A lot of development projects are now concerned with delivering services and clients that enable companies to expose their products and services to an ever increasing diversity of client entities. I use the word entities, as the end user could be a person, or a display fridge, and a great deal of effort is put into providing a quality service to all users of the system. This is a good thing from a developer point of view because it makes us think about disconnecting a user’s abilities from their requirements, and enables us to provide an ecosystem of software that takes in people, computers, and machines.
Characteristics of Emotional Intelligence
In the change management arena, people interactions are key, especially for those in the consultant’s role. I continuously refer to Daniel Goleman’s work, an American psychologist who developed a framework of five elements that define emotional intelligence.
Omni-Channel’s Influence on the Retail Sector
This is the second in a series of blogs concerning what I call the Omni-Channel Tsunami. The focus is on the impact of Omni-Channel in the retail sector, from far-reaching online commerce (“The Amazon Effect”) to new influences on customer behavior.
Your Chief Information Security Officer will soon need more clout
If consumers weren’t skittish enough, Home Depot recently joined the rapidly lengthening list of big box retailers experiencing sometimes prolonged data breaches: Albertson’s, Dairy Queen, The UPS Store, Sally Beauty, Target, Michael’s, Neiman Marcus, P.F. Chang’s and SuperValu.
More than a few Chief Information Security Officers (CISO) must be nervous.
Riding the OmniChannel Tsunami
I was shocked to learn a few months ago that in the global population of 6.5 billion people more than 4 billion have mobile phones. Global consumers are not merely just increasing their use of mobile telephones, they are doing so via smarter devices – smart phones, tablets or hybrid devices.
The Snowden conversation we are all having in one way or another…
Edward Snowden did one important thing: He made an important conversation on security and ethics popular and international. One one hand, he told us something we always knew: Spies spy. That is, stealthily gathering secrets, usually associated with times of war or matters of national security, is the third(?) oldest profession.
You can’t manage from the board room or the balance sheet alone
I like watching Under Cover Boss because apart from it being interesting on many levels, it never fails to highlight how businesses cannot be run solely from either the balance sheet alone or from the ivory towers of a head office, despite claims of the best management reporting and a transparent, open and communicative culture.
Angry Birds Layoffs: Poor strategic aim causes pigs to proliferate as Rovio’s growth slows
Rovio, the makers of Angry Birds, recently announced layoffs, as reported in Wired and elsewhere. I don’t believe, however, that Rovio’s issues stem from the inherent nature of mobile gaming.
If we look at their iconic games, we find “innovations” that distract from game play and push advertising and upgrades at every turn. Angry Birds started as an engaging game playing experience that was simple and well designed. Rovio has lost its strategic path as the company attempted to enhance revenue streams through push sales automation and near coercion of their audience.
From A to B – The difference between Change Management and Work Design.
When I explain to people what it is that I do, the end result is often “Ah, you’re a change consultant.” The conversation rarely begins with “What are you actually changing to?”. It’s a bit like talking about a journey from A to B – and focusing solely on the car you’re driving, without ever considering where you’re actually going, or asking what’s wrong with where you are?
Slides, friction and customer experience
I remember a couple of instances when I was young, when my Mum polished the slide in our local park. She actually took a duster and a can of polish in her bag along to the park when we played. Just standing on the top step was enough to give you butterflies, let alone the sliding experience that was to follow! It was a great experience. Fast, thrilling and without friction to slow me or my friends down and one we could repeat again and again until tea time. It’s the same with customer experience…
