Looking at More, Looking Deeper

Instead, we can only control how we behave, which is the primary influence on how our story is told by others. Think how easy it is to peer into the inner workings of a company today. Chat rooms, online forums, instant access to financial reports and transactions, 24-hour news coverage from around the globe; almost nothing goes unreported.

Because there is more to look at, we want to look deeper. For companies, simply having a vision and mission no longer suffices because people can see whether our behavior is consistent with our vision and mission. As a result, we have begun to judge people and companies in different ways. We now expect a higher level of transparency from everyone and every company. To thrive in a hyper-transparent world, we have to learn to be "actively transparent," to turn the specific conditions of the age to our advantage.

Third, our flattened, hyper-connected world has limited previous modes of competitive differentiation. Almost every product, service, or process a company creates—our "whats"—can be reverse-engineered by competitors.

So many of our whats are quickly becoming commodities. Every company answers the phone on two rings. Numerous manufacturers—not just Dell—have moved to just-in-time inventory.

Human Conduct: The Next Frontier

The hows of human conduct are to the 21st century what process reengineering was to the last. When business leaders realized that the soft and subjective aesthetic of quality was in fact hard and quantifiable, we began measuring inefficiencies at every level of production, and everyone got good at quality. So good that it, too, became a commodity. To thrive today, we can no longer differentiate ourselves based on what we sell to the customer—or the processes we use. Instead, we need to differentiate based on the connections we establish and the experiences we create that engender trust and loyalty.

Human conduct—how we do what we do—represents the next frontier of powerful differentiation. The qualities that many once thought of as "soft"—trust, integrity, honesty—are now the hard currency of business success and the ultimate drivers of efficiency, productivity, and profitability. Connections can reduce supply-chain risk, enhance customer experience, help executives exert greater influence over a highly decentralized global workforce, and ultimately lower costs and boost revenues.

Just ask the University of Michigan Health System and the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago, two pioneers among a growing number of medical institutions using an innovative way of connecting (or reconnecting) with customers: letting doctors apologize to patients when they make mistakes. Both medical providers achieved hard business benefits from their revolutionary departure from the traditional "deny and defend" response to physician error. Since the policies that allow doctors to apologize began, The New York Times reports, malpractice lawsuits have decreased by 50% at the University of Illinois Medical Center and by nearly 70% at the University of Michigan.

Or ask Ralph, who found a way to increase his sales volume and reduce his person-to-person service time while building customer loyalty. Ralph learned what we all need to learn: Shifting our focus from what to how has extremely beneficial consequences.

Ex. 1 Skim through the text and answer the questions.

1. What is the main principle which may help us to thrive in the 21^st century?

2. How did Ralph manage to serve an extraordinary number of customers?

3. How can you describe his innovative business approach in economic terms?

4. Why is it so important to move from a "what" mindset to "how"?

5. What are life and business in a hyper-connected world?

6. Why do companies try to be "actively transparent"?

7. How did the hyper-connected world affect competition?

8. How did it change human conduct?

9. Why have malpractice lawsuits decreased by 50% at the University of Illinois Medical Center and by nearly 70% at the University of Michigan.?

10. What lesson did Ralph taught us all?

11.

Ex. 2 Read each statement carefully and decide whether it is true or false. If it is false, tell why, or explain how the statement can be changed so that it will be true.

1. Products and services are central to thriving in our hyper-connected world.

2. Ralph could differentiate his business based on his baking skills, but he reduced his transaction costs by substituting trust for the labor of making change.

3. If we intend to thrive, rather than merely survive, in the 21st century, we need to move from a "what" mindset to "how".

4. Communications technology joined us together across time, distance, culture, and country, and we quickly developed frameworks to understand one another.

5. Nowadays we can shade the truth, fib a little on our résumé, and tell one customer one thing and another something else.

6. For companies it is enough to simply have a vision and mission because people cannot see whether their behavior is consistent with their vision and mission.

7. Our flattened, hyper-connected world has limited previous modes of competitive differentiation.

8. Such qualities as trust, integrity and honesty are no longer the hard currency of business success and the ultimate drivers of efficiency, productivity, and profitability.

9. We all need to learn how to increase the sales volume of the company and build customer loyalty.

Vocabulary

Word list

1. a backseat	незавидное, скромное положение
2. to thrive	благоденствовать, преуспевать, процветать
3. endeavor	предприятие; попытка;
4. to scatter	разбрасывать, рассыпать
5. to marvel	изумляться, удивляться; восторгаться, восхищаться
6. hunch	подозрение, предчувствие; интуиция
7. transaction costs	операционные издержки
8. to forge	ковать
9. mindset	(привычный) образ мыслей, тип мышления
10. leap	прыжок, скачок
11.to fib	выдумывать, привирать, придумывать
12. subpoena	вызов в суд, повестка о явке в суд (под страхом наказания или штрафа в случае неявки)
13. to peer into	заглянуть, посмотреть
14. suffice	быть достаточным, хватать
15. to flatten	выравнивать, разглаживать
16. to exert	оказывать давление; влиять

Ex. 1. Discuss your word list, definitions and examples with your team members.

Ex. 2. Complete the sentences using active vocabulary.

1. Connections can reduce supply-chain risk, enhance customer experience, help executives____________________ greater influence over a highly decentralized global workforce.

2. Products and services remain vital, but they now take a _____________________ to human connection.

3. The author believes that the principle of ‘how we do’ applies to all levels of human _____________________ and business interactions.

4. Kottke downed his doughnut while ____________________ that all of the customers who followed him either gave Ralph exact change or made their own change.

5. It is easy to _______________________ the inner workings of a company today.

6. For companies, simply having a vision and mission no longer ______________________ because people can see whether our behavior is consistent with our vision and mission.

7. But if we intend to _______________________, rather than merely survive, in the 21st century, we need to reframe our orientation.

8. Moving from a "what" ________________________ to "how" one requires a major shift in perspective.

9. Ralph found a way to "outbehave" his competitors by using trust to_____________________ a deeper connection with his customers.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16