THE ENTERPRISE --Complexity, Leadership and IT Security
BRAND EXTENSIONS ARE EASY, BUT DANGEROUS MOVES--COMPLEXITY IS LURKING
Jack Trout and Al Ries said it 25 years ago in their legendary book, POSITIONING. Jack has been saying it ever since. Don't over reach what your brand means to its loyal customers or you'll ruin the brand--and damage it for those things where it built its value. It's starting to happen again as part of the rampant complexity mistakes being made around the world. Bulgari chocolates? Ralph Lauren everything? Roberto Cavalli vodka? Virgin everything? Ferragamo watches? Pierre Cardin trashed its brand decades ago by over-exposure and over extension.
It seems so easy to transfer familiarity and brand equity to next door products, until that process runs out of gas and damages the core brand itself. While this is happening, it creates untold complexity as more and more products under more and more names tumble into an already overpopulated market.
WHEN THE WRONG PEOPLE ARE PERCEIVED AS LEADERS
For a couple of decades now, there have been two men posing as leaders of "black Americans," when in fact, what they have been doing is fomenting unrest, creating racial tensions where few existed, and increasing their personal wealth and media stature through sensationalism and thinly veiled extortion. It's time America realized what a bad influence Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are--and it's high time the media quit following their every misguided move like they were real leaders. They are more like corrupt rock stars or criminals--if only the coverage reflected that. Nuf said.
SUCCESSION PLANNING IS TRICKY BUSINESS
The process of succession planning is a critical part of making sure an organization has the leaders it will need next, being prepared for those jobs above them when they become available. Some companies do it pretty well, and others don't do it at all. I spent my share of time in such a process either as the person doing it or the one it was "being done to." The largest challenge comes at the top where the practice has been that the COO becomes next in line to be CEO. It makes great sense from an organizational and experiential basis.
The problem is that the two jobs are hugely different in content, and require different skills and leadership attributes. The COO, in simplistic terms, is responsible for "keeping the trains running on time," in other words, getting results day in, day out. The CEO is responsible for "where the trains are going, and whether trains are the right way to get there," and gaining support from the various constituents of the company for that conclusion, whatever it is. BIG difference. Perhaps it is not surprising the top level succession doesn't work about half the time.
One example of a company that did it right: GE, under Jack Welch. Jeff Immelt was ready. So was Bob McInerny (who has proved it at two companies). Was Bob Nardelli? We'll see. His Home Depot stint leaves us wondering. At Chrysler he is a big question-mark.
CYBER-SECURITY--A HUGE RISK
You read it here again. Soon some outside agent, probably backed by a rogue nation will attempt to take down our information and communications infrastructure. They will be at least partially successful. I raised this threat in my novel THE SILENCE five years ago. (It's still available on-line--link below) http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/002-1145671-7388045?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=THE+SILENCE%2BMARIOTTI&x=9&y=26
Now the attacks by Worms and Viruses are picking up again, with even smarter and more damaging ones than I wrote about. Anyone who opened Elvis.mp3 or its variations, or been attacked by the Storm Worm (Jan. 2007 with newsy titles like "230 dead as storm batters Europe" have infected their computer. More important, they have made it part of a million computer network accessible to cyber-criminals. Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda don't need to fly planes into any more buildings to damage America.
All they need to do is take down the info systems supporting Wall Street, Banking, Air Travel and Civilian/Government Communications (Internet, satellite and cable TV, broadcast radio/TV, telephones, cellular systems, etc.) ALL of those are controlled by--right, you guessed it--networks of computers. These new worms and viruses don't want to destroy your computer--they just want to use it. Storm infected 1 million computers and probably more--because those were just the ones detected with it. Redouble your security because corporations, individual users, easy access computers (like hotel lobbies, coffee shops, etc.) are all at risk.
TO TORTURE OR NOT--A REAL DILEMMA
The answer is "never say never and always avoid always." Sometimes torture is necessary. Sometimes is it cruel, harsh and inhuman. Sometimes it is both. There is no way to write a "law" that considers the consequences and spells out the circumstances under which "any means" can be used to preserve the greater good. There is also no way to legislate against abuse. It is a part of the human condition to go beyond the rules--good and bad. All that can be done is to set "guidelines" and elect people of wisdom, honor and integrity to lead. Use that as your Presidential and Congressional candidate litmus test and you'll quickly see who to select in and out.
OUR DO NOTHING CONGRESS
We were unhappy with the Republican controlled Congress and its flagrant spending and ineffective legislation---so we elected new people in Congress and put the Democrats in charge. The result? it got worse. If we elect more of them, guess what? It will get still worse. Congress needs balance. It needs leaders we can look up to and believe in. Run that test on Pelosi and Reid and see where you come out. Then support candidates accordingly.
THAT'S ENOUGH FOR NOW.
Today was the annual Ohio State-Michigan rivalry game and although the game was in Michigan, OSU won it for the 4th year in a row (14-3) and here in Columbus, that's big news. As an old friend once said to me, "the OSU-Michigan game is not a matter of life or death--it's much more important than that." He was being facetious (I hope)....but it is always a big deal. Now Ohio State has to try to stay in shape for 7 weeks, when they will either go to the Rose Bowl, or--if all the upsets align just right--to the BCS Championship (a real long shot). Considering that this was supposed to be a rebuilding year, after sending more than 1/2 of last years team to the NFL, this has been a surprisingly good year.
Best, John
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