Business Change Management

More and more, business leaders are beginning to understand the value of corporate anthropologists, and more importantly, how they can help people at all levels of a company better "see, feel and think" about their business with fresh eyes. As a corporate anthropologist myself, I preach that the importance of anthropology lies in its ability to help people pause, step out and look at the way they have always done things in new ways, and then make these new ways happen. In my recent article in BusinessNewsDaily, I had the chance to expand on this ethnographic approach to business. Perhaps this could help you and your company?

Corporate anthropology is about adaptation

I am thrilled to announce the upcoming publication of my new book, "Rethink: Smashing the Myths of Women in Business." In it, I share eleven case studies — including my own— of all different types of smart, accomplished women who were told they couldn't be a lawyer, or couldn't start their own business, or couldn't be a geoscientist. Guess what? They did it anyway. They smashed the myths of women in business and they became phenomenal successes.

I wrote this book, my second, because I feel it's time for women to rethink the journey they're on, what they can do or can't do, and their relationship with men. I recently got to talk about my book with Craig Gibson of Hometown Living on WSBT, who was a delight. You can watch and listen to our conversation by clicking on the image below.

Who do you think are the ones having a harder time adjusting to working at home during the pandemic, men or women? You may not be surprised (I wasn't) to learn that in general, it is the men who seem to find the home-based business environment the most unsettling, at least among the clients I've been talking with throughout the COVID-19 crisis.

As I discuss in my recent article for ceoworld.biz, in the beginning of the new "working from home" reality, women started out challenged at their changed home life, yet quickly found innovative ways to manage their daily lives, balancing their own needs with those who were counting on them. To read my entire article, click here.

Women and men: very different ways of coping with crisis and change

In March of this year, I had the pleasure of interviewing global credibility expert Mitchell Levy for a terrific On The Brink podcast. Then recently the tables turned and I was the interviewee! Mitch is on a quest to interview 500 thought leaders on credibility for his Thought Leader Life show, and I was honored to be included. I really enjoyed our talk, mainly because it focused on helping organizations change their corporate cultures and grow their businesses in these changing times. As you know, I'm a Blue Ocean Strategist® and a culture change expert so this was right up my alley.

You can watch and listen to our conversation here or click on the image below. You can also catch it on iTunes and Vimeo.

Are you ready to leave the bloody waters of the "red ocean strategy" you’re swimming in and instead, experience the clear, uncontested waters of a Blue Ocean Strategy? What's a Blue Ocean Strategy anyway? And how could you find one for your business or organization?

This video shows you!

In response to so many requests bubbling up during this pandemic and economic recession, I created a new video to help you understand three things:

• What is a “red ocean strategy” in which you are competing against others very much like you?
• What are the five most important elements of a differentiating Blue Ocean Strategy?
• How could you use the Blue Ocean Strategy tools to discover unmet needs, non-users and new ways to add value with innovation, opening up growth opportunities that are perfect for your future?

Make the competition irrelevant

Briefly, Blue Ocean Strategy isn't about doing more of the same, cheaper, or competing with others in the same industry you're in today ("red ocean"). It's about finding customers' unmet needs so you can open a new market space that you can own ("blue ocean"). In these turbulent, disruptive times, businesses and even non-profit organizations need a Blue Ocean Strategy more than ever so they can not just survive, but thrive.

A trained practitioner in Blue Ocean Strategy, I’ve conducted over 425 workshops and speeches and worked with a wide range of global clients on their Blue Ocean Strategy. It is never easy, but we truly believe that the way forward is all around you--if only you can see it. Let us help you.

To view/download the presentation, click on the image below

As we have been working with our clients during this pandemic, we're noticing a recurring theme. They are unhappy about not knowing what comes next. They've figured out how to deal with living at home, working at home and being at home. But now they're beginning to be uncomfortable and anxious about what's coming next. It's strange, isn't it, that without a clear vision of the future, it's often impossible to live today. I've recently recorded a podcast talking about this, which you can listen to here.

Martin Seligman's work on homo prospectus tells us a lot about how we need to see the future clearly if we're going to leave today...even if the future is an imagined one, because that's the way our brains work. Now the challenge is how to do our work when we're uncertain about what's going to be the new normal. What's more, we're not sure it's coming back to what it was. And we're not sure what it's going to be next.

During this crisis period filled with uncertainty and disruption, you might pause, step back and turn lemons into lemonade. There probably isn’t much else you can do. If we at SAMC could help you now, it would be to urge you to take some time to use Innovation Games® to bring those big, new ideas to the forefront of your thinking about yourself, your business and your future. In fact, Andy and I recently did an On The Brink podcast about how Innovation Games are a very effective way to not only help you look into the future and rethink where your organization is going, but also figure out how to get there. You can listen to it here.

We often tell our clients that if they need to reignite their business or change their market strategy or create a new business model, they should have a crisis or create one. Well, with the COVID-19 pandemic upon us, the crisis is here, and change is all around us. So what can you do individually and as a business to adapt?

First, don’t panic. Don’t be the proverbial deer in headlights. By being willing to change in big ways and small, you are doing something good to help others and protect yourself. It is ok.

Next, how do you help your folks respond so they too know it is ok? This is a time for exceptional, emotionally intelligent leadership. Keep it simple. You need to lead so others trust your judgments and want to follow you. No one knows exactly what to do right now, so it is a time to learn how to deal with an unknown crisis together.

Once again, it’s awards season in Hollywood. And once again, women have been largely (and very noticeably) snubbed by the film industry.

At the recent Golden Globes, none of these female directors were nominated: Greta Gerwig (“Little Women), Marielle Heller (“It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”), Lulu Wang (“The Farewell”), Lorene Scafaria (“Hustlers”) or Olivia Wilde (“Booksmart”). What’s going on here? Is the male grip on Hollywood really that tight?

Apparently so. Take a look at this year’s list of Oscars nominees and you’ll see the exact same story: no women directors. 

Should we be surprised? In 91 years, the Oscars have recognized only five women in the Best Director category: Lina Wertmüller (“Seven Beauties,” 1975), Jane Campion (“The Piano,” 1994), Sofia Coppola (“Lost in Translation,” 2003), Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker,” 2009) and Greta Gerwig (“Lady Bird,” 2017). Bigelow is the only one woman who’s ever won, and no woman of color has ever even been nominated.

Sidelining women in film is a recurring pattern, not a one-off

When we think about today's most celebrated business leaders, usually Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk come to mind. They are often portrayed as prophets, and with good reason. Once asked about his strategy, Steve Jobs said it was first to change his company, then to change the industry, and finally, to change the world. These highly accomplished visionaries are not only able to “see” the future but also create it.   

Possessing highly speculative mindsets, futurists like these chart their companies' strategies over the long term, with foresight that spans decades, not years. This type of outlook allows them to create products and services that fit into their long-term vision, kickstarting a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts. As they repeatedly tell the story of this vision, their customers' brains get accustomed to the leaders' futuristic ideas, further accelerating and ensuring their vision's success.