Staying The Same Costs Too Much

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• Staying The Same Costs Too Much
• U.S. Government Wants Input on Burdensome Regulations
• Judgment Calls: Analytics’ Cousin for Business Intelligence Success

Staying The Same Costs Too Much Posted: 29 Jul 2012 01:00 PM PDT The thing about owning a small business is that you get to choose:  1.) how it functions 2.) how it runs 3.) what it looks like and feels like and 4.) who it serves. The choice is yours. Of course, the details of your business could be so overwhelming that you forget that you actually did have a choice in the beginning because you're so busy doing.  You forgot that in the beginning, you decided how to market (or not market) your business, how to train your team, the way to manage and track your money. You chose, right down to choosing not to choose. I've done that before and ended up with some kind of make-shift, knee-jerk version of a system. It's the kind of situation that can overwhelm you and drown your team. Sometimes, it's scary to change, to innovate the way you do things. Because we tend to cling to the familiar, even when it's not all that comfortable. It's like doing your company finances on a yellow note pad, because it's familiar.  When your 10 year old business would be better served by a simple accounting database. But that means you, and your team has to learn something new — and that takes effort. If you're willing to dive in, then innovation can show up in the simplest changes — they just have to be consistent and relevant. Here's my question: When does it cost you too much to stay the same? When the way you consistently do things doesn't improve your bottom line or build you a better team, then it's time for a change — or at least an evaluation. When your competition can do what you do in half the time, then you need to innovate. When there's no room for down time — no vacations — not even a good lunch, then it's time for a change. For a business to be successful for the long term, it has to be sustainable. And to build something sustainable takes effort. You have to dig up the soil and develop the strategy to support the change. You have to build, and then support the team that will help you make that change. Change Photo via Shutterstock From Small Business Trends Staying The Same Costs Too Much

U.S. Government Wants Input on Burdensome Regulations Posted: 29 Jul 2012 11:00 AM PDT As business owners, oftentimes rules and regulations from the government can put an unwanted burden on day-to-day tasks as well as the big picture. But now business owners have the opportunity to make their concerns known to U.S. Federal government officials. The White House is asking for input from business owners about burdensome regulations that negatively impact their businesses so that they can make necessary changes to help businesses succeed in the current economy. Last year, President Obama ordered that all current rules and regulations be reviewed, so it can be determined which rules are working and which ones are not. As part of this continuing effort to better understand the needs of business owners and entrepreneurs, the White House is now asking for business owners to speak up about which regulations are doing more harm than good. Then the White House plans to streamline or eliminate those overly burdensome, ineffective, or outdated rules. To achieve this task, the White House has set up a website where business owners and other individuals who may be burdened by government regulations can easily submit their comments and ideas about how to improve the system so that businesses can more easily succeed. The White House is looking for ideas from all different types of companies, from small businesses or entrepreneurs to large corporations. Government agencies have already been working toward cutting these types of regulations, but Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Cass Sunstein, said that those who work for the government can only go so far in deciding which regulations can and should be cut, and that is why public comments will be so crucial for the next step in the process. The White House has stated that all comments submitted will be carefully read and many will be acted on. Submit your comments about burdensome regulations to the White House. Podium Photo via Shutterstock From Small Business Trends U.S. Government Wants Input on Burdensome Regulations

Judgment Calls: Analytics’ Cousin for Business Intelligence Success Posted: 29 Jul 2012 05:00 AM PDT Over the past few years business strategy has been revolutionized by the use of analytics and business intelligence. So it is understandable that successful decision making would receive an equivalent reset. Thankfully, one of the first books to examine strategy execution in a post-analytic world comes from a leader in business intelligence.  Judgment Calls: 12 Stories of Big Decisions and The Teams That Got Them Right, by Thomas Davenport and Brook Manville, examines the businesses that are developing smarter cultures that lead to business success. Davenport, a leading Babson College IT  and business intelligence professor, co-authored a number of books on analytics, including one I reviewed for SBT, Analytics at Work. I requested a Judgment Calls review copy from Harvard Business Review when I heard about his latest effort.  Its 12 cases implies an analytic address to the most limiting qualities that occur with decision management. Learning From the Collective Now Means Profits Instead of Geekiness The authors' approach in Judgment Calls reveals decision making from a process and systematic view, called organizational judgment: "The collective capacity to make good calls and wise moves when the need for them exceed that of any single leader's direct control." Davenport and Manville note that four trends  that will define good judgment making have emerged: The recognition that none of us is as smart as all of us. Tapping not only the wisdom of the crowd but the leadership of the crowd. The use of analytics to support and sometimes actually make decisions. Information technology is an enabler of the first three aspects. The phrasing of the second concept fascinated me, because it captured the sentiment of  current online human behavior.   Success with content marketing, for example, is based on leadership the crowd places on the source.  The more social shares of a blogpost or a pic imply a crowd's conference of trust on a piece of material, that the author shows wisdom in what they produce. Judgment Calls examines 12 cases from organizations probably more diverse than the data they collectively analyze.   The organizations run the gamut from NASA, health care, and education.  The cases are grouped into 4 segments. Most likely, the case most relatable to a small business owner  is the last one, a focus on a decision facing 1990′s beauty products start up, Tweezerman.  The example showed that: "There is an unusual power in people with complimentary skills working together for a common performance objective." Although large in size, organizations featured, such as Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, still provide useful examples to small businesses.  They display that degree analytics and business intelligence has grown such that judgment capabilities can be examined to understand high-performing organizations. The analysis reminds that personal calls, even from experience leaders,  can be rightfully questioned: "How can we make sure those calls are made well?  Is it enough to choose smart leaders who seem to have people's interest at heart, and trust their wisdom?  Human judgment is frail and fettered, no matter which humans the judgment comes from." Some Leaders Challenge Data But For The Wrong Reasons Given the above quote, I appreciated the authors' note that the world has not changed for many business execs. Many are resistant to data that says to keep learning from collective sources.  The authors share at the beginning how, despite notable advancement from analytics: "…insecure senior execs are simply reminding themselves and insisting that only their judgment and decisions count. On social technologies, instead of figuring out how they can facilitate collaboration and group judgment, many firms still ban their usage altogether. One survey of chief information officers found that 54 percent ban all social media use at work (though it's likely that many of their employees find a way to access Facebook anyway)." Judgment Calls makes a strong effort to raise decision making into less of an individual basis and more of a cultural practice within a team.  It makes a solid follow up to analytic books such as Jim Sterne's Social Media Metrics, Performance Marketing with Google Analytics, and of course, one of Davenport's earlier books Analytics at Work. The authors note that businesses seeing results are: "Consulting more people…adopting some form of collective leadership." It's an understandable offshoot from the increase in analytics and business intelligence.  While the material in Judgment Calls focuses on large enterprises, small business readers should take note of the examples to learn how their experiences can be better handled.  After reading it, any reader’s decision making prowess will be improved. From Small Business Trends Judgment Calls: Analytics’ Cousin for Business Intelligence Success

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