complacency
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Keep note of these thoughtsTRANSCRIPT
Dr Mario Denton
Introduction It’s not what we know, it’s how we use what
we know that counts! “Applied common sense”
We all have within ourselves, reserves of energy that we will never use, nor do we even realise its existence
Most new ideas do not depend on new information, but on putting together old information in a new way!
Standing still......... Standing still is the
fastest way of moving backwards in a rapidly changing world
Innovation is the central issue in economic prosperity - Michael Porter
Failures of imagination Forecasters in 1948
estimated “only a dozen or so very large corporations will be able to take advantage of the computer”. IBM made an early decision not to market the computer because it could never prove profitable.
Some food for thought The ability to learn faster than the
competition is often the only sustainable competitive advantage a company can have. Arie de Geus.
There is no such thing as a failed experiment, only experiments with unexpected outcomes. Buckminster Fuller.
BenchmarkingBenchmarking is about improving
competitive position, and using best practice to stimulate radical
innovation rather than just seeking minor, incremental improvements on historical
performance
Don’t keep a good person down
As long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you otherwise might. Marian Anderson.
A goal is a dream taken seriously!
If you can dream it, you can do it! Curiosity has its own reasoning for
existing. Albert Einstein. You are the best until proven wrong
Every new idea is born drowning
A new idea is at its most vulnerable during the first moments of life. In any important relationship, one negative comment outweighs ten positives.
Solving problems.....
Problems cannot be solved by thinking within the framework in which the problems were created. Albert Einstein
A problem is a chance for you to do your best. Duke Ellington
A ship in the harbour A ship in the harbour
is safe, but that is not what ships are built for. William Shedd
People cannot discover new oceans until they have the courage to lose sight of the above
Risktaking
The trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more. Erica Young
The greatest waste of our natural resources is the number of people who never achieve their potential.
The ability to think in opposites
The ability to think in opposites so that opposing ideas occur in the mind simultaneously is an important property for creativity
Yesterday’s successes
“ Be careful of yesterday’s successes, because success taste so good it dulls the appetite for risk. Alvin Toffler
A new set of eye glasses
Instead of pouring knowledge into people’s heads, we need to help them grind a new set of eyeglasses so that we can see the world in a new way.
J S. Brown
The northern pike story
An interesting experiment was performed using a fish tank capable of being divided in half by a clear glass partition
A Northern Pike was put in one half of the tank.
The northern pike story (continued)
A number of small fish, normally food for the northern pike, were placed in the other half
The Northern Pike could see the small fish plainly and it repeatedly crashed its snout against the clear glass partition in an attempt to get at the small fish
After a time the Northern Pike gave up, having learned it was of no use
The experimenter then removed the clear glass partition
The northern pike story: learning points The small fish continued to swim in one
half of the tank and the Northern Pike in the other, making no attempt to cross into the other half of the tank
What the Northern Pike experienced in the past dictated how it reacted in the future
ObstaclesObstacles
always show up when you take your eye off the goal.
“ A Grizzly story” An American took his
Japanese friend for a ride through the woods
The buggy broke down and they decided to walk
After some time they were confronted by a big grizzly bear
The Japanese immediately started taking his takkies out of his knapsack
The Grizzly story: part 2
The American said: “Hey, that won’t help - you can’t out-run a grizzly bear”
To which the Japanese replied “I don’t have to out-run the bear - all I have to do is to out-run you”
The meaning of the story
No company, however well established, can afford to
develop a sense of complacency in the present, highly competitive industrial
world.
Career stages
Exploration
Trial
Establishment
Maintenance
Stagnation
Decline
Growth
NEEDSNEEDS 25 4530 3520 50 60AGEAGE
HIGH
PER-PER-FORM-FORM-ANCEANCE
Sources of complacency
Complacency
The absence ofa major andvisible crisis
Low overall performancestandards
Too much happytalk
“Kill-the- messenger-of - bad- news” or low - confrontationculture
Human nature with its capacity fordenial
A lack of sufficientperformance feedback
Kotter, 1996
Enthusiasm..... The real secret of success is enthusiasm Enthusiasm is the yeast that make your hopes
rise to the stars Enthusiasm is the sparkle in your eye, the grip
in your hand, the irresistible surge of your will and energy to execute your ideas
Enthusiasts are fighters .... they have fortitude and they have staying qualities
Enthusiasm is at the bottom of all progress
The success formulaeP = F(M x A x E) Where F = function
P = PERFORMANCE
M = MOTIVATION
A = ABILITY
E = ENVIRONMENT
Five kinds of companies
1. Those that make things happening 2. Those that think they make things
happen 3. Those that watch things happen 4. Those that wonder what's happening 5. Those that don’t know anything is
happening
The future........ The Future is a matter of
choice, not chance. You are where you are because of decisions you took - or didn’t take - sometime in the past.
The shape of tomorrow depends entirely on how you act, right now
Ask questions.......
The ‘silly’ question is the first intimation of some
totally new development. Alfred North Whitehead