If you read Jim Collins’ masterpiece Good to Great*, you know that Walgreens has a hedgehog concept (mission/vision) to be the most convenient drug store in the world. As a result, all of their stores are on the corner (for easy access), they have highly sophisticated and integrated pharmacy technology (so all stores are linked), and they offer a host of high-margin products (photo, Hallmark) that customers are willing to pay premium prices for because of the convenience. The model seems to be working well for them.
Walgreens fascinates me not because of that, but because of the plethora of products this average size store holds. In Walgreen’s advertising flyer this week they featured cottage cheese, pet beds, coffee makers, boxer briefs, and irons! You would expect a wide variety in a big discount store like Target, but not at the corner drug store.
At first glance, it could seem that Walgreens’ product mix has no rhyme or reason, but at its core all these items are something that you may need to pick up conveniently: cottage cheese ran out, got a new puppy, coffeemaker or iron died, or luggage was lost so you need new skivvies. If you need something now, Walgreens probably has it. It seems like they have everything! Walgreens hasn’t strayed from their hedgehog; they have perfected it.
Think about your organization. How can you remain loyal and true to your mission, but expand your offerings beyond what your competitors would expect? Going back to Simon Sinek’s WHY, WHAT, HOW hierarchy (see #433), if you stay focused on the “why”, a world of possibilities opens up for the “what”.
— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com
*if you haven’t read it, I would recommend it as the most influential book I have read
Month: August 2013
#435 uniform look
All during Iowa Private College Week (see #434), I would get up, put on the same official polo shirt and a pair of khakis. It was the one thing about the week that was easy.
We all wore the same polo to make it easy to identify the employees who could help our guests. Normally we expend a lot of time, money and energy developing a wardrobe and deciding what to wear in the morning. Is it worth it?
Before you automatically add choice or variety to your process, ask yourself if the complexity increases the value of what you are doing. Does the theme of the annual event need to be different every year or can you re-use the decorations? Does the process have to change every time you alter a little step? Do you need to vary the timing of events or does a little regularity allow you to execute with less flaws?
Variety is the spice of life, but a little routine adds a consistency to the mix too. If you’re going to mix it up, be sure you’re intentional about the purpose of doing so.
— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com
#434 cooperative competition
Every day this week, our campus has hosted prospective students and their families as part of Iowa Private College Week — an event where each private college in Iowa hosts 10 open houses in 5 days (morning and afternoon each day) to allow students an opportunity to “check out” multiple campuses in a condensed time period.
This annual event is a delicate balance of cooperation and competition, as schools recruit many of the same students, but it brings visitors to campus who may not otherwise make the journey so everyone plays along. The pressure is on to make the visit to campus a) authentic and b) memorable as we suspect all of the schools blur together after doing too many visits back to back. It is a great way for students to compare the feel of one place vs. another though, and so they come in droves.
College fairs are another way that universities cooperatively compete. The Taste of ___ events are this type of an event for the restaurant owners. Job fairs allow job seekers to consider similar companies and their benefit packages in side-by-side comparisons. Car shows require cooperation from the auto makers to draw in prospective car buyers.
What can your organization do in cooperation, yet still in competition, with others in your same industry? There is power in numbers — the number of you that play well together is often proportionate to the number of prospective buyers that will reward your efforts to do so.
— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com
#433 party lines
Yesterday there was a USA Snapshot infogram on the front page of USA Today depicting the number of bills that Congress has passed into law. The most: 84th Congress (1955-56) that passed 1,028 bills. The least: 112th Congress (2011-12) with 238 passages. The current 113th Congress is on path to break the record with only 15 bills passed so far this session.
Think of what chaos would ensue if the different departments in your organization acted like the petulant members of our Congress. The business office wouldn’t cooperate with those who need to purchase. The marketing side would refuse to promote programs that didn’t fit with their own agenda, even if it benefited the organization as a whole. The grounds staff would only maintain the one section of the building that was sympathetic to their beliefs. Those who were to deliver the services would spend all their time pointing fingers at the others instead of working out a compromise.
Surely there are more than 15 things that members of Congress can agree on if they remain focused on the goal of advancing the welfare of the country. I am reminded of the pyramid from Simon Sinek in Start with Why: first figure out WHY you are doing something, then pay attention to the WHAT that needs to be done to achieve it before ultimately dealing with the details of HOW to get it done.
The representative government that was once a model for the world has lost its focus. They have become like kids in a sandbox that spend so much time fighting over the toy that it breaks in the process and neither has anything to show for it.
Take a close look in the mirror. Are you acting like members of Congress and fighting for individual needs more than the whole? Are you genuinely willing to make compromises and “reach across the aisle” in your organization? If you’re honest with yourself, are you offering solutions or reciting obstacles? Focus on the WHY and the big picture becomes a lot clearer — and is worth the sacrifices you need to make to achieve it.
— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com
Source: USA Today USA Snapshots Do-little Congress? August 7, 2013
#432 to share or not to share
It is hard to know the appropriate balance between transparency and prudence. If there is a project “in the works”, there are times when it is best not to disclose anything, lest a premature announcement could negatively impact the outcome. Other times it is best to widely share that something is under consideration so that people may contribute input and actually aid in the project’s completion.
Of course the spectrum of sharing depending upon the information and the intimacy with whom that knowledge is shared, but it is still not clear cut.
Do you share with your boss that someone is being difficult to work with or wait until the situation persists? Do you put your strategic plan on line for all to see or keep it as a confidential document? Do you confide with others that you are approaching a donor for a gift? Or how about letting your boss know that you are applying for another job? Or telling business acquaintances that you are looking to relocate your firm?
Each of these situations — and millions more — call for a delicate judgment call. Some days you have to be like Goldilocks and determine when the timing is “too soon”, “too early” or “just right”. It is one of the most challenging things for new employees and supervisors to align, but “too soon” almost always wins over having someone important being surprised.
— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com
#431 lending to learn
While the traditional library began with its book collection, over the years most have expanded to accommodate the changing methods of communication. Typical libraries now loan DVDs, audiobooks, newspapers, CDs and other multi-media, but for some cities, the role of the today’s library is expanding beyond sharing informational resources and artistic materials.
In Grosse Point, Michigan, the library loans out tools. Other libraries loan musical instruments, video cameras and multi-media equipment, telescopes, energy meters and even fishing poles. In the San Francisco area, one library started a Home Resources Collection to provide tools for rebuilding after a firestorm.
For the libraries that have “unusual collections” they have redefined their mission to “have jointly held resources available to the community.” Other libraries have expanded their offerings into tools and instruments as a way to “offer residents a chance to learn — just not necessarily with a book.”
Think of the possibilities of what could be shared throughout the community. Training tools for puppies. Equipment for scrapbooking or crafts. Hiking supplies and binoculars. Skis. Kitchen gadgets and specialty pans for cooking experimentation. The list could go on and on.
I doubt Andrew Carnegie could have conceived a library lending out tools, but I suspect he would have embraced the idea of helping people continue to learn. How can your organization take a lesson from these modern libraries and remain true to your mission while expanding the implementation of it to meet the times? Think outside the shelf to see if there aren’t opportunities out there for you too.
— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com
Source: Need some tools? Libraries lending more than books. By Mike Householder for the AP, in the Telegraph Herald August 4, 2013
#430 authentic
If I asked you where the Running of the Bulls occurred, many of you could answer Pamplona, Spain. I doubt that Richmond, VA or Atlanta would be on the tip of your tongue, but starting next year both answers would be correct.
The two U.S. cities are going to begin their own version of the traditional Spanish event — only on a drag racing strip in VA and a horse park in GA instead of through the city. Now when you boast that you “ran with the bulls” — it may be the authentic running or it may be a modified extreme sport in the States.
I see parallels to the proliferation of college sweatshirts; it used to be that you had to attend Harvard or Notre Dame or Duke — or at least visit the campus — to have (or want) one of their shirts, but now you can get a jersey of your favorite team without leaving your armchair or taking a class. Ditto for paraphernalia from Disney World or I (heart) NY or any souvenir-type momento that you can name.
We have lost something in the mass marketing and replication of unique aspects of our culture. I think we should run the bulls on the streets of Pamplona, see Mickey in Orlando and let only the people with some connection to the Blue Devils wear the logo-emblazoned shirts.
What are you doing in your organization that is genuinely, authentically “you”? Can you make some aspect of your experience exclusive and special for those who truly have experienced it? There is a reason they don’t sell green jackets in the pro shop at Augusta.
— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com
Source: Running of Bull coming to U.S. by Jeff Martin and Michael Felberbaum for AP in Telegraph Herald August 4, 2013
#429 your best
There is a story about a boy who was trying to move a big rock. He grunted and groaned and tried to push it, but the rock wouldn’t budge. Finally, the boy told his dad that he had done his best to move it, but failed.
“You didn’t do your best,” said the father, “because you did not ask for help.”
Don’t try to be the little boy who does all the heavy work alone. There is help available if you ask for it.
— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com
#428 local impact
Recently McDonalds has released a campaign in our area thanking Iowa for the role the state’s farmers play in supplying the company with its products. Corn and beef are big products for McDonalds, and apparently they purchase a great quantity from our farms.
I have never thought of McDonalds Corporation as an economic driver in our area. We have a few of the restaurants, of course, but I always considered McDonalds as a seller instead of a buyer. These billboards and radio ads have made me pause to reconsider that.
Other companies could take McDonald’s lead to show what goods they are purchasing from the state or highlight the economic impact of their presence. Banks already place signs on construction sites indicating “this project financed by XYZ Bank.” Colleges could show that X% of the teachers/nurses/therapists in the city were educated by them. Manufacturers could show that they make X for the world market.
All of our organizations have some impact on the greater community. We are all buyers and sellers in the larger marketplace. How can your organization make the connections explicit for others?
— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com
#427 colors
Crayola commemorated its 110th anniversary by holding a contest to re-name the crayon colors of its classic 8-pack of crayons. Instead of yellow, purple, orange, blue, brown, red, black and green, for a limited time only you can buy a set contains the same colors but with the names of Sunny Side Up; Peace, Love & Purple, Freshly Squeezed, Beyoutiful Blue, Freckle, Ladybug, Night Owl and Jalepeno.
I did not participate in their gimmick, but I have done a similar thing before with an icebreaker before where I ask participants to rename a color. The difference: it’s not just a random name as they did above, but the task is to attach a name to the color that evokes special memories. Examples: Aqua could become Favorite Shoes in honor of the pair of the comfy aqua shoes I own. Light pink would be renamed Puppy Blanket as it reminds me of the wrap I brought my pups home in. Rover could be the name of a mint green in honor of that color Impala I drove in college.
Having people think about the unintentional connection they have made between colors and things evokes many memories and elicits great stories about what is behind the object. Think about what you would name your own personal set of crayons and then share some of your colorful stories with others.
— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com
Source: Parade Magazine, June 30, 2013 p. 4