Inspiration for you: February 2011

February 24, 2011

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4 principles of a conscious business

In this very interesting interview with John Mackey , I learned about 4 principles of the conscious business:

# 1: Purpose. Minute 16 and minute 21

I need to breathe in order to live. I need to create red blood cells in order to live, but that is not the purpose of my life to eat, to breathe, to create red blood cells. I have a much more transcendent purpose in my life that gives my life meaning and value to it. Business is no different. A business has the potential for a higher and deeper purpose and that is the first principle of a conscious business.

When you work from a higher purpose you unleash greater degrees of commitment, greater degrees of loyalty and greater creativity in the workplace and that gives competitive advantage.

# 2: Stakeholder model. Minute 19 and minute 22

The 2nd principle is that there is a variety of stakeholders that are interdependent, that are connected together, customers, employees, suppliers, investors, communities—both local and larger communities—and then the larger environment that we’re part of.

When you work from the stakeholder model, you understand that you’re trying to optimize the entire system. You are able to do that in such a way as when you optimize the entire system you also optimize the value that you’re creating for the investors as well.

# 3: Servant leadership. Minute 19

The 3rd principle of the conscious business is what we call a conscious leadership, or you might also think of it as servant leadership.

# 4: Culture. Minute 20

The 4th principle is that to realize these first three principles you have to create a culture, a conscious culture that has strategies, structures and processes that create a culture that optimizes the stakeholder model, fulfills the purpose and allows the conscious leadership to do their jobs.

At the end of the great interview, John Mackey talks about businesses that have strong innovation potential. He mentions, for example, healthcare, education, travel, and entertainment.

February 23, 2011

The rise of the connected generation

Reading this article I learned the following about Generation C, the connected generation:

# 1: As a rule, they were born after 1990.

# 2: Many of their social interactions take place on the Internet. In fact, they are the first generation that has never known any reality other than that defined and enabled by the Internet, mobile devices, and social networking.

# 3: They are communicating, community-oriented and always clicking.

# 4: They are typically realists and materialists.

# 5: They live with their parents longer than earlier generations ever did.

The arrival of Generation C will have an impact comparable to that of the Industrial Revolution, but it will take place much more quickly.

February 19, 2011

Ideas for hairdressers

At the hairdresser, I spontaneously came to think about the following 5 ideas to improve the experience for customers and hairdressers:

Idea # 1

Make the ground around the chair, in which the customers sits, softer. That will make it more comfortable for the hairdresser to work. Consider, for example, using material which is applied in some playgrounds.

Idea # 2

Make it possible for the hairdresser to raise and lower the chair in / from the ground. That will help the hairdresser work in more healthy positions and also help the customer sit in a position which is right for him/her. For example, the hairdresser could lower the chair of a customer who is tall and thereby avoid raising shoulders and arms to cut his/her hair.

Idea # 3

Make it possible to schedule appointments on the Internet. Thereby, hairdressers will be less disturbed by the phone when they are working.

Idea # 4

Place a self serve coffee machine and a couple of comfortable chairs in a corner of the hairdresser shop. This initiative will improve the customer experience in case of waiting time.

Idea # 5

Install speakers in the hairdressing shop that can be connected to any smartphone. Also, encourage customers to bring their favourite music on their smartphones. Thereby, the customer experience can be individualized even more. In addition, the music may serve as a conversation topic for hairdresser and customer.