easy, at least that is the way it seems, but never get past the first hurdle. I do. Disturbingly often. For some years I have...
View Article
