Why didn’t General Motors or Blockbuster see it coming? Thousands of companies of all sizes, focusing on doing better what they are already do. don’t see it coming. With hindsight the mistakes are clear. Yet, GM and Blockbuster employ some very bright people.. Many bright and previously successful executives are unable to prevent their company’s fortunes from declining.

Why are clever people failing? The problem is obvious – they are stuck in the past. Now the key question is how can companies adapt and thrive in a fast-changing and increasingly complex business world? You’ve heard it, Innovate of Die! But a leader can’t lead innovation if his or her adaptive potential is not up to snuff. Or, as Marcel Proust put it,

The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands but in seeing with new eyes. (more…)

The 2011 Edelman Trust Barometer is out and contains some distressing news for businesses in the USA and UK. There are, however, some insights on how a company can turn this situation into an opportunity.

Trust in business in the United States and United Kingdom dropped so dramatically over the past year that both are now considered “distruster” nations. Scary, they rank just above Russia at the bottom of the scale. Interestingly, the emerging economies who are coming out of the recession ahead of the USA and the UK, all rank near the top as “Truster” nations.

The lack of trust cost businesses money.

Without trust, things cost more, take more time, and exert more strain on an organization. Stakeholders will double-check every word you say before cooperating with you. They’ll make almost any task more ponderous and exhausting. (Jennifer Scott )

Before you dismiss this as an over-generalization, stop and think about your own interactions with someone you don’t trust versus someone you do. (more…)

The first time I heard Adrian make this statement I thought “Okay, here we go, another pitch about making it quick, easy and convenient for customers.” Then I got a chance to read a prerelease copy of her new book, The 24-hour Customer: New rules for winning in a time-starved, always-connected economy.

Adrian is talking about something much more important than timesaving. Consider this, in one situation people are very stingy with their attention and in another they seemingly waste hours. If you don’t understand the “new rules” governing this behavior, you will, at best, be force to sell on price. If you own, run or lead a business, I highly recommend this book.

If you think the new rules concept is over-blown, read on, then make your decision about reading Ott’s book. (more…)

Alliance CEO, John I. Todor, Ph.D. will be attending an international conference in Potsdam, Germany, September 30 to October 1, 2010. The conference Enabling Innovation – Facing Global Dilemma is hosted by the International Monitoring Organization and sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Among the topics to be discussed is The Great Gap between Knowledge and Implementation, an issue central to the mission of the Alliance for Business Innovation.

An IBM Global CEO Study found that less than 50% felt their organizations were prepared to handle a volatile and increasing complex business environment.

This is not surprising since most corporation are still operating on a 20th century command/control business model that focuses on internal efficiency not adaptability to rapidly changing external forces and dynamics.

In the upcoming Social Business Executive Summit, I will describe a framework that will dramatically increase organizational adaptive potential. My talk

Social Business Strategies for Adapting to the New Normal in Business

is in the opening session on May 25th.

There are 9 other speakers who will also shed light on the challenges. This is a free online event sponsored by CustomerThink.

Click to register.

The Social Business Executive Summit

On May 25-27 CustomerThink will host six free webinars on Social Business. Join us!

Register Now!

You can pick and choose from the sessions that interest you the most, from strategy to online communities to using social media to boost your marketing, sales and service operations.

Session Topics:
* The CEO’s Challenge: Creating and Leading a Profitable Social Business Strategy
* Transforming Marketing to Listen, Influence and Drive Sales-Ready Leads
* Best Practices to Create Online Communities to Engage Customers and Increase Loyalty
* Transforming Sales to Align with Social Buyers and Close More Deals
* Best Practices to Create a High-Performance Organization with Employee Collaboration
* Transforming Customer Service/Support to Profit from the Wisdom of Crowds

Each session will be conducted in an interactive panel format featuring experts from the Founders Council of our new community, SocialBusinessOne.com. Bring your toughest questions!

I will be speaking in the first session on “Social Business Strategies for adapting to the New Normal in Business.

Registration is FREE, and all attendees are eligible to win an iPad.

To learn more and sign up, please visit:

Register Now!

Hope to see you online next week!
Regards,
John Todor

John will be speak with Connie Hill of VeraCentra and Barbara Cerf of New York Life Insurance at Loyalty Expo in Orlando, June 6-8, 2010.

Our topic:

Winning Profitable Customer Relationships.

More information…

John’s upcoming webinar
What’s Driving Loyalty Loss and What Can You Do About It?

May 6, 2010

Sponsor by Loyalty 360 and VeraCentra.

Free Registration

For at least the past 5 years, the tried-and-true formulas to boost sales and market shares of brands have been become increasingly irrelevant and losing traction with customers.
(John Gerzema and Ed Lebar, The Trouble with Brands)

To understand what is relevant and does get traction with customers, it is critical to recognize that the pursuit of market share and commodity sales are not the same thing. Germane to this distinction are the two buying personalities I have discussed elsewhere. Here is the short version that makes it especially relevant to this differentiation. (more…)

This virtual Summit features thought leaders in Social CRM, Enterprise 2.0 and Social Media Marketing from the Founders Council of SocialBusinessOne.

Over a three-day period, CustomerThink will host six webinars focused on social business strategy, customer communities, employee collaboration and how social computing will transform marketing, sales and customer service.

This will not be “death by PowerPoint.” Each session will provide plenty of time to get your specific questions answered. Bob Thompson, Founder of CustomerThink and SocialBusinessOne, will chair the Summit and serve as moderator for all webinars.

In the opening session John Todor of The Whetstone Edge will be discussing:

Social Strategies for Adapting to the New Normal

Register now