Tag: Customers

Why People Do Great Work

by Bright Osadiaye, posted in Health & Well-Being, Improve Academy, Leadership, Management, Personal Development, Personal Growth, Workplace Learning
Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Pexels.com

Why do we work? Why do people do great work?

Work is not about money. Work is about growth. Work is about how we express ourselves. Work is how we show our inner selves.

If you want to know a good person, look at how they work.

According to Hubert Joly, ‘Through work, we are part of a web of human interactions, dealing with colleagues, customers, suppliers, and so on.’

‘We all work– and lead- best when we embrace vulnerability, learn from failure, and strive to be our best rather than the best.’

‘Companies are not souless entities. They are human organizations made of individuals who work together toward a common purpose. When that common purpose aligns with their own individual searches for meaning, it can unleash a kind of human magic that results in outstanding performance.’

‘Business does well by doing well.‘

‘Employees stand at its center because the secret of business is to have great people do great work for customers in a way that delivers great results.’

‘Doing great work starts when people feel treated like individuals- not human capital- in a work environment where they can thrive.’

‘Doing great work for customers happens when employees relate to these customers as human beings, not walking wallets.’

‘Treat everyone as a customer, as a human being with real needs.’

‘When a business is in trouble, listening to the individuals on the front line is the best place to quickly identify what ‘crazy’ goofy, or stupid’ things … have been getting in the way.’

Source:

Hubert Joly (2021). The Heart of Business: Leadership Principles for the Next Era of Capitalism

Robert G. Cooper On Creating Value Through Innovation

by Bright Osadiaye, posted in Improve Academy, Innovation Management, Leadership, Management, Workplace Learning

‘The best innovators have four times the sales from new products and more than double the success rate as the worst performers. But why the huge differences?’

‘A superior and differentiated product– one that delivers unique benefits and superior value to the customer- is the number one driver of success and new product profitability.’

‘Building in the voice of the customer is one of the strongest drivers of new-product profitability, and also of time efficiency. But the great majority of companies miss the mark here- with insufficient VoC and no fact-based customer insights.’

‘People don’t know what they’re looking for until they see it or experience it. So get something in front of the customer or user fast- and keep repeating these tests all the way through to formal product testing or field trials. Multiple iterations and product validations- spirals development- are essential when facing fluid markets with customers that are uncertain about their needs.’

‘Manage risk by breaking the process into increments. When the uncertainties and unknowns are high, keep the spending low.’

‘If you want speed to market, then focus– resource your projects properly.’

‘Of the five most important drivers of businesses’ new-product performance, idea management has the strongest impact.’

‘Customer visit teams are valuable for gaining real insights into the customer’s world: the ability to identify and focus on customer problems and unspoken needs, a vital source of product ideas.’

‘Innovative customers are quite likely to have the industry’s next new product, and this lead-user method is one way to uncover what it is.’

‘Your own employees are excellent potential sources of new-product ideas. Yet all too often, internally generated ideas are either mundane or not acted upon. But there are ways to change that.’

‘How does one design a system that integrates many activities and multifunctional inputs and fosters a cross-functional team approach?’

Source:

Robert G. Cooper (2017). Winning at New Products: Creating Value Through Innovation