competitiveness

Conversational Intelligence

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Companies have business blind spots, and since they’re run by people: we also have blind spots. Two common blindspots are:

Assuming that others see what you see, feel what you feel, and think what you think
Thinking you understand and remember what others say, when you really only remember what you think about what they’ve said

One way to loosen up those blind spots is to engage in dialog with other people and listen, truly listen to what they’re saying. That’s behind many a successful marriage, business relationships, effective interviewers and successful researchers.

Independence or Not?

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How many times have you heard people say, “I am too busy. I am soooo busy.” Are most of us really busier than we used to be? Or are we imposing busyness by all the distractions of everyday 21st century life? Do people really need to know what you’re doing all the time and where you ate and what airline you’re flying? Knowing when to connect on social media is a competitive advantage for individuals and for companies. Knowing when not to connect gives you more independence.

Denver Writing & Competitive Intelligence Event

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Jenny Shank and I will speak at a publishing venue sponsored by the Denver Notre Dame women on November 5 at Good Shepherd Catholic School Cafeteria at 620 Elizabeth St Denver 80206 starting at 6 p.m. Jenny will read from her book, The Ringer and I will talk about my journey in publishing in my field, competitive intelligence.

Be Competitive! 22 Tips to Kick Start Your Marketing

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Mary Ellen Bates delivered an excellent AIIP webinar on how to market your business more effectively using her tested and tried best practices using the telephone, snail mail and social networks. You will want to buy her book, Building and Running a Successful Research Business” for even more than the 23 tippers she shared. Free webinars are a great AIIP benefit and all webinars are taped for later listening for the membership.

Use Rivalry to Spur Innovation & Competitive Intelligence Sharing

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While GE uses rivalry to stimulate innovation, I believe it can also be used to support other functions such as competitive intelligence in the case of war gaming, in particular. Another group that responds well to healthy rivalry, if you publicize their contribution, is Sales. People are naturally competitive and want to be the best, so healthy rivalry that advances your company’s goals for innovation, improved competitiveness and winning more deals—is a good thing!

Real-time Collaborative Architectural Modeling Enhances Complex Product Development

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Bryan Moser spoke to our Denver PDMA group about the value of models such as the one his company, Global Project Design developed to forecast, optimize, allocate and measure coordination in complex product development projects. The key takeaway is that coordination is often way underestimated in these complex product development projects across multiple countries. It’s better to run the model earlier in the process, so as to re-schedule or re-work pieces to reduce the less productive coordination time. Choosing the best coordination architecture can lead to a 20% improvement in time/cost performance.

Improve Your Competitiveness: Adopt Technology & Pharmacology to Boost Intelligence

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Those who don’t take advantage of technology and pharmacology might be at a competitive disadvantage, increasingly so in the future. Today we are getting smarter through what Jamais Cascio describes as intelligence augmentation, which helps us make connections and see patterns in order to avoid being overwhelmed by this information glut. By 2030, we’ll live in a world where sophisticated foresight, detailed analysis and insight and augmented awareness will be commonplace. Many professionals will use simulation and modeling in their daily work as the supporting technology will be readily available. Read how.

Deloitte Shift Index Findings: Global Collaboration Will Improve Business Competitiveness

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The Deloitte Center for the Edge recently got my attention with its findings that competition is intensifying globally with a US return on assets dropping consistently across 15 different industries by 75% over the last 40 years! The Shift Index consists of 3 indices: Foundation, Flow and Impact, plus 25 other metrics that together quantify the stock, pace and implications for change. Successful firms will shift from what’s worked in the past, scalable efficiency to scalable learning.

Think Apple Computer when you think about a successful company by these “Shift Index” standards. It’s no coincidence that Apple customers enjoy the experience of using its products. I think a lot of what this long-term study concludes with is what good competitive intelligence has been preaching for YEARS. Keep reaching out and connecting both internally and externally and build on the intelligence you gather. Stay connected with people through all the means technology allows you to reach them. Isn’t this the foundation of a good early warning system?

Jeffrey Immelt’s Ideas on Renewing America’s Competitiveness

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Jeff Immelt, GE’s visionary and innovative Chairman & CEO thinks the US needs to create an industrial renewal as follows:
1. Invest in new technology
2. Win where it counts in Clean Energy and Affordable Healthcare
3. Become a country that’s good at manufacturing and exports
4. Embrace public/private partnerships
5. Encourage leaders that are also good citizens
He concludes that as “Business leaders we are responsible for the competitiveness of our own country.” The US is at a competitive disadvantage globally since its private and public sectors are often at odds and do not cooperate like they do in most other countries in the world!

© 2024 Ellen Naylor