Where is Spirit in Life and in Business

Posted on July 22, 2008
Filed Under Leadership, Management, Norman Wolfe, Organization & Culture, Strategy Execution | Leave a Comment

Last week I was meeting with a group of CEOs, 8 of us, sharing some of our challenges and seeking advice and support.  One of the men had just finished sharing about the challenges he is facing at home with his son, his own health, and his challenges with falling revenue at work.  Listening to him I was moved by how much this man was dealing with in his life.

 Of course we all had some useful suggestions which he appreciated.  I was moved to ask if he had any spiritual support, such as that of his priest, during such significant life challenges.   “I am a birth to grave Catholic”, he said, “but I guess I never thought of seeking support from my priest”.    Another member of the group chimed in, “gee now that I think of it I also wouldn’t think of going to my minister for help with life situations.”

Why not, someone asked, and a lively discussion around this topic ensued.  Because spiritual matters are of the spirit and life challenges are here on earth, was the general consensus.

I found this both interesting and fascinating and the more I reflected on it the more I realized that this is the way our society has evolved and especially business.  It is a true and literal separation of church and state, but even further, a separation of life from anything to do with the spiritual, whatever that may be.

 But is Spirit really something other than life?  I guess we first have to define what might be meant by Spirit and the spiritual.  Looking it up in Miriam Webster dictionary, the first definition that comes up is “an animating or vital principle held to give life to physical organisms”.  That which lies beneath and through and that animates life is the way I like to say it.  And we use it all the time in our lives such as when we say the spirit of the organization or use the term esprit de corps. 

 So how can Spirit be separate from life?  The two are heavily intertwined with each other by the very definition of it.  Life and Spirit is the same thing.  Life is the manifest world we see and live in and Spirit is the unseen but ever present animating force that gives life to all we experience. So why would business, something that is very much part of life, be any less animated by Spirit than the rest of life and why would we consider it any less of a spiritual journey than itself is.

 Since, by definition Spirit animates all things it must also animate our organizations?  If it animates our organizations then as leaders of those organizations should we not learn to understand how it affects our organizations and how can it be used to enhance our performance?

Norman Wolfe

President/CEO

Quantum Leaders, Inc

 

 

 

Are You Experienced…

Posted on July 16, 2008
Filed Under Gregg Gallagher, Marketing, Organization & Culture, Strategy | Leave a Comment

…have you ever been experienced?

There’s been a lot of discussion over recent years as to the notion that the nature of the U.S. economy is transforming (yet again) from that of being primarily a service economy into an experience economy. This theory was first laid out by Pine and Gilmore in their book, “The Experience Economy”, which put forth that business would create value around - and charge for - the experience or feelings surrounding the buying and/or use of their product. Examples they cite include Disney (where the consumer is purchasing the entertainment experience), Starbucks (where the previously commoditized coffee has been incorporated into an overall retail experience providing higher value) and Saturn (where the experience of buying a car has been made easier, and thus attracting a heretofore neglected demographic - female car purchasers).

The author’s theory that this is a fundamental, transformational change of  the U.S. economy is, in my opinion, a bit overstated. The vast majority of the exchange of products and services continues to be done under the traditional models where the charges fare based on the traditional evaluation of the tangible value of the goods provided or services performed.

However, I do believe that the “experience dimension” should be considered for it’s potential application across the entire value chain of a company’s business model. For example:

What ways can you be improving the experience of doing business with your firm?

Business is the flow of energy

Posted on July 4, 2008
Filed Under Leadership, Management, Norman Wolfe, Organization & Culture, Strategy, Strategy Execution | Leave a Comment

In a meeting yesterday I was explaining to the VP of Product Development of a $200 million locally headquarted business the underlying concept of the Quantum Leaders’ model of the 21st century business. And it dawned on me that I don’t often share the underlying precept - business is all about the flow of energy.

Let’s return to a couple of basic concepts of physics. First, energy cannot be created or destroyed it can only change from one form to another. Second, to change something into something else requires the application of energy for the transformation to occur.

All business are fundementally transforming one form into another, whether it is changing raw material into a specific product, or transforming clinets problems into solutions. And it requires the application of energy to facilitate the transformation process.

And where do you thing the majority of energy used for this transformation process comes from? Yes you guessed right, it comes from the people in the organization.

If we accept this premise then we can begin to see the major value of our internal processes. It is to act as an energy waveguide, to direct the flow of energy as frictionless as possible, towards the transformation process. Period!

Norman Wolfe
President/CEO
Quantum Leaders, Inc

Profit as a metric of the spirtual journy

Posted on July 3, 2008
Filed Under Governance, Leadership, Norman Wolfe, Organization & Culture, Strategy, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

In my last post I talked about the importance for the CEO and the board to increase the value of the firm, and that this should be a key focus of their responsibilities. I also state that the focus on value creation is perfectly consistent with the idea that business is a spiritual journey.

Value is a function of earnings and earnings relates to profits and profit is a perfect metric of progress on the spirtual journey of business. Why do I say profit is a spiritual metric? First we must define spiritual and while there are many definitions for this term, a common theme among all the defintions is serving something greater than oneself.

When business focuses on serving their market above all else, making the unique contribution that only their organization can make, they are then serving something greater than themselves. When we serve the markets, above all else we are rewarded with revenue.

To serve those markets we must consume energy. Energy comes in the form of raw materials and in the form of people’s efforts, which is by far the greatest portion of energy consumed. When an organization consumes the least amount of energy to produce its goods/services in serving its market it, again, is serving something greater than itself, it is conserving the world’s resources. And this shows up as lower expenses.

Revenue less expenses equals profit.

Said another way profit is the maximization of serving something greater than oneself, serving a market above all else, while conserving world resources.

I cannot think of a more spiritual journey than that. Hence profit is a spiritual metric.

Norman Wolfe
President/CEO
Quantum Leaders, Inc

Why do companies wait

Posted on June 30, 2008
Filed Under Leadership, Management, Norman Wolfe, Strategy, Strategy Execution | Leave a Comment

Ever wonder why companies wait for a crisis to take action they should be taking all along. A headline in today’s NACD Directors Daily reads “Anheuser-Busch announces cost savings to boost value in face of InBev bid”. and goeas on to say “the New York Times /AP (6/28, C4, Andersen) reported that on Friday, Anheuser-Busch detailed its plan to make the company more valuable than the offer of $65 a share that it rejected from its rival, InBev of Belgium, and gave 2008 and 2009 profit guidance above analyst expectations.”

One has to ask what has management and the board been doing all these years if not paying attention to increasing the value of the firm? This same question comes to my mind when I read about Private Equity firms who purchase companies, realign them and then sell them at an increased valuation.

We seem to forget that the goal is to continually increase the value of the firm and it takes some outside force to wake us up to this reality.

Now some of you may argue that this is completely contrary to my position that profit is not the end goal of business. Let me assure you the two positions are quite compatible and obvious if one asks the question what determines the value of the firm. If one only looks at the calculations of value, whether discounted cash flow or any other formulae, then one would naturally draw the conclusion it is the metrics (profit, earnings, EBITDA, etc.) that determines the firms value.

But what creates the metrics? What produces increased revenue and lower costs (the formulae for increased earnings).

I will answer that in my next post.

Norman Wolfe
President/CEO
Quantum Leaders, Inc

Business as a spiritual journey

Posted on June 29, 2008
Filed Under Leadership, Norman Wolfe, Organization & Culture | Leave a Comment

For too long now business operated as a machine of production and in the process has been disconnected from its deeper purpose meaning and values. Because of this organizations and leaders have lost their moral compass. In its place has stood the only compass left – profit and financial gain. Not that profit is bad – far from it since it is a critical component but it is only one component and should not be the guiding principle on which all decisions are made.

Profit is and must always be a guiding indicator of progress towards ones goals, but it was never meant to be the end all and be all. We are not in the business of making a profit as many like to say. Rather we are in the business of making a contribution to the community of people we serve (what we like to call a marketplace).

When we take away profit as the guiding principle we are left with serving others as our guiding principle. This is something all non-profits know all too well and most entrepreneurs who form their companies based out of a passion for the contribution they want to make know this deep within themselves. And serving others is the same guiding principle found in all spiritual practices.

Norman Wolfe
President/CEO
Quantum Leaders, Inc

The Golden Rule – which one do you run your company with

Posted on June 11, 2008
Filed Under Leadership, Norman Wolfe, Organization & Culture, Strategy Execution | Leave a Comment

We all know the Golden Rule from our childhood – Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, or love thy neighbor as thyself or any number of other variations. 

 Then somewhere in our business life we learned another version of the Golden Rule that read – “He who has the Gold rules.”

 This is so indicative of our current orientation to business; it is all about the gold, profit is the ultimate determination of winning.  How did we get things so turned around?

 I am not going to argue that profit is unimportant.  In fact I will argue it is  critically important – as a metric, and that is all it is meant to be - a metric.  It is not the end goal and it certainly is not the reason businesses exist. 

  It seems that we have lost touch with the underlying purpose of profit and the underlying purpose of all companies.  I live by a very simple rule when it comes to business

·         Products/Services that offer value are purchased which produces Revenue

·         Resource applied in the most efficient manner minimizes Costs

·         Revenue Less Costs = Profit

·         Profit reinvested produces growth which means we are serving more of our market

 It is being in the service to a specific community that is the ultimate purpose of any given business.  We provide goods and services to that community (we call it a marketplace) in an effort to better those members of that community.    If our goods and services are accepted by the community we are acknowledged b y the receipt of revenue.  The amount of revenue is a direct reflection of the value recognized.

 And so the true golden rule of business is the same golden rule that we learned as a value to live life by.  Do unto others, be of service to others, offer yourself to others provide the other s valuable service that betters their lives.  After all don’t you workwithsuppliers who provide you something of value?  Or do you buy from those who make the most money?

 

Norman Wolfe

CEO

Quantum Leaders

The Business Case as a Management Tool

Posted on June 3, 2008
Filed Under Gregg Gallagher, Management, Strategy Execution | Leave a Comment

Business cases & plans seem to have a bad reputation these days, particularly in the start-up/early-stage  venues.

Why is this the case?

It appears that the aversion to business plans is the highly suspect nature of the financial business cases, particularly as they relate to sales revenue projections on the 2+ year horizon. Such skepticism may be well-warranted, but I would offer that neglecting the potential use of  business case analysis as a key management tool - particularly in the start-up context - is a mistake.

How so?

A well-done business case should serve as the benchmark for the company’s operational performance. As such, it defines the set of assumptions that management believes will define the internal and external realities the company will face. Revenue performance is only one of the factors which need to be considered, and in itself, is actually a compsite result based derived from the interplay of a number of other factors which need to be considered and incorporated within the model (e.g., customer acquisition costs, customer retention/churn rates, customer lifetime value, etc.)

Accordingly, the value to management is not in the projections of top & bottom-line results, but in fact, it’s the underlying assumptions themselves. It is here where the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for the company can and should be identified via sensitivity analysis. For example:

By analyzing such alternative scenarios, mangament can identify the firm’s CSFs and focus it’s attention on these key drivers. My own methodolgy is that once these CSFs are identified, to then create analyses based on Conservative-Realistic-Aggressive Projections across these CSFs to determine how best to focus it’s attention.

I leave it as an exercise to the reader to determine my pet name for this approach……

What is a Soulful Purpose?

Posted on May 28, 2008
Filed Under Leadership, Norman Wolfe, Organization & Culture, Strategy | Leave a Comment

In my last blog I referred to Idris Mootee’s blog post where he also represents the importance of a corporation’s purpose as key to strategy. No I would like to expand on that and explain why I call it the corporation’s Soulful Purpose.

A corporation is not just a collection of equipment worked on by employees to produce some products it hopes to sell. Rather a corporation is in fact a living entity just like a human being with a very core reason for existing. Is it just a fete of our legal system that corporations are treated as a person in the eyes of the law, or is there something more?

Every entrepreneur knows that starting an enterprise is like giving birth. They watch their child grow from a mere concept into something that is eventually self supporting. And like a child it goes through many growth cycles. Almost every entrepreneur knows that their organization is a living being with a soulful and a purpose for being.

How does one identify the corporation’s soulful purpose? It is like asking what your personal soulful purpose is, what is your reason for existing? And one way to begin the process of discovering this is to ask, what the world would be like if you didn’t exist. What would the world be missing? And rest assured there is a very definite purpose for everyone’s existence (think of the movie “A Wonderful Life”).

The same is true for the corporation. Every corporation has a very deep and purposeful reason for existing. Find it, communicate it, live it, and you will find almost magical results begin to appear.

Norman Wolfe
President/CEO
Quantum Leaders, Inc

Strategy needs a purpose

Posted on May 27, 2008
Filed Under Leadership, Norman Wolfe, Organization & Culture, Strategy | Leave a Comment

There is a wonderful blog post by Idris Mootee that I just recently read that I would like to recommend to everyone.  (http://mootee.typepad.com/innovation_playground/2008/05/what-do-you-know-about-business-strategy.html) .

 I would like to reprint a portion of his post because I feel it was so eloquently stated.

  “Purpose is really the heart of any business strategy and should provide the guiding principle for corporate strategy…  What’s a purpose? It is what a company’s reason to exist and what the people deeply believe in. It is also something that makes the company truly distinctive…   It is like soul-searching sometimes, but a company needs a soul too (although many function without one). This one requires more than the left-brain thinking… It is a human endeavor in the deepest sense of the term.”

Idris I couldn’t have said it better myself.  Thank you for adding your voice to this important function.

 

Norman Wolfe

President/CEO

Quantum Leaders, Inc

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