Benefiting at work from Brain Based Insights

Ever find yourself riding the bus and pushing at the same time? I was interested in Jack Yan’s ideas behind the post today, Innovation only works if customers want it.  During David Penny’s PowerPoint slides on manufacturing, from New Zealand Trade & Enterprise., Jack discovered that “business failures are not due to a lack of innovation, according to one of his charts, but that growth and customer focus were low.” I find myself wondering how Jack prevents that overwhelmed feeling that comes to many leaders who try to balance customer needs and business profits... or daily routines and visionary reaches....

Jack’s solution?  He believes “branding can fix it. By branding … Jack means “to achieve greater business performance, rather than a quick fix of slapping on a logo.” I call it riding the bus while pushing it  at the same time. What do you do to connect the vision needed to stay at a competitive edge and the daily grind needed to “buy daily gas” for the bus so to speak?

I liked Jack's emphasis on market orientation … a model he uses from Narver and Slater. “They believe that management commitment, faciliative management and interdepartmental connectedness are factors, and these are important in vision-setting and research. Research helps an organization find its place and refine its brand attitude, something that summarizes what it stands for. It’s easier to remember that than a mission statement, which our research shows does not really help the bottom line.”

How do you balance what people want, on the one hand and what you can deliver better than other companies on the other? I am challenged today by Jack’s reminder that ‘Innovation only works if the customers want it….” That reminds me of the value of research and customer feedback, as well as doing the daily work that pays the bills. His post also perks in me though …the value of vision so that I can continue to do what we do best – bring business innovations through practices that are connected to new facts about the brain. You?