The competitive advantage in the “Best in Market” approach is dead wrong. Trying to outsell your competition based on these principles will at best (no pun attended) lead to only short term wins in profitability and in market share. These gains will diminish relatively quickly as competitors respond with their own improvements and innovations.

The slide show below demonstrates the new world and how the view from the  SD-Logic (The Service-Dominant Logic of Marketing by Stephen Vargo and Robert Lusch) perspective may very well be the user centric approach required. The truth is that SD-Logic thinking has struggled moving out of academia. However, it is reviving itself thanks to the thinking of many in the Service Design arena. I go one step further in the presentation stating that SD-Logic needs a process such as Lean Thinking to put it into practice.  

Related Information:
Path to Participation
Do You Know the Right Job For Your Products?
Lean Canvas for Lean EDCA-PDCA-SDCA
Blog Carnival Annual Roundup 2011: Graham Hill at CustomerThink

It appears very simple but the results are outstanding. As a result, it is used very often and one that should be mastered. Why would you use it?

• Allows various categories of causes to be explored.
• Encourages creativity through a brainstorming process.
• Provides a visual image of the problem and potential categories of causes
• Analyze Complex problems that seem to have many interrelated causes

The basic layout for manufacturing consists of six categories: Materials, Machine, Measurement, Methods, Manpower and Milieu (Environment). The basic layout for administrative processes consists of four categories: Personnel, Plant Facilities, Policies and Procedures.

Depending on the situation, other categories are possible. The application is very similar in each:

1. Select the Problem Statement, or Effect, shortened into a few key words and place it in a box on the right side of the new diagram.
2. Use the categories above or create your own depending on the situation and connect them with a straight line to the “backbone” of the diagram.
3. Brainstorm or determine data-driven causes for each category.
4. Continue driving down, identifying further lower-level Root Causes.

This classic method is a powerful tool in problem solving methodology. However, can it be equally powerful for creating an analysis of strengths or successes. In the book, Appreciative Leadership , the authors use the Fishbone diagram, depicted below to illustrate the positive core or a group or team.

The authors discuss this approach:

Not only does a root-cause-of-success analysis give you information about your team and your organization at its best; it also shines the light on daily acts of excellence that all too often go unrecognized. It gives credit to high performers and sets the expectation that every-
one else should follow their lead. By illuminating the best of people, processes, teams, Appreciative Leadership signals to others, “do it this way and we will all benefit.”

These institutional habits are as hard or harder to change than personal habits. One way to change the "squeaky wheel gets the attention syndrome" is with a root-cause-of-success analysis. By inviting team members or a cross-functional group of people to identify and discuss what causes their success when they are at their best, you send a clear message that what you value and want to understand is success.

The field of Appreciative Inquiry inspires me, finding it quite intriguing. After decades of problem solving, it is not an easy journey to create an appreciative look at business. It is just not a natural instinct for any of us. Using a Positive Fishbone can provide a good visual indicator for teams and leadership.

The authors also gave us 5 core strategies for successful Appreciative Leadership that I found equally enlightening.

1. Inquiry lets people know that you value them and their contributions.
2. Illumination helps people understand how they can best contribute.
3. Inclusion gives people a sense of belonging.
4. Inspiration provides people with a sense of direction.
5. Integrity lets people know that they are expected to give their best
   for the greater good and that they can trust others to do the same.

 Accentuate the Positive, Eliminate the Negative is a recent podcast on the subject. Sounds like a good song doesn’t it? My favorite rendition of the song is a Bette Midler & Bing Crosby rendition.

Related Information:
Appreciative Inquiry instead of Problem Solving
My Engagement Strategy – Appreciative Inquiry
Mastering Positive Change

In the podcast, we started out focusing on Lean IT but it evolved into a much broader discussion. Steve has a knack of taking the complicated and making it simple. A rare quality that I typically find only in the most knowledgeable practitioners. This podcast is suited for anyone thinking about continuous improvement.

Download Podcast: Click and choose options: Download Here  or go to the Business901 iTunes Store.

For more than twenty five years, Steve Bell has delivered a balance of Lean, business process improvement, and management consulting services. Steve published Lean Enterprise Systems: Using IT for Continuous Improvement helping to introduce the emerging discipline of Lean IT. Steve and his partner Mike Orzen later published Lean IT: Enabling and Sustaining Your Lean Transformation.

Steve is on of the keynotes at the upcoming, North American Lean IT Summit, bringing together a community of lean and agile practitioners and thought leaders from around the globe.

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Lean Marketing Creates Knowledge for the Customer
Lean Marketers concentrate on SOAR vs. SWOT
Will the Mvp crush the Lean Startup?
Lean Thinking: Prototype early and often

Dr. Barbara Fredrickson is a world renowned researcher and in her latest book, Positivity: Top-Notch Research Reveals the 3 to 1 Ratio That Will Change Your Life gives you lab-tested tools necessary to create a healthier, more vibrant, and flourishing life through a process she calls "the upward spiral." You’ll discover:

• What positivity is, and why it needs to be heartfelt to be effective
• The ten sometimes surprising forms of positivity
• Why positivity is more important than happiness
• How positivity can enhance relationships, work, and health, and how it relieves depression, broadens minds, and builds lives 
• The top-notch research that backs the 3-to-1 "positivity ratio" as a key tipping point 
• That your own sources of positivity are unique and how to tap into them 
• How to calculate your current positivity ratio, track it, and improve it

Change is tough – it is made more difficult without attempting it in the most positive manner.

Related Information:
Six Sources of Influence in Change
Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success .
Is your Organizational Culture limiting you?
An Appreciative Look at the World

The Lean Software and Systems Conference emphasizes Lean concepts representing the next wave of ideas in methods, process and organization for software and systems engineering. It brings together an international community of practitioners, consultants, thought leaders and authors to cross-pollinate ideas and foster a sense of community for those promoting better economic and sociological outcomes in their workplace.

Three Events, One Venue – 3-Day Conference, Lean Camp & Lean Tutorials
Lean Software & Systems Conference 2012 (LSSC12) May 13-18, 2012, in Boston, MA

The Psycho-Aesthetics Map is a two-dimensional mapping process in which the vertical axis shows the degree of need, from essential through to aspirational, while the horizontal axis shows the degree of interactivity from passive through to immersive. Existing products can be placed in their appropriate locations on the map, as can different groups of consumers, in order to identify gaps which might be suitable for the design of new products.

One of the first steps in Lean Marketing is to understand the customer’s decision making process. In Service Design and Design Thinking, we typically use the Customer Journey Map to depict this. Mapping this in detail and defining the resources, people, budget and marketing collateral to match each of these steps is imperative. Just as important as this journey is, putting context to where the customer is in their journey with your organization has equal if not superior importance. Are you at a stage of only being viewed as a commodity or are you in the transformation business? 

The presentation below is my humble attempt to demonstrate that the basic needs of an enterprise is remarkable similar to that as an individual. Your thoughts?

Related Information:
Moving from Product to Customer Centric in 4 Steps
The 7 step Lean Process of Marketing to Toyota
Lean needs Marketing, more than Marketing needs Lean!
Does Lean Marketing deliver what the customer wants?