buggy whip you ever saw. Now how would you have liked
to have been a stockholder in that company?
13
An analysis by [Robert] Moskow found that
the top US food and beverage companies
have lost an equivalent of $18 billion in
market share since 2009.
‘I would think of them like
melting icebergs,’ he says.
‘Every year they became
a little less relevant.’
“
”
—Fortune p. 63, Issue 6.1.15
The War on Big Food, Beth Kowitt
THE WORLD WE
GREW UP IN IS GONE.
EVERYTHING
HAS CHANGED.
And not only changed, but it’s been
disrupted, turned upside down, inside
out, modified, altered, and robotized.
The future of work involves
machines … smart machines!
Even your grandmother
is on social media.
15
THE NEW OCEAN
The advent of the digital age has ushered
in a whole new universe, and it’s not just
about technology.
It’s about the way we work,
where we work,
how we work, and
what we work on.
We used to talk about businesses that were in the red ocean
(lots of competition) versus those that created and swam in a
blue ocean (a unique niche they developed).
Given the changes occurring at a dizzying
pace, businesses find themselves in a
BRAND NEW OCEAN.
17
OLD STRATEGIES WILL
NOT WORK IN THIS
NEW OCEAN.
Gripped by fear of the unknown, many companies, individuals,
and brands cling to the way they have always done things—like
the owner of the burger joint staring longingly at the food truck
across the street. Where could he have missed his opportunity?
Why did his customers leave for food served out of a kitschy
airstream or retrofitted van?
FEAR prevents many individuals and organizations from
changing, and instead they opt to crawl into change
rather than run to it.
IF THIS IS YOU OR YOUR COMPANY,
you are decidedly stuck — a beached whale.
Above illustration, from my hand drawn/written book
Whiteboard: Business Models that Inspire Action.
If you like this book, you will love Whiteboard!
(
)
—
GARY HAMEL
“PURSUING INCREMENTAL
IMPROVEMENT WHILE RIVALS
REINVENT THE INDUSTRY IS
LIKE FIDDLING WHILE
ROME BURNS.”
IS YOUR
COMPANY
BEACHED ?
21
IT’S TIME TO UNBEACH
AND SWIM INTO
THE NEW OCEAN.
BEACHED
23
RAGING AGAINST
THE MACHINE
Walk around your company and see how
many Dilbert cartoons are posted on bulletin
boards, in offices, or outside office doors.
This is ALWAYS an indicator to me that employees are raging
against the bureaucracy machine. They are trying to tell their
leaders something. If you have a large display of Dilbert
cartoons around your office, your company is beached.
UNBEACH
Stop at every cubicle and ask them to share what the particular
cartoon displayed means to them and how they have experienced
it at your company. Ask them to share their frustrations with the
company, leadership, etc.
Really listen.
Ask for a list of changes they would implement if they were able
to that would make the company stronger and less bureaucratic.
Ask what you could do right now that would help them feel
differently about the company.
25
DE-DILBERT
BEACHED
When people say …
“Living the dream”
at work, it generally means they work
at a beached whale company.