In both our personal and business lives, the decisions we make today are largely the result of past experiences, relationships and the values that were ingrained in us as we developed.
Good or bad, our past will have an impact on our future and all too often restrict the decisions we make and limit our growth. This is natural and many of us are aware of this and actively work to address the issue.
From a business perspective, such thinking can limit our careers and our personal and business potential. As markets change so to must the way we approach business. A lot has been said and written about disruptive innovation, and what has happened to those businesses that got stuck in the past (think Sony Walkman, Kodak, Swiss watches), but ultimately it may just be a case of changing the way we think about the obvious.
I came across this story on a friend’s Face book page today which I think demonstrates this idea perfectly. Now I think the story has been around for a while and I am unsure whether this is a true story or not, but it does highlight just how we can be constrained by not thinking outside the box.
Consider this:
You are driving down the road in your car on a wild, stormy night, when you pass by a bus stop and you see three people waiting for the bus:
1. An old lady who looks as if she is about to die.
2. An old friend who once saved your life.
3. The perfect partner you have been dreaming about.
Which one would you choose to offer a ride to, knowing that there could only be one passenger in your car? Read more →
Transforming Indigenous Training
/in Clients /by Wayne MoloneyCongratulations to our client, Transformed P/L, to have won the Industry Collaboration section of the ACT Training Excellence Awards 2015 for their efforts in the Indigenous Australian Government Development Program (IAGDP). Yet another award for Michael Young and his team who we are pleased and proud to be associated.
LEAN and 6 SIGMA – Do they work together?
/in Business Strategy, Process Improvement, Quality Management /by Mike KarleDuring the last two decades much has been written about Lean and 6 Sigma, the fundamental premise of the two approaches respectively being the elimination of waste and the reduction of variation. Many large companies have both Lean and 6 Sigma programs that have been branded Lean 6 Sigma, Power Lean, Lean Sigma, Quick Sigma to name but a few. In some cases, companies are using Lean to remove waste from non-value adding activities and 6 Sigma to control the variation within the value-adding portion of the process. The integration of Lean and 6 Sigma has become fashionable, but what are the real differences and can they really work together? Read more →
Workplace Bullying Laws – Progress Report
/in Human Resources /by Greg MitchellWith the workplace bullying provisions of the Fair Work Act having now been in place for over 12 months, it’s timely to reflect on the changes, how they are working in practice and the associated costs and responsibilities.
The Legislation
Under the legislation:
Read more →
Is Relationship Selling Dead?
/in Sales /by Wayne MoloneyIs Relationship Selling Dead?
Despite all the hype that face-to-face selling is dying, building strong relationships is more important then ever. But maybe it’s just done differently…
Inform Partner and member of Sales Masterminds Australia, Wayne Moloney, shares his thoughts why he believes relationship selling is still as strong as ever. Click here to read his article recently published on Strategic Selling Group’s website.
The Changing Quality Management System Standard ISO 9001
/in Business Strategy, Process Improvement, Quality Management, Uncategorized /by Alan GowThe Quality Management System Standard ISO 9001 is changing this Year, how can you prepare?
ISO 9001 (Quality Management Systems – Requirements) is currently under review. The Final Draft of the Standard is now available for purchase and the upgraded version of the new Standard is scheduled for release in September 2015.
WHY?
All ISO Standards are reviewed periodically to ensure that they are current and relevant in the marketplace. ISO 9001 was previously reviewed in 2000 and 2008. The new 2015 version however will introduce a framework that will be common to other management system standards as they are reviewed and released. Read more →
How Working Capital Impacts Your Company Growth
/1 Comment/in Business Finance /by Eric de DiesbachWorking Capital is a notion that business owners and managers need to come to grips with and manage effectively in order to ensure sustainability.
Maintaining healthy working capital provides a safety net to absorb possible bad debts, for example, and may be critical if you need to apply for a business loan. It is also critical for maintaining operations if you receive an unusually large order from a client.
As discussed in a previous post, the formula for Working Capital, also called Net Current Asset, is:
Working Capital = Current Assets – Current Liabilities
In other words, it is the sum of Cash at Bank + Accounts Receivables + Inventories + Other Current Assets minus the sum of Accounts Payables + GST & Tax Liabilities + Other Current Liabilities. Read more →
Are We Overthinking Strategy?
/in Business Strategy /by Wayne MoloneyI have been a student of business strategy for most of my 40 year career and have seen fads come and go. But even with this background I was surprised to read in recent Harvard Business Review articles that:
Today, those responsible for guiding the future of businesses face a constant barrage of advice on what is the ‘next big thing’ with respect to strategic options. Be it PEST, Red Queen, 6 Sigma, Diamond Model, Blue Ocean strategy or any of the 80+ options listed by HBR, these are simply tools to help us better achieve the objective of strategy – to create, capture and retain long term value (equity). Read more →
Sales Managers LEAD!
/in Marketing, Sales /by Wayne MoloneyLast week I was asked to comment on a query from a new sales manger who wanted to know how best to establish himself as a leader when moving into his new role. I recently wrote a post of ‘leadership vs. management’, but his question prompted me to respond more specifically with respect to a sales manager’s leadership responsibility.
Leadership has many definitions, and sadly many of these suggest manipulative behaviour that is as far from ‘leadership’ as I believe you can get. The definition I find most palatable, valuable and applicable to sales management is…
Leadership is the art of getting people to willingly strive to achieve team goals
My experience in many organisations across various countries suggests, perhaps more than anything else, that great leadership is about dealing effectively with people in a particular situation. A leader is only a leader if they have followers, so leadership is not about competently holding a position of authority, but having an understanding of the principles that underpin the actual development of, and interaction with people in relationship to achieving a goal. Read more →
Thinking Outside the Box to Win Sales
/in Marketing, Sales /by Wayne MoloneyIn both our personal and business lives, the decisions we make today are largely the result of past experiences, relationships and the values that were ingrained in us as we developed.
Good or bad, our past will have an impact on our future and all too often restrict the decisions we make and limit our growth. This is natural and many of us are aware of this and actively work to address the issue.
From a business perspective, such thinking can limit our careers and our personal and business potential. As markets change so to must the way we approach business. A lot has been said and written about disruptive innovation, and what has happened to those businesses that got stuck in the past (think Sony Walkman, Kodak, Swiss watches), but ultimately it may just be a case of changing the way we think about the obvious.
I came across this story on a friend’s Face book page today which I think demonstrates this idea perfectly. Now I think the story has been around for a while and I am unsure whether this is a true story or not, but it does highlight just how we can be constrained by not thinking outside the box.
Consider this:
You are driving down the road in your car on a wild, stormy night, when you pass by a bus stop and you see three people waiting for the bus:
1. An old lady who looks as if she is about to die.
2. An old friend who once saved your life.
3. The perfect partner you have been dreaming about.
Which one would you choose to offer a ride to, knowing that there could only be one passenger in your car? Read more →
Working Capital Explained
/in Business Finance /by Eric de Diesbach‘Working capital’ is a notion that many business owners are not familiar with. It seems difficult, complicated, so many prefer to just ignore it.
But it is important and it does not have to be complicated: It can be put in simple words.
I agree that the definition in Wikipedia is not easy to follow: “Working capital is a financial metric which represents operating liquidity available to a business, organization or other entity, including governmental entity. Along with fixed assets such as plant and equipment, working capital is considered a part of operating capital.” Even some finance experts need to read this definition three times to comprehend the wording…
To put it simply, working capital measures the short-term financial health of a business, ‘short-term’ being less than 12 months. Read more →