While preparing for a Positive Change project, to help integrate several marketing teams into one team, I read a great book by Jon Gordon, The
Many wrote articles on the Great Resignation, a term coined by Anthony Klotz, a professor of management at University College London’s School of Management, in
You may be familiar with Kurt Lewin’s Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze theory on organization change. Harrison Owen, the author of Wave Rider: Leadership for High Performance in a
We built a Whole System Model of Business™ to work toward high-performing systems. More recently, we focused on organizational development (OD) and change management (OCM)
Having studied Porter’s Value Chain theory (1985) and following our concept of the ValueHub™ (2012), we started to wonder whether the analogy of a chain and
Harvard lecturer and global trend watcher Vikram Mansharamani wrote in his most recent book Think for Yourself: “The world, to put it bluntly, has changed, but our philosophy
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We live in a world that accelerates at a pace few of us can cope with. While things change at a breakneck speed, our brains
Peter Thiel once said, “Never hire an MBA; they will ruin your company.” Scott Cook, founder and leader of Intuit, was sure that, “When MBAs
First, let’s have a quick look at how the ancient Greeks thought about change: The Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus (535-475 BC) was famous for
Very few business transformation initiatives succeed. According to academic research, a staggering 70% of business transformations fail. That same number also applies to digital transformation
Business leaders are most effective when they know how to respond with efficacy to stable conditions. However, our era is defined by high volatility, uncertainty,
There has been a lot of talk about achieving product-market fit ever since the concept was introduced by Marc Andreesen (2007). But what about the
Cunningham’s Law states that “The best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question; it’s to post the
Core competencies and lasting competitive advantages provided many incumbents with a unique position to extend and defend market share. But times are changing. Competitors and
A recent McKinsey study found that the average supply chain has a digitization level of 43 percent, the lowest of the five business areas examined.
As we could have learned from the late Clayton Christensen, disruptive innovation will, sooner rather than later, disrupt existing products, markets, and supply chains, following
While every component is equally important, there is one component that we would like to highlight: having a corporate vision. The most effective innovation leaders
Following a short conversation on Linkedin, we realized that the definition of the purpose of business is still very much open for debate. Let’s review
Before the pandemic, Gallup reported in September 2019 that 69% of employees were ‘actively disengaged,’ indicating they were unhappy and unproductive at work and liable
In the post How to Achieve Sustained Growth, we made a case that growth is essential for any company. Without planning for growth, operations will
Heid Grant, a social psychologist, and Tal Goldhamer, the Chief Learning Officer for EY Americas, wrote a great piece on Harvard Business Review, addressing the
You might have gotten the idea that the impact of technological disruption, due to our relative position in the technology-driven business cycle, is the single
Mastering the business situation isn’t just critical for positioning the business ideally and strategizing moving forward, but also for assessing the risks the business is
When ROUNDMAP’s creator, Edwin Korver, set out to rethink the customer development process, given the sudden rise of social media and digitalization from 2008 onwards,
Following the post ‘Conditional Mastery™ – Getting a Grip on the Business Cycle,’ in which I explained the four stages in the business cycle, known
Today, executives and managers struggle with the problem of stagnating or even declining growth. Often due to forces like global competition, digital disruption, erratic customer
In this blog, I like to explain what’s driving the business cycle and what is causing the apparent shifts that we’re all witnessing today, such
A few days ago we were asked to consult a social enterprise. We wanted to share this story as it is exemplary for most start-ups.
Next to a logo, we believe ROUNDMAP™ needed a symbol. A symbol that respects the complexity of the framework while at the same time don’t
ROUNDMAP™ is a portmanteau: a new word created out of the blending of two or more existing words. One part is the ROUNDtrip. The other
During my research, I’ve often asked myself the same question: Why do people participate in the creation and delivery of products and services that are
During our research, we stumbled upon an interesting concept: a formula for change. It was promoted by Dick Beckhard (Organizational Transitions, 1977) and Reuben Harris
To make informed decisions in complex matters may require access to multiple sources of stored information (data), throughout the business enterprise. However, security, privacy, and
When we introduced our first symbol on May 11th, 2019, we had just finished mapping the realm of Customer Dynamics. However, as time went by, our
How does ROUNDMAP™ relate to Digitalization? “The sustainable success of digital transformation comes from a carefully planned organizational change management process that meets two key
How does ROUNDMAP™ relate to Spiral Dynamics? “Competency is more valued than seniority; knowledge is more useful than status.” ― Don Edward Beck, Spiral Dynamics:
How does ROUNDMAP™ relate to the Stakeholder Theory? “The task of executives is to create as much value as possible for stakeholders without resorting to
How does ROUNDMAP™ relate to Growth Hacking? “Be undeniably good. No marketing effort or social media buzzword can be a substitute for that.” –Anthony Volodkin,
How does ROUNDMAP relate to Design Thinking? “We must design for the way people behave, not for how we would wish them to behave.” ―
Following the previous post on How to achieve sustained growth?, in which we suggested that progress leads to sustaining growth, the question now is: What
Progress and growth are not just akin, they are essential for any business to thrive. The capacity to meet known challenges builds robustness, while growing
We can’t expect customers to share their feedback if we treat them with arrogance. And yet, this is the default mode of operation of most
While creating the Customer Roundtable Blueprint, a continuous mapping system of the Customer Dynamics to help forge strong customer relationships to achieve sustained growth, we
Ever since Frederick Taylor suggested applying Adam Smith’s principle of the Division of Labor within the production and industrial engineering industry, to increase worker productivity,
Following central themes like trust and purpose that were top-of-mind most recently, sustainability is now most prevalent. However, the demand for sustainable business practices isn’t
Following the creation of ROUNDMAP™, an Integrated Business Framework (IBF), we found that an integrated business, specifically during times of change, can be far more
If you had the chance to look at the ROUNDMAP Customer/360 Canvas, you might have noticed two words: Awareness (blue section) and Significance (red section).
Strategy is often compared to the art of war, which just so happens to be the title of the book of the legendary Chinese general
Obviously, Innovation and Strategy are two distinct aspects of the business. But did you ever wonder what drives what? This is how we perceive the
You can’t lead people without having a vision of the future. Where else would you lead them toward? You’ve got to communicate what it is
As a consequence of the worldwide lockdowns, following the life-threatening effects of the corona virus (COVID-19), many revenue streams discontinued almost overnight. Leaders need to
The inconvenient truth is that an estimated 93% of Customer Experience (CX) initiatives fail, while in 2016, according to Gartner, 89% of companies expected to
Professor Thales Teixeira from Harvard Business School took 8 years to write his book ‘Unlocking the Customer Value Chain: How Decoupling Drives Consumer Disruption’. His
Customer Carousel™ is one of the outcomes of a 4-year discovery process by Edwin Korver and it turned out to be an amazing panorama, not
In business, performance is key. In performance, how you organize can be the key to growth.
The big question on every executive’s mind is: Where to find future growth? Whether the question is an urgent one or driven by a regular
Since the early 1960s, Silicon Valley is known for its many tech-startups. The birth of the Internet in 1995 meant that information, experiences, opinions, and
You may have heard the words “Mind the gap” as an audible or visual warning phrase when you entered or left a train, to take
Employee disengagement is one of the reasons why companies fail to achieve their growth aspirations. However, underneath it, lies a much greater problem: “Half of
During the development of the body of knowledge of the ROUNDMAP™ 4-dimensional framework, we found that existing words or concepts ─ often originating from a
Digital Transformation has become a prevalent topic on the boardroom agenda, however, according to BT most CEOs aren’t that confident that their company will be
Digital transformation appears to be on most corporate agendas, however, most transformations are actually change-initiatives, i.e., adaptations to market conditions. And that’s a bad thing
A few days ago I watched an interview on television with a well-known Dutch poet, performer, and author, Jules Deelder ─ in celebration of his
Following our previous post in which we introduced the Business Model Compass™ and the Cycle of Disruption™, we like to propose an antifragile counterpart of
A few days ago I had the privilege to listen to the tales of two retired professionals as they looked back on their careers. Their
We know digital transformation is most critical to business survival. However, research by Prophet and VINT suggests that executives are becoming increasingly aware of two
Despite not knowing about the Wheel of Dharma and the Eightfold Path, the resemblance with the structure of ROUNDMAP™ is remarkable to say the least.
Margaret Heffernan is a former CEO of five businesses, author of five books in which she explores business and effective leadership, and a part-time lecturer
Margaret Heffernan is a former CEO of five businesses, author of five books in which she explores business and effective leadership, and a part-time lecturer
I truly love the series Mad Men, however, there is one scene in particular, which was the grand finale of season one, that has kept
In order to explain something complex, it may help to use an analogy. Therefore, let me tell you about ancient pillars, keystones, and bosses with
ROUNDMAP™ Integrated Customer Lifecycle differs from the traditional sales cycle – which focuses on achieving customer satisfaction – because we believe customers won’t refer or
It can be really harsh to be a casualty of disruption. It is not for the fainthearted. Automakers, the news media, entertainment industry businesses, banks,
Margaret Heffernan is a former CEO of five businesses, author of five books in which she explores business and effective leadership, and a part-time lecturer
Whether a startup has the potential to become a success very much depends on its founder(s). To assess the leadership of a startup most investors
In a previous post, we made the case for empathy. Today, we would like to make the case for customer compassion. When we made the
We talked about setting up Customer Roundtables, as a second operating system or shadow structure, to allow the free flow of information between customer-facing employees.
In 2015, during one of my executive assignments, I was asked to write a book on the potential of big data. However, as I researched
The goal of the ROUNDMAP framework isn’t merely to improve your firm’s commercial performance, rather provide a lens through which to perceive the aspects related
The idea for a customer round table began when I started to imagine people sitting around the ROUNDMAP™ to discuss all customer-related issues openly, decoupled
We’re all too familiar with the typical bureaucracy consisting of a hierarchy of authority, while employees are grouped by the functions they perform for the
A tagline serves to clarify a thought, product, brand, or proposition. A tagline for ROUNDMAP™ is Driving Customer Excellence™. However, the problem with words is
In January 2005, Tim Brown, Executive Chair of IDEO, wrote an insightful piece for FastCompany introducing Design Thinking into the field of strategy, while also
One of the learnings from creating the ROUNDMAP™ is that, although most firms consider marketing, sales and service as their main customer-facing operations, these activities
Since price strategy is one of the pillars of any business strategy, I took some time to create the Price/Volume Matrix™. I believe the graph
In an alarming article in The Atlantic by Daniel Markovits, professor at Yale Law School and author of The Meritocracy Trap, Daniel makes a strong
If you’ve taken our online Coordinator Course, you are already familiar with the universal concept of a ValueHub™ and its Orchestration. However, to capture enough
We’ve spent a lot of time to explain the disciplines involved with Customer Dynamics (cross-functional and cross-structure) resulting in the ROUNDMAP™ Framework. Because we believe
At the individual level, specialization usually comes in the form of career or labor specialization. Each member of an organization or economy, for example, has
We’ve discussed the term ‘competitive advantage’ more than once, as described in the book ‘Competitive Advantage’ by Michael Porter. However, competitive advantage is merely one
To understand what elements and aspects the ROUNDMAP™ mapping system actually contains, we’ve created what we call the ROUNDMAP™ Stack: While the Integrated Customer Lifecycle™,
During an interview with Peter Thiel for “The Portal” by Eric Weinstein, the discussion on technology and culture made a turn towards how universities are
Experience Design is widely recognized to be critical to the customer development process. Not just in our digital age, but even long before bits-and-bytes driven
Much of what we do at CROSS-SILO Management Consultants is focused on getting departments to collaborate more effectively to improve customer performance. To that effect,
A question I get asked a lot is: Can two Elementary Business Models™ coexist within one company? Car Manufacturers versus Car Sharing Platforms Let’s take
An article recently published in Harvard Business Review emphasizes the importance of cherishing a culture in which empathy is strongly embedded. As you may know,
You may first want to read part one of the ValueHub™ Theory. If you already have, let’s have a look at how the ValueHub™ theory
In hindsight, the idea behind the ROUNDMAP™ originated from a meeting in 2012, to which I was invited, to help determine the future of a
After 25 years in leadership roles with organizations such as Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways, DoubleTree Hotels, and Juniper Networks, Ann Rhoades is a leading expert
An empirical study in Bazil (2018) with regards to adaptive and non-adaptive cultures in organizations revealed some interesting facts, which could be seen as a