hbr notes on business & entrepreneurship

7/30/2019 HBR Notes on Business & Entrepreneurship

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HBR Articles

Managing Yourself HBR Anne Morriss:

True leadership is about making other people better as a result of yourpresence - and making sure your impact endures in your absence.

Managing Oneself - Peter Drucker:

We live in an age of unprecedented opportunity: If you've got ambition

and smarts, you can rise to the top of your chosen profession, regardless

of where you started out.

No one is managing you however, you've got to carve out your own

place, to know when to change course, and to keep yourself engaged and

productive during a work life that may span some 50 years. To do thesethings you'll need to cultivate a deep understanding of yourself - your

strengths, weaknesses, how you learn, how you work with others, what

your values are, where you can make the greatest contribution.

Operating from strengths allows you to achieve true excellence.

Great achievers in history have always managed themselves.

But they are rare exceptions, so unusual both in their talents and

accomplishments as to be considered outside the boundaries ofordinary human existence.

Manage yourself, develop yourself, stay alert to make the greatest

contribution in a 50-year working life.

Strengths...Whenever you make a key decision or take a key action,

write down what you expect will happen. Nine or 12 months later,

compare the actual results with your expectations.

Put yourself where your strengths can produce results.

Work on improving your strengths. Analysis will show you where you

need to improve skills or acquire new ones.

Managing by Commitments by Donald Sull HBR june 2003:


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Commitments, used wisely, can be powerful tools to help a company

beat the competition. Investments in production capacity or brand

recognition can deter potential rivals from even entering a market, and

heavy investments in specialized, iiliquid resources can be difficult for

other companies to replicate quickly. A signal sent by a majorcommitment can freeze competitors in their tracks - ex) When microsoft

announces a coming product launch, would be rivals rethink their plans.

[ex) shit, we can't do that...they've cornered that market...]

Managing yourself: The paradox of Excellence

by Thomas DeLong.

Higher achievers let anxiety about performance compromise their

progress.

Because they're used to having things come easily to them, they shy

away from assignments that will test them and require them to learnnew skills. Ex) They have successful images to preserve, so instead of

embracing risk, they hunker down and lock themselves into routines - at

the expense of personal growth

[ex) reminds me of quote--- "What will you risk today?"]

To achieve continued success, you must open yourself up to new

learning experiences that may make you feel uncertain at best and

incompetent at worst. Remember that those feelings are temporary and

a prelude to greater professional ability.

Managing Yourself: Extreme Productivity by Robert Pozen [just part of

the article]

CEO question: Which functions can only I, as the CEO perform?

You're more likely to be successful if you can look around and gauge

how you can be most useful.

Delegate trivial tasks to an executive assistant - flights to take, seating

plan at a dinner, etc. Rely on that person to get the tasks done correctly,quickly , and politely.

It's not the time you send, butthe results you produce [what will be the

results of this action?]

Staying up late arises from the idea that more hours equal more value

added. That is too simplistic. Your success should be measured by the


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results you produce, not the number of hours you log.

ex) Charging clients for the number of hours worked made no sense, the

billing method encouraged lawyers to work lots of hours rather than get

good results quickly.


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Success - taking a personal look at how you define success in your heart

of hearts and then finding your path to get there.

Too many people feel like victims in their careers, when in fact theyhave a substantial degree of control.

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What to ask the person in the mirror: Rob Kaplan -

When you become your own boss, you may not take much consideration

to your day-to-day actions

A key feature with leaders is that are quick to recognize a deteriorating

situation and find a way to get back on track as quickly as possible.

Self assessment is a great tool in this regard 3 moths app. ask yourself(more or less) how you are doing and what you may need to do

differently.

It's hard to see struggle when you're "in it" - changes in the

environment, competitors, and personal circumstances can guide you

off your game.

Leaders often fail to adequately communicate their vision to the

organization. They also don't communicate it in a way that helps theirsubordinates determine where to focus their own efforts.

How often do I communicate a vision for my business?

Have I identified and communicated three to five key priorities to

achieve that vision?

If asked, would my employees be able to articulate the vision and

priorities?

How am I spending my time? Does it match my key priorities?

How are my subordinates spending their time?...Does it match the keypriorities for the business?

Do I give people (inc. myself) timely and direct feedback that they can

act on?

Do I have people (inc myself) who will tell me things I may not want to

hear, but need to?


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Am I giving myself challenging assignments?

Am I delegating sufficiently?

If I had to design my business with a clean sheet of paper, how would Idesign it? How would it differ from the current design?

How do I behave under pressure? What kind of signal am I sending my

subordinates?

Is my leadership style comfortable? Does it reflect who I truly am?

Do I assert myself sufficiently? or have I become tentative?

Employees want to know where the business is going and what theyneed to focus on.

However often you think you discuss vision and strategy, you may not

be doing it frequently enough or in sufficient detail to suit the needs of

your people.

A common pitfall in articulating a vision is a failure to boil it down to a

manageable list of initiatives.

Are you task oriented to the point where you can accomplish your

sought goals? The top priority goals?

Managers have a responsibility to translate their vision into a

manageable number of priorities that their subordinates can

understand and act on.

Failure to communicate your vision and priorities has a direct cost to

you in terms of time and business effectiveness.

Determine whether you're spending your time - your most precious

asset- in a way that will allow you to achieve your goals.

ex) you may be wasting time on things that could be delegated you

aren't specific: say on senior talent development and global expansion

but you're focusing your time on administrative matters and domestic


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operations.

Categorize how you want to spend your time: ex) business

development, people mgmt, strategic planning, etc.

Delegate activities that are low on the totem relative to how you wish to

spend your limited resources and their cost.

Just as you would step back and review a major investment decision,

you need to dispassionately review the manner in which you invest

your time.--> Daily Reminders

Don't let criticism demoralize you, take all criticism constructively and

use it to continue to build, grow, and reach greater heights.

Embrace the "awful truth" - things that are difficult to hear but that youneed to know

It is your job to make sure that the design of your organization is

aligned with the key success factors for the business.: Am I attuned to

the changes in the business environment that would require a change in

the way we organize and run our business?

The world is constantly changing, your customers needs change, yourbusiness evolves, new products and distribution methods emerge, etc. If

you don't change along with them and optimize, your business is up for

some risk.

It may be emotionally difficult to make meaningful changes - you may

have to fire someone you intentionally hired, you may have to change

the way the businessyou constructedis run. You have to be open to

change that can be uncomfortable for some time.

Involve juniors in decisions because they aren't as emotionally invested

and can objectively look at what needs to be done.

Does my leadership style reflect who I truly am?

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What You Don't know about making decisions - David Garvin


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Decision making is not an event. It is a process that unforlds weeks,

months, even years.

Decision making as an inquiry - open process designed to generatemultiple alternatives, foster the excahnge ideas, and prdocue a well-

tested solution.

Do not make decisions as if it was a contest.

Passion makes it almost impossible to make objective decisions, be

aware of that.

Become a critical thinker when it comes to decision making, accept

constructive criticism, remain open to alternatives.

Have balance when it comes to decision making, to suppress ego and

personality problems, to encourage that the bestdecision be made.

Being inquiry focused allows you to consider a variety of options, to

work towards the bestsolution.

The goal is not to persuade the group to adopt a given point of view, but

instead to come to an agreement on the best course of action.

Make participants feel comfortable to raise alternative solutions and ask

hard questions about the current situation, next step etc. - make it an

amazing discussion, never an argument.

People engaged in an inquiry process rigorously question proposals and

the assumptions they rest on, so conflict may be intense - but it is

seldom personal.

A process of objective inquiry will produce decisions of higher quality.

In business that will advance your company's objectives and it will

support growth in a timely manner.

Cognitive conflict - involves disagreements over ideas and assumptions

and differing views on the best way to proceed. This is crucial to


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effective inquiry.

When people express differences openly and challenge underlying

assumptions, they can flag real weaknesses and introduce new ideas.

Do not engage in interpersonal conflict, which is emotional and involves

rivalries, personal friction, clashing personalities, which all diminish the

effectiveness in decision making.

People tend to take any criticism personally and react defensively. Such

emotional fallouts can linger, and make it harder for team members to

work together.

Ask tough, combative questions, and expect well-framed responses.

Creativity: Ask unexpected, hypothetical questions to inspire creative

thinking.

You can foster beneficial debate by dividing/working with different

groups with competing/related responsibilities.

ex) here would be one group generating proposals while the other

generates alternative recommendations.

Structure and create an environment that will make people morecomfortable engaging in debate.

ex) PCR- proposal, critique, revision...[repeat]

Keep it from being personal by avoiding the use of "touchy"/"offensive"

words considering your group. -ex) "Fuck, that, that's

dumb/stupid/idiotic etc" too--> I think we have the possibility of

making a wiser decision...here's what I think/here's my proposal as to

how...

A tool to assist with inquiry decision making becoming/thinking like a

"disinterested critical thinker" - rather than a rep. for a

department/your life etc.

Are there any overlooked or important assumptions? Untested

assumptions?


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Once you've made a decision and dismissed alternatives, previous

solutions (even if preferred) will have to be let go.

Procedural justice- the leader will make the ultimate decision, but thepeople participating in the process must believe that their views were

considered and that they had a genuine opportunity to influence the

final decision.

Combine voice (giving everyone a chance to express their views) with

consideration (the belief that the leader listened to them during

discussion and weighed their views carefully before deciding)

strategically to use your team to its fullest effect.

When working with a team, you must avoid suggesting that your mind isalready made up and that you are open to ideas that differ from your

own.

Successful decision making - high quality, made in a time manner,

implemented effectively.

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Being More Productive interview with David Allen and Tony Schwartz

What do I actually want to do?

What are the right choices?

What are the costs of this choice?

Bursts of high intensity 90 minute activities, then break. Repeat.

What is the outcome that I desire? What is the next step?

It is humbling to know that humans are creatures of habit - what youdid yesterday is what you are going to do today. Replace the bad with

the good, the things you truly need/want to accomplish and that's a step

in the right direction.

Always do the most important task of the day first thing in the morning,

when you're most rested and least distracted.


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Humans are designed to - avoid pain, and move toward pleasure..realize

that you need to get into the habit of saying - "there's a better choice to

be made here"

HBR: Are you solving the right problem by Dwayne Spradlin

Indeed when developing new products, processes, or even businesses most

companies arent sufficiently rigorous in defining the problems theyre attempting

to solve and articulating why those issues are important. Many organizations need

to become better at asking the right questions so they tackle the right problems. The

product isnt important, the solution it provides is. Focus on providing a solution

more than developing some ambiguous, ill-defined product that wont sell because it

doesnt achieve results. this is a good point to touch on. What is your problem? &

more importantly, how are you solving it? Not having taken the time to identify your

problem (and subsequent problem solving venture) puts you in an ineffective

position. Is problem solving at the core of most, if not all of our actions?We now know that the rigor with which a problem is defined is the most important

factor in finding a suitable solution. Yet weve seen that most organizations are not

proficient at articulating their problems clearly and concisely. Many have problems

identifying crucial to their missions. Problem Definition process : 1) establish the

need for a solution. What is the basic need? What is the desired outcome? Who

stands to benefit and why ? 2) Justify the need: is the effort aligned with our

strategy? What are the desired benefits and how will we measure them? How will I

insure that a solution is implemented? 3) Contextualize the problem: What

approaches before have we tried [what has failed?] ? What have others tried? What

are the external and internal constraints on implementing a solution? 4) Write the

problem statement: Is the problem actually many problems? What requirementsmust a solution meet? Which problem solvers should we engage? What information

and language should the problem statement include? What do solvers need to

submit? What incentives do solvers need? How will solutions be evaluated and

success measured?

When you dont employ a rigorous process for understanding the dimensions of a

problem, leaders miss an opportunity to address underlying strategic issues. Ex)

visual cue that sweets deliver, the eat me signal ]. Creating a thorough problem

statement allows you to understand the problem, why you should tackle it, and the

level of resources it should receive. When you dont have a thorough statement

defined you often allocate too few resources to solving major problems or resources

focused on the wrong problems. Its useful to assign value to a solution ex) 100million solution will get you to dedicate more time and resources than an ill defined

value. These questions could also be applied to product development: What is the

basic need focused on the heart of the problem. What is the desired outcome?

Customer perspective. Metrics are key here ex) improving fuel efficiency to 100mpg

by 2020. Who stands to benefit and why? Identify all potential customers and

beneficiaries.


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Why should your organization attempt to solve the problem? Is the effort aligned

with our strategy? Is it worth it? Does the solution focus on the focus on the

companies mission ? Is it enough or do you need to do more? What are the desired

benefits for the company an dhow will we measure them.?

[personal ex) if I can get people to kick their processed sugar addiction the us health

would improve, disease would decline, company productivity would improve etc.Why should I create a healthy company product to have business owners

revolutionize their workers productivity and sequential output. How will we e

ensure that a solution is implemented? Assume that a solution is found someone

must be responsible for carrying it out. This is alos the part where you assess the

required resoureces needed for successfully implelmenting a solution often times

it requires more than you think. The language you use is also important in problem

definition and solution, so you can get people ( possibly far removed from your level

of expertise) to understand what is going on and work efficiently. Ex) when you

speak to others using language they dont understand, you fail at effectively

communicating with them.

What approaches have we tried? The aim here is to find solutions that might alreadyexist and identify those thatdont work. What have others tried allows you to see

the effectiveness of past efforts/attempts.

What are the internal and external constraints on implementing a solution? Can you

obtain the money, people, support, etc. for a promising solution. Legal matters and

blockades are also included in this area.

Now rite a full clear description of the problem youre seeking to solve and the

requirements the solution must meet.

Sidenote: [my business ventures arent extremely difficult or complex, Im not

making a non invasive scanner that makes cancer cells pop, Im looking to make 7

figures, which is not even what my ideal life requires (which is why #s are a must).

What information and language should the problem statement include? Ex) noindustry/discipline jargon or presupposed knowledge. What incentive do solvers

need? Incentives motivate people to address the problem.

HBR Six myths of product development: Stefan Thomke

It is understandably a struggle to bring projects in and on time and on budget.

There are never enough resoureces to get the job done an dpredicatable schedules

and deliverables are expected by management. Certain strategies, which may work

well for underperforming companies may actually hurt product development. High

utilization = overwork = delays some ambitious projects (product development)

may require much more resources than you have.

- Im guessing that the first point is, overuse/overcommitment of resourcescauses a decline in productivity (output).

When partially completed work sits idle, waiting for capacity to become available,

the duration of the overall project will grow. You can decrease utilization and

quicken project completion by limiting the # of active projects put others on hold

until your current project is complete.

Dont spread your reasources too thin, again, voercommitment reduces potency and

ability to complete projects. Dont overcomplicate your product, less is more


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effectively. Complexity actually distracts and takes away value. Focus on solving the

problem and the few features that do it.

Immerse yourself in the context of your product/service being used put yourself

in the experience. Customers want a product that just works effortlessly. Steve Jobs

said, Find the key underlying principle of the problem and come up with a

beautiful, elegant solution that works.Determining what features to omit is just as important as the once to include.

Consider customer value and ease of use in your product. Ex) Figure out whether

deleting a feature will enhance the customer experience. You do this by:

Hypothesize, test, conclude and do this often. Development teams often assume

their products are done when no more features can be added, yet products are

closer to perfection when no more features can be eliminated. Tolerate initial

failure: getting it wrong the first time and learn from your failures quickly instead

of trying to be fail free.

Checklist for product development: 1) Make delay/stalling visible (identify it

quickly) 2)quantify cost of delay and factor it in to your decisions 3) where

utilization is highest, implement resource slack 4) start projects only when ready forfull commitment 5) simplicity is the goal- not unnecessarily complex products 6)

focus on quick feedback (and implement successful change) instead of first-pass

success).

- avoid overdesign : the faster you launch and get feedback the faster you canfix problems and improve the products. Fail early, fail often- mantra,

meaning dont be risk averse.

The benefit of small batch testing and smaller, less complex projects is that there is

lest investment and less room for large failures and large waste.

Failure doesnt really exist if you learn something valuable. Make great strides in

developing better products in less time and at a lower cost.

Pricing to create shared value by Marco Bertini:

Businesses, routinely exploit customers by taking advantage of lack of

information/understanding, limited attention, or limited choice.

Without a willing customer, there is no value.

Personal note: as much as price may repel a customer, it can also attract ex) Whos

excited to really shop at Kohls or Walmart vs WholeFoods & Barneys. Quality sets

price too.

You must perfect the language you use to communicate with customers. Pricing

sends messages to customers like what you think of them, and how you want them

to interact with your product.

Focus on relationships, not on transactions. You can build a relationship through optin sights, and online feedback.

Consumers often come to identify with the brands they buy and firms hope to

encourage this, preferring loyal customers to ones who engage on a transactional

basis. However dont let pricing undermine the relationship between brands and

their followers.


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Sometimes pricing may say: We value you as a wallet [but what about niche

targeting a specific income demographic, ex) my customer makes 250K/yr and my

pricing reflects that.

By focusing on the relationship rather than on the transaction it could both create

additional value for customers and capture more of the market for itself.

Pricing flexibility can extend the relationship term of your customers vs. inflexible1 price options. Ex) single purchase/membership purchases.

Promote transparency about the way you make money in most ways focus on

building trust and goodwill among customers. When you focus on customer

engagement, they have a higher retention rate. They also spend more and at higher

price points, are more forgiving of mistakes, more likely ot provide useful feedback,

and invest in additional services.

When you arent transparent you send a signal that you have something to hide,

which distances customers and puts you on the defensive it develops tension and

conflict. Extensive product lines, complicated pricing plans, obscurity = bad signals

to customers and bad businesses.

Complexity prompts inquiries and complaints products and aspects of yourbusiness should be intuitive and comprehensible. A goal should be to improve

customer satisfaction and loyalty. Seek honest engagement with your customers.

When pricing seems fair, consumers often buy more and are more willing to pay a

premium. Explain to your customers what they can expect from your product ,

through some communicative method direct or indirect. What not to relay to

your customers we value your money more than we value you. You

shouldnt coerce your potential customers into unplanned or unnecessary

purchases.

Focus on becoming a customer service champion, a good title can draw browsers

and potential customers in, esp if not scared away by price.

What business schools can learn from the medical profession by N. Nohria the

medical profession excels in bridging the knowing-doing gap with its students

(doctors in training), as the patients are their test subjects / real world scenarios.

Inserting business students into real-world managerial situations is much more

challenging, they still have to work harder at closing the knowing-doing gap.

Interaction is what distinguishes experience from internship.

Reviving Entrepreneurship by Josh Lerner:

Find ways to allocate human and financial capital as it can be tremendously

beneficial to what you can accomplish. Entrepreneurial ventures create new

companies and new jobs, new markets which all help with positioning in a globaleconomy. Esp considering places like China & Brazil.

Challenge conventional wisdom, attempt new, highly speculative strategies and

ventures. Participate in risky research as much as you can. Recognize how

extraordinarily important it is to recognize the need for entrepreneurs to challenge

the current status quo and come up with alternatives that deliver better results and

reach new levels. It is the responsibility of entrepreneurs to generate game changing

innovations. Theres a big difference between being a private business owner and an


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entrepreneur. Participate at a global level, branch out and gain what it takes for a

multi-national presence. In ventures, be willing to end programs that are not doing

well.

Your Strategy needs a Strategy Marin Reeves.

Oil business ex) a company carefully marshals its unique capabilities and resourcesto stake out and define its competitive position. Competitive advantage comes from

reading and responding to signals faster than your rivals do, adopting quickly to

change, or capitalizing on technological leadership to influence how demand and

competition evolve you should match your strategy making processes to the

specific demands of their competitive environments.

Vivid ex) Going into space with a wetsuit vs a space suit. Your strategy should fit the

environment and its specific needs

Are you equipping your business to deal with the harshness of its environment and

the requirements of success?

A successful thought- deploy your unique capabilities and resources to better

capture the opportunities that are available unto you. Strategy factors: predictability how accurate and far ahead you can forecast demand, corporate performance,

competition, market expectations.

Malleability to what extent can you or your competitors influence those factors

pers: my industry is a bit of shaping and visionary. It is unpredictable but I can

change it.

Shaping: high growth industry (internet) , barrier to entry is low, innovation rates

are high, demand is very hard to predict, competitive position is in a flux. When an

environment is malleable, the goal is to shape the unpredictable environment to its

own advantage before someone else does (corner the market while you can).

Shapers focus on flexibility, and take advantage of their market by rallying a

formidable community of customers, suppliers, tech platforms and businesspractices.

Visionaries employ the build it and they will come, their predictablility factor is

high and is what is used as the steam for continuity and creation they rely heavily

on knowing success after launch being imminent. They need to marshal resources,

plan thoroughly, and implement correctly so the vision doesnt fall victim to poor

execution. They need courage to stay on course and the will to commit the necessary

resources. Vs also need to employ ambitious initiatives. Pitfalls in business strategy-

misplaced confidence (inability to impact or mold an industry for example) ;

inability to focus on metrics and regularly checking performance measures.

Consider these business factors : industry youthfulness, growth rate, innovation

rate.

HBR Blog:

Idolize Bill Gates not Steve Jobs by Maxwell Wessel:

Why ? Ex) Bill & Melinda Gates foundation has given over 25 billion in funds

directed towards development and disease elimination.


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Gates: I hope you will reflect on what youve done with your talent and energy. I

hope you will judge yourselves not on your professional accomplishments alone, but

also on how well you work to address the worlds deepest inequities, on how well

you treat people a world away who have nothing in common with you but

humanity.

hbr notes on business & entrepreneurship

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