Transforming Organisational behaviour for “Service”

Local Kuwait Blogs have dozens of stories about Dr. Saad Al-Barrak resigning (or being asked to leave or whatever!) from Zain Kuwait earlier this year. If you are interested these blogs cover lots of facts/rumours and stories:

http://www.blog37.net/blog/2010/02/saad-al-barrak-resigns-from-zain/

http://www.buzberry.com/?p=13039

Personally I wish Dr. Barrak good luck with his future endeavours – he is a smart cookie and maybe trying to make Zain a global force was his downfall – he wanted to do too much and didn’t have the team with the ability to share his vision – who knows.

This post is really about how little Zain understands customer service (before or after the Barrak era). Customer Service is how I measure where a company is heading. Especially in today’s Facebook, Twitter and the very fast moving blogging world. Maybe some industries don’t get exposed – but screwing up with customers when you are in the hip-hop mobile service business – Lord help you if you dont ‘listen’ to your customers.

I have been a Zain subscriber for over a decade – have to say it’s not because I am a fan, quiet to the contrary. Zain have never known its customers – maybe that’s unfair – they may know that customer service is important but where would anyone go if they leave Zain? – is Wataniya or Viva going to be any better for knowing the pulse of their customers?

What if Kuwait had mobile number portability? Would I stay with Zain – no way! Not because I think Wataniya or Viva would be more customer focused (in fact I know for a fact that they will be worse!!) But I would change just for the heck of it … just on that 1% chance that the others will get their act together a bit faster than Zain

I consider myself a valuable customer for a mobile provider because I travel a lot and conduct a lot of business on my mobile; I am almost never late in paying my bill. I am what they call in the industry, high Average Revenue per User (ARPU) – the kind of subscriber all mobile providers want.

So many things I hate about Zain - Can’t say what situation I hate the most … maybe its because even after a decade of being with them they know absolutely nothing about me (apart from my mobile number I guess/hope!) I get sent SMS messages by them in Arabic – followed a few minutes later in English. I am sure this is highly irritating to all subscribers.

Talking about SMS message from Zain (right now their only way of engaging with their subscribers). Have a look at the messages I received from Zain in the last few days:

So I pay my bill in full on the 18^th of April 2010. Within 2 weeks I start getting sms messages to settle my bill for May. Hardly a month has gone past and I get messages basically telling me I will be cut-off if I don’t pay. And I have been a customer of Zain for well over 10 years!!

Wonder how they would treat new customers. Maybe I am being very picky now but just look at the messages I got (Table above) - look at the English, the punctuation, grammar. Even the times they select to send messages. I guess calling me just ‘Customer’ instead of my name isn’t that bad (or is it?) But if they understood ‘engagement’ they would know better. How can I pick on that when they haven’t even managed to see how to get the amount to the correct decimal places!

Everything about the messages says … “Look just pay up … we don’t care about anything else!”

After the first message I received I went to the website to pay – went through the steps put the number of my KNET and immediately got a message saying the payment ‘failed’ – my account had sufficient funds – but was KNET working? I get a message from Zain saying sorry payment failed – but was that message in some way integrated so they could tell I had tried to pay – I strongly suspect not!

Zain you are very lost! Doesn’t matter who runs the company – get to know your customers intimately – or else start reading stories about the Dinosaurs.

Tags: service, VIVA, Zain

The success of any business is dependent upon the people you have working within the company. That said – how does one hire the best.

There are so many aspects to hiring great people.

Two key things:

1. What criteria or what to value when evaluation candidates
2. Hiring Process – What is the best way of running the actual hiring process?

One of the people I really admire, Marc Andreessen (founder of Netscape and many other Silicon Valley startups) has written a great post ‘How to hire the best people you’ve ever worked with’ – it really is a great post and I agree with Marc wholeheartedly and have used his post to assemble the attached PDF files. Please find time to read these: (PDF Files below)

What-should-be-the-hiring-criteria

running-the-hiring-process

Tags: Hiring the best people

Kuwait and the region has many businesses that basically started off as small family-run institutions in the 1960’s and 70’s – most were very successful but are today desperately trying to reengineer themselves to fit into the digital world of the 21^st century.

Some of these will succeed and some might not. The success these companies have enjoyed for 5 decades is probably their biggest inhibitor – I mean if you have been doing things that have succeeded for so long – why change? Fair question you would think – well maybe not!

Marshall Goldsmith and Mark Reiter have done a great book called “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There” is a must read for companies or organisations that are insisting on applying 1960’s business philosophies today.

Another book I highly recommend is THE ORGANIZATION OF THE FUTURE - a compilation of pretty short 39 essays written by a real mix of business leaders, academics etc. describing the structure of tomorrow’s organisations.

The practical suggestions in the book also reference the well renowned concepts of Peter Drucker, the man they say invented management. The Book is full of intriguing questions and choices, and lots of good ideas about how to make the desired changes.

PS - If you haven’t heard about Peter Drucker before, he has written 40 books, many translated into dozens of languages. Drucker was a business guru and did some great things for transforming businesses of our century.

Tags: Marshall Goldsmith, Peter Drucker

I have spent almost all of my working life around technology and aligning business with the great promise of the latest and greatest super computer or operating system just announced.

I have seen small companies introduce technologies with great creativity and results and huge mega-corporations fall flat on their face with just small projects.

Maybe my experience can help those that are wondering why the millions on introducing SAP drove the business backwards when the promise was to give more control of your inventory or your supply chain – or the biggest challenge – effective management of your biggest asset - PEOPLE!

The alarming results published by Gartner and other analysts declaring that only some 30% of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) projects succeed should have sent shivers through CFO’s signing SAP, Oracle invoices.

So why do 70% of ERP projects fail to deliver business benefits?

SAP is great software and since there are a good number of successful implementations, it’s fair to say that the technology is good and works. Oracle isn’t far behind in functionalities either.

Technology is about the 3 P’s - People, Processes and Products. Unfortunately most companies start in reverse (products first and people last).

I have repeatedly seen things fail because of people failing (lack of key user input and active engagement, senior management support etc.).

Next reason of failures can be attributed to processes (not enough emphasis to the processes that are being implemented and not enough business scenario integration tests). SAP is integrated, that’s it strength and advantage, but it can’t do your internal processes, policies and procedures.

If the processes are not tested and signed off in the system before going live and users are not adequately trained (sometimes to save both in terms of time and real dinars) then everything is a surprise and senior management are left wondering what happened.

Summary of why I think projects fail in Kuwait and the rest of the region – actually around the globe.

1. Improper communication; you must have a communication plan - who needs to be communicated to, what to communicate and what method of communication to use. This is much easier today with great collaboration tools available. But Projects continue to not meet business requirements.
2. Projects fail due to lack of change management control and communicating the impact of changes to project scope. The casual approach to change management has been responsible for many failures. Consulting houses (won’t mention any names unless you want to email me directly!) that normally get awarded these projects are mostly always weak with change control. They recruit people with almost no psychology/communication qualifications and they send them out into the field expecting a miracle. Good change managers are almost obsolete. Change management isn’t easy, you could be using all the models and project plans which can help, but they will not assist in challenging projects or effecting real sustainable change. I always found it amusing when SAP project managers say “I can do change management but I don’t have the time.” Change management is an art.
3. Projects fail due to lack of leadership (project manager) and sponsor support - the project manager builds and supports the team - the sponsors support the project. To succeed as a project manager you must have leadership, oral, people and written communication skills.
4. Projects fail due to improper risk management - you must understand the risks to the project and just as importantly the risks to the business and have a plan to deal with the risks.

It’s more important than ever to recognize project problems early so that you can correct them or at least cancel the project before wasting too many resources.

Early warning signs that projects are in trouble:

1. Uncommitted, inconsistent or completely missing senior management.
2. Project management and business disconnected.
3. Business goals not clearly articulated and/or understood.
4. Project Team members not in complete unison.

If you notice any of these things happening on your projects, the time to act is now. Don’t wait until it becomes obvious that the project is a disaster in the making. By intervening at the first sign of trouble, you may be able to save both projects and careers.

Tags: ERP, Oracle, SAP

These days it seems people at the office are busier, jumping from subject to subject, “fire-fighting” rather than productive planning to stop having the fires in the first place.

What does “busy” mean? The word busy should be abolished. When you ask someone, “How are you?” and they say, “Busy,” what do they mean?

To me “Busy” means turbulent, hysterical, and even frenetic. Perhaps you are addicted to busy. You like what busy does for you. Maybe it gives you an excuse for poor performance or to ignore parts of your life that are not too well and need attention.

Those of you going around the office telling everyone how busy you are, get a hold of yourself! Get a hold of yourself and please calm down.

There’s a big difference between a busy day and a full day. Busy is worried and doesn’t mean you are effective.

Maybe you believe busy means important. But busy really means out-of-control.

A full day means planned and prioritized. Full is fine and expected. But important people have full days, not busy days, because important people can’t afford to be out of control.

Instead of being panic-stricken with “busy” maybe you need to aim for “Flow”.

What is “Flow”?

Have you ever been involved in an activity where you felt alert, in effortless control, unselfconscious, performing at your best? A sense of time and emotional problems seem to disappear, and maybe there is a feeling of transcendence, or oneness with the activity? This state was probably characterized by enjoyment, complete concentration, and deep involvement in the activity. Maybe you were reading your favourite book, sitting in the diwaniya with close friends, doing your favourite hobby, playing your favourite sport, being with a loved one.

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you were in a state of optimal experience called “flow” by the famous researcher, professor and former chairman of the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi devoted his life’s work to the study of what makes people truly happy, satisfied and fulfilled and concluded “Flow” to be a unique state of mind where productivity and creativity are at their highest bringing a feeling of complete and energized focus in an activity, with a high level of enjoyment and fulfilment.

Csikszentmihalyi developed a series of theories to help people get into their Flow state. Since then, these theories have been applied to various fields for designing better human interactive experiences. Flow generates the grand ideas, phenomenal work, and intense, rewarding experiences that people identify with happiness.

Flow occurs when you are fully present and engaged in what you are doing; the concept of time melts away in a commitment to the goal-oriented activity. This feeling requires being occupied and engaged for uninterrupted chunks of your day without ever once thinking that you’re rushed for time. People who are busy do not get this feeling.

I also don’t accept that you can’t help it. You can. Here are some steps that will help:

1. Prioritize. This is not a to-do list or career goals. You need to list what you want in life. It should be a short list. Being professional means making choices and admitting that we cannot do everything and choosing to devote the time we have to what’s most important. By scheduling your days with more things than you can accomplish, you are not taking control of your life. You’re letting chance take control. Chance will dictate what gets done because you refuse to prioritize.
2. Say no. Whenever someone asks you to do something don’t be shy to say no. Your priorities at work and home should be clear. To do something well, you must be focused. That takes self-discipline. But when you say yes to please someone, it shows you lack the self discipline to be focused. Stick to your priorities – don’t take things that would compromise set priorities.
3. Change how you talk. Don’t ever say again that you’re busy. If this is your current response, realize you can’t bear to give up your dreams and being busy veils your fear of underperformance. You need to say something more honest than busy.

When you have done the above steps, you will no longer be busy. You will have room to be focused and captivated. Then, when someone says, “How have you been?” you might have something better than “Busy” to say.

Watch this video where Csikszentmihalyi outlines the main characteristics of flow, which you may relate to from your own experience:

Video About Flow Theory

Tags: Flow Theory, Too Busy

We will continue to be disappointed by CEOs until we drop the superCEO mindset. Companies will fail to perform as expected—even those run by Leaders considered being titans, legends, or saviors.

The best Leaders can’t do everything by themselves. Leaders must learn to serve rather than preside and intelligently ‘carry’ the rest of the workforce towards its goals. Leadership is an increasingly valued and sought after skill these days - its about wisdom, experience, vision but most importantly:

The ability to execute

Some of the best ideas in the world would probably have remained on the ‘shelves’ if the ideas didn’t have leaders with a clear ability to execute

Leaders must take decisions – sitting on the fence is just not an option.

In Kuwait, and pretty much across the GCC Region, finding leadership within the public or private sectors is a challenge. Secondly, locating leaders that have the ability to execute is like needle in a haystack – procrastination seems to be the ‘comfort-zone’.

I have unfortunately been involved with countless good  projects/ideas that were presented to people in-charge of  companies or government departments – Even when decision makers  were sold on the idea or project they didn’t seem too perturbed  about waiting endlessly.

Somehow the delay was also never because of them (!!) they were  waiting for someone else to take a decision.

If the Region is to progress and join other progressive parts of the  world – the region must really focus on developing real Leaders that  have the ability to execute.

Tags: Kuwait leaders

Tags: Leadership

Traditional leadership skill building cannot develop transformational leaders of today.

Transformation comes from the inside out; it’s a way of being.

Visionary, inspirational Companies are heavily investing in the proactive personal development of their leaders including exploration of personal values, life purpose and character strengths.

Some characteristics of transformational leaders are:

1. They do the right thing and not just follow what might be the most expedient, simple or cost-effective.
2. They have ‘values’ and “vision” that hold real meaning and can very clearly be articulated by them.
3. They ask the right questions that challenge the beliefs and creativity of followers.
4. They believe in their Teams and offer them genuine care, compassion and support.
5. They see their followers as human beings with full lives, not just as resources.

These leaders are ‘coaches’. Their relationships are steeped in trust and that trust inspires employees to be their best for the team.

Tags: Teams, values, vision

Employee engagement is very much dependent upon leadership style. Some leaders inspire their teams and bring them to life and there are those that perpetuate disengagement.

Great deal of data is available that tells us that one of the most important drivers of employee retention and engagement is competent and visible senior leadership. Leadership that is truly and sincerely committed in the well-being and future of the company’s employees.

Leading organisations desperately want to recruit and retain smart innovative employees. Today’s smart people want to work for transformational leaders that can inspire them and invigorate them.

Tags: Emoloyee engagement, Leadership, Leadership Styles

Don’t we all wonder how some companies sustain high growth in both revenues and profits while their main competitors see nothing! What’s different about these high-growth companies? Do they just have more innovative policies/people?  Better vision maybe? 

Various studies show that the reason is linked with business strategy. 

Probably the most acclaimed and relevant work is done by W Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne in trying to dig for answers. 

After studying 30 companies across a wide range of industries, the authors believe they discovered the secret of sustained, high rates of profitable growth. 

In a nutshell the conclusion was that less successful companies took the conventional approach and concerned themselves with beating the competition while the more successful companies paid little attention to competitors, with a focus on making them irrelevant through “value innovation”. 

I highly recommend reading the work done by KIm and Mauborgne to understand “value-innovation logic”

Tags: innovation, sustained growth