Everyday people go into the “job cage" and jump on the same wheel they ran on the day before. Management measures the output of all the wheels collectively then attempts to optimize each wheel to improve the whole. What management doesn't realize is that by tinkering with each wheel they are sub-optimizing the whole.

The "job cage" is the environment we are bound to…

How many times do people say "I am going to exercise and lose weight" but they never really acquire the habit of exercise? More people do not than those that do. The reason is simple. They don't believe the new habit will ever replace the old habit because they have tried before and failed so they give up before they even try again.  

The habit of failed…

When we use the word cage what image does it create in your mind? The definition of a cage is a box or enclosure having some openwork for confining or carrying animals. When most of  think of the word cage we think about containment, restraint, controlled environments and the lack of freedom. Sound familiar?

Now think about "corporations" as cages. This inanimate…

Value creation seems to be the current "buzz word" that organizations are using to describe their new strategic focus. The focus on "value" and use of terms that reflect value has become the common marketing message online and off.   With so much emphasis on value creation it would seem logical that leaders would better understand what produces more value.

We used to equate an…

Everyone wants to improve the value they provide and the value they get.

Everyone has time limits in which to work on improving value that matters.

At Smarter Companies our value evolves around providing knowledge, tools and opportunities for others to create value.

Our…

Wikipedia defines as asset as "Anything tangible or intangible that is capable of being owned or controlled to produce value and that is held to have positive economic value is considered an asset."  Websters dictionary defines an asset as: "a useful and desirable thing or quality: a single item of ownership having exchange value." 

The value of…

The difference is profound

Companies have always had employees and customers. Why do they have more influence now?” Why do I need to think about reputation more than before? There are actually several forces driving this change.

The first driver is the shift in the control of the means of production. In the industrial era, a company’s…

We are taught to know what we are told we need to know. The historical methods of learning have taught us what others think we need to know.  What we don't know is then up to us to learn.

Before the internet we learned from institutions, friends, family and co-workers.  Learning was a process largely influenced from local resources; schools, work, communities and civic activities.…

The old assumption that a company's value is driven by profitable growth and thus the strategy must focus on profitable growth is wrong.  Until leaders recognize this they will continue to act like a dog chasing its tail.

Creating value from profitable revenue growth produced from selling tangible things that produced tangible results…

If you hadn't noticed the economy has changed. The usual order of things that fuel our economy has inverted.  It is no longer an econony fueled by tangible capital instead intangible capital is the new dominant economic force.

As more and more value is being created from intangibles those not understanding the shift will have a rude awakening. The mighty will tumble, the once…

How well you work is more important than how long or hard you work.

You can work long hours and think that is a measure of how effective you are at doing more than others. The problem with that assumption is that time and effort don't always equal effectiveness.

Effectiveness is the capability of thinking and producing a desired result effectively. When something is…

Some companies create continuous value. Others simply stop creating value. Some are smart and some are dumb. What is the difference between the two?

Value creation has changed. It used to be that a company could simply put a product or service out to market and it would be consumed by ready buyers. Today buyers are smarter and they want value…

What article on McKinsey Quarterly was read the most in 2012? It was "Demystifying social media".  Given McKinsey & Company elitist stature does having their top article about social media be the most visited article in 2012 means…

The Social Era is unfolding before our eyes and many are perplexed by the waves of change occurring throughout all markets.  Old management models are not adequate enough to inculcate the changes required to succeed in the Social Era. The evidence suggests a shift in how organizations create value that markets want to consume.

The value creation process has shifted from an…

Some of our prevailing mental models help us make sense of our rapidly changing world.  Others do not; they merely cause us to cling to the familiar models, and that can be dangerous.  In fact a leader's mental model's may fail them when they needs to “see beyond” the filters that their mental model may impose. Being held hostage of old mental models is dangerous in a world of emerging new mental models.

Mental…

I get my automobile serviced by a local company (3 miles away) Randy's Auto Service, and have done so for years. I never make an appointment I just show up when I notice it's time for an oil change or I sense something is wrong. Everytime I am instantly serviced (30 minutes at most) regardless of how busy they are, and they are always very busy…

The difference between the 20th and 21st Century factory is a difference in what they produce.

The 20th Century was about producing and consuming more things. The growth in consumption fueled the growth of factories used to produce more things. Machines, materials, capital and labor fueled the factories output, tangible things.

The 21st Century is…

The Social Era dynamics are unusual and subsequently creating new rules and principles foriegn to previous era's. The Social Era is about exceptionalism.

Exceptionalism is the perception that a country, society, institution, movement, or time period is "exceptional" (i.e., unusual or extraordinary) in some way and thus does not need to…

Instead of counting and allocating money the Social Era will be about counting and allocating value. This will mean a shift from Accounting to ICounting.

An accountant is a practitioner of accountancy or accounting, which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about…