Tom SpencerSocial Customer Service allows customers to ask questions, and have them answered by a staff member or another customer AT THE CORE of every successful business are a few key ingredients, and customer service is one of them. Customer service can be used to delight customers, boost customer retention and generate positive word of mouth. For […]
Boards of public companies, responding to investor demands, often pressure management to meet short term earnings estimates DOMINIC Barton, global MD at McKinsey, talks with Tom Keene about how corporate boards of publicly listed companies tend to be too short term focused. Barton explains that corporate boards, responding to investor demands, often pressure management to […]
If you can imagine it, then it can become a reality ADAM Spencer (no relation) gives a wonderful speech about the beauty of mathematics, the search for the largest prime number, and the age in which we now live – the age of machine aided human discovery. As Adam poetically states, “numbers are the musical notes […]
“We’ve put charities in a box for far too long, let’s set them free.” ~ Nat Ware, CEO of 180 Degrees Consulting IN an informative and timely TED Talk, Nat Ware explains how society’s traditional notions of ‘charity’ often constrain the ability of charities to have a meaningful social impact. Below we highlight three beliefs about […]
When adversity strikes, branding gives you resilience This guest post is by Ryan Currie. Ryan is a product manager at BizShark.com with 5 years experience in online marketing and product development. He is on the cutting edge of developments in emerging technologies and open source projects. IN BUSINESS, branding is crucially important. If your business doesn’t have a […]
Change is a process IN the industrial age, change was seen as an event which could be managed: launch a new product, introduce a new feature, enter a new market. But this was never true. As the Greek philosopher Heraclitus rightly pointed out: “Change is Constant”. In the information age, change is now happening so quickly that […]
THE YEAR is 2050. Imagine waking up in a world where you feel positive and motivated about going to work, knowing that your work provides value to customers in a way that is sustainable and responsible. Your employer operates with the express aim of benefiting members of the community and reinvests all profits to further its […]
Fear, Laziness, and Pessimism YOU are capable of producing great work. But are you? It is possible that you merely producing the minimum required of you. You may even have a list of sensible sounding reasons why now is not the right time to take bold action to achieve success: you’re too old, you’re too young, […]
Fail fast. Your success depends on it BACK in high school, you teachers probably trained you in ‘exam technique’. For example, your maths teacher probably gave your class exam-prep advice which sounded something like this: “do the easy questions first, skip anything you don’t understand and come back to it at the end of the […]
Are you? THE scientific method is a formal way of investigating the world by testing your guess about a certain situation, correcting your mistakes, and thereby improving your understanding of the world. If something doesn’t work out for you, do you get angry? Or do you ask yourself, “what went wrong in this experiment?” Learn, grow […]
Hint: this post has nothing to do with ghosts HAVE you ever seen a ghost? Or been told a ghost story by someone who claims to have seen one? I recently had a conversation with a friend who explained to me that his apartment is inhabited by an unfriendly ghost. How do you ward off a […]
Identify the source, weigh your options, and take action DO you suffer from worry? Worry is an obstacle which can prevent otherwise talented students and business people from setting and achieving goals; even ones that should be well within their reach. Do you ever twiddle your thumbs for five minutes (or an hour) before making a […]
Today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness Look to this day! For it is life, the very life of life. In its brief course Lie all the verities and realities or your existence: The bliss of growth The glory of action The splendor of achievement. For yesterday is but a dream And […]
Accept what you have, visualise what you want, and orient yourself in the right direction DO you ever feel like ‘success’ eludes you? Like you should be achieving more? Like you’re not making progress with your studies, career, or business? There are 3 steps you can use to achieve greater focus: Acceptance: understand where you are […]
Giving you a chance to show how badly you really want it ARE you experiencing unexpected difficulties? Has your progress stalled? Have you hit a wall? You may feel irritated, angry and frustrated, but be thankful. Brick walls are there for a reason. They are there to stop your competition, to challenge and test you, […]
People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it Why do you get out of bed in the morning? Why do you do what you do every day? Why should we care? What drives you?
There will always be greener pastures. Accept what you have, and build from there YOU may have found yourself envying the position of others. In a former life, I worked as a finance lawyer and often dealt with investment bankers. They worked about the same hours as I did, their job seemed much less challenging […]
INTRODUCING Ashley. We have chosen the talented Ashley Sherman to be an Editor of the Consulting Blog for 2013/14. Ashley was previously a Staff Writer for the NYU International Business Journal. An accomplished Business & Political Economy student at NYU Stern, Ashley brings passion, keen intellect, and a unique perspective to the Consulting Blog. Currently […]
Seize the happiness advantage SHAWN ACHOR explains, in a fascinating and amusing TED Talk about the happy secret to better work, that being more positive in the present is shown to improve performance. Happiness releases dopamine, a chemical which stimulates the learning centres in the brain and enables you to operate with more intelligence, creativity, and […]
Different is Better
Lack of a sustainable ‘business engine’ is a Social Enterprise’s Kryptonite IT’S a charity … It’s a for-profit … No, it’s a social enterprise! Social enterprise is on the rise (the number of social enterprises in Australia has grown by 37% in the last 5 years). Just like a regular business, but with one key difference; a […]
Happy Australia Day to Dick Smith, a true blue Aussie legend TODAY is Australia Day, a day to spend time with the family, stand around the barbecue, and go for a swim at the local pool or nearest beach. However, while most Australian’s are doing what Australian’s do best, one Aussie veteran is promoting a new […]
https://www.youtube.com/v/5tknowAM50Y Burn all other bridges
Hint: taking audacious action is not the answer THERE are many things worth having. What do you want? You may want to work for McKinsey, start your own firm, or fly to the moon. Be specific. What exactly is your audacious goal? If nothing comes to mind, then don’t worry. The reason that most people have […]
It ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward YOU have what it takes to be successful, but unless you believe in yourself, you’re not going to have the life you want, or the life that you know you deserve. Keep fighting. Don’t let anybody […]
Believe that the dots will connect down the road, love what you do, and remember that you are going to die STEVE JOBS was one of the world’s great visionaries, entrepreneurs and businessmen. On October 5th 2011, he departed. People knew that he was sick, but nobody expected him to leave so soon. I remember […]
Keep expectations low, and exceed them
The approach a new CEO takes during their first 100 days can determine whether they succeed or fail FIRST impressions count! The approach that a new CEO takes during their first 100 days can largely determine whether they succeed or fail. But how to get it right? In an article in the second issue of the SVA […]
SOCIAL VENTURES Australia (SVA) is a relatively new non-profit organisation. Founded in 2002, SVA invests in social change projects to help increase the impact and build the sustainability of high potential organisations in the social sector. SVA currently supports a range of promising organisations including AIME, STREAT, and Teach for Australia. The consulting arm of SVA, aptly […]
Your passion is what stays with us There was a very cautious man, Who never laughed or played. He never risked, he never tried, He never sang or prayed. And when he one day passed away, His insurance was denied. For since he never really lived, They claimed he never died. ~ Anon.
Disruptive innovations often beat successful incumbents CLAYTON Christensen, author of The Innovator’s Dilemma, is an authority on disruptive innovation, a process by which a product or service initially takes root in simple applications at the bottom of a market and then moves ‘up market’, eventually displacing established competitors. Christensen gave an insightful talk back in 2009 at the ECS National Forum […]
Arnold Schwarzenegger provides his 6 secrets to success LISTEN UP.
THE market may be down, but not you. Be bullish about the future. Invest in yourself. And stay hungry. Your stock will rise.
Desire can change from one object to another YOU are most likely familiar with the marketing adage, “Sex sells”. The concept is a fairly simple one. Sex is a topic of interest because humans have a biological and instinctive desire to reproduce. This hard-wired desire is exploited by marketers to attract people’s attention and, at […]
Sometimes all you need is a little nudge ARE you holding off on pursuing a new initiative because you’re in your comfort zone? Do you have a friend whose potential is obvious but they spend all of their time talking big, partying and generally goofing around? Sometimes all you need is the smallest nudge to […]
Steve Jobs narrates the first “Think Different” Apple commercial “Here’s to the Crazy Ones”. It never aired.
Too soon? WHEN someone dies it is cruel to make jokes at their expense immediately thereafter. However, not just any crackpot loony has the ability to single handedly plunge an entire nation into abject poverty. Well done Kim! Kim Jong Il, who passed away today (in case you missed the memo) will be fondly remembered along with other […]
MICHAEL Porter is the thought leader in the field of business strategy. He has single-handedly shaped the way in which the world’s top business leaders think about competitive strategy and success. And his concepts like “competitive advantage”, “value chain” and “five forces” form the bedrock for management thinking about complex business issues. Unfortunately, his frameworks are often bastardised, misused and […]
REMARKABLE products are products that are worth making a remark about. Case in point, the latest version of the NAO humanoid robot. Earlier editions have been sold to researchers for more than $14,600. That being said, I only have one thing to say: “I want one”.
You too can put a ding in the universe THERE are three simple steps to being a visionary leader. That’s it. Just three simple steps. To be a visionary leader, you need to: 1) Learn from everyone, 2) Follow no one, and 3) Look for patterns. So simple and easy to remember. Learn always, never […]
Things just escalated LEADERSHIP has been described as the process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task (Chemers 1997). From a “theory of leadership” perspective, what is interesting about the Occupy Wall Street movement is the absence of any one […]
Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it ~ Ferris Bueller THE FRENETIC pace of daily life in Ho Chi Minh City combined with incredible time lapse photography produce a short video that gives you pause for thought (hat tip to Mike Maier for the video). […]
Creating an app is not that hard, for a 12 year old DO YOU have an app? Well, do you? … Many leading companies have already jumped on the app-store bandwagon (e.g. New York Times, Twitter and Facebook) but most businesses can still confidently answer this question in the negative: “no apps here.” Given that the […]
Which path are you following? TWO ROADS diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better […]
Trust that the dots will connect down the road, love what you do, and remember that you are going to die TODAY October 5th 2011, we received the sad news that Steve Jobs has departed. We are lucky to have lived during the same age as Steve Jobs, a man who has put a dent in the universe, […]
THIS IS an important question because the answer will affect how you feel about yourself, how likely you are to persist in the face of set backs, and how much enjoyment you gain from the things you do. If you have read any of Seth Godin‘s work then you are probably familiar with the idea of the “linchpin”; […]
If you think you are beaten, you are. If you think you dare not, you don’t. If you like to win but think you can’t, It’s almost a cinch you won’t. If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost. For out in the world we find, Success begins with a fellow’s will. It’s all in the […]
What do you want to do when you grow up? THIS is a tribute to those people whose actions make our lives possible. Think of an ordinary day of your typical city dwelling person. A school student, university student, office worker or senior citizen. It is very likely that they may need to go somewhere, […]
Are you dancing too fast? Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round, or listened to the rain slapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight, or gazed at the sun into the fading night? You’d better slow down, don’t dance so fast, time is short, the music won’t last. Do you run through each […]
12.50pm AUGUST 1st and I was trying to make plans for lunch (priority #1). No problem, I’ll just check my gmail account and use Google Maps to find the address. Gmail, Google Maps, Google.com, Google.com.au and Google.com.hk failed to respond (for at least 20 minutes). There is some chance that there is just a problem […]