Finding the Space for Innovation, Competitive Advantage and Talent Management

1. Creating?Cheaper Space
2. Do Your REALLY Need a Competitive Advantage?
3. Don't?Leave Me!
4. Civics Lesson: "American?Freak Show"
5. AI and?Million Dollar Mistakes
6. Econ Recon

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Cheaper Space

Most of us have heard of “Moore’s Law” promulgated by Intel founder Gordon Moore who predicted in the 1960s that the cost of computing would drop by half every 18 months. That prediction has been realized over the decades resulting in the awesome and affordable technology we all have access to.

No less remarkable than the fall in the cost of computing is the dramatic drop in the expense of space exploration due?to Elon’s Musk’s SpaceX innovation of the reusable booster which allowed the US to claim 81% of all global launches in 2023. Launches of satellites and people have become so commonplace that we forget that it was once so expensive that only the government (e.g., NASA) could undertake them.

Whatever you think of Elon Musk,?his achievements in reducing the cost of space travel rival those of Henry Ford in producing an affordable car for the mass market in the form of the Model T, Andrew Carnegie’s achievements in making low-cost steel (and, therefore, skyscrapers), and Gordon Moore’s ever cheaper microprocessor and the digital life you enjoy today.?

Get up to speed on a truly remarkable economic event with this one-page post?SpaceX: Leading Space Innovation. What thoughts does it trigger for you about innovation and handling failure in your own organization?

Do Your REALLY Need a Competitive Advantage?

Seems like a stupid question, doesn’t it? After all, Warren Buffett once said that competitive advantage was the most important investment criteria.

Vistage Speaker and competitive advantage expert, Jaynie Smith says,?“No, under certain circumstances. Thousands, if not millions, of look-alike companies are making decent returns, with some even experiencing impressive growth. Various factors contribute to their success. Sometimes supply and demand favors them, sometimes they benefit from lousy competition, and sometimes it is simple geography. At times a competitive advantage is not needed if one is selling the right product?at the right time in the right market. However, these scenarios rarely last for extended periods.”

If things are going well in your business, but it looks like everyone else,?you may be succeeding in spite of what you’re doing, not BECAUSE of it. Smith’s blog post??Do You Really Need a Competitive Advantage? ?will help you decide.

Note: ?Her short but compelling book, Creating Competitive Advantage ,?is a must read if your answer to the above question is “Yes.” It will help you discover?if you truly have a competitive advantage (many CEOs often confuse this with a “strength;” they are not the same thing) or help you get one.

Don’t Leave Me!

Honest and open feedback is a gift we give our employees;?and the same from them is equally important. But there is a chapter in an employee’s life where we might want their feedback more than at any other time:

When they’re leaving us.

An exit interview is uncomfortable for both parties and can often become the boss imploring the employee to stay without really learning anything regarding why the employee is leaving.?

Many companies request an exit interview when an employee leaves, but Vistage Speaker and Employment Law Expert Hunter Lott suggests that?maybe a “stay” interview conducted much earlier might have made the “exit “interview unnecessary. But if it’s too late for a “stay” interview,?there’s still a place for an “exit” interview according to Lott but at a very different time than it’s normally done.

Find out when that time might be?and a list of the?“Stay Interview Questions to Ask.”

Civics Lesson: “ American Freak Show”

?A common refrain today is how polarized and contentious the country has become...and a highly competitive election and 24-hour news cycle forces the reality of this in front of us anew every day. But WSJ columnist and Reagan White House Speech writer Peggy Noonan reminds?that it is still a UNITED States and recalls an event in our history that shows America, and Americans at their best - The Johnstown Flood of 1889.?

We can be appalled at the recent destruction wrought by Hurricanes Helene and Milton and admire the heroic efforts of ordinary citizens, FEMA, the Red Cross, and other organizations in aiding and assisting the victims. But a far great disaster in terms of lost lives occurred on May 31,1889, when the South Fork Dam above Johnston, Pennsylvania buckled under the pressure of recent heavy rains and cascaded down narrow valleys toward Johnstown killing over 2,000 people.???

Noonan recounts the disaster and how it brought out the best of a very diverse set of Americans. She writes, “History reminds us: America is and always has been a freak show. We should accept this in ourselves more, that it is in our nature as a people…We did something nobody ever tried before, to fill a continent with people from every country in the world, and ask them to come, build something, get along, and invent an arrangement of rules and rights by which they could operate together. It produced a dazzling, strange and gifted nation, a freak show, and a fabulous one.”

I hope you’ll take a few minutes for her recent post “What a Deadly Flood Revealed About America.” ? A good reminder about the really important part of being Americans.?

AI and Million Dollar Mistakes

When it comes to AI, for many small businesses it can feel like building the plane and flying it at the same team. AI is here and the tools are easily accessible, but the real payback requires solid implementation. But as the late Peter Drucker once said,?“Plans are just good intentions unless they immediately?degenerate?into hard work”.?

If you’re struggling with how to get started with Artificial Intelligence, Vistage Speaker Mike Foster offers an?AI Implementation Roadmap: The Executive's Guide to Avoiding Million-Dollar Mistakes . Mr. Foster writes “By following all these steps, you’ll be more prepared to deploy AI in your organization while addressing some essential security, legal, and operational concerns. Successful AI implementation is an ongoing process requiring continuous attention and adaptation.?AI is here to stay; you want to be thoughtful sooner to avoid costly problems later.”

Econ Recon

A “lukewarm” data set: ?ITR Economics Brian Beaulieu looks at recent economic data and sees a “lukewarm” economy. The latest edition of FedWatch explains why.

Time for a new tool kit? According to Brian Wesbury, there are two types of economic thought represented by differing school: ?demand side or “Keynesian Economics” (represented by the work of John Maynard Keynes) and supply side (Austrian) economists (represented by Milton Friedman and others). Wesbury suggests that the Keynesian school has created problems it can no longer fix. He warns that “The system has reached Peak Keynesianism. Like the late 1970s and early 1980s, it is time to change course. The good news is that because of democracy, this can happen any time.” Check out his blog post for a one-page answer to the question Have We Reached Peak Keynesianism?

Thanks for continuing to read the Make A Difference (MAD) newsletter. I appreciate you and wish you a productive week.

Sue Tinnish, PhD,?Vistage Chair, Facilitator, & Executive Coach

Find me easily at: 847.404.7325, [email protected] , Twitter:?@STinnish, LinkedIn: www.dhirubhai.net/in/suetinnish , Website: https://vistage.com/chairs/sue.tinnish