Successful Workplace

Getting the right information on demand is an eternal problem of today’s knowledge workers, and will only grow. Lack of knowledge causes a delay in decision-making, and ultimately leads to bad decisions. This is the essence of the Two-Second Advantage, where a little knowledge in the correct context at the correct time is much more […]

One of the foundational keys to consistently achieve business  benefits – whether they are related to inward looking drivers (such as efficiency, costs,  etc.) or outward looking (such as customer orientation,  customer service quality,  customer satisfaction, etc.) is the process. So as evangelists of ‘process thinking’, we all believe strongly that getting the process right […]

We have a basic human need to know what’s happening around us. More and more, companies are addressing this need by exposing parts of their process that never saw the light of day in the past. Done well, it reduces anxiety and helps make customers into fans of whatever company they’re engaging with.  Three recent […]

Customer service is a baked-in part of the cost of delivery goods and services. Commodity services like Amazon’s AWS (cloud computing) sell and operate an extremely commoditized product that wins in cost and reliability, not in customer service. Amazon may be a very singular example, but as more products and services move toward the web […]

I had an interesting conversation with a representative of a UK Regulator over the festive season. Having been involved in a number of regulatory and compliance programmes it was refreshing to hear the frustrations from the other side of the corporate electrified fence. Regulation is seen as an unnecessary evil, a mishmash of red tape and endless […]

When we are at the receiving end of poor customer service, it unfailingly ticks us off. Being champions of process only makes it a little more painful because even while we go through a first-hand experience of poor customer service –- be it over the phone or a counter –-  we are also immediately able […]

According to a recent report commissioned by Oracle, 81% of European consumers would happily hand over more of their hard-earned for a better customer experience and that consumers will eventually turn away from brands who just don’t service them the way they’re expected to. But seriously, does paying more for the customer experience actually guarantee […]

Following on from the recent blog Why the CIO hates Christmas.  So in the cheery spirit of Christmas, I thought I’d turn my attention to the COO or Operations Director: The one who keeps the wheels turning, no matter how much grit is thrown into the innermost workings. So why do COOs hate Christmas?  It […]

Digital disruption is a concept highlighted in Forrester’s recent CIO Summit and UK Summit and is the subject of James L. McQuivey’s new book which is due to be published in January 2013. The key principles behind digital disruption are that it creates new business models, changes value streams, and is faster, more disruption and […]

Recently my iMod* stopped working. And as it was expensive and modified in the US I wasn’t too comfortable giving it to just anybody to fix.  So I asked around and the iPod Surgery  was recommended. [ *iPod with internal electronics replaced with hifi components by RedWine Audio – yes I am a hifi nerd  […]

I’m sitting at the Denver International Airport with a big smile on my face.  I flew into a large, unfamiliar airport and could have had a tough time. Keep in mind my airport of choice is John Wayne in Orange County  with just 12 gates and in and out in 20 minutes. I’m spoiled. My […]