by John Brooker | May 22, 2012 | Facilitate meetings, Innovate, Tools
Yes! And… Creative Gorilla # 132 The Business Model Canvas is a powerful thinking tool… “The Business Model Canvas was highly effective and really challenged our thinking” Client of Yes! And… Need a new business model? Many of you will have heard of the recent issues experienced by a top media company in Britain. You may also know I look constantly for clues for new Gorilla articles so whilst others may have found interest in the scandal, I was drawn to the company’s decision to close a Sunday newspaper. Of particular interest are the rumours, fuelled by registration of new URLs, that management plans to extend one of their daily titles to become a new Sunday newspaper. The Gorilla “clue” for me is the change in the business model and so I am going to discuss a way you might facilitate a team to analyse its business model. This is an exercise I ran recently for a client and to facilitate their analysis I used the “Business Model Canvas”. This tool consists of nine blocks or sections on a metaphorical artists “canvas”. The blocks enable you to analyse your business model in a number of different areas: Customer Segments: For whom do you create value Customer Relationships: The relationship you have with different segments, e.g. self service Channels: The channels through which you reach your customer, e.g. a sales force Key Activities: E.g. Creating an easy to use web site Key Resources: E.g. System architects Key Partners: E.g. A third party who provides software programming services Value Proposition: What value you deliver to the customer Cost Structure: The key...
by John Brooker | May 20, 2012 | Facilitate meetings, Innovate, Tools
Reason for Use Challenges can be structured in hierarchies, e.g. from “How to land a rocket on the moon?” to “How to make a pen that writes in areas of no gravity?’ If your opportunity is complex and you wish to understand the hierarchy of challenges within it, you can use a Level Map[1]. It enables you to: Diagram that hierarchy and see the relationships before you choose one to work on. Chunk the challenge into lower level challenges to tackle Clarify the challenge for people. Understand whether you should broaden or narrow the scope of the challenge you wish to tackle (“How to land on the moon” at a strategic level and “How to write in areas of no gravity” at the operational level) depending on your ability to influence it Increase the potential challenges to exploit (and split them between your team] Scope the number of ideas / solutions you will generate in the Create Solutions stage (e.g. “How to write in areas of no gravity” at the operational level?” is likely to generate fewer and different ideas to (“How to land on the moon”). Therefore you may wish to choose a lower level challenge. Action to Take 1. Use rectangular “Super Sticky “ Post It Notes Start by writing a challenge on the note, e.g. “How to increase new revenue for accepting banks?” The use of “How to (H2)…?” turns a statement into a constructive challenge 2. Place the challenge centrally on a large surface. 3. Go up to a broader level of focus by asking, “Why”? E.g. “Why do we want to increase new revenue for accepting banks?” The answer...
by John Brooker | May 20, 2012 | Facilitate meetings, Tools
Yes! And… Creative Gorilla # 130 Need a simple tool to build a team…? Use iMA “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” – Confucius The plug on our bathroom sink has broken. It’s one of those fiddly ones; you press a lever and it lifts the plug to empty the water. Something has gone wrong inside so I can’t fix it. Not a problem for the rest of the family but difficult if you need to shave, unless you waste water running the tap. So one day I was washing a dirty golf ball in the sink when I dropped the ball. Eureka! The sink started to fill because the ball fits the plughole perfectly. I have now expanded the uses for a golf ball, get a hole in one every time and have a simple solution to a problem, which leads me to the topic of this article. One important way to enhance innovation is to have a team that works well together. Those of you who lead teams will know that there are many instruments available to profile your team members, help people understand each other and improve performance. Some of these tools are expensive, some are quite complicated, and some are administered by qualified psychologists. Some are all three. Recently, I became accredited to facilitate workshops using a behavioural tool known as IMA (Identify your style; Modify your style; Adapt your style for different people). This tool doesn’t pretend to be a psychometric tool. It doesn’t set out to explain what is going on in your head or the head of...
by John Brooker | May 19, 2012 | Facilitate meetings, Tools
Yes! And… Creative Gorilla # 129 Need to make a demotivated team more positive…? “I rant, therefore I am.” Dennis Miller, Comedian Do you need to elicit issues safely? When you hold a meeting it can be important to let people discuss their work problems and frustrations. However, if a lot of people state their concerns to the whole group it can consume time and create a negative mood in the meeting. How can you effectively let people vent their frustrations and create a positive mood in the meeting, quickly? Here is a technique I have adapted from one called “Moan, Moan, Moan”. I call it the “Constructive Rant. “ I use it a great deal when I facilitate because it is enjoyable for participants and it works. Typically, I use it at the start of a meeting to create a “platform”, a starting point from which the group can move on. I have used it with group sizes from 5 to 90 and results have ranged from good to excellent. Without tempting fate, there is no down side that I have found, unless it rains. Instructions (This example is based on a team building session) 1. Pair people up (If you have an odd three people left over, it is still possible for them to do Constructive Rant, but you will need to allow extra time) and brief them as follows [I recommend you write a summary of this on a flipchart to make it easier to follow]: You are going to go for a walk Whilst you are walking, one of you will speak for three minutes...
by John Brooker | May 18, 2012 | Facilitate meetings, Innovate, Tools
Yes! And… Creative Gorilla # 128 Need to take account of different points of view…? “Here, for once, was a product of man’s brain that was entirely beneficial to those who used it, and of no harm or irritation to others. Progress should have stopped when man invented the bicycle.” Elizabeth West, Author Need to hear different views? I was out riding my bike in the local woods early this morning and had to use a footpath because horses have churned up the bridle paths and made them impassable for wheels. This made me smile wryly as recently, a reader of the environmental policy on my web site wrote to complain that I was inciting cyclists to ride on footpaths in his local woods. Being a lovely day, there were a few walkers on the footpath. As I approached one couple I sensed they were a little frustrated at having to put their dog on the lead to avoid it colliding with my bike. However, I apologised for being on the footpath, explained the difficulty with the bridle paths and they seemed happy enough. Riding on I thought about the different “stakeholders” in this situation; the woodland rangers, the walkers, horse riders, cyclists, even the dog. They all have their own views, whether that’s “ban cyclists from the woods”, “establish separate paths for horses, walkers and cyclists,” or “Grow Winalot on trees”. “What would be a way to hear the different views?”, I mused, which led me to think about how creative leaders might do it in organisations. I generated the following ideas from an individual and team perspective....
by John Brooker | May 17, 2012 | Facilitate meetings, Tools
Yes! And… Creative Gorilla # 127 Need to influence transformation? Look for what’s working… “If some stupid fans don’t understand and appreciate such a gift they can go to hell.” Mohammed Al Fayed, ex -Fulham FC Owner on erecting the Michael Jackson statue What would you do next in this situation? You are facilitating a meeting with a team that is transforming how it provides its services. You ask the people to describe their preferred future when everything is working well. What will be happening? What will people be doing, saying, thinking, feeling etc? How will the processes and systems be operating? They do it. What happens next? Typically, the next step in organisations is to describe what is stopping the team from achieving the preferred future. They list what is wrong, things they have been discussing for ever that never seem to get resolved. People become dispirited and defensive as they sense people are blaming them or their department for what is wrong. The positive energy drains away and resistance to change develops. Friction occurs, or worse, apathy. Actions aren’t followed up. Is this recognisable to you? It’s noticeable in transformation programmes, especially when the initial euphoria has ebbed away. An alternative approach for creative leaders is to identify what is working. Where can we see clues that the preferred future is happening already, examples of good practice? The purpose is to encourage people to sense that much is going well and they can build on it. In the book, “Solutions Focus”, by Mark McKergow and Paul Z Jackson they refer to these clues / examples as “Counters”....
