Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Jacked Up
I'm really enjoying reading Jacked Up: The Inside Story of How Jack Welch Talked GE into Becoming the World's Greatest Company by Bill Lane. I have enjoyed the books that Jack Welch authored, but this book gives me some real insight into how Welch really operated on a day-to-day basis. Lane worked with Welch for many years and provides some great anecdotes that you would never get in an autobiography.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Teams: The Only Source of Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Almost any move you make can be easily countered by your competition. You build a factory, I build a factory. You cut prices, I cut prices. Even patents provide precious little protection.
Who builds these factories? Who develops pricing strategies? Who creates new inventions? People do.
What is truly unique about your company is your people. Sometimes a small number of superstars can generate an advantage, but if they leave, the advantage will probably not be sustained.
That is why I believe that the only source of sustainable competitive advantage is a high performance team. This team must have some superstars, but a healthy team can survive the departure of a few high potential individuals and replace them with others. It takes time to build a solid team, but ultimately it is the only path to long term profitability.
Who builds these factories? Who develops pricing strategies? Who creates new inventions? People do.
What is truly unique about your company is your people. Sometimes a small number of superstars can generate an advantage, but if they leave, the advantage will probably not be sustained.
That is why I believe that the only source of sustainable competitive advantage is a high performance team. This team must have some superstars, but a healthy team can survive the departure of a few high potential individuals and replace them with others. It takes time to build a solid team, but ultimately it is the only path to long term profitability.
Marketing and Engineering: Two Sides of the Same Coin
The most important component of your marketing strategy is your product. Where does your product come from? Engineering.
But the engineering team won't be as effective as it could be if it is isolated from marketing in its own functional silo. Engineering needs marketing to determine what is needed, and marketing needs engineering to determine what is possible. It is the constant, iterative process of product development between marketing and engineering that delivers the best attainable product for your situation.
This sort of relationship requires a significant level of trust, and that trust must be built over time. Does marketing really know what the market needs, or is it just relaying the latest anecdote from a customer? Is engineering padding its schedule so it won't have to implement that feature? Only time will tell. But once you attain this level of cooperation, the payoff is huge. My most effective years as an engineering manager occurred when my office was right next door to the product marketing manager.
But the engineering team won't be as effective as it could be if it is isolated from marketing in its own functional silo. Engineering needs marketing to determine what is needed, and marketing needs engineering to determine what is possible. It is the constant, iterative process of product development between marketing and engineering that delivers the best attainable product for your situation.
This sort of relationship requires a significant level of trust, and that trust must be built over time. Does marketing really know what the market needs, or is it just relaying the latest anecdote from a customer? Is engineering padding its schedule so it won't have to implement that feature? Only time will tell. But once you attain this level of cooperation, the payoff is huge. My most effective years as an engineering manager occurred when my office was right next door to the product marketing manager.
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