Leadership & Team Building

How do you interact with others? What is your leadership style? How does that affect the team around you?

These are very interesting questions for me to answer, because up until recently, I’ve never really thought of myself as a leader.  I always had a very specific image in my head of what a leader should act like and my personality has never really fit that image.  I’ve recently been discovering, however, that being a leader can be a much broader term than I had originally pictured.  Let’s start with why I never thought of myself as a leader.  First off, I’m not an outspoken person.  When I’m in a group setting, I’m the guy that sits back and listens, and may make a few comments to the person sitting beside me.  I rarely contribute too much to the group conversation without carefully considering exactly what I have to say.  Another example, when I was captain of the WPI swim team, I wasn’t what you typically think of in a sports team captain.  I didn’t give inspirational speeches or “rally the troops” to victory.  I “led by example” by working as hard as I could in every practice and every competition.  At the time, I never really gave this style of leadership as much credit as it should have deserved.

Now let’s talk about the skills I do have that I’m starting to realize actually do make me more of a leader than I originally thought.  First off, I am the most organized person I know.  This is what allows me to be involved in so many things at once, and not become too overwhelmed.  More importantly, this really allows me to focus on accomplishing critical tasks, rather than trivial things like where I left my notebook.  Secondly, I have a natural ability to spot true talent in an individual.  This is especially important because it helps me to form very strong teams.  I recently heard the phrase “the most effective leader is the one who surrounds himself with the right people.”  I had never thought of this before, but it makes sense, because I have accomplished many things just from enlisting the right help.  Finally, I understand how to take calculated risks.  Many people who know me would describe me as a risk taker.  What they often don’t know is the depth of analysis and calculation that I’ve put into the risks that they see me taking.  I actually consider myself to be very risk averse, because I rarely take any risks without having a full analysis to support that the risk has a high likelihood of paying off.

The reason I’ve talked so much about these three qualities, is that I think combining them actually can make me into an effective leader, even if it’s not in the typical stereotype that I would place on a leader.  These qualities allowed me to be an effective swim team captain without ever getting in front of the team and giving the speech.  I recognized talent and organized the swimmers into effective teams that had the potential to accomplish big things.  I also know where and when to take my teams into potentially “risky” situations.  It wasn’t until recently that I recognized that these qualities could also qualify as “leadership” qualities.

A CookIns Story

There’s no other way to put this, my life is HECTIC.  Yea I work a standard 9-5 job but it’s not exactly one that most people would think of as typical.  This is the type of job where my boss regularly comes up to me and asks a question like “Hey Steve, we need somebody in Florida, can you leave tomorrow? I’ll need you to stay for a month” or “So I know we have a paid holiday coming up tomorrow, but we need somebody to cover two shifts a day for the next three days, can you handle that for me?”.  On top of that craziness, I’m working on a private pilot’s license, working toward an MBA, trying to start a business, and attempting to maintain some semblance of a social life.  Needless to say it’s impossible.  What’s more important, is with so many things going on at once, the small things end up becoming nightmarish tasks.  I don’t have time to shave, go shopping, do laundry (okay I make time for that), or cook anything!

It’s the small things like this that I really need help with, and that’s why CookIns are such a huge help to me and my lifestyle.  I’m always looking for ways to multitask.  When I work on my MBA, I use the material I learn to help me build my business.  When I hang out in the living room with my roommates, I use that time to do my laundry and iron my clothes.  Now that I have CookIns, when I do anything at all, I can make a tasty, good quality dessert.  All I need to do is preheat the oven, then do something else.  Then I put the CookIns in the oven, and then do something else.  Then I take them out of the oven to cool, and then do something else (you see where I’m going with this).  The point is, anything I can do that can help me multitask between the big things and the little things is a big help to me.  CookIns give me the chance to create a great dessert while simultaneously work on any of the other things that fill my busy life.

Can a company today survive on inbound marketing? Why or why not? What is the role of outbound marketing?

PLEASE NOTE, THIS WEEK'S ASSIGNMENT ON THE MARKETING FUNNEL IS POSTED BELOW THIS POST.

This is a very hard set of questions to answer, because there is absolutely no fixed right or wrong answer.  My initial gut reaction is to say NO it is not possible to survive solely on inbound marketing.  It is what I was harping on all week when we discussed the Hub Spot case.  I argued that Hub Spot needed to utilize outbound marketing if they wanted to survive, so my gut says “If they can’t survive on inbound marketing alone, than who can???”

When I really sit back and think about it, however, I really think that the correct answer is “It depends.”  There are so many different types of industries out there that it would be impossible to answer this question with one answer for every possible case.  Let’s take a huge well-known brand for example like Budweiser.  We see outbound marketing for Budweiser on TV literally every single day.  They are absolutely everywhere.  A huge part of the reason they are so successful is because of their extremely expensive outbound marketing campaigns.  Especially for a product of that price, if you walk into a store looking to buy beer and are unfamiliar with other types of beers, you are going to see the one you recognize from TV and not think twice because it’s cheap.  Budweiser could never survive on inbound marketing alone, because other than beer connoisseurs, there isn't a huge pool of people researching beer on the internet.  Even those who are are looking for a much higher quality of beer than Budweiser.

Now with that said, there are some types of businesses who theoretically could survive on inbound marketing alone.  Take the affiliate marketer for instance.  This is a person who makes a living by writing in-depth insightful articles about various products, and makes a living from the commissions they get from referring customers to buy those products.  This type of business survives almost entirely on inbound marketing.  Websites like www.TopCashBack.com which collect referral commissions and pass them on to their customers survive almost entirely on inbound marketing, and they don’t even develop any content. 

When it all boils down, the role of outbound marketing is to draw in all of those customers who don’t know what they need to make their lives better, and there are a LOT of customers like that.  On the other hand, inbound marketing is usually best for those niche customers who know basically what they are looking for, but aren't sure if it’s available, and need more detailed information before making a purchase.

CookIns Market Funnel

Cookie Demand:

The U.S. cookie industry makes up 27% of the 2012 U.S. cookie, cracker, and pasta market.  Its total revenue is $6.075 billion, $1.0 billion of which was profit.  The overall cookie market is largely driven by the number of American households with children under 12 years of age, as 97% of cookie consumers are children under 12.  While the overall U.S. cookie, cracker, and pasta industry is expected to grow at 2.0% annually over the next five years, the cookie share of that is expected to decline slightly due to a decrease in the number of American households having children.  There is, however, a growing trend in healthier, more natural products, and there is an opportunity to capitalize on this growing trend.

Addressable Market:

Demand for crackers & cookies is directly proportional to income growth, meaning households with a higher level of disposable income are more likely to purchase cookies.  There is also a growing trend in changing dietary and lifestyle patterns, where consumers are increasingly conscious of their health and strapped for time.  Consumers are increasingly looking for low calorie snacks that can be easily consumed on the go.  While CookIns are not considered to be a healthy option by any means, they are small and made of all real, natural ingredients, and can be easily be eaten as a snack on the go.

Realistic Opportunities vs. Competition:

Much of the cookie market is dominated by a few key players such as Oreo, Nabisco, and Ritz.  These examples have stayed strong despite a recent slip in the market due to their high level of brand loyalty.  It will be nearly impossible to try and compete directly in this specific market due to the strength of these brand names.  There are, however, opportunities that exist where there are little to no brand names in direct competition.  Places like Whole Foods Market & Trader Joes spend their efforts looking for all natural options and in many cases will try to promote the small local producer.  These stores also happen to cater to houses with higher disposable income, as well as those looking for healthier, more natural options.

Targeted Selection of “Winnable” Market Opportunities:

Combining the opportunities listed above, the most promising “winnable” market for CookIns is the middle to upper-middle class family with kids.  These families are typically short on time, as both parents are working, and the kids are involved in extra-curricular activities.  These families are also likely to be part of the growing trend of people looking for healthier, more natural options.  CookIns help with both of those issues, as they are quick and easy to prepare, while also providing a high quality dessert.  They involve no clean-up, and can be eaten as a snack on the go.  Combining these factors gives CookIns its best shot at its “winnable” market.

Works Cited

IBISWorld Industry Report C1114-GL. (2012). Global Bakery Goods Manufacturing. IBISWorld.

Tang, O. (2012). Cookie, Cracker & Pasta Production in the US. IBISWorld.

Why Big Companies Can’t Innovate

Maxwell Wessel makes some very interesting conclusions in his article Why Big Companies Can’t Innovate.  The general theme of the report is that big companies can’t innovate because they are not designed to innovate.  Unlike start-ups which are designed to solve customer problems through innovations, big companies have already solved customer problems.  Their challenge now that they have accomplished that is to solve their customers’ problems more efficiently, so they can generate a larger profit.

Wessel goes on to make the argument that there is nothing wrong with leveraging underutilized assets in order to be more efficient and deliver higher profits.  While I agree that there is nothing wrong with this, I don’t agree that this is a good excuse for big companies to stop innovating all together.  I think that every company should have the goal of continuing to delight customers through continuous improvement and a better value proposition.  The only way to do this is through continuous innovation.

The problem with focusing solely on process efficiency and not increasing customer value is that eventually somebody is going to come along with something better than what you have to offer.  If you are standing still, then eventually somebody is going to catch and pass you.  The company I work for now offers a financial bonus to any employee who submits an idea that the company lawyers determine is a good enough idea to file for patent.  If the application is accepted, there is an additional bonus.  The problem with this method is that there are many jobs where there are little to no opportunities to develop a patentable idea, so only a portion of the employees are motivated by this incentive.

I think a more effective way to encourage effective interpreneurship is to have a substantial enough reward system in place that employees are likely to be motivated by.  One idea that comes to mind is to give the employee who thinks of an innovative idea partial ownership of that idea.  That way if the idea is very successful, the company will benefit greatly, as well as the employee who created it.  This would provide everyone with the potential to earn a substantial reward for submitting an innovative idea.

Persona Pain Gain Map – Mini Muffin Cookies

Mr. and Mrs. Jones are an upper-middle-class couple with three young kids.  Their youngest, Amanda is four years old and just starting to take swimming lesson and dance.  Terry is six and is very athletic; he’s already playing soccer and baseball.  Jane is the oldest at ten, and is setting the stage (literally) for her sister as she is very involved in dance, as well as gymnastics.  Mr. Jones is in upper management for a fortune 500 company and tends to work long hours every day, but supplies a very good income for the family.  Mrs. Jones teaches high school students, and enjoys the hours and summers off as they give her more time to spend with the kids.

As much as the teaching hours help, Mrs. Jones finds it nearly impossible to juggle the busy schedules of her kids, as well as take care of things on the home front.  Mr. Jones helps out when he can, but frequently gets stuck at the office late and can’t be relied on regularly.  Mrs. Jones often worries about having time to cook dinner every night with all of the juggling she does, and often prepares a week’s worth of food on Sundays and freezes the meals for later use.  Her top priorities are to raise happy, healthy kids, by keeping them involved in all the activities they want, while still having the time to provide them good quality food.

Mini Muffin Cookies can help Mrs. Jones by providing her with a good quality dessert to go along with her healthy dinners, while not taking up a large amount of her busy day.  The pre-frozen batter is made of only top quality ingredients, the kinds she would choose if baking cookies herself.  The plastic tray that the batter comes in can go right out of the freezer and into the oven, just like the dinners she prepared earlier that week.  In less than 30 minutes she will have a dozen desserts for her family, without dirtying a single kitchen item.  Mrs. Jones will have more time with her family, and her kids will love her delicious desserts.

Toyota's Secret: The A3 Report

With Toyota being the innovator in lean manufacturing, and lean business processes, that they are; it came as no surprise to me to learn that they have also developed a tool to assist with processed thinking.  It was even less surprising to learn that the tool they developed has the ability to incorporate any one of the other tools they’ve developed in their lean innovations.  At first glance, it would appear that the A3 method of thinking is just a simple, organized list.  Naturally, this is how a newcomer would look at it, as is illustrated with the example of Porter.  As Sanderson shows us, however, the tool can be and is much more powerful than that.


Before directly discussing the A3 method, I first want to talk about some of the other tools that Toyota has developed.  It is well known that Toyota is the pioneer and essentially wrote the book on lean thinking and methodology.  Many of the tools they developed are being taught to every level of employee at every size company today.  My company, for instance, uses an abundance of tools such as Value Stream Mapping, Kaizen Bursts, Gemba Walks, 6S, and many others, all geared at continuous improvement, waste elimination, and adding value for the customer.  When it comes to thinking about problem solving, however, we are often restricted to one of these techniques, such as a Value Stream Mapping Event.

The A3 method of thinking offers an opportunity for any person at any level of any organization to look at a problem.  It then allows them to use any tools they know to provide countermeasures to those problems.  The huge benefit to this is it allows the user to tell a story in the best way they know how.  This is extremely beneficial because this is more aligned with how we actually think.  We often don’t think of solutions in terms of one fixed tool, but when combining multiple tools, we can successfully tell a story that may help address the problem.  On the negative side, I do think the A3 method does have the potential to leave the new user overwhelmed, not knowing which tools are most appropriate at what times.  The best way to fix this problem, however, is a good education in all of the different tools, so that the user will have a good idea of which ones are most appropriate for telling each part of the story.