the fluid way

a 15 minute guide to survival in a new

communications and business world

written by liri andersson and jonathan macdonald from this fluid world
october 2009
consider the following guide to be organic, high-protein, low-fat
and full-flavour food for thought. or more so, an essential meal
after a long period of malnourishment in this winter of business
discontent

all you need is 15 minutes to nourish your brain…bon appetit!

 we all know what's going on
it’s unprecedented, this change at the blink of an eye: people’s
expectations have shifted, technology is omnipresent and omnipotent,
and ‘word-of-mouth’ has become turbo-charged. we've seen a massive
shift in control - away from organisations, onto citizens. you're now
competing with everyone from the person next-door to companies on
other continents… and all this is putting a huge strain on your
organisation
 it’s been a bumpy road
for most of us, the last few years have been fraught with job changes,
redundancies, poor work-life balance, missed targets, endless meetings with
more questions than answers, companies closing down – sometimes we've
found it too depressing to read the press!

we’ve learned the hard way that we have to do business in a different way…
but the question is how?  
 confusing, we know!

there isn’t enough effort being invested into

answering the vital question “how should we do
business tomorrow?” maybe because many of us
are still asking John Nichol’s immortal words, “who
ate our cheese?”

forget the cheese - what we really should be

doing is answering the following:

o  what business are we in?

o  what's our sustainable point of
differentiation?
o  who are we competing with?
o  who should we work with, cooperate with,
trust… and who should we walk away from?
o  and finally where is the money going to
come from? (good cheese needs a lot of
bread)

but for the brave few who ask, their reward is

(unfortunately) few answers, and more questions  
 the future can be orange
we are convinced that there's a light at the
end of the tunnel for anyone who is looking to
answer these questions… and is willing to take
the necessary first steps forward into the
unknown

as for us, we want to do our bit to help. we

hope our thoughts will shed some light along
the way
 so let’s get started…

some bits are easier than others, but

everything we discuss here is
achievable

and we know this for sure because

we've helped companies achieve what
we talk about, and we’ve been
privileged enough to have worked in
companies that have successfully
addressed these challenges

the guide is made up of 10 real do’s

and 10 real don’ts - nothing
hypothetical; just fully tried and
tested advice

so let’s get started

 1
in pursuit of ‘there’

“we need to get there and we need to do so quickly”… familiar phrase? in our
line of work we hear it all the time. everyone wants to get ‘there’, but ask
where ‘there’ is and most people in the same organisation will give you a
different answer

it’s rare that a company, or even a department, has clearly defined and
understood goals (and the existing goals aren’t necessarily always the right
ones). it’s rare that an organisation takes the time to define what they’re
about, and it’s rare that they build in the necessary mechanism to ensure
everyone knows the answer once they have figured it out

so we urge you, before you take another step: ensure you, and everyone else,
knows what ‘there’ is, where ‘there’ is, and what it will take to get ‘there’
 1
ensure 150% clarity
successful companies have one thing in
common, they're completely clear about
three things 1) who they are 2) what they do
and 3) why it matters (try to answer all these
questions, it’s deceptively harder than you’d
think)

it’s this total clarity that makes running these

companies a breeze (well maybe not a breeze,
but much easier than navigating a storm)

making every day decisions, settling internal

arguments, identifying relevant partnerships,
allocating resources, deciding on where and
how to invest and who to hire (the list is
endless) becomes so much easier

resources have always been a rare

commodity in organisations, but now more
than ever, so why waste them on losing sight
of your goals and having to find your way
back?
 2
maintaining status quo
why do companies tend to remain the same? human nature dictates that
we prefer doing what we already know well. we also need an ROI on
previous investment – after all, wasting money isn’t a popular pursuit.
finally, the need for change is often seen as something that can be
addressed by someone else, at some far off point in the future

it’s too easy to misunderstand the type (and speed) of change that’s
needed whilst we focus on every day business. there seem to be few
drawbacks to not changing if every day business is going well

these behavioural traits are a comfort zone, and whilst no-one wants to
lose their comfort, in a world that’s in permanent flux, maintaining status
quo is a dangerous place to be
 2
build in flexibility for adaptability
change is continuous and unavoidable. the most productive way to become
adaptable is to make flexibility part of your culture

there are many ways this can be done:

o  sketching first and specking later leads to fast execution and

exploitation of opportunities
o  developing a trusted network of suppliers and freelancers allows you
to respond to specific needs as and when required
o  allocating an 'ad-hoc' budget that can be spent where and when
needed for greatest impact, keeps you quick on your feet and
ensures faster turnaround

the competitive advantage of flexibility and adaptability is extreme, as it

gives your competition a limited view of what your next move might be  
 3
myopic view of the world
familiar picture?

you and your team work more hours than you care
to count (and a lot of them are spent in Dilbert
cubicles). you’re always pressed for time so it’s hard
to keep up with what's going on. you’re expected to
do what you’re paid to do, no more, no less. and you
do this faithfully and with little variety day-in, day-
out, you don’t have much to do with other
departments, and rarely work with anyone outside
your company or assigned client

far too many businesses are managed and run in

this siloed way

the problem is, no solution today involves only one

company, one department, one discipline, one channel,
one job role, one type of customer. the world is a big
massive melting pot and to be relevant and
competitive you need to deliver solutions that take
advantage of the opportunities presented by this
converging business world
 3
keep learning, keep growing
foster curiosity: it’s the most valuable commodity of them all. make sure people
get out of the office and into the real world (at least once in a while), make sure
they meet citizens, talk to consumers, look at what non-related companies are
doing.… encourage them to keep looking, asking, questioning, listening, observing,
talking… to embrace their inner child!

and to help them out, throw some new people with different perspectives into the
mix, even if only for a few hours, or a day

make it a common goal to find time and cost efficient ways of gathering and
spreading the new knowledge throughout your team or company, not as a one-off
but continuously  
 4
follow competition blindly

most companies obsess about competition and what they’re up to. there’s a
serious problem with this: it’s riddled with assumptions! it assumes you know
who your competition is (remember the world is changing), it assumes the
ones you're following know what they’re doing and why, and it assumes
they’re playing the game you should be playing

equally it takes your eyes of the ‘real’ ball; doing something that truly stands
out…choose to lead and let others obsess about what you're doing!
 4
ignore competition
take the time (and resources) you'd normally spend on competitive analysis and
start obsessing about people. start looking at what no one else is doing, what's
NOT out there, question the market you’re in, and the one you’re not in

why? to disregard the standard differentiation of others and to avoid their

mistakes

by doing this you’ll spend your valuable time, not on following, but on identifying
what it will take to elevate you, your team, your department and your
company, to a higher playing field - a field where you lead and don’t follow
 5
only do what worked yesterday
you have an idea, you want to do something
different, yet you can’t get the budget because
you can’t answer management’s questions like
‘who will buy it?’, ‘how much revenue will we get in
the 1st year, 2nd year, 3rd year?’

sound familiar? (we guess you’ll either have asked,

or been the one saying no, at least once in the
last year)

it’s normal - it’s so much easier to focus on what

you can predict, prepare and plan for (this
mostly based on past data). one problem: the
past is not going to be very helpful to predict a
very different future. also, dismissing what could
be a great idea by evaluating it according to old
world principles will not lead to the necessary
innovation your company needs to move forward

…taking calculated risks will have to be part of

every day life, and planning to learn has to
become part of the agenda
 5
explore and exploit
here’s a paradox for you, from now on you will have to stay the same and
change… simultaneously

this unpredictable world requires every business to not only exploit the present
(basically make money today), but also explore (do things you’ve never done
before), in order to grab hold of opportunities, in order to evolve, in order to
compete…in order to have a healthy business today and tomorrow

find the balance within this paradox, and you can learn faster than others, and
what you discover will become yours to mould to your advantage. you will
develop the ability to adapt, whilst making profit today
 6
a jack of one trade
being fantastic at one thing is great but it’s no
longer enough

o  today's consumer expectations are higher

than ever
o  not only that but these expectations are
constantly changing
o  there is an inherent risks with putting all your
eggs are in one basket
o  and finally, focusing on one thing - albeit
successfully - runs you the risk of not seeing
new ways to add real value to the people you
interact with you and to your organisation 
 6
unlock extreme value
potential value is everywhere. it’s in your people, corporate culture, business
model, customers, communications, products and services. identifying and
unleashing internal and external value provides a solid and prosperous
foundation for profitable business so you must find it and capitalize on it

remember though that value for others doesn’t need to be monetary.

what it does need to do is resonate with the receiver. this requires an
understanding of people which is very different from asking people to fill in
a survey or even making assumptions about them from their behaviour

but value alone is not enough, what we need is extreme value... by this we
mean value with a follow-on effect, by which new value created can be
shared with others who will continue to share again, and again, and again
 7
bland is dead

in an increasingly busy landscape, people only notice things that stand out
(you know, like a purple cow, or Madonna fully-dressed...) but in order for
people to engage, that ‘thing’ they notice has to make them feel something.
humans relate to, and engage with, things that resonate with them; that
stir some emotion

when there's no passion around an organisation, in its strategy, staff,

products, services or customers, the outcome can only be bland, mundane
and unremarkable

in this fast moving and competitive world, if you’re in the background and
stir no emotion you’ll significantly decrease your chances of survival
 7
create an army of fanatics
there's no better PR than the customer
who advocates you to others, so what you
really want to do is to build an army of
fanatics; they'll make a stronger
salesforce than anyone on your payroll

however you must be aware that fanatics

who support you and your every move,
require respect for doing so and need to
be treated as your most valuable
partners

listening and learning from your biggest

fans, enables you to provide even more
value to them and the process of
advocacy can continue

the good news is that it’s incredibly hard

to compete with a company that has a
fanatical following - be that company!
 8
thinking your superman
it’s far too common for companies to
think they can do everything on their
own. but the truth is not having a
sense of openness and a thirst for
partnerships limits our capacity to
succeed

successful organisations (the ones

making lots of money) often feel that
they're super-powered, predicting that
the future will look just like current
success. but just because they make
millions today, doesn’t mean they
control the future market (think
Singer sewing machines)

today's discerning consumer is turned

off by arrogant companies that think
they control everything – people
prefer companies that ask for help;
companies that want to cooperate
 8
collaborate!!!
collaborating adds extreme stability to an
organisation by the combined power of
support from others

it ensures that other skills and capabilities can

be collectively used to build more value...and it’s
a nice feeling to share success! (even Superman
had Lois Lane!)

collaborating with citizens expands your

workforce to include fans who often assist with
more passion (and less cost) than everyday
staff

collaborating with freelancers and consultants

broadens your horizons and nourishes you with
new perspectives

choose the right partners, and you'll reap the

benefits
 9
brand centric view of the
world
we know you love/sleep/eat/drink
(delete as appropriate) the brand
you work for. but overestimating
the interest people have in your
brand is a bad idea, as is the
assumption that you can control
how the brand plays out in people’s
lives

the days of creating and launching

a brand, that remains in the
control of organisations, are gone.
once people have access to a
brand, they chose what to do and
say about it

most companies are resistant to

this but the truth is this will turn
people away from the products
and services you provide
 9
‘citizentricity’ the only way forward
we believe the trick is to build solutions around people, not organisations,
and certainly not brands. we call this ‘citizentricity’ (which is a cunning bit of
word-play matching the word citizen with centricity!) 

with citizens at the centre, it’s really crucial to understand people

we know for sure that understanding people allows us to increase value for
them, which in turn drives loyalty and advocacy - that’s the ideal result

understanding the links between what people value, prefer and recommend
opens up the ability to provide more personalised experiences of higher
value - and it just so happens that people tend to pay for what they value

new business models will have to be built as citizentric – we suspect that

citizens (i.e. your potential customers) will be very pleased if you make that
happen – ‘citizentricity’ is the new black!
 10
hire who you’ve always hired
most companies think it takes longer to learn the skills required to do a job
than it actually does - so they keep hiring the same people, from the same
background with the same experience. this is an easy solution: it ensures the
job gets done

but hiring as before will only provide the same results as… er… before. what
it won’t do is allow you to compete in this evolving world

this will require original ideas, new solutions and new ways of doing things,
and for this to happen you’ll need to bring different skills on board:

o  generalists to do some of the thinking (people with vertical experience

across industries, brands and business problems)
o  highly talented specialists to execute (nothing less than extraordinary
will do in the not too distant future)
 10
work with mavericks

Tom Peters said it best, “crazy times

call for crazy organisations” - and
these are crazy times. so by that
rationale, the moment has come to
call in the crazy people!

these times demand of you to be

different, to find ways of unlocking
people’s creative thinking beyond just
'the box' - but out of warehouse, and
to encourage brand new viewpoints

winning in this future will require

some risk taking, and this goes for
who you decide to work with too

notice we said work, not hire! let the

mavericks come and go, as needed!
 11
one more for the road - be
brave
we intended to share 10 do’s and don’ts with
you, but coming to the end of our time
together, we realise there's one thing we
haven’t covered enough; something we feel
is not just relevant but crucial to
everything you’ve just read...and that is
bravery

so as a last point we would like to

encourage you to take risks, to go with
your instincts, to do things differently…to
be brave… moving forward we will all need
to spend considerable time outside our
comfort zone

we see this as an opportunity, we see these

as exciting times, and we don’t doubt that
whomever gets ‘it’ right will not only enjoy
the ride, but reap the rewards of their
bravery
at this fluid world we believe tomorrow belongs
to the ones who…
1.  ensure 150% clarity
2.  build in flexibility for adaptability
3.  keep learning, keep growing
4.  ignore competition
5.  exploit and explore
6.  unlock extreme value
7.  create an army of fanatics
8.  collaborate!!!
9.  embrace ‘citizentricity’
10.  work with mavericks
11.  are brave
at this fluid world, we deal with all of the points raised in this document.
here is a taste of what we hear from our clients:
o  we need to increase revenue or develop new revenue streams
o  we need to develop a new business model
o  we need to change but to what and how?
o  we need to have a clear point of differentiation
o  we need to future proof our organisation
o  how do we inject some energy and passion into our organisation?
o  we need to build our organisation’s and our people’s capabilities
o  we need to understand what's going on in new media
o  what's ‘mobile’ about?
o  should we consider social media, mobile, or interactive?
o  we need to innovate around our products or communications
o  how to go from idea generation to successful implementation

if any of these questions are similar to your needs, then please get in
touch and we would be delighted to explore ways in which we can help
you define and achieve your goals

the next page contains our company and contact information

this fluid world assists
companies in their search
for business and
communications excellence
fitting to the ‘21st
century’
this fluid world enables
companies to change and
evolve, develop new revenue
streams and execute
successfully in the context
of a changing
communications world
the way we engage with
organisations is through
consulting, resourcing,
learning and development,
in addition to public
speaking
to find out more about us,
please go to:
www.thisfluidworld.com
if you have any comments,
thoughts or enquiries, we
would love to hear from you -
please get in touch:
liri andersson
me@liriandersson.com
+44(0)7919 543 435
jonathan macdonald
me@jonathanmacdonald.com
+44(0)7767 777 456