In his new book Car Guys vs. Bean Counters, former GM, Ford & Chrysler executive Bob Lutz asserts that great products come from people passionate about the product, not MBA’s, brand managers or financial analysts. Lutz’s advice is not new nor is the choice as simple as he suggests.  Pricing, cost and positioning matter, so [...]

After a two-month absence due to other demands on my time (clients and cycling in the French Alps!), this piece sizes up the strategic challenges facing Google+ as it attacks Facebook’s established dominance in social networking. Your Toaster or Mine? When two people move in with each other, there’s always an excess of toasters to [...]

This week, Cisco Systems announced they were shutting down Flip Video.  Introduced in 2006 as a single use video camera for CVS Pharmacy, it was re-launched in 2007 as Flip Video: an elegantly simple video camera with a built-in USB connector. Flip sales rocketed and the company was bought by Cisco Systems in 2009. Flip [...]

The two previous posts in this three-part series (Profits Beyond Platforms and Inventing Customer Experience) provides lessons applicable to any company.  Apple’s passion for minimalist perfection, however, is deeply rooted in the unique genius of Steve Jobs and Apple’s culture.  It’s captivating, describable but very difficult to copy. Shortly after joining Apple’s original Mac team, [...]

This is part two of a three part series on the strategy behind the integrated product, service and content platforms that forge the Apple Fortress.  In Part I-Pacing Profits Beyond Platforms, we defined the three cornerstones behind Apple’s transformation: 1. Pacing for Profits – Apple sets a deliberately moderate pace that extracts disproportionate profits while [...]

Working wider begins with thinking beyond today’s boundaries.  Over three posts, we’ll explore how Apple grew by blowing away traditional boundaries of product, service and content strategy . Stephen Elop, the new CEO of Nokia, recently issued a memo to Nokia employees where he compared their predicament to that of an oil worker trapped on [...]

I grew up near Cow Lane so when I think of farming, my mental images is barns and cows.   Constant recitals of America,The Beautiful in grade school enable me to see an occasional waving field of grain in the background. Fish farming?  I get it but that just raises my interest anytime I see “wild [...]

On Christmas, the New York Times ran its most riveting story of the year. Deepwater Horizon’s Final Hours has all the drama of a Hollywood action movie as it recounts the final nine minutes on BP’s ill-fated rig. In contrast to the coverage of efforts to stop the ecological damage from the BP oil spill [...]

A seismic tremor rippled through the Internet this week.  Did you feel it?   The recent FCC decision opened the door for tiered service levels for wireless Internet while preserving equality among wired customers.  Just as the recession permanently altered some of our assumptions about the economy, the FCC action signals a New Normal for the [...]

I have yet to meet anyone that to one degree or another isn’t angry at the large banks’ “head’s I win, tails you lose” behavior.  With that acknowledged, this piece reaches beyond the personal anger to explore the damage done to our global competitiveness.  Part of the  remedy is to actively spread the economic ecosystem [...]