“Everyday The World Is Guaranteed To Be Surprisingly Different”

“I can't give you a sure-fire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: try to please everybody all the time.”―?Herbert Bayard Swope

Everyday the world is guaranteed to be surprisingly different

When it comes to technology, politics, business, the economy and even the environment, everyday will deliver a surprise. There are many aspects to our careers and personal lives that come as surprises, some get promoted, others find a new job or lose one. The key to success is our own personal resilience and reactions to change. Some of us take them well others dismiss them or don't handle change well at all. The best longterm strategy to a world that is filled with the unexpected is to accept that stuff happens. The responsibility we have in this world is to ensure we are physically, mentally and financially fit. Because otherwise we could never help anyone else. Technology is about to take bigger leap this year and if we are not ready for it our future will be surprisingly different. I am of course referring to Artificial intelligence and its general ability to interact with us directly even if it is on a small scale and not that of the Issac Asimov novels. However, it will be a big leap and as time passes it will challenge many from in services such as education, marketing and even software developers. While I am excited about it, I am also concerned that we risk not being ready for the future. We can place a lot of rules around technology but you can't mandate companies not to be innovative and competitive, even if that means less people working in a company. Our future in work, our health, at home, and our social lives is all technology driven there is no going backwards. So everyday will be different and like the quote above you need to please yourself by being ready for that future. Businesses and people who follow the herd are seldom the happiest. Make your day surprisingly different become who you want to be.

Retailing: Let's not fall sleep at the wheel again

At most major retailers an ocean of signs have appeared with discounts. It didn't take long. Now that everyone is in the same place and deals so what. It all comes back to the same fundamentals, it always does there is no epiphany or eureka moment. Of course the real challenge is what we've said so many times before, "What it is the compelling reason to shop your brand?" I am going to be quite blunt. If someone tells that all your answers lie in simply defining your value proposition, the intellectual challenge is in even understanding what that means anymore! The speed of change with the introduction of new technology and its acceptance of it by consumers is almost simultaneous because consumers want greater convenience above all else. When the technology is easy to implement and for consumers to use, it also changes the dynamics of whatever you were thinking or being told is a solution. Be quick to respond or the situation will quickly impact your business. That is the 800 pound guerrilla in the room, if your strategy team and or consultants aren't addressing this you've got problems in traffic and sales.

Technology- Meet Generative Ai, your new business partner

Generative Ai is here and while people are dabbling with it. You can be rest assured many companies are trying to figure out both how to compete using it and to ensure that they are visible in this new world because consumers will use it too! There are many theories and more similar tools will surface to compete with ChatGPT. Here is a very interesting summary from McKinsey and an academic view from Harvard Business Review on what it means to businesses

Politics - Governments will never prepare us for the future

In the summer of 2021 I was releasing some charts highlighting what I was expecting from the businesses, government and consumers. This exercise helped write the New Bricks & Mortar Future Proofing Retail. The real story about this chart is that while somethings have not materialized and they may not, I have to be honest I worked hard to be optimistic and not appear overly negative. However if I had unleashed everything I was thinking here is what I would have added. "The slow to arrive post pandemic recovery is having many tolls on businesses, humans and our mental patience. Look the virus isn't gone and it will take a little longer. If history has taught us anything its not easy to shutdown the world and begin where you left off.?If we could travel back in time and just ask the people from the 1920's they would likely speak out and say it was rocky from the end of the pandemic to the crash of 1929. And the beginning of the great depression where people abandoned their homes with barely the clothing on their backs and their shoes on their feet.?" I didn't go this deep in the book but I was thinking it. Now I have to! We need governments and businesses to be very mindful of moving too quickly into the future without a plan that brings 8 Billion people along for the ride. We run the risk of repeating history if we don't.

Economy: What does the company Caterpillar have to do with an economic recovery?

Back in 2008 about a year after the housing market crash Caterpillar's stock price was on the rise. Not just because of a market rebound but it was outperforming many other stocks, simply business was good and the economy got better. Now the same thing is happening again 卡特彼勒 and some of its competitors 约翰迪尔 are also on the rise. That means business is good which means some industries are preparing for future demand. I am not suggesting the end of inflation. I am merely pointing out that equipment is being sold to construction, agriculture or mining companies. The global economy has been in a funk since March 2020. The first half of 2023 may be a rough ride it must be weathered by all of us, we need to buckle up. Where is the push for growth? Here is my synopsis. EVs are coming fast and hard over the next 12-18 months and demand will accelerate. Mining companies know this. The demand for Lithium as an example is expected to be 1.5 Million metric tons by 2025, by 2030 it is expected to double. First that means that the future is near and demand will grow as interest rates begin to drop. However not before lower demand and more layoffs happen. Companies need to restructure and refocus their business models to a slew of change.

What your retail strategic analysis say's about business longevity

The best in class organizations where successful strategies are formulated internally have an equally robust analysis of their strategies deployed. This isn't about learning from your mistakes it is about learning from the mental and operational processes used to discover, define, develop and deliver strategies. The better you understand it the more effective the organization becomes. Mistakes in organizations surface when we become comfortable with our process and believe that it no longer needs review or adjustments. Such is likely the fate of Party City and Bed Bath & Beyond among others. One win does not define an organizations longevity nor its capabilities to repeat it and have more wins. Understanding the process by which you have succeeded is the secret to being able to repeat it. In 2023 as we have seen in times past the retailers and businesses that grow in an economic downturn are those who know how to translate the practices in achieving past wins into future wins.

Personal Log: What Chickens and Bullies Have In Common

I didn't grow up on a farm but I know some people who did. They told me how chickens discriminate against other chickens. At times they had a chicken that looked a little different, seemed weak. However it produced a lot of eggs so they kept it. Nevertheless the other chickens noticed its differences. Things you and I would not really notice. But the larger group of Chickens didn't like it so they all pecked at that chicken to get rid of it, often trying to kill it. I realized that bullying in school yards, social circles and at work is no different. Not understanding why people are or choose to be different threatens those that like the status quo and their own self imposed values. The same applies to the underaged group of females who killed a homeless man in Toronto. They saw someone different, weakened by time and their own plights in life. Humans play a dangerous game with the lives of others and when they see its okay to verbally abuse someone, it can lead to more dire outcomes. Change starts at home, these underaged girls are responsible for the death of a human being. It wouldn't have happened if we taught stronger values and parents looked for clues at home and didn't just dismiss it as growing up.

Humans are always pursuing the latest and greatest in the hopes that they can improve their careers and business prospects. Learning is a great way to move forward. However when we mentally and on foot chase?after the farfetched, unproven and even the mystical there are more losers than there are winners. When you begin with the pragmatic you have the potential to define not just a future and opportunities, you define yourself as well.?

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