In their book about navigating the collapse of the US Auto Industry, Branding Iron, Charlie Hughes and William Jeanes describe a brand as “A promise, wrapped in an experience.” That’s always stuck with me, and it’s been a lens by which I’ve viewed brand ever since I read those words. A brand, at its best, is clear, simple, and focused, based on a balance of outward messaging from the organization, and inward perception from the…
David Douglas, VP of Service Management at Scientific Games, talks with Sarah about how to focus on continuous improvement and innovation in a mature service organization.
Last week I was invited to give a keynote presentation at DHL’s The Future of The Services Supply Chain event at the company’s brand-new Americas Innovation Center in Chicago. The 28,000-square foot facility featuring hands-on displays of cutting-edge technologies such as robotics, 3D printing, augmented and virtual reality, and many more was quite impressive. DHL put together a great lineup of speakers for a day full of learning, networking, and experiencing the interactive displaces the…
Your interview went fantastic and you remain to be pleasantly surprised on how forward-thinking everyone appears to be — this may be a great career fit. With the first round of meetings behind you, they invite you back to “get a feel” for the company by spending a day with several future teammates. Edgar, the accounting manager, welcomes you into his office. He is warm and inviting, and after some small talk suggests that you…
Jon Barr, Head of IT Americas at KONE talks with Sarah about how themes like agility, culture, AI and ML, and collaboration play an important role for any company looking to seize the opportunity of digital services.
When discussing service leadership traditionally, topics such as strong communication and a focus on change management and employee engagement have been top of mind. These things remain incredibly important, but the reality is, what is demanded of service leadership today has evolved along with the industry. In the experience economy with service as a strategic differentiator, innovation is essential. And it turns out, the traits that make a strong operational leader are not the same…
The IoT reality IoT is growing quickly, but are you prepared for what that means in reality? The Internet of Things (IoT) involves an increasing prevalence of objects and entities (things) provided with unique identifiers to transfer data over a network. A lot of the increase in IoT communication comes from devices such as computers, sensors, machine to machine (M2M) communication, smart energy grids, smart homes and buildings, vehicle to vehicle communications or wearable devices. This…
Erica Brister, President and CEO of U.S. Pest Protection, Inc. talks with Sarah about how she took on the family business and made it her own.
Last week was an action-packed week in Boston at IFS World Conference 2019. The event theme was “for the challengers,’ which I must say is a message I can really get behind. There’s a personal appeal, in the sense that I’ve always considered myself to be somewhat of a “challenger” — someone who asks a lot of questions, tries to think outside the box, and doesn’t back down in the face of resistance. But moreover,…
You have already experienced change and value in applying the former stages of the hierarchy of digital adoption to your businesses: digital trust, contextual computing, and insights. The final component of the hierarchy we will discuss will propel us over the finish line as we take digital trust, contextual computing, and insights stages momentum to alter our business habits. Often the word “transformation” is bandied about, but who really knows what this term means? If…
