Business Model Canvas

Many of you will have heard of the recent issues experienced by a top media company in Britain. You may also know I look constantly for clues for new Gorilla articles so whilst others may have found interest in the scandal, I was drawn to the company’s decision to close a Sunday newspaper. Of particular interest are the rumours, fuelled by registration of new URLs, that management plans to extend one of their daily titles to become a new Sunday newspaper.

The Gorilla “clue” for me is the change in the business model and so I am going to discuss a way you might facilitate a team to analyse its business model. This is an exercise I ran recently for a client and to facilitate their analysis I used the “Business Model Canvas”.

This tool consists of nine blocks or sections on a metaphorical artists “canvas”.

The blocks enable you to analyse your business model in a number of different areas:

• Customer Segments: For whom do you create value
• Customer Relationships: The relationship you have with different segments, e.g. self service
• Channels: The channels through which you reach your customer, e.g. a sales force
• Key Activities: E.g. Creating an easy to use web site
• Key Resources: E.g. System architects
• Key Partners: E.g. A third party who provides software programming services
• Value Proposition: What value you deliver to the customer
• Cost Structure: The key costs involved
• Revenue Streams / Pricing: How you raise revenue

[I cannot explain every question in the model in this article and suggest, if you are interested, you purchase the book, “Business Model Generation” by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur which explains the model in detail and is a great read.]

The canvas should be big enough for small teams to work on together. I use my facilitation boards, which are around two flipcharts (A1) high by three wide covered with flipcharts.

To carry out the analysis, I arrange the groups in to teams of three or four people to ensure each person can contribute and that there is sufficient difference in perspectives. The teams run through a series of questions about each block and place Post It notes on the canvas to answer those they think are key.

Next, the group compares and contrasts the analysis of each team, discusses different viewpoints and creates an agreed canvas (if that is required). In the case of my client, this led to a critical piece of rethinking about one group of customers.

What you do next will depend on your requirements as the canvas is very flexible. People have used it to: move from a bureaucratic function to a value added function; to show the big picture with roles and interdependencies; to explore new opportunities. My client’s group used it for this latter purpose. Having previously had an idea for doing business in a new way, they explored it using the Canvas, followed by a SWOT analysis using the Business Model canvas.

At this point I can hear some of you groan at the use of a model that can often lead to little more that a vague analysis. However, the Canvas provides a much more structured way for people to carry out a SWOT.

Following the SWOT, the team identified Critical Success Factors associated with their idea and developed a plan to achieve them.

If you haven’t thought of a new idea, you can use the canvas to help you, by taking interesting aspects of your business model analysis and asking the question, “What if this were different?

SO

I hope I have given you a flavour for the Business Model Canvas. It is a brilliant tool to encourage creative thinking and collaboration. It facilitates discussion, verbalisation and physical activity. It also creates tremendous understanding of how the business works, sharing this across all functions.

It can take a lengthy amount of time so I would suggest you do it with a small group, at least for the first time. It also requires a fair amount of preparation up front but repays the investment.

ACTION

As the client said, “The Business Model Canvas was highly effective and really challenged our thinking”.

Think about how you might use the Business Model Canvas. If you are interested in facilitating it yourself, I recommend you buy the book, which provides a lot more detail than I can show here.

TO CLOSE

I am off on holiday this month. I have been pondering how one might adapt the Business Model Canvas to help people choose their next holiday. It might lead to people having a much better holiday although carrying out a SWOT analysis on Torremolinos might be going a bit far.

I’ll leave you with that thought and the best wishes for a great summer or a mild winter if you are in that part of the world..

John Brooker _I Facilitate, Innovate, Transform.

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“They bartered, they smuggled and some sneakily stole from the opposite side to get a taster of the forbidden food.” ― Rachel Khoo TV Chef

Food Parcel

Recently, I came back from a walk one Saturday morning and the TV was on. The show was “The Little Paris Kitchen” hosted by Rachel Khoo. Rachel is primarily a culinary events organiser, many of which you can see on her site (of interest if you are looking for something different for your next corporate event!).

In the show, chef Rachel used her 21 square metres Parisian flat as a restaurant with one table and a kitchen so tiny you can’t fit a full size chicken in the oven.

Despite a lengthy look at her site, I cannot work out if the one table restaurant was a “made for TV” concept or if she ran it for a while beforehand and the TV company discovered it. What it was however, was innovative.

It set me thinking about innovation and how, if it can be done in a tiny kitchen, it can be done anywhere, with often minimal resources.

When you mention innovation there’s always a tendency for people to think of Apple and its products, or Amazon and its business model; innovation does not have to be that large scale or confined to products and delivery channels.

Neither does it have to be the domain of the “expert”. Rachel Khoo was working in London as a PR for a fashion brand before she picked up her case and moved to Paris. She signed up to learn French and patisserie making when she got there.

SO

People can apply innovative thinking anywhere across an organisation. Why would your organisation want people to do that?  Here are three reasons:

Financial

Organisations tend to introduce new products and services because they want to increase profits. However, this is just one way to increase profits. Imagine that all of your people are looking for new opportunities to increase profits.

Think of the mine of information and skills your support departments are sitting on. How might they use that to add value to your core product or service? E.g. What if you took the idea of people devoting 15% of their time to projects that interested them (as used in 3M, Google etc) and applied it to support staff to find ways to become a profit centre? You don’t have to apply it to all areas at once; you might trial the idea.

People

By extending innovative thinking beyond R & D, Product Development or senior managers, your organisation can tap into the innate creativity of the entire organisation and make work more interesting and stimulating for all.  This can reduce staff turnover, the cost of recruitment and the opportunity costs of introducing new people.

Finance and People 

One way you can value a business is to use a formula: Valuation = Net profits x Multiplier.  The net profit is an objective measure; the multiplier is more subjective, being based on the attraction of your business to a buyer.  How much more attractive is your business if analysts know that you are using the ability of every person to its optimum?

In essence, by helping your people to make the most of every opportunity, you create most value in your organisation.

Action

Think about how you might encourage more people in your organisation to be innovative. Or consider how you might innovate on a small scale, just for the fun of it.

To Close

Having lived in Berlin for three years whilst in the RAF back in the late 1970’s, I had to look at Rachel Khoo’s culinary event, “Tearing down the wall, Berlin”.  The team dished up two menus, one from East Berlin and another from West Berlin. Guests were assigned a place on either side of the metaphorical “wall” and served their menu. To taste the food from the other side they had to barter, smuggle or steal to taste the food from over the “wall”.

This was a great use of metaphor as a spark to create a new experience and another good example of how innovation does not have to be reserved for large projects. Perhaps you can start in the staff restaurant!

Have an interesting week.

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“A hippie celebrates Christmas too… just differently.”  

German police report

“Christmas Marijuana”

             I was once involved in the decision to transfer a call centre operation from London to the USA. It was critical to the success of the transfer that the team continued to provide good service until the moment of the live transfer, whilst they sought other jobs. So it was vital to maintain morale and to motivate people.

I arranged a planning workshop with four representatives of the call centre, its management and HR. One question I had for the representatives was, “What will help motivate people in the call centre to maintain a high standard of service until the transfer?”

When preparing this question, I thought through a number of possible responses and discussed these with HR. What would be top of your list of responses? This was theirs:

“We would like pot plants on each desk to brighten the centre.” I admit, this was not on my list.

I agreed to the request and after the meeting, arranged for them to go to a shop to choose the plants. Naturally there were other requests, help to find new jobs etc., but the plants were the first.  It cost us £75.

I was reminded of the story last week when running a Creativity and Innovation weekend with a great group of Open University MBA students.

We were running through the Random Connection technique on the challenge of “How to motivate a team?” (Click on link to see overview). One person had been given a Tangle, a toy, that is highly flexible and made of several interconnecting components.

The idea sparked from the Tangle was to have teams design their own organisational structure rather than have management impose it. We decided the idea was interesting enough to evaluate.

(I appreciate that there are some case studies on self-organising teams, such as the Volvo experiments of the early nineties; ours is a more limited idea).

In the course we considered the idea from three angles (Dreamer, Critic, Realist) using the Disney technique. (Click on link to see a Creative Gorilla article).

The positive aspects of the idea include:

• Making the team feel more empowered
• Teams are closer to the work and should know how to organise the structure better
• Individuals are more likely to accept the structure if they are involved in the design
• Individuals are likely to be more flexible and motivated for change

Criticism of the idea includes:

• It may cause problems in the organisation; all teams would need to design their own structure
• There would be too much self interest and disputes would arise
• More dominant or experienced team members might influence the design too strongly
• It may cause issues with job grading
• It’s more challenging for the manager

Realistically:

• It could be worth trialling with one team
• The team could be facilitated to develop the design to avoid dominance of any one person
• The leadership team could request a suggested design from the team, rather than give the team the final decision
• The leadership team could monitor closely for signs of issues

SO

I confess I ran several teams in my career in organisations and never considered having them design their own organisational structure.

As I reflect on the idea and I admit a bias towards giving it a try, I think the criticism stems from the thinking I adopted with my call centre team – assuming the worst will happen.

As creative leaders, what if we prepare for the worst and assume the best; that people will act not from self-interest but from the interests of the team or organisation? If we approach everything with a worst case mind set, are we not likely to provoke a self fulfilling prophecy?

ACTION

Have you ever tried this idea of teams organising their own structure or seen it in operation outside of manufacturing industry teams? What was the result? I’d like to hear from you.

Overall, the idea has merit and is worth a trial. Could you trial this with a team in your organisation?

TO CLOSE

If you were wondering, the call centre team gave great service in its last six months. All people who wanted jobs got them, with some coaching, and the morale was very high on the final day. I like to think the pot plants played their part in that.

Googling “pot plant” to check if it were common usage in other countries, I came across a story about a man in Germany using a cannabis (pot) plant as a Christmas tree until police raided his home.

It made me think, what if the call centre agents had gone out and bought a supply of cannabis plants? (“Well, you told us we could buy pot plants.”) There could have been some interesting calls!

John Brooker _I Facilitate, Innovate, Transform.

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Challenges can be structured in hierarchies, e.g. from “How to land a rocket on the moon?” to “How to make a pen that writes in areas of no gravity?’ If your opportunity is complex and you wish to understand the hierarchy of challenges within it, you can use a Level Map[1].

It enables you to:

• Diagram that hierarchy and see the relationships before you choose one to work on.
• Chunk the challenge into lower level challenges to tackle
• Clarify the challenge for people.
• Understand whether you should broaden or narrow the scope of the challenge you wish to tackle (“How to land on the moon” at a strategic level and “How to write in areas of no gravity” at the operational level) depending on your ability to influence it
• Increase the potential challenges to exploit (and split them between your team]
• Scope the number of ideas / solutions you will generate in the Create Solutions stage (e.g. “How to write in areas of no gravity” at the operational level?” is likely to generate fewer and different ideas to (“How to land on the moon”). Therefore you may wish to choose a lower level challenge.

Action to Take

1. Use rectangular “Super Sticky “ Post It Notes

• Start by writing a challenge on the note, e.g. “How to increase new revenue for accepting banks?”  The use of “How to (H2)…?” turns a statement into a constructive challenge

2. Place the challenge centrally on a large surface.

3. Go up to a broader level of focus by asking, “Why”?  E.g. “Why do we want to increase new revenue for accepting banks?” The answer might be “To increase overall revenue for accepting banks.”

• Look for challenge statements the team has written already that you can use, or
• Convert the answer into a challenge e.g. How to (H2) increase revenue for accepting banks

4. Go down to a narrower level of focus by asking, “What hinders us?” E.g. “What hinders us increasing new revenue for accepting banks?” The answer might be “New technology does not bring in new revenue”

• Convert the answer into a challenge e.g. “H2 make new technology generate revenue?

5. Ask, “Why else?” to identify more challenges at a higher level or “What else hinders us?” to identify more challenges at the lower level.

6. Check the logic up and down by asking the questions “Is this one reason why?’ and “Is this one issue hindering us?” when placing new statements.

Level Map example

"Hole in One"

What qualities do you need to cultivate to become a creative leader? 

The plug on our bathroom sink has broken. It’s one of those fiddly ones; you press a lever and it lifts the plug to empty the water. Something has gone wrong inside so I can’t fix it. Not a problem for the rest of the family but difficult if you need to shave, unless you waste water running the tap.

So one day I was washing a dirty golf ball in the sink when I dropped the ball. Eureka! The sink started to fill because the ball fits the plughole perfectly. I have now expanded the uses for a golf ball, get a hole in one every time and have a simple solution to a problem, which leads me to the topic of this article.

One important way to enhance innovation is to have a team that works well together.

Those of you who lead teams will know that there are many instruments available to profile your team members, help people understand each other and improve performance. Some of these tools are expensive, some are quite complicated, and some are administered by qualified psychologists. Some are all three.

Recently, I became accredited to facilitate workshops using a behavioural tool known as IMA (Identify your style; Modify your style; Adapt your style for different people).

This tool doesn’t pretend to be a psychometric tool. It doesn’t set out to explain what is going on in your head or the head of other people. Rather, it identifies how different types of people behave and helps you to relate better with them. Put another way (and my thanks to Paul Z. Jackson and Mark McKergow for this), it is not about what is going on between the ears, but between the noses.

IMA shares the idea with other tools of splitting people in to different groups, in this case four colours and it does this using just ten questions. It also keeps the explanations short and snappy. In other words, it is simple.

You and your colleagues can find out more and try it out for free, here (if reading online, or type http://ima-yesand.eu/ in to your web browser).

Experts in psychometrics will say that it is too simplistic. I have found it to be accurate enough; people like it because it is quick and simple to complete and understand. Most importantly, it is easy to put the findings to use and so is more powerful for that. James Knight, its developer, has used it to transform the culture of companies.

So

Here’s how I use it when I am running a team event. (People complete the instrument online before the event.):

• We discuss the different styles and people skim through the characteristics of their style and the other styles – if they consider they want to change their colour, that’s fine
• The team creates a team profile on a flipchart showing the different colours
• People discuss where the team may have strengths and how they might build on these
• They also discuss where there may be issues and how to overcome these, e.g. “we can use Anna to track our progress and Alan to promote what we are doing”
• Finally, I have individuals write down the three best ways for others to build rapport with them (e.g. from a recent workshop: “Do not dictate, be flexible”; “Be honest”; “Aim for team goals not individual goals”). The team displays these on a board to use in the rest of the workshop and record them for when back at work

Does an expensive waste outlet meet our need to stop water running down the sink? Yes, it does. Does a golf ball work just as well? Yes, it does. Just as IMA works. In the busy, complex world of business, is a tool that is simple to use, inexpensive and works just what you need?

Action

Try out the profile for yourself with your team. You can run a team session too or if you are too busy to run one, I’d be happy to run it for you.

To Close

Let’s return to the bathroom and the theme of simplicity again. Earlier this year, I went to get a towel from the airing cupboard but could only find a towel we used when the children were babies. I grabbed it and went to the shower, calling out to my wife to ask if there were any other towels.

I showered and as I went to get out of the shower, my wife came in to the bathroom. “You can’t use this towel, it’s special,” she cried, grabbing my baby towel off the radiator “and all the others are in the wash.”

She thrust a tea towel at me. “Here, use this,” she said. I looked at her as if she were mad, but when you’re stuck….

She left the bathroom and I grudgingly started to towel myself down with the tea towel. A while later, she burst in to the room, brandishing a towel, laughing loudly and crying, “April Fool!”

I have seen laugh out loud films of spaghetti being harvested off trees (see it here or type http://bit.ly/kRX7sJ in to your web browser) which clearly involved a lot of work to achieve its objective (especially in 1957), but my wife’s simple and spontaneous April Fool joke worked just as well.

So, may I suggest, before you choose a complicated instrument for your team building needs… you might try a simpler solution first?

Have an outstanding week.

May you inspire someone this week.

John Brooker _I Facilitate, Innovate, Transform.

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“Rant in the rain”

Do you need to elicit issues safely?

When you hold a meeting it can be important to let people discuss their work problems and frustrations. However, if a lot of people state their concerns to the whole group it can consume time and create a negative mood in the meeting.

How can you effectively let people vent their frustrations and create a positive mood in the meeting, quickly? Here is a technique I have adapted from one called “Moan, Moan, Moan”. I call it the “Constructive Rant. “

I use it a great deal when I facilitate because it is enjoyable for participants and it works.  Typically, I use it at the start of a meeting to create a “platform”, a starting point from which the group can move on. I have used it with group sizes from 5 to 90 and results have ranged from good to excellent. Without tempting fate, there is no down side that I have found, unless it rains.

Instructions (This example is based on a team building session)

1. Pair people up (If you have an odd three people left over, it is still possible for them to do Constructive Rant, but you will need to allow extra time) and brief them as follows [I recommend you write a summary of this on a flipchart to make it easier to follow]:

• You are going to go for a walk
• Whilst you are walking, one of you will speak for three minutes about whatever irritates, annoys and frustrates you about working on this team. [It is important that you phrase your instructions carefully so that people rant about the correct topic]
• Whilst one of you is speaking, the other person should not interrupt. They must listen and can say only, “What else?” if the speaker stops talking for longer than ten seconds
• The listener will keep time and bring the rant gently to a halt after three minutes
• Repeat the exercise with the second person speaking and return towards the meeting room (to reduce the walk back!)
• When you have finished speaking, come back in to the room and remain in your pair; we will instruct you on what to do

2. When they return to the room, give each person a Post It Note and a flipchart marker. Brief them as follows:

• I would like you now to ask your partner the question, “So what is it that you want to happen?” For example, your partner might say, “ I want people to talk face to face more”
• If your partner wants more than one thing, ask them what is most important. [If you have fewer than eight people you can give them each two Post It notes]
• Write down the answer on the Post It note using the marker pen

Give them five minutes to complete this. When they have finished, ask them to bring their notes and put them on a flipchart.

Read aloud each note and ensure that all understand it. There is no need to categorise them, but it is useful to point out similarities, especially if there are a lot. Now explain:

What we have done here is to have you discuss your issues, identify what it is that you want and share it with everybody. This provides us with a starting point for enhancing the team’s performance. Let’s move on to the next topic, which in Solutions Focus is normally the Future Perfect.

SO

 What insights have I obtained from doing this exercise many times?

• The technique is quick and easy to use
• Allowing people to vent their concerns puts most in to a much better state
• Pairing people prevents the negative thoughts “contaminating” the whole group and is much quicker than a whole group discussion
• Talking for three minutes enables people to order and articulate their thoughts, sometimes for the first time
• Being listened to for three minutes, uninterrupted by another person, is rare in business. This can help people to feel they have been heard
• Less assertive people often welcome the opportunity to have their say
• A walk is not essential but I have found it is the most positive way to do this exercise, giving fresh air and privacy
• Walking side by side is also less confrontational than a normal face to face conversation and seems to enable less assertive people to be more open
• You can coach individuals with the technique

 ACTION

The next time you have the prospect of a negative meeting, consider trying this approach.

TO CLOSE

I have been without usable broadband for two weeks and have spent an age on the telephone talking to several agents who are never the same, nor who work in the same centre. Inevitably, I have sometimes begun to rant as they ask again, “So can you explain what the problem is?”

Not once have any of them asked me, “So what is it that you want to happen… Mr Brooker?”  Yes, they might argue that asking me that would produce the retort that I want my broadband fixed, but actually what I really want is that one person take responsibility for the issue.

So I end up having the conversation in a very negative mood, despite all the apologies for the poor service; just a thought for any customer service people out there.

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Ruislip Lake

Need to hear different views?

I was out riding my bike in the local woods early this morning and had to use a footpath because horses have churned up the bridle paths and made them impassable for wheels.

This made me smile wryly as recently, a reader of the environmental policy on my web site wrote to complain that I was inciting cyclists to ride on footpaths in his local woods.

Being a lovely day, there were a few walkers on the footpath. As I approached one couple I sensed they were a little frustrated at having to put their dog on the lead to avoid it colliding with my bike. However, I apologised for being on the footpath, explained the difficulty with the bridle paths and they seemed happy enough.

Riding on I thought about the different “stakeholders” in this situation; the woodland rangers, the walkers, horse riders, cyclists, even the dog. They all have their own views, whether that’s “ban cyclists from the woods”, “establish separate paths for horses, walkers and cyclists,” or “Grow Winalot on trees”.

 “What would be a way to hear the different views?”, I mused, which led me to think about how creative leaders might do it in organisations. I generated the following ideas from an individual and team perspective.

Individuals

Imagine yourself in a room with the stakeholders. Mentally position them in different parts of the room. If in an actual room, put a sheet of paper on the floor with the name of each stakeholder.

 Do an imaginary walk round the room to each position (or physically walk round the name sheets) and “ask” them for their individual viewpoints. You could voice the answers and record them or write them down as they occur to you.

To build on this, play with the positioning and distance between them and note if that has an affect.

Building further, you might run this as a coaching session and have the coachee carry out the above.

As a Team

If working with a team on stakeholder analysis, have team members take up different positions in the room for each stakeholder (in effect creating a stakeholder map) and ask them to state or write down the stakeholder’s perspective. You might choose to put some stakeholders nearer to or further from each other to reflect closeness of opinions.

Building on this, you could move people round the map to adopt and communicate the different perspectives. You are limited only by your imagination.

SO

This idea of using space as a tool for creative thinking is not new. People use space a great deal as a metaphor and time is often represented as a physical line for people to stand on.

The advantage with this approach as an individual is that it helps to separate the different viewpoints in your mind.

The advantage as a team is that you can appeal to different senses. People can see where stakeholders are on the “map”. Talking and listening to opinions can improve empathy. Feeling what it is like to take an opposing viewpoint can change perspectives.

This use of the different senses makes the whole exercise much more participative, interactive and enjoyable.

ACTION

The next time you have to consider an issue from different perspectives, try using this approach. I’d be interested to hear how it worked for you.

To CLOSE

Riding home past the lake in our woods, I stopped in the sunshine to watch two swans beating their way in to land (you can actually hear the beating of their wings echoing off the trees and the water).

I have seen it many times and I always stop to watch as they land with majestic aplomb.

“What a wonderful sight,” I thought to myself. Just at that moment, an elderly lady behind me said, “What a wonderful sight!”

It may of course have been a complete coincidence that we were thinking exactly the same thought and using the same words, but it did make me wonder if there is not some hidden telepathy between people that connects at certain moments.

Wouldn’t it be brilliant if we as creative leaders could tap in to that telepathy in a creative way?

Have an outstanding week.

John Brooker _I Facilitate, Innovate, Transform.

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“If some stupid fans don’t understand and appreciate such a gift they can go to hell.”

Mohammed Al Fayed, Fulham FC Owner on erecting the Michael Jackson statue 

Michael Jackson statue at Fulham FC

What would you do next in this situation?

You are facilitating a meeting with a team that is transforming how it provides its services.

You ask the people to describe their preferred future when everything is working well. What will be happening? What will people be doing, saying, thinking, feeling etc? How will the processes and systems be operating? They do it.

What happens next? Typically, the next step in organisations is to describe what is stopping the team from achieving the preferred future. They list what is wrong, things they have been discussing for ever that never seem to get resolved.

People become dispirited and defensive as they sense people are blaming them or their department for what is wrong. The positive energy drains away and resistance to change develops. Friction occurs, or worse, apathy. Actions aren’t followed up.

Is this recognisable to you?  It’s noticeable in transformation programmes, especially when the initial euphoria has ebbed away.

An alternative approach for creative leaders is to identify what is working. Where can we see clues that the preferred future is happening already, examples of good practice?

The purpose is to encourage people to sense that much is going well and they can build on it. In the book, “Solutions Focus”, by Mark McKergow and Paul Z Jackson they refer to these clues / examples as “Counters”.

Usually, I have teams list the examples on a flipchart and use them to influence the next exercise. Recently, while working with a fairly large team I found a way to build on each example that can help accelerate the transformation. It worked well, so I thought I would share it with fellow Gorillas.

SO

This is how you do it:

1. Identify key themes in the ideal future. For example with a team, two themes in an ideal future may be that they are collaborating well and they have much more face to face discussion. You may already have your themes in your existing vision or strategy. If you do, use them.
2. Ask them to find at least one clue from each area, e.g. “the Chief Finance Officer meets regularly with the Head of Sales” would be a clue to either of the above themes. Sometimes people will say that they cannot think of anything, often because they are seeking a big example. Small clues suffice so encourage people to look for them.
3. Now for the additional piece. Ask them to identify where they might build on the clue, but in other places e.g. the Head of Sales might also meet face to face with the Head of Customer Service. It is important to find a small task here, something to implement easily. In practice we used a table to record the input as follows:

The team can use these tasks in the third column as small steps to move the transformation forward.

You may question small steps, but often a transformation is happening at the same time as production. Asking people to take huge actions on top of daily tasks is a recipe for a transformation to stall.

Action

A small one! Try this tool with your team or with clients. Keep it simple at first and don’t seek too many actions.

To Close

So where does Mr Jackson fit in? On Sunday I was at the Fulham Football Club ground to see my team play Blackpool. You may have seen in the press that Mohammed Al Fayed, the Fulham owner unveiled a statue of the singer Michael Jackson at the ground on the banks of the Thames.

If you have read any UK media you will know that the statue received some pretty awful press and Mr Al Fayed put up stiff resistance. With so much bad press he is highly unlikely to remove the statue now.

Having seen the statue myself I took a more solutions focused approach to highlight its positive aspects. So… It’s almost in Fulham colours. It will provide shade on a sunny day. Sitting on its pedestal would give a nice view of the Oxford v Cambridge boat race on the Thames. Yes! And… It was unveiled on a day Fulham won 3 – 0. (That’s one I’d like to replicate elsewhere.)

Yes. You can find positives clues in the most difficult situation. If the press had taken that approach we might have been able to influence Mr Al Fayed to at least cover the statue so it doesn’t scare the seagulls. Still. I suspect they may give their own verdict on it.

John Brooker _I Facilitate, Innovate, Transform.

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Ruislip Woods

This month, the British public has been in uproar over a government plan to sell off the forests in England. At its heart, there were some good ideas in this proposal that people didn’t understand.

Often, a good idea fails because people do not understand it properly, as the idea owner does not explain it effectively, e.g. they do not clarify the benefits or they have not considered all the risks.

So

One way to overcome this issue is to develop a proposition statement. How do you do this? Here is a structured approach that you should find useful.

1. Develop an Initial Proposition Statement (IPS) for your idea.

Use “Who? What? Why? Where? When? and How?” questions to build it.

As a rule of thumb, your IPS should include the following points:

• The problem the proposition solves
• Whom it will impact / who wants or needs it
• A description of the solution, explaining how it solves the problem (benefits) and how much of the problem it solves
• How it differs from competing products

As an example, let’s take a real situation from the payments’ business (I will steer clear of the trees!) in which I have much experience. This idea arose a few years ago and has now been implemented, however, as I do not know the original proposition statement, I have created one:

“Acquirers of card transactions currently earn no revenue from foreign exchange on international payment transactions (WHY). We will develop a software (WHAT), to enable the acquirer and merchant (WHO) to earn revenue from foreign exchange (HOW) at the point of sale (WHERE) on transactions (WHEN) where the buying and issuing currency is different.”

Do not take the above as a prescription. For example, “When” might be related to a calendar date or a time or a point in a process. “Where” might be a point in a process or a geographic position.

We now have a description that is clear enough for people to evaluate the idea.

2. A way to evaluate the idea thoroughly is to ask questions from Multiple Perspectives (some of you will know this as Six Hats, but I have adapted mine from an original source in Dennis Sherwood’s “Smart Things to Know About Innovation and Creativity”):

• What are the benefits?
• What issues and risks does the idea raise?
• Who will be impacted during and after implementation? How will they react?
•  What data do we need to make an informed decision? What are the sources of data and are they reliable? How do we handle uncertain data?
• How might we solve the challenges identified by asking the questions above?
• What action should we take based on our analysis? Do we have sufficient information to take a decision? Should we continue the analysis further?

3. Next, take your IPS and add to it a short summary of your findings from the evaluation (sometimes you might decide to amend the IPS as new evidence arises in the evaluation) to make a Final Proposition Statement (FPS) e.g.:

“Acquirers of card transactions currently earn no revenue from foreign exchange on international payment transactions. We will develop software to enable the acquirer and merchant to earn revenue from foreign exchange at the point of sale on transactions where the buying and issuing currency is different.

This will increase the profitability of both acquirers and merchants [Additional benefits] however; it is likely to provoke an adverse reaction from those parties who currently earn revenue from foreign exchange on card payments [Who will be impacted?]. We need to ascertain the legality of this proposition as well as assess the potential revenue [Data needed].

To reduce adverse reactions, we might seek ways to share the revenue amongst more stakeholders [Solutions to issues]. Key actions are to talk with regulators and develop a business case [Actions to take].”

You now have a statement to present to others that should help them understand your idea better and be more amenable to it.

Action

Think of an idea you need to sell. Use the approach above to develop a FPS.

To Close

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Sell a few ideas this week.

John Brooker _I Facilitate, Innovate, Transform.

Read: www.yesand.eu

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“Thanks for facilitating!”

Last night I read an article, which stated that coaching is a lot easier for external coaches than internal leaders. As I tramped through the woods this morning, I thought about this, as people in organisations regularly say to me that it is a lot easier for an external facilitator to facilitate a group.

Overall, I agree and as I walked, I thought about the issues that people in organisations have and how they might overcome them. Here are my thoughts in a question and answer format:

1. How to facilitate when you want or need to contribute?

Response: Understand the different roles in a meeting. The facilitator manages the process, the attendees deal with the content.   One way to overcome the issue is to make clear you are stepping in to an attendee role by creating a facilitator space and a contributor space in the room. Tell the others this and physically move between spaces when you need to contribute. (Michael Grinder, a communications expert, calls this “decontamination”).

A second way is to agree with a colleague that they will facilitate parts of the meeting where you must contribute; a good way to ease others in to facilitating.

2. How to find time to prepare?

Response: Share out different sessions in a meeting amongst your team and have people design and facilitate them. This involves everybody and helps with issue 1.

3. How to facilitate when you have an emotional attachment to the topic of discussion?

Response: I call this, “It’s my baby” syndrome. You have your own ideas for how “your baby” will develop and these awkward people keep coming up with the wrong ones!

Ensure that they know as much about the issue as you do. Involve them in problem exploration, not just idea generation.

In addition, be open-minded and suspend your judgement when they give you different ideas (yes, I know that’s difficult when it’s your baby!).

Your worst mistake is to try and manipulate the group to your way of thinking. They will spot this quickly and your reputation as a leader will plummet.

4. How to overcome the fear of it going wrong and looking a fool?

Response: This is the same issue for external facilitators. “Going wrong” usually means people start to become “difficult.”

To overcome this, be very clear on the purpose, outcomes and outputs required and brief people in advance in writing.

Split large groups in to small teams to involve everybody and lessen the impact of people who dominate. Mix teams continually and use a variety of tools to keep people interested. If people consider you have tried, they will be more forgiving than if they have yet another tedious meeting.

5. How to deal with more senior people?

Response: Acknowledge their status and treat them as one of the group. Use the tactics suggested in “4” and agree they will, if needed, speak last and make choices last.

  So

Whilst creative leaders in organisations do have additional issues when facilitating, avoid using these as an excuse to run meetings in the same conventional way. The rewards will usually outweigh the risk.

   Action

Use the suggestions and see if they help you to improve your meetings.

I would welcome feedback from you on any other issues that you may have as an internal facilitator.

   To Close

It may be easier for me to facilitate than internal staff, however, I recall one meeting late last year with a challenging group in a cramped environment. At the end of the day, I got in the car with my colleague, who luckily was driving, and I was almost unable to speak from mental exhaustion.

A day of thinking on my feet, dealing with an attendee who didn’t want to be there and leading the group through a process they were not convinced by had scrambled my brain. After two hours of driving, I had recovered sufficiently to become sociable again, but if anyone had said at that point, “it’s easier for you…” I would happily have throttled them.

Happily enough, we went back two weeks later with the same group, had a great time, produced a terrific idea and demonstrated the merits of the process. I didn’t stop talking all the way back! Just imagine that is how your meeting will go!

John Brooker _I Facilitate, Innovate, Transform.

Read: www.yesand.eu

Call: +44 (0)2 08 8869 9990

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