tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56382048244896144952024-03-05T11:07:44.683-08:00Content EvolutionA blog about business metaphysics through the lens of brand and experience strategy. Eliminate unjustified assumptions. Be intentional.Kevin Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00261753355441671706noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638204824489614495.post-80431752468591173632017-10-15T09:09:00.003-07:002017-10-15T10:56:54.987-07:00<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">ThinkPad at 25<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">: </span></span></span></span></span></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Brand Steward Perspective<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Kevin Clark<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">“I love my
ThinkPad.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">This phrase
or something like it makes being associated with this enduring brand a
pleasure. I’ve heard it for decades. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">ThinkPad is
25 years young. It’s an evergreen and more than a brand – its’s a category
creator. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Delivering
speeches around the world I would regularly say that “I spend more time with my
ThinkPad than I do with my wife.” What a relationship. There are implications. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">When running
computers on batteries and taking them with you was new, IBM ThinkPad is a pioneer.
Today in the hands of Lenovo, ThinkPad is a category benchmark.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">It succeeds
on culture and brand resilience as much as it does on engineering and
quality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">As a brand,
ThinkPad is actually 70 years old. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Before it
was a notebook computer it was a small pad of paper in a leather cover with the
word “Think” embossed on it. Think is the IBM company motto. A customer
give-away in sales meetings and trade shows – and customers called them “Think
Pads.” This goes back to the mid-1940s.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">…and IBM
ThinkPad was a tablet computer before it was a notebook computer in 1990. Like
all notebook computers at the time, they were limited to vertical industry
uses, and many failed. Lucky for IBM, since the name was then available to
apply to IBM ThinkPad notebook computers as envisioned by design consultant
Richard Sapper.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">As “the
father of ThinkPad” Arimasa Naitoh recalls in his new book <u>How ThinkPad
Changed The World</u> with co-author William Holstein – new technology was
available to integrate in the early 1990’s that would result in the iconic
ThinkPad form and signature elements.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Black.
Rectangular. Red Trackpoint. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Richard
Sapper envisioned a Japanese bento box used for meals. Black laquer. When you
lift the lid, a there is a surprise on the inside: at the time a color screen
that was newly available and the breakthrough Trackpoint navigation pointer
developed by Ted Selker at IBM Watson Research Labs. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The logo was
also strategically positioned in the corner of the cover – faces the owner when
closed vs. positioned as advertising by competitors when open – and has always
been at 37.5-degree angle to make the ThinkPad and IBM ThinkPad tri-color logo
lock up distinctive and playful. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Several
years later IBM introduced the IBM ThinkPad 701C, the “Butterfly” keyboard notebook
computer. It unfolded and extended when you opened the keyboard. This
mechanical engineering sensation was created by John Karidis again from IBM
Watson Research Labs, and although produced for only a brief period of time,
became part of the innovation legacy and reputation of ThinkPad. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">These
initial imprints in the early laptop and notebook computer category would
continue to this day with ThinkPad as a remarkably resilient and enduring
brand. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Working on design
with the remarkable Richard Sapper is initially and briefly with Sam Lucente in
the U.S. and for many years with Kaz Yamazaki and his Asia Pacific Technical
Operations design team in Yamato, Japan. The long-term design management
leadership for years would be invested in David Hill and his team that spanned
the IBM and Lenovo years right up to this 25<sup>th</sup> anniversary.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">As the first
brand steward for ThinkPad, I spent a lot of time with David and Kaz. They were
partners on a daily basis to keep the brand vibrant and relevant. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I was once
given the privilege of visiting Richard Sapper alone at his studio in Il
Castillo, Milan, Italy. It was like visiting DaVinci at home – visual ideas of
all sorts were in the state of becoming all around us. At the end of the day,
he pulled the wall open and it became his living room where we drank wine and
talked about the future of ThinkPad and what it could become. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The brand
steward partnership with design was foundational. Here’s why: <u>yong</u> and <u>ti</u>.
Ti means “essence” and Yong means “practical use” in Chinese philosophy – also
called substance and function – inseparable parts of a whole system. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">My role as
brand steward was to listen for “ti” so the brand could lead and deliver “yong”
in design and engineering. I was also the voice of intention – what did we want
to do for customers – so we would get authentic attention for the brand that
would accumulate and grow over time. I still use these principles in
professional practice today.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The core
“ti” of ThinkPad was and is today: Success. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">ThinkPad is
a success delivery system and tool for exploring the frontiers of business and
human endeavor – and successful people choose ThinkPad to support their work. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">How did I
become a brand steward? I did not set out to do it. It landed on my shoulders
in a battlefield promotion. In a meeting at Ogilvy & Mather “BrandPrint”
research was shared with us that “success” is the core idea people held about
the brand. This was a year after the announcement of the ThinkPad Butterfly
notebook. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">At the end
of the presentation, the Ogilvy team told our vice president of marketing at
the time, Per Larsen, that they would appoint a “brand steward” for us from
their team to protect and nurture the ThinkPad brand. Per held up his hand
slightly to stop the conversation. It was quiet in the room. It seemed like
minutes went by, yet it was likely only 30 seconds or so. Per then looked up
and said, “thank you for your offer. Kevin will be Brand Steward.” He looked
over at me and my professional life was transformed from that moment on. Thank
you Per, and thank you to the men and women who continue to collectively
steward ThinkPad so well today. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The most
enduring part of my work with the ThinkPad team was the global customer
research and market segmentation performed just before Y2K and the year 2000
transformation of the ThinkPad line into an interoperable family of devices
(interchangeable parts and system hard-drive images). A case written by Dr.
John Lynch at Duke Fuqua School of Business and today teaching at the
University of Colorado at Boulder Leeds Business School documents the moment
and strategic inflection point, and is still used in classrooms today. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">As the
protagonist in the case, my insight was to conduct the first mobile computing
industry behavioral research study. How are people using notebook computers?
What are they doing with them? Where are they doing it? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">It was a
huge breakthrough as we brought the voice-of-the-customer closer into the
decision making of the PC business. Just before this moment we were struggling
with getting the parts together – and keeping them together reliably. The
supply chain was unstable and parts shortages where common that would stop the
manufacturing line and delay ship dates and customer commitments. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Behavioral
customer views helped us unleash a new wave innovation that was
market-inspired. For instance: ThinkLight that illuminates the keyboard;
hard-drive “air bag” protection; Ultrabays that sport second batteries, storage
devices and hard drives, numeric keypads, and other options.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">We would
propose and development leaders like Fran O’Sullivan, Peter Hortensius and
Naitoh-san would make it happen. Designers like David Hill, Kaz Yamazaki and
Tom Takahaski would make it both stand out, and fit it to the brand. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I thank
Dilip Bhatia and Luis Hernandez for inviting me to join recent celebrations and
share stories about building the ThinkPad brand with team members and current
and former executives. On stage recently for ThinkPad employees at Lenovo’s
U.S. headquarters with David Hill, Arimasa Naitoh, Tony Corkell, Luis
Hernandez, Sam Dusi, and Jerry Paradise – with roundtable moderated by Dilip
Bhatia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<u><span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"></span></o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"></span></span></u> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><u><span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">Suspend/resume:</span></u><span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">ThinkPad will
continue. In conversations with Lenovo CTO Yong Rui and other leaders I’m encouraging
ThinkPad to both remain iconic and evolve. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The mobile
development team in Boca in the early days was Leo Suarez, Sam Dusi, Ron
Sperano, and Mark Cohen. Leo was the inventor of “suspend/resume” – close the
cover of the notebook and it goes to sleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I believe
it’s time to suspend the currently held concepts about what ThinkPad is today
to embrace what it can become tomorrow. As the first brand steward for ThinkPad, I
believe the “ti” or essence of what ThinkPad does for people can move
purposefully into a smart world and a be a brand player in the emerging world
of machine learning and AI. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Black.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Rectangular.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">TrackPoint. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">These iconic
elements have the potential to become many purposeful things that are part of a
high-quality success delivery system.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">People spend
a lot of time with their ThinkPads. There are implications in an era of
attention-gravity as the most successful business models. A shift from
transactional revenue to annuity for ThinkPad and Lenovo.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Suspending
unjustified assumptions about ThinkPad in its current “yong” and resuming a
path that continues to embrace the “ti” iconic roots of “Think” and the ability
to keep ideas as “Pad” will shape the next 25 years of what ThinkPad can be and
become. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Kevin Clark<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Brand
Steward, emeritus<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">ThinkPad and
Think family of computer offerings<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">© Copyright Kevin A. Clark 2017 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Kevin Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00261753355441671706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638204824489614495.post-55487118835428072722017-06-03T11:32:00.000-07:002017-06-03T11:34:03.022-07:00New Value Chain for Carbon<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXTlLubwwXf6AWXNuPjcizQIhp827hHuZ2lXsKsfn2U5J-28TmeWY_2Xr7xpQ-lXzXUN8D3xDep9l0ucKjoabIMWu9qGjIK8Iz1NXfX3cuz9nmidM3zSbWj57BLglSMbY7Zr_uasIr_SJ6/s1600/Carbon+atom.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXTlLubwwXf6AWXNuPjcizQIhp827hHuZ2lXsKsfn2U5J-28TmeWY_2Xr7xpQ-lXzXUN8D3xDep9l0ucKjoabIMWu9qGjIK8Iz1NXfX3cuz9nmidM3zSbWj57BLglSMbY7Zr_uasIr_SJ6/s1600/Carbon+atom.gif" /></a></div>
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<br />
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif";">[Picture:
Carbon atom.] </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 9pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Let's talk about carbon and value creation for a
moment. Which is economically more interesting: $30 for a tank of fuel, or
$30,000 for the same tank filled with printer ink? Both are distillations of
complex hydrocarbons. Once you burn hydrocarbons as fuel, they are gone.
Alternative: hydrocarbons are the best material and substrate for additive and
distributed manufacturing and a 3D-printed world. When used this way carbon
remains sequestered and the hydrocarbon extractors and producers get a higher
value for what they make as is the case for printer ink... and you can own the
molecules and materials in perpetuity. Example: I really don't need the plastic
lenses in my eyeglasses forever, I need them as long as the prescription lasts
or the lenses are clear and useable. I should be renting them and then giving
them back for a new use after I'm done with them - cradle to cradle; circular
economy. Extracted material from the earth is called a "wasting
asset" in accounting - wasting by not being extracted and used. In this
new view, the real waste is uncoupling complex carbon materials through
combustion and burning them out of existence. We have energy substitutes coming
online to make this higher value supply chain possible. Let's keep going.</span>Kevin Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00261753355441671706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638204824489614495.post-50643917382847494862016-06-17T13:43:00.001-07:002016-06-17T13:43:32.761-07:00Zombie Data<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The corporate world is full of
studies on hard drives and desk drawers that have been paid for, yet not acted
on to drive business results.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The culprit, what I call “Zombie
Data” – is the information that isn’t quite alive – or is recently dead. A
snapshot of the recent past. Driving a car by looking in the
rear-view-mirror.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">To combat investment in Zombie Data,
we need new methods to support keeping insights alive and vital – worthy of
action and attracting attention and resources. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">In a case titled “IBM Global Mobile
Computing Segmentation: The Prometheus Project” written in 2006 by Dr. John
Lynch at Duke Fuqua School of Business where I am the protagonist (today John
is professor at the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado at
Boulder) the key to global success was getting the organization to act on the
results. We have been tag-team teaching this case for a decade and both agree
the research was superb – yet the action plan was even better. It was my first
taste of waging war with potential data zombies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">A product from machine learning
company <u>SZL.IT</u> called <u>Tanjo</u> is one new tool to counteract Zombie
Data ready for use in conjunction with traditional research such as market
segmentation. <u>Tanjo</u> means “birth” in Japanese. Tanjo can give birth to a
steady stream of daily information flows and news relevant to the profile of
each identified customer segment. It can draw insights from the world-at-large
using AI-bots and with enterprise permissions, and can also search for relevant
information for work-teams from internal intranet sources. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Another example of Tanjo in action is
with <u>CommonWeal DealMaker</u> investment capital social graphs. If you know
the people investing in startups in a region, sector or industry, Tanjo can
bring the network to life every day with information and news about economic
actors in that network. DealMaker is born of the doctoral dissertation work by
Dr. Ted Zoller at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Kenan
Flagler Business School, Kenan Institute of Entrepreneurship. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">A platform approach to doing the
research in the first place and keeping it fresh can be found with the advanced
choice research and visualization capabilities of <u>Vennli</u>. Developed as a
method at Notre Dame for decades by Dr. Joe Urbany, Vennli is now an integrated
research platform tool. It is the worthy successor to the standard “SWOT
Analysis” and has many more insights. Vennli can counteract the Zombie Data
effect by offering a way to repeat customer choice research on a regular basis
that is highly repeatable, comparable and affordable. Vennli can also perform
“insight-out” research that identifies gaps from the inside of the organization
with customer wants and needs – and what is being done in the present and what
will need to be done in the future. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<u><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">ChoiceFlow</span></u><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">™ is also in the process of
combatting Zombie Data. A systematic approach to developing better stimulus for
customer and market research, and animating results in a way that is both
actionable and being updated on a continuous basis, ChoiceFlow combats Zombie
Data by making it come alive to people who need to make choices for customers
and markets every day. Much of the insights for ChoiceFlow come from the life
work of Jordan Louviere in Choice Modeling Research - and Best-Worst Scaling –
and the research-in-action work of Kevin Clark as a market intelligence leader
(MIL) at IBM for the Personal Systems Group and corporate Experience Design
practice. Also contributing to ChoiceFlow is Robert Meyer at Wharton, Tiago
Ribeiro, Institute for Choice, and Richard Boyd leading Szl.it and Tanjo.
ChoiceFlow today is a practice of Content Evolution and is a standalone
business in formation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Kevin Clark is Federation Leader and
President of Content Evolution, with member companies that connect customer and
market insights to nextgen business models, brands, and designed customer
experiences. CommonWeal and Vennli are members of the Content Evolution
federation. ChoiceFlow is a practice of Content Evolution. Szl.it, creator of
Tanjo, is a Content Evolution client.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<br /></div>
Kevin Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00261753355441671706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638204824489614495.post-87770616429308613992015-07-21T07:10:00.000-07:002015-07-21T07:24:23.402-07:00Attention<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
The only thing we come into the world with that is fully ours
to invest: our attention.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
The way we spend our time and focus our attention translates
into who we are and will become. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
If you invest time and attention in becoming an expert in
something in something, others will seek you out and pay more for your
concentrated knowledge and skill.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
All forms and flows of currency are conversions of attention
and time. We convert time and attention into accounts of money,
acknowledgement, self-esteem, honors and social status. Each account has its
own basis for exchange and understanding of wealth that bestows healthy and
valued life years.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
As leaders we need to understand attention is the core asset
that drives the failure, success and ultimately the significance of our
efforts. What is the relevance of what we’re focused on… and how does it fit
into a larger context? Relevance without context is a private entertainment,
not a business or purpose-driven organization in service of others. Context
without relevance is passing fad – understanding the world around you and
reacting to it without core values that sustain and allow an enterprise to thrive
over time.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
As those of us who are inspired to follow (we all lead and
follow in different aspects of our lives), are we putting our trust into
relationships that deliver mutual benefit? Do we perceive ways to come together
and do something we could not accomplish on our own? Are we giving our
attention to something that will pay us twice – in the physical sustenance we
need to maintain physical life – and in the abundance we want in our
relationships and social life?<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
Organizations designed to pay people twice will be the
dominant form of enterprise as we move forward into a world more dominated by
living systems models than mechanical systems models. Our shared
ecosystem will also start to accommodate machine intelligence in addition to
human intelligence in a blended smart environment to drive better decisions and
deliver more abundance now. <o:p></o:p></div>
Kevin Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00261753355441671706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638204824489614495.post-65612398112692733412010-06-19T08:28:00.000-07:002010-06-19T08:47:53.345-07:00Call to Adventure<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">In language of marketing, the "call to action" is what you want a customer to do at the end of delivering a message or conclusion of a sales presentation. Get online and order, pick up the phone, sign here...<br /><br />In a world where markets are increasingly conversations (see book <span style="font-style: italic;">The Cluetrain Manifesto</span>); and pull (being drawn toward something) is much more important than push (talking at or delivering messages to a customer or prospect), "call to action" is a weak idea.<br /><br />A "call to adventure" is much more engaging.<br /><br />A call to action is transactional; a <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">call to adventure</span> is an invitation to a journey, a relationship, and potential loyalty and advocacy for an offering or the organization that makes it.<br /><br />Adapted from the heroic journey archetypes Joseph Campbell described in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Hero with a Thousand Faces</span> and the analytical psychology of Carl Gustav Jung, a call to adventure is a more compelling idea for marketing professionals interested in sparking movements.<br /><br />Movements are bigger ideas that campaigns - they are organizing principles that make categories more favorable organic revenue and profit growth.<br /><br />Learning more about the dynamics and functions of movements are a call to adventure for the marketing profession itself.<br /></span>Kevin Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00261753355441671706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638204824489614495.post-60531386760177313982010-04-05T17:44:00.000-07:002010-04-05T18:06:42.013-07:00The Lexus Paradox<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">I recently had lunch with a friend. She told me over the appetizer portion of the meal she rented a car from Hertz last week. Being a Gold Preferred member the car was waiting in the appointed stall after a brief glance at the reservation display.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">It was a Toyota Camry. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">She told me a few brief months ago this would have been a moment of elation - a portent of a great few days ahead. Instead, there was a pause - a hesitation - a faint misgiving about the rental. My friend told me how her perceptions of Toyota had changed so rapidly in such a short period of time. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">I pointed out to her she owned a Lexus SUV...</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">...and that Lexus is owned by Toyota, and Lexus vehicles are essentially X-body Toyota vehicles. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">(pause)</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">"I really hadn't made the connection. You're right."</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Toyota has two great things going for it: The Lexus sub-brand and Lean manufacturing.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">People tell me Lexus ownership is SO GREAT. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Lexus has built up incredible goodwill with owners, and it isolates them from the Toyota connection even during a period of so much adverse attention. It is a case study in great brand strategy and management - and an example of exemplary end-to-end customer experience delivery. Lexus endures as a role model despite the circumstances of the parent company. Toyota: Bring some of this to the core franchise, and redemption is plausible.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Lean manufacturing as invented and practiced by Toyota in its manufacturing plants around the world is legendary. Its ability to produce quality products, give voice to employees, and be an exemplar in continuous learning and improvement makes it a widely copied manufacturing environment. If Toyota can move this ethos out of the plant and into the distribution, sales and service environment - again, brand redemption seems more than likely.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Interesting times - and time for Toyota to learn from itself and spread the wealth.</span></div>Kevin Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00261753355441671706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638204824489614495.post-72782476589921425212010-03-27T19:10:00.000-07:002010-03-27T19:24:17.633-07:00Time: the only real asset<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">The only asset we come into the world with is time.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">We trade our time for many things; sometimes we barter, sometimes we temporarily store the value of our exchanged time in an invention we call money. We also give our time away; sometimes with intention, sometimes indiscriminately. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Business is about the creation and transfer of value - and adding value to time. Can you do something faster? Can you enhance the quality of the time you have? Business exchanges your current and stored time value for many collective hours someone else has spent distilling an offering into something you'd rather not spend your time doing yourself, or provides an exemplary experience in compressed period of time, or delivers a transformation that actually gives you more time. </span></div>Kevin Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00261753355441671706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638204824489614495.post-19629453228945692932010-03-14T13:35:00.000-07:002010-03-14T13:42:46.137-07:00Thrivable Intentions: from Thrivability - A Collaborative Sketch<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:200%"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height: 200%">Thrivable Intentions<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">“Man shapes himself through decisions that shape his environment.” <a style="mso-endnote-id:edn1" href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Kevin%20Clark/My%20Documents/Thrivabilty%20and%20Intention.doc#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character:footnote"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[i]</span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" align="center" style="margin-left:.25in;text-align:center; text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .25in"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">-<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; line-height:200%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Rene Dubos <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;font-size:6;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 38px;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><u><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Thrivability</span></u></b><u><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""> is fueled by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">intentions</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></u></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;line-height: 115%;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo3"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><u><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height: 115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Intent</span></u><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-left:1.0in;text-indent:-.25in;line-height: 115%;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo3"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"Courier New";mso-fareast-font-family:"Courier New""><span style="mso-list:Ignore">o<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Directed<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-left:1.0in;text-indent:-.25in;line-height: 115%;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo3"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"Courier New";mso-fareast-font-family:"Courier New""><span style="mso-list:Ignore">o<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Earnest<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-left:1.0in;text-indent:-.25in;line-height: 115%;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo3"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"Courier New";mso-fareast-font-family:"Courier New""><span style="mso-list:Ignore">o<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Engrossed<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-left:1.0in;text-indent:-.25in;line-height: 115%;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo3"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"Courier New";mso-fareast-font-family:"Courier New""><span style="mso-list:Ignore">o<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Intense<br /> <br /> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;line-height: 115%;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo3"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><u><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height: 115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Intention</span></u><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-left:1.0in;text-indent:-.25in;line-height: 115%;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo3"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"Courier New";mso-fareast-font-family:"Courier New""><span style="mso-list:Ignore">o<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Aim<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-left:1.0in;text-indent:-.25in;line-height: 115%;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo3"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"Courier New";mso-fareast-font-family:"Courier New""><span style="mso-list:Ignore">o<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Determination<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-left:1.0in;text-indent:-.25in;line-height: 115%;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo3"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"Courier New";mso-fareast-font-family:"Courier New""><span style="mso-list:Ignore">o<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Planned<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-left:1.0in;text-indent:-.25in;line-height: 115%;mso-list:l0 level2 lfo3"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"Courier New";mso-fareast-font-family:"Courier New""><span style="mso-list:Ignore">o<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Purpose<br /> <br /> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;line-height: 115%;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo3"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><u><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height: 115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Intentional</span></u><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">: done with purpose<a style="mso-endnote-id:edn2" href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Kevin%20Clark/My%20Documents/Thrivabilty%20and%20Intention.doc#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[ii]</span></span></span></span></a><br /> <br /> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><u><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:200%; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">…and intentions are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">holons</b>.</span></u><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:200%; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-indent:.5in"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Holons</span></i><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""> are both wholes and parts.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Intentions nest as holons – as both wholes and parts.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>All the way up and all the way down.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>We’re adapting and honoring a concept Ken Wilber has explored extensively in our lifetime and in his book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">A Theory of Everything</i> he defines holons (a term first introduced by Arthur Koestler<a style="mso-endnote-id:edn3" href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Kevin%20Clark/My%20Documents/Thrivabilty%20and%20Intention.doc#_edn3" name="_ednref3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character:footnote"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[iii]</span></span></span></span></a>) as ingredients in hierarchies.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It’s a very simple and compelling concept.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; line-height:200%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Wilber says, “A <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">holon</i> is a whole that is a part of other wholes.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>For example, a whole atom is part of a whole molecule; a whole molecule is part of a whole cell; a whole cell is part of a whole organism.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Or again, a whole letter is part of a whole word, which is part of a whole sentence, which is part of a whole paragraph, and so on.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Reality is composed of neither wholes nor parts, but of whole/parts, or holons.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Reality in all domains is basically composed of holons.”<a style="mso-endnote-id:edn4" href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Kevin%20Clark/My%20Documents/Thrivabilty%20and%20Intention.doc#_edn4" name="_ednref4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character:footnote"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[iv]</span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; line-height:200%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">The same could be said of intentions, where every purposeful act is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">nested in other holons of intention. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></i>For clarity:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-left:.75in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo2; tab-stops:list .75in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; line-height:200%;font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:200%; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">A <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">“reference holon”</i> is the holon that forms the frame of reference as a single whole/part for looking at the smaller and larger world it exists in.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-left:.75in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo2; tab-stops:list .75in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; line-height:200%;font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:200%; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">A <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">“sub-holon chain” </i>represents the view of the constant holon down to smaller holon wholes/parts.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="margin-left:.75in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo2; tab-stops:list .75in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; line-height:200%;font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol;mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:200%; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">A <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">“macro-holon chain”</i> is the view of the constant holon up to larger holon wholes/parts.<a style="mso-endnote-id:edn5" href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Kevin%20Clark/My%20Documents/Thrivabilty%20and%20Intention.doc#_edn5" name="_ednref5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character:footnote"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[v]</span></span></span></span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:200%"> </span><span style="font-size:14.0pt; line-height:200%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-indent:.5in"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; line-height:200%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></i></b></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-indent:.5in"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; line-height:200%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Holons of intention can create chains of thrivability</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:200%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; line-height:200%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">We as humans have the inherent capacity to be the most <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">intentional <u>reference holons</u> on earth.</i><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Yet we seemed to be distracted and immersed in unintentional.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; line-height:200%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Paul Hawken, the author of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The Ecology of Commerce <a style="mso-endnote-id:edn6" href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Kevin%20Clark/My%20Documents/Thrivabilty%20and%20Intention.doc#_edn6" name="_ednref6" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character:footnote"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[vi]</span></b></span></span></span></a></i> introduces a version of sustainability succinctly when he says in the preface, “Rather than a management problem, we have a design problem, a flaw that runs through all business.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He continues, “To create an enduring society, will need a system of commerce and production where each and every act is inherently sustainable and restorative.” <a style="mso-endnote-id:edn7" href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Kevin%20Clark/My%20Documents/Thrivabilty%20and%20Intention.doc#_edn7" name="_ednref7" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character:footnote"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[vii]</span></span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; line-height:200%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Good, yet still not intentional enough for our inherent capacities. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:200%">Sustainability language is frequently formed as an apology for the past and a prayer for methods to the repair damage so we can learn to just get by.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:200%">Thrivabilty is more optimistic than sustainability.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:200%">Thrivabilty is about transcending and including the current fitness landscape with intelligence and grace.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:200%">Being <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">intentionally thrivable</i> is using the gift of collective intelligence we can harness to do better – and together do more.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <div style="mso-element:endnote-list"><br /></div><div style="mso-element:endnote-list">Note: This is the chapter I contributed to the book: <u>Thrivability - A Collaborative Sketch</u>, compiled and edited by Jean Russell - <span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-ansi-language: EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"><a href="http://thrivable.wagn.org/PDF">http://thrivable.wagn.org/PDF</a></span></div><div style="mso-element:endnote-list"><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><a href="http://thrivable.wagn.org/PDF"></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%"> <div style="mso-element:endnote" id="edn1"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a style="mso-endnote-id:edn1" href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Kevin%20Clark/My%20Documents/Thrivabilty%20and%20Intention.doc#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: JA;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[i]</span></span></span></span></a> Lawrence J. Peter, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Peter’s Quotations: Ideas for Our Time,</i> New York: William Morrow and Company, p. 172.</p> <p class="MsoEndnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p> </div> <div style="mso-element:endnote" id="edn2"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a style="mso-endnote-id:edn2" href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Kevin%20Clark/My%20Documents/Thrivabilty%20and%20Intention.doc#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: JA;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[ii]</span></span></span></span></a> Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1984, p. 733.<br /> <br /> </p> </div> <div style="mso-element:endnote" id="edn3"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a style="mso-endnote-id:edn3" href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Kevin%20Clark/My%20Documents/Thrivabilty%20and%20Intention.doc#_ednref3" name="_edn3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: JA;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[iii]</span></span></span></span></a> Arthur Koestler, <u>The Ghost in the Machine</u>, Macmillan Publishers, 1969.<br /> <br /> </p> </div> <div style="mso-element:endnote" id="edn4"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a style="mso-endnote-id:edn4" href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Kevin%20Clark/My%20Documents/Thrivabilty%20and%20Intention.doc#_ednref4" name="_edn4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: JA;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[iv]</span></span></span></span></a> Ken Wilber, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">A Theory of Everything: An Integral Vision for Business, Politics, Science and Spirituality, </i>Boston: Shambala Press, 2001, p. 40.</p> <p class="MsoEndnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p> </div> <div style="mso-element:endnote" id="edn5"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a style="mso-endnote-id:edn5" href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Kevin%20Clark/My%20Documents/Thrivabilty%20and%20Intention.doc#_ednref5" name="_edn5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: JA;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[v]</span></span></span></span></a> Kevin Clark, <u>Brandscendence: Three Essential Elements of Enduring Brands</u>, Chicago: Dearborn/Kaplan, 2004, <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>p. 112.<br /> <br /> </p> </div> <div style="mso-element:endnote" id="edn6"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a style="mso-endnote-id:edn6" href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Kevin%20Clark/My%20Documents/Thrivabilty%20and%20Intention.doc#_ednref6" name="_edn6" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: JA;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[vi]</span></span></span></span></a> Paul Hawken, <u>The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability</u><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">,</i> Harper Business, 1993, p. xiii.</p> <p class="MsoEndnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p> </div> <div style="mso-element:endnote" id="edn7"> <p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a style="mso-endnote-id:edn7" href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Kevin%20Clark/My%20Documents/Thrivabilty%20and%20Intention.doc#_ednref7" name="_edn7" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: JA;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">[vii]</span></span></span></span></a> Paul Hawken, <u>The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability</u><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">,</i> Harper Business, 1993, p. xiv.</p> </div></div>Kevin Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00261753355441671706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638204824489614495.post-19192651411846234782010-03-13T07:32:00.000-08:002010-03-13T08:04:06.237-08:00Thrivable - an optimistic view<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Paul Saffo was the keynote speaker at the World Innovation Forum last year. About half way through his presentation, Paul (who is with the Institute for the Future and teaches at Stanford University) expressed some dissatisfaction with the word "sustainability." He said most of the language around sustainability was gloomy, and about making amends for actions of the past. "I wish there was a more optimistic word we could use other than sustainability."</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Out of the auditorium that morning and onto my notebook in the spring of 2009, I sent Paul this message:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i>"Paul, today at the Global Innovation Forum in New York City you asked for suggestions for a better word than "sustainability." Jean Russell (aka "NurtureGirl") is working on a concept she calls "thriveability" that implies more than just getting by - core to what you were suggesting today. </i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i>"...embracing change...</i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i>"Regards - Kevin"</i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">...and Paul responded...</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><p class="MsoNormal"><i><b>"Many thanks Kevin, and Jean, I love "thriveability" -- it sets just the right mix of optimism and realism. Very nice!<o:p></o:p></b></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i><b>"best<o:p></o:p></b></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i><b>"-p"</b></i></p></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Today, Thrivability is a growing idea and movement about a optimistic form of sustainability that increases our capacity to do more. Find out more with this new "collabook" (collaborative contributor book, my term) on Thrivability: http://www.slideshare.net/NurtureGirl/thrivability-a-collaborative-sketch-3406586</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">I'll post what I wrote this this book in a later blog posting - for now, enjoy the collaborative sketch on what it means to be Thrivable from many positive points of view. </span></div>Kevin Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00261753355441671706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638204824489614495.post-46433769863349878142009-06-15T16:16:00.000-07:002009-06-15T16:32:42.938-07:00Enduring Brands: the 10,000 Year Goal<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">This blog is a repeat performance from the </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><u>Brandscendence The Journey</u> newsletter published in 2005. It was Newsletter Number 7 in a series after the publication of the book <u><em><strong>Brand</strong>scendence: <strong>Three Essential Elements of Enduring Brands</strong></em></u>, 2004. [i]</span><br /><p><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">I share it with you based on a question that came up recently at a speech at the University of Rochester Simon School of Business - what are some of the most enduring brands? Here is one answer:</span></p><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"><strong>Enduring Brands: The 10,000 Year Goal<br /></strong><br />Kikkoman soy sauce is a very familiar food brand in Japan, North American, Europe, and many other parts of the world. The name Kikkoman means “more than just superior soy sauce.”</span><a style="mso-endnote-id: edn2" title="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5638204824489614495#_edn2" name="_ednref2"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">[ii]</span></a><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"><br /><br />Japanese folklore says the tortoise lives for 10,000 years. The tortoise presents itself as a symbol of longevity, and kikko means tortoise shell in Japanese. Combine kikko + man and you have the trademark for the Mogi family’s best soy sauce – originally made in the city of Noda near the Edo River, an area known for superior soy sauce production since the Edo period, 1603-1867.<br /><br />The Kikkoman logo represents a tortoise shell with the Chinese character for 10,000 written inside.<br /><br />“In December of 1917, eight families including the Mogi family merged to form the predecessor of Kikkoman Corporation, Noda Shoyu Co., Ltd.”</span><a style="mso-endnote-id: edn3" title="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5638204824489614495#_edn3" name="_ednref3"><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">[iii]</span></a><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"> Kikkoman International Inc. is later established in June of 1957 and is based in San Francisco, California, in the USA. Production facilities around the world include Hokkaido and Ojima, Japan; Walworth, Wisconsin, USA; Folsom, California USA; Singapore; Tainan, Taiwan; and Hoogenzand-Sappemeer, The Netherlands.<br /><br />If you want to set a brand endurance goal, understanding the story behind Kikkoman’s symbolic 10,000 year name and logo are true benchmarks to behold.</span><br /><p><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">^</p></span><a style="mso-endnote-id: edn1" title="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5638204824489614495#_ednref1" name="_edn1"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">[i]</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> Brandscendence is a trademark owned by Content Evolution ™ LLC Worldwide; Brandscendence The Journey, is a newsletter distributed by Content Evolution ™ LLC Worldwide © Copyright 2004, all rights reserved.<br /><br /></span><a style="mso-endnote-id: edn2" title="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5638204824489614495#_ednref2" name="_edn2"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">[ii]</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> Story adapted from the Kikkoman web site </span><a href="http://www.kikkoman.com/company/com_overview.html"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">www.kikkoman.com/company/com_overview.html</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> updated July 18, 2004.<br /><br /></span><a style="mso-endnote-id: edn3" title="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5638204824489614495#_ednref3" name="_edn3"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">[iii]</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> Ibid.</span><br /></span>Kevin Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00261753355441671706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638204824489614495.post-7389756382295262092009-05-16T13:29:00.000-07:002009-05-16T13:57:07.386-07:00Four Role Models<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> Content Evolution as my new ecosystem of brand experience strategy capabilities is modeled after four role models. There are others in my life, yet these four people fundamentally shaped the tone and temperament of my organization and how it operates.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">First, my father, Harley Clark: retired IBM Director of Executive Resources. He's always had a keen eye for talent and years of experience identifying and nurturing it. His authentic approach to others is something I bring my professional roles, now as an independent business person, and retired <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">IBMer</span> and alum myself.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Next, Richard Sapper: an extraordinary designer I've had the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">privilege</span> of working with for many years. His <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">independent</span> approach, ability to work alone, and yet teach and influence entire generations of new design professionals has been a inspiration - and a model for my practice.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">My next door neighbor in Connecticut, John <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Cowan</span>: no longer with us, John was an inventor, an <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">entrepreneur</span>, and someone I went alpine skiing with on weekends until he was in his late 80's. If I can ski and be as active and inquisitive for several more decades as John was late into his life it will be a great journey ahead. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">And then there is Napier <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Collyns</span>: Founder of Global Business Network and the co-inventor of Scenario Planning with Peter Schwartz at Royal Dutch Shell. Napier told me he created <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">GBN</span> just to have smart people to play with in retirement. Still a good idea, one I've moved forward into the core role of Content Evolution in my life. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Four role models. Thank you. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Thanks to everyone who's played a role in <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">encouraging</span> me as a lifelong learner, and still helping today in shaping new directions. </span></div>Kevin Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00261753355441671706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638204824489614495.post-1727520919254388092009-04-24T06:34:00.000-07:002009-04-24T06:59:03.412-07:00The Experience Economy<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;">The Experience Economy</span> by Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore was published ten years ago by Harvard <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Busienss</span> School Press this coming Tuesday, April 28. <div><br /></div><div>I'm raising my glass to Joe and Jim for this seminal contribution to creating a tipping point for acceptance of experience practice around the world. 200,000 copies and 12 languages later, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;">The Experience Economy</span> continues to be the best starting point for understanding the importance of creating intentional experiences to creating profitable growth and customer advocacy.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Experience Economy gives us a great model to understand this progression of economic value to customers:</div><div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Commodities. </span> Easily <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">interchangeable</span> and undifferentiated materials from the natural world.</li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Goods. </span> Tangible offerings (products) you can mass product and hold in inventory.</li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Services.</span> We'll do it for you - intangible activities for specific customers. </li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Experiences. </span>"Experiences are events that engage <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">individuals</span> in a personal way." (from <span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;">The Experience Economy</span>, pg. 12.)</li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Transformations.</span> Game changers; life-<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">altering</span> engagements.</li></ul><div><br /></div>The insight that "The Customer is the Product" (chapter nine in the book) delivers a remarkably clear view of how to understand customers and the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">opportunities</span> presented by <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">re-perceiving</span> markets. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm a fan. <br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Kevin Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00261753355441671706noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638204824489614495.post-85535108006370441632009-04-22T16:50:00.000-07:002009-04-22T17:00:39.084-07:00Mutual Benefit<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Mutual benefit is a multiplier effect in relationships. When mutual benefit is perceived (there's something in this for both of us), goodwill is created to nurture future interactions.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">The attributes of <em>mutual benefit</em> are:</span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">Stage 1: <em>Conditional.</em> Simple transactions without ongoing relationships.</span></li><li><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">Stage 2: <em>Reciprocal.</em> Formation of relationships and having a memory of the customer.</span></li><li><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">Stage 3: <em>Integrated.</em> Sustainable interdependent relationships that fuel each other's growth.</span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">Sensing mutual benefit or perceiving an obligation to act in kind is a powerful motivator and foundation for an ongoing relationship. </span></p>Kevin Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00261753355441671706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638204824489614495.post-23860044569730903332009-04-14T10:54:00.000-07:002009-04-14T11:13:39.164-07:00Context and its Role<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Context</span> provides the connection for a brand's relevance in specific cultural or economic situations. There are three stages of brand contextual maturity:<br /></span><ul><li>Stage one: <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Reflects.</span></span> The brand mimics the social and economic environment. <span style="font-style: italic;">(dependent)</span><br /></li><li>Stage two: <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Adapts.</span></span> The brand actively changes in relation to the environment. <span style="font-style: italic;">(independent)</span><br /></li><li>Stage three: <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Projects<span style="font-weight: bold;">.</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span> The brand creates new social constructs or economic rules for other to mimic or adapt to over time. <span style="font-style: italic;">(interdependent)</span><br /></li></ul>Brands in stage one that <span style="font-style: italic;">reflect</span> merely imitate the competition - they live for the day with little regard for the future. Brands that <span style="font-style: italic;">adapt</span> earn the right to survive over time. Brands that <span style="font-style: italic;">project</span> themselves earn a position to thrives by changing the rules and the fitness landscape for everyone else.Kevin Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00261753355441671706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638204824489614495.post-74704861360963087152009-03-22T17:21:00.000-07:002009-03-22T18:55:05.072-07:00RelevanceEvery brand should be known for something - a reason for being - one customers understand and believe in. This is <span class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-STYLE: italic">relevance</span>. <div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Relevance </span>can manifest itself in three stages of brand maturity:</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline">Stage one</span>: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Personality.</span> The brand works to become clear and compelling to customers (the brand behaves as a learning child). Dependence.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline">Stage two</span>: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Character. </span>The reputation of the brand and its behaviors are known (the brand behaves as a young adult, sorting out priorities). Independence. </div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline">Stage three</span>: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Purpose. </span> The brand has an ongoing reason for being that is widely understood and reinforces the brand's behavior (the brand behaves as a mature adult with a mission in life). Interdependence. </div>Kevin Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00261753355441671706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638204824489614495.post-7322644526487121202009-03-20T13:58:00.000-07:002009-03-20T14:35:54.520-07:00Unjustified Assumptions<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">One of my key roles in professional life is to rid people of unjustified assumptions.</span> <div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">I just watched again the catalyst for this core idea by replaying a segment of the series "A Glorious Accident: Understanding Our Place in the Cosmic Puzzle" by Wim Kayzer. In his interview with philosopher Stephen Toulmin the the phrase "unjustified assumptions" is evoked as the result of his experiences in the classroom of Ludwig Wittengstein.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">What a tremendous professional tool. Stripping away assumptions that are no longer relevant, or in the context of use are weak or no longer needed -- and in setting these assumptions aside, provide the ability to focus on what remains. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">The trick is to deliver this news (that a few things you thought were real, really aren't anymore) in ways that help people embrace a new fitness landscape. All too many times I've seen a heavy hand deliver a pronouncement about a "new reality" that is disruptive, while it is far more effective to do what the sculptor does: remove the excess stone (unjustified assumptions) to reveal the form within (the new streamlined business model and approach).</span></div>Kevin Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00261753355441671706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638204824489614495.post-27592654749894142152009-03-19T16:40:00.000-07:002009-03-22T18:58:43.967-07:00The Energy of Change<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">We are in the middle change that is releasing tremendous amounts of unguided energy. Think of the states of water: gas, liquid, solid. During dot.com bubble a lot of energy was absorbed and the economy became gaseous and a lot of value boiled off. We're now releasing economic energy and productive capacity and things are freezing. </span> <div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">If you've lived in a cold climate, you know the common advice is to turn on you faucets and let them drip just a little bit so the pipes don't freeze. Keep things moving just enough so the pipes don't freeze and burst. You push up your water bill a bit, yet ask anyone about the repair expense for burst pipes.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">There are organizations out there where the pipes are about to burst. To survive they need to keep a trickle of activity going in some important areas that might be freezing right now: strategic intent, customer relationships and service, and end-to-end integrity.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Survive with intent to succeed another day. </span></div>Kevin Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00261753355441671706noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638204824489614495.post-6569189773204294602009-03-18T15:25:00.000-07:002009-03-18T15:32:41.719-07:00Enduring Brands<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Enduring brands have three elements: <em>Relevance, Context and Mutual Benefit.</em> I wrote about this in my book <u>Brandscendence</u> in 2004 and the principles still hold true.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"><em>Relevance</em> is the organization's or product's (service's) enduring reason for existing - it's ongoing relevance to customers. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"><em>Context </em>is the cultural or economic circumstance in which the brand appears - and adapts to a changing competitive landscape over time. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"><em>Mutual benefit </em>is the perceived goodwill both the customer and company see in each other - and is a multiplier effect to nurture future interactions. </span>Kevin Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00261753355441671706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638204824489614495.post-30994929194845018292009-03-17T20:09:00.000-07:002009-03-17T20:14:23.088-07:00Welcome to Content Evolution<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">It's a pleasure to start this blog at the intersection of branding, customer experience, and business metaphysics -- helping businesses connect what they are and promise -- to what they are capable of being and doing.<br /></span>Kevin Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00261753355441671706noreply@blogger.com1