“Book retailers across the globe have been hit in recent years, firstly by the rise of internet-based retailers including Amazon and more recently by growing demand for electronic books.” Courier-Mail Feb 18, 2011.

This is yet another example of Darwin’s theory applied to business. “It isn’t the strongest of the species that survives, nor the biggest, it’s the one most adaptive to change”. It is vital that businesses of ALL SIZES monitor the environment and adapt. One of the key differences between businesses that thrive and those that perish, is the amount of learning that is taking place within the organisation.

If your business (and the people in it) are not learning faster than the pace of change, your business is at risk of becoming obsolete.

To ensure your business is optimizing learning check that you have strategies in place in all 6 zones – see previous post.

It's isn't the strongest of the species, it's the ones that adapt best that survive?

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if we use our time efficiently.

In previous posts I’ve highlighted the importance staying ahead of the game by learning faster than the pace of change. It is vital that we keep learning!

One of the SIX components of our learning plan should be Incidental learning. We need to take advantage of ‘gaps’ in our schedule, short periods of time when we are waiting (eg waiting for appointments, waiting for a flight, driving to an appointment or commuting) by having suitable materials ready we can leverage these brief periods of time to our advantage.

Getting organised

• Folder in your briefcase of trade magazine articles or other items TO BE READ
• Set up FlipBoard (or similar) on your iPad for quick reference of blog posts or articles to read
• Link to TED videos on your phone
• Download audiobooks on your ipod or iphone or CDs in your car
• Use iTunes to download MP3 files of relevant podcasts

Taking a little time now to set things up will ensure that you use small windows of available time effectively. This will help to keep you learning faster than the pace of change.

The world’s population is getting older and companies are starting to take note. Designers and marketers are working to develop products and services tailored to an older clientele but with mass-market appeal, such as hands-free parallel-parking technologies and wireless pillboxes that keep doctors posted on when patients take their medications. “Companies are starting to think about how they can be age friendly much the same way they have been thinking about how they could be environmentally friendly over the last couple of decades,” says Andy Sieg, Bank of America’s retirement-services chief.

How can your business adapt to the changing demographics? What other demographics are changing in your area? What business opportunities does that create?

Read more in the full article in the NY Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/business/06aging.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Duke, who leads the world’s biggest retailer, which has 2.1 million employees and serves 200 million customers each week, demonstrates that he understands the importance of LEARNING.

“It’s about a passion for customers and knowing customers firsthand, not theoretical, not through some data only, but by having personal, passionate communication with customers. And leadership is about striving for excellence. It’s about setting aggressive goals and not being afraid to go after very aggressive goals and targets. I think it’s even better for a leader to set an aggressive goal and come up a little short than it would be to set a soft goal and to exceed it.

In the interview with NY Associated Press he says the most important values of a leader is Integrity and trust. If a leader doesn’t have the trust of associates, of customers, of shareholders, then all the other things, the ability to speak eloquently and to sing and dance and entertain, (don’t) mean a thing if a leader’s not trusted.

Are you going to compete on price, service, expertise, range? Target a particular market and have a clear strategy. Don’t try to be all things to all people. The Federal government as quoted in this article from the Courier-Mail are supporting an open market place.

“AUSTRALIANS who hunt for bargains in online shopping should be allowed to continue doing so, Prime Minister Julia Gillard says. She says the government will wait for the outcome of a Productivity Commission inquiry before formally responding to a push by big retailers to impose the goods and services tax on online purchases from overseas.

The high-profile campaign, led by the likes of Harvey Norman, Myer and Target, has sparked the ire of shoppers, who argue it’s their right to buy cheaper goods online. Ms Gillard said on Monday that axing the GST-free threshold would not be financially smart.

“It would cost more in administration costs than would be recovered in revenue,” she told reporters in Canberra. “I would be very reluctant to see Australians who are facing cost-of-living pressures not able to access shopping on the internet in the way they access it now.” Courier-Mail, January 2011

A recent article in the Brisbane Courier-Mail highlights that it can take a long time for new products to gain acceptance and momentum.

“JOHAN Gelderblom has been pushing organics for the past nine years but it’s only in the past three that he noticed an upturn in demand and supply.

Now that faith in organic farming has been recognised nationally, with the industry tipped to head the Top 5 growth industries in the country in 2011.

Market researchers IBISWorld yesterday released its list of top sectors set to fly and fall this year, with organic farming flagged to grow 14 per cent (or by $58.35 million).

IBISWorld said demand for organic products had risen steadily over the past five years as consumers increasingly factored in the health benefits and environmental impact of their food choices.

“Higher disposable incomes, coupled with rising awareness of environmental sustainability and the increased convenience of organic foods all point to continuing growth in this industry,” said IBISWorld general manager (Australia) Robert Bryant.

Australian farmers were capitalising on the higher demand and higher premiums for organic produce, IBISWorld said, though it anticipated that as such, goods became more readily available, the price of certified produce would decline.”

Courier-Mail 11 January 2011

What new product, initiative or endeavour have you ‘planted seeds’ for and are tendering until it matures? Be patient (but persistent), it takes time for these things to come to fruition. Keeping things ‘the same’ may feel safe but we need to learn and grow faster than the pace of change or we risk becoming irrelevant.

AIRPORT restaurants in the United States are moving as close to departure gates as possible in a bid to bump up revenue.

They want to cater to flyers reluctant to stray from the boarding area, USA Today has reported.

Airports, which are seeing more revenue from non-aviation activity such as food and retail sales, are assisting in the process — in some cases squeezing the size of gates, converting unused ones into concession areas and building smaller kitchens to facilitate more boarding area restaurants.

Food and retail sales made up about nine per cent of US airports’ operating revenue in 2009.

Management is aiming to boost this revenue source by appealing to conscientious travellers who prefer to stay near the gate.

“The comfort level of individuals who fly is maybe to move only 250 feet (76m) from their gates. They want a line of sight [to their gates],” said Bill Hooper, an airport architect at architecture firm Gensler.

Restaurants are also capitalising on a rising trend among airlines to discontinue in-flight food service.

Airport restaurant operator OTG Management at New York’s JFK Airport is already experimenting with the new strategy. Working with Delta, OTG built restaurants in the seating areas at three of the airport’s Delta gates to build “a first-class lounge-cafe-hotel lobby environment”, said OTG chief executive Rick Blatstein.

Smart operators are adapting their current practices to grow their business and respond to trends. What is happening in your industry that you need to respond to?

Whilst businesses becoming learning organizations is great in theory, it hasn’t become reality in many businesses. Why isn’t this embedded in all businesses? Why aren’t we learning?

There are TWO reasons why most businesses in this post GFC environment aren’t learning organizations – short term viewpoint and Filtering of Reality.

One of the reasons businesses aren’t learning is the “bottom line”. Organizations believe it is an either or choice, we are either ‘earning’ OR ‘learning’ – they don’t see it as possible to do both. Learning has been seen as at the expense of earning and has therefore been cut back, slashed, deferred or abandoned altogether.

Organizations particularly in challenging times, needed to be focused and committed to being efficient, competitive, cost effective and operating with tight margins. Little time, energy or budget could be spared for ‘learning’. Invariably the bottom line wins out.

Justifiably, it was argued that organizations had to be lean, efficient and focused on every dollar. Particularly in recent tight times post GFC.

The second reason why most businesses are not learning organizations is that many staff Filter Reality. Many staff are masters of playing a game of charades called “Tell them what you think they want to hear”. Many people in small and large organizations are fearful of saying the wrong thing. They filter the information that they share with others, particularly the decision makers. Have you ever sensed that might be happening? I bet that is affecting your bottom line.

Whilst sales performance targets with increases of 5%, 10 % or more and other KPIs keep us focused on growth, riding that wave without new learning will inevitably peeter out. Just like the coin tossing analogy you’ll eventually be on the way down.

For REAL business growth we need to maximize learning and connect with reality!

What have you learnt today?