It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood… Though Fred Rogers had a huge impact on the world I wanted to share a paraphrased story from the life of Everett Rogers (Mr. Rogers’ lesser known 2nd cousin-not really). There once was a young grad student whose’ first job out of school was working for the US Department of Agriculture and charged with the task of getting farmers to use some new techniques and hybrid corn seed that provide them with a better and more resilient crop yield. He was excited for such an opportunity. He got to deliver good news surely he would be thought of as a hero after all he had the answer to all their problems. So he started his trek across the Midwest but found no one would even talk to him.
He finally found someone to listen. He was different and a little more open minded. He was a college graduate and had decided to buy a farm and try his hand at farming. He listened and worked with student and lo and behold success. As promised this farmer had a banner year and far surpassed his peers.
The grad student felt he turned the corner and now the other farmers would come flocking to learn how he did it. He had proved that it had worked. So he set out to offer his services to those who had turned him down previously. He met the same rejection and then shared the data that showed these methods had produced great success. Skeptical they would ask who and when he revealed the pioneer’s name most of the guys chuckled and said “You mean the guy with the Cadillac?” As they finished having a good laugh they closed the door leaving the grad student dumbfounded.
Even though he had hard, glaring evidence of a better way it was quickly brushed aside because the source wasn’t seen as credible in the farmers’ social circles. Mr. Rogers went on to craft his Diffusions of Innovation’s Theory that gets used in marketing classes and business tools around the world.
Every time you launch a new product or service you need to be aware that what you are really doing is asking people change the way they interact and view the world. Doing so requires multiple methods of influence so that there is both a personal benefit and a social acceptance for those that use the product or service.
Posts Tagged ‘Change Management’
Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood
January 27th, 2010Adaptive business models
November 3rd, 2009
In previous posts I’ve mentioned my feeling that the rate of disruption is accelerating. Watching traditional media flounder has reinforced this opinion. A combination of last week’s TechCrunch article on newspapers and then a local newspaper shutdown announcement today is driving that point home. Newspapers are an extreme example of the impact that technological shifts can have on previously stable business models. Free and convenient news can now be found online from a variety of sources. In many cases, craigslist will attract a bigger audience than any classified ad might and in most cases won’t cost a penny. This has resulted in a drastic decrease in relevance for newspapers.
Sadly, I think that newspapers have lost too much ground to recover and that this will result in lower quality news from fewer sources as more and more players are forced out. I do think, however, that the newspaper business has given us an excellent example of how important it is not to become too dependent on assumptions of perpetual status quo.
Google recently announced the inclusion of free turn-by-turn navigation with unsurprisingly graphic results for the GPS makers. Are there any shifts that could render your business model dead in the water? Will a new technology reduce your effectiveness? Are unseen competitors able to enter your market at a cost that makes your business unprofitable?
The Agile Business
September 14th, 2009Coming from a software background, I often make comparisons between the process of creating software and the process of creating new business ideas. One of the original visions of software creation was a waterfall pattern, where activities like planning, designing, developing, etc are done in sequential order with the expectation of a completed final product at the end. Time has shown that in most cases this model is flawed and more agile techniques have emerged that focus on quick iterations and assume a degree of change from the original vision. There certainly seems to be a similar shift occurring in business today. While many businesses continue with traditional product development cycles, more companies are adopting an agile model that allows them to quickly release product versions and then evaluate and tweak as needed. There are obvious examples in the software world such as Twitter or even Google which release frequent (occasionally unstable) updates to their software.
3D Printing allows custom manufacturing or rapid prototyping
But there seems to be an agile trend in businesses outside the software world. Lulu lets users create one-off books or cater to niche areas without a huge investment. Ponoko and other similar services use techniques like laser cutting and 3D printing to bypass the cost of acquiring factory space and equipment or sending manufacturing offshore. Zazzle among others make creating custom clothing extremely simple.
There may be some aspects of business that might run contrary to agile principles: human resource management comes to mind. Nevertheless, I think an agile strategy is essential in our current business environment. In the future I’d like to discuss and document ideas that can help make all aspects of starting and running a business become more agile – enabling products and services that are more closely matched to the needs of consumers and benefiting both sides.
If you haven’t got your health…
September 4th, 2009
Healthcare reform discussions that have saturated the headlines for the past little while highlight some great opportunities because there is obvious pain. The pain the government and media has chosen to talk about is the fiscal pain to our wallets instead of the individual’s pain or a healthier country.
Real change requires that you address more than one part of the system.
I believe your health is a personal matter. The role of the government is, as coined by the preamble of the Constitution, “ to promote the general Welfare”. This can mean different things to different people, but overall I believe the role of government is to create a structure or system (environment) that supports individual independence and compassion. In healthcare, the government’s role should be about preserving choice and providing tools for you to take care of yourself and ideally those around you.
Now a few things determine a person’s health:
- DNA-An individual’s default system set-up which may or may not be altered
- Inputs-what is consumed (food, vitamins, minerals, smells/air, light, pollutants, toxins, etc.)
- Activities-what is experienced (exercise, daily care, emergency care, how you spend your time)
- Environment- affects the availability of the inputs and facilitates or impedes the activities
What I find interesting is that the debate is currently focused on emergency care and it’s cost, coupled with the cost of drugs or medications. Focusing on the availability of inputs or other factors in care for one’s health is not even being considered as part of the discussion.
There is a whole different healthcare market/industry not even being considered that is based on what has become known as alternative or holistic medicine. Basically anything not taught in medical school (completely different topic for another time.) It is largely a young and underserved market, though gaining momentum as current healthcare practices aren’t always meeting people’s needs. As was recently said, “If you trust Google more than you trust your doctor, maybe it is time to get a new doctor.”
For those not familiar with what alternative medicine is, I’ve paraphrased a Wikipedia excerpt that provides this nice, general summary.
The forms of alternative medical systems covered include:
- Whole medical systems such as homeopathy, naturopathy, traditional Chinese medicine, and ayurveda.
- Mind-body medicine such as meditation, prayer, mental healing, EFT, art therapy, music therapy, and dance therapy.
- Biologically based practices such as dietary supplements, herbal supplements..
- Manipulative and Body-Based Practices such as spinal manipulation (both chiropractic and osteopathic), applied kinesiology and massage.
- Energy therapies such as qi gong, reiki, therapeutic touch, RET, electromagnetic therapy, energy medicine and energy psychology.
These are only general categories and not an inclusive list. Alternative medicine can cost consumers a lot because most insurance companies don’t recognize this kind of medicine; it can also require lifestyle changes. However, an increasing number of people will pay a premium for services, guides and tools to help them find the health they are seeking.
So, if you’re looking for new business ideas or innovations, you must look at what job consumers are paying for. What do they really want? What problem are you solving? Do people want a magic pill for temporary relief or real change for a healthier, better life?
You may be able to bring alternative medicine into the mainstream, or find a way to connect the traditional and alternative into a widely accepted and profitable integrative approach. Let us know if you have any ideas on how to actually create change for people while we wait for the dust to settle on Capitol Hill?
