Business Bifurcation
Another Gaping Void nails it. Full piece here, though they don’t use the phrase 'business bifurcation'.
For a long time, it has been clear that business is bifurcating. The two models are either;
- the 'pile-em-high-and-sell-em-cheap' model to borrow from Tesco's Jack Cohen's business strategy
- the 'totally-high-end-special-and-niche' model - think $20 dollar pints of beer, $300 bottles of wine, handcrafted artisan wafers ...
Gaping Void's piece brings you right up to date with stories form Saville Row - a set of businesses you might expect to fail in thelight of (say) Brookes Brothers collapse. But no - business bifurcation.
To be fair - those high-end examples aren't the only way to be in that niche space. Business that scale and deliver low price, do so at the cost of service, value, the personal touch, sometimes quality ...
If you are a small business - don’t wonder how to compete with Amazon ... work out how to differentiate from Amazon. What worked 20, 30 years ago - still works. It's just that the 'what' is different.
And the first 'what' is 'what business are you in'. It might not be what you think. The business you are in is your 'core'. Everything else is context. (To borrow from my 'old' friend Geoffrey Moore.)
Where is the ‘webp’ format suddenly coming from - and if it is THAT standard - why don’t all apps recognize it?
Don't Fear The Future Of Work
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is the source of this piece on The Future of Work. I don’t disagree with the headline, but the article itself falls short of providing solace. In fact it falls short of being an article - but that's another story.
An altogether disappointing piece that ends ...
“I really come away from this concerned about the direction [of work], but optimistic about our ability to change it."
David Autor, Co-chair, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future and MIT Professor of Economics
On what grounds? Their was nothing of substance in the piece. Just opinion.
”This is not a jungle this is a garden at the Google campus.”
I’ll come back with the credit later this week. Until then - any ideas?
Philosophy Week
Part 2 of my conversation with Cristina DiGiacomo, M.S. goes live at 5 am Pacific Standard Time on Monday 23rd. You are going to love it. Hell, we loved it so much that when we finished - we just kept going - you'll see what I mean.
Part One - if you want to catch up first.
And it's not as if there is a theme going here BUT - later on in the week, part 1 of my conversation with Tim Walters Ph.D., goes live.
It must be philosophy in the workplace week!
War - What Is It Good For?
Absolutely Nothing! Say it again.
Simon Sinek talking about what game theory teaches us about war.
Thinking Allowed
This is a People First post that was originally on the People First domain. It has been moved here as part of my domain consolidation program. It’s a steady and slow WIP as I check each entry, so do please bear with me.- More about People First
- Other People First Posts
(not just from the ‘other domain’ … all of them.)
American Business
It's an old one that I rediscovered in the archives. Time to publish.
It just seemed right, timely and very 'People Firsty'.
Dear LowerMyBills.com
You sent the email, so you know the address and if you don’t, why on earth am I going to give it to you now to add it to all the other lists.
I do know where you got this email from, message marked as spam, domain reported.
Have a good day.
And while we are talking pencils … and iPad one … air or small pro … I’ve read the differences … and .. well is the pro worth the extra. What are you really getting?
File this one in the stupid question bucket.
I know the Apple Pencil won’t work with the iPhone … but … would it work just as a simple pointer .. like the old adonit and similar styluses used to work?
Trump administration in ‘staggering’ isolation at UN on health issues
“Outgoing Trump administration’s final days at the United Nations have resulted in a deepening of US isolation on social and health issues, with only a handful of allies including Russia, Belarus and Syria.”
BuzzFeed agrees to buy HuffPost in latest online media merger
More proof that (-1) + (-1) = (+1)
Citibank. Seriously?
Day 17.
Doubling up as a record for the day AND using all 17 words to date in reverse order.
I need to train my memory so I don’t get too far behind these daily Microblogvember posts, but also not to far ahead - because that would be spooky and I guess the judge probably wouldn’t wear it - what say you @macgenie ? or do the elderly get a free pass - no pressure, no force, just asking, because I don’t want to put you in a bind if you have to inflate the stats - I mean that would just be too puzzling, besides I don’t want to stoop that low in trying to make this work, I mean I am near - but so far its nothing that might astonish you because it’s hard to concentrate and this is the most exciting thing I’ve written today … I am that dreary.
Managing Complex Change
🚧 Brought to my attention by Stuart Robbins, who went on to write ....
It is known as the Knoster Model for Complex Behavioral Change (circa 2000). For those who would like to know more, search for Timothy Knoster. In sum, Knoster identifies the 5 key elements needed for any Change Management initiative to be successful, and the relative symptoms caused if/when one element is missing.
Stuart Robbins
Interesting. I went of looking further and found an even better image (see below) that adds context to the steps and happy smiling emojis that reflect the expected feelings! :-)
The keen observers amongst you will also spot a different order and an extra step - but the principle holds. (The principle being - as Stuart said in his original message to me ... (I paraphrase) ... how much information can be packed into a single image (doffing hat to E. Tufte.)
John Philpin
Coops Europe and Fair Trade team up to promote people-centred businesses.
(Via 'Friend of People First' - Jeff Mowatt)
I love how co-ops seem to be making a big comeback.