Category Archives: Customer Value Creation

Healthcare setups that tripped ….. 2

How is it that certain teams achieve extraordinary excellence, day after day, year after year and manage to stay committed to each other, their customers and their organization’s mission ?

Tripped 2

A healthcare start up ….. successful doctors, experienced healthcare professionals and a seasoned healthcare entrepreneur got together. Hired people with rich experience in healthcare. Much excitement and hope  !! Great Aspirations …..

The only issue ….. aspirations were on different vectors.

Six months from start, issues erupted. Differences on ‘What to do’?; ‘How to do ?’; ‘Who does ?’ ….. Everything.

Difference of opinion should be welcome and healthy discussions throw up agreed and effective directions.

Instead bitterness creeped in; operations stalled; could not see/talk to each other. All within one year.

Reason : Each of the ‘promoters/founders’ joined in with a different agenda, thought process, assumptions. On the surface all looked ‘Rosy’ ….. A new start up healthcare business in the age of healthcare, by people experienced healthcare.!!

The core was never discussed. A ‘Shared Mission’ was never there.

Reasons to get together were as many as the number of people who got together ….. valuation in ‘X’ years, gain startup credentials, clinical excellence, long term business, more leisure time  ….. and so on

The mission was aborted within 18 months and all went their own ways …..

In another well run set up, absence of a shared sense of Values and Direction created a severe deadlock, stalling all operations for a long period of time, demotivating the team, forcing many to leave.

The fact is that while all teams are groups, not all groups are teams. A group becomes a true team only when its members support and enhance each other’s performance and contributions … when they work together to achieve results that are bigger and better than those that could be realized individually

Build a team of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable ~ team definition by Katzenbach/Smith

Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance. 

 

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Healthcare set ups that tripped ….. 1

TrippedThere is so much buzz surrounding healthcare today. And rightly so. Healthcare is on a growth path.

All eyes are focused on the healthcare success stories. For gaining valuable learnings and for valuation gains !!

Lost somewhere in the melee are stories of slips that can give equally significant insights.

Without disclosing the identity, here is one such case …..

A new unit, started slow and steady with one healthcare speciality and progressed well. Led by an enthusiastic entrepreneur, full of passion and ambition, ready to take risks. All the correct ingredients it seems.

The enthusiasm led to related diversification into other healthcare verticals.

Two years into this mode, growth started slowing down and profits started getting eroded.

Good brand equity, doctors, patient satisfaction, advertising spends, infrastructure ….. nothing seemed to be wrong.

Root cause analysis brought up a peculiar core issue, generally very difficult to accept by any business leader  ….. that the leader lacked the ability to handle multiple business operations.

Adaptive Thinking, Empowerment with Accountability, Execution Excellence, Networking and Executive Maturity were the development areas that the leader could have sought help in and built on, to Realise Business, Professional and Personal Potential.

More cases …..

 

 

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Strategy and Cleanliness

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“Cleanliness and order are not matters of instinct; they are matters of education, and like most great things, you must cultivate a taste for them.”

―Benjamin Disraeli

In the context of Strategy and its correlation with  the Value of Cleanliness, focus is on clarity of mind. Physical cleanliness and hygiene, however, continue to be important always ….. premises, building design/layout, infrastructure,  ….. and do play a strong role in cleanliness and health of mind and body.

Specifically related to Strategy, is the role of Cleanliness in terms of cutting out noise and clutter of thought …..right from the definition of the Strategic issue to execution of actions with neatly and clearly defined scope, roles, timelines.Cleanliness

Jim Collins, in his well known Hedgehog Principle, in a way refers to a ‘squeaky clean’ and crystal clear mental state while defining areas of passion, expertise and economic engine drivers. Such clarity is actually the outcome of a well defined, neat and clean thought process and allows selection of highly effective Strategic options !!

An organization that continues to ‘clean’ and polish its shared understanding of Values, Strategic Priorities, Vision, Culture, Decision Processes, Reward and Review Mechanisms, stays Attractive and Healthy !!

 

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Strategy and Self-Acceptance

thKX2V243NStrategy is like a ‘Guide Map’ in a neighborhood locality. To figure out how to reach House No.245, one has to first anchor the ‘You Are Here’ position. Then, the route to take is the strategy.

In Business Strategy or Personal Leadership Strategy ….. or in any kind of strategy for that matter, be it even strategy for personal finance, the step after establishing ‘Intentionality’, is anchoring the ‘You Are Here’. Also called Situation Analysis in business strategy theory.

This calls for a frank look at SWOT, environmental factors, stage in life, Value Systems, Passion, etc. etc., ‘ACCEPTING’ the ‘AS IS’ and building the same into the strategy equation.JPS_CCE_Units_certificate_Prasad_17th Dec

In a nonlinear system, sensitive dependence on initial conditions can cause huge differences at later stages. The Butterfly Effect ….. The theoretical example of a hurricane being influenced by minor disturbances due to the flapping of the wings of a distant butterfly several weeks earlier.

Hence the significance of Introspection, Self-Awareness and Self-Acceptance  …..

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Strategy and Thankfulness

images (18)There is a lot of material on detailed analysis in strategy formulation. There will be, to some extent, thoughts and discussions on the need for a holistic, right brained, creative input as well. To fine tune and polish up the overall strategy. To make sure all the pieces fit in together with each other and with The WHOLE.

However, whatever literature and science of strategy I have come across, the Value of Thankfulness has never been used in the same breath, talk, sentence, chapter or even book as strategy 🙂

I guess it is that ‘soft’, superficial kind of thing that finds no place in the world of ‘Super Intelligent and Rational Strategy’ discussions.

Like the start of any activity, one could initiate the process of strategy formulation with ‘Thankfulness’ towards all stakeholders. Employees, customers, shareholders, suppliers ….. competition !? ….. The Universal Power !? Towards our products !? To all those who brought things up to where they are today. A ritual as with so many good things that we start !!

“May do it once, but strategy is a very dynamic thing, you know; like having to constantly dance on your feet in a boxing ring”, someone would say. So great, let’s express Gratitude and Thankfulness all the time !!images (17)

This simple Value, expressed genuinely and timely, can create so much Harmony and Flow in the preparation, building and execution of strategy. Enthusiastic participation can bring in richness, diversity and depth of thoughts and insights from one and all with full ownership and accountability.

Endless cups of coffee and stressful curses can be eased somewhat with nice sincere ‘Thanks’ on the way, making the process so much lighter, so much fun and full of life. The sheer positivity in the ecosystem can make strategy thinking much more creative, energetic, joyful, effective and insightful.

He that gives should never remember, he that receives should never forget. ~ The Talmud

 

 

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