Shouninjutsu

Day of the (Marketing) Ninja

kurt@shouninjutsu.com — 2008-12-16T01:31:00-07:00

No, it's not the name of the latest Chuck Norris movie. Though to read the financial headlines, you might think we're living in the middle of a disaster flick. Everywhere you turn there's talk of bailouts, deficits and economic collapse. You think maybe it's time we take a second look at some of our most cherished business paradigms? If BIGGER is BETTER, then why are some of our largest commercial/industrial institutions imploding? And by the way, in my book at least, if someone calls you "too big to fail"-- you already have.

A lot of our "Captains of Industry" are probably wishing their troops were a little lighter, a little more focused, a little more action-biased and a little more quick-to-the-punch Yes, a little more "ninja-like." They know that not only have many of them become fat and lazy, bloated bureaucracies dedicated to maintaining a dilapidated status quo, but that they're going to have to recreate themselves in a new image-- that of the 21st Century "Shouninjutsu" (Ninja Marketer). Their very survival depends on it.

There's just not enough "wiggle room" an more for companies to tolerate inefficiency. Without the Ninja Marketing traits of Simplicity, Speed and Agility, businesses will quickly be bypassed and made irrelevant by nimbler, quicker and more hungry competitors.

If there is any good news on the horizon, it is that the Day of the "Marketing Ninja" is here-- without a doubt.

And the winner in the “Most Worthless CRM Technology” category is…

kurt@shouninjutsu.com — 2008-01-11T23:39:50-07:00

I don’t usually blog about this sort of thing. The folks at Grokdotcom (especially Melissa) do a great job of critiquing specific online and customer service “experiences” (disasters), but I just tend to shrug them off and move on.

But recently I’ve had a string of really bad experiences with live chat. Often enough and bad enough that I wanted to comment and point out some common threads I’ve noticed in the poor application of chat technology. Ok, and also just to vent. Here’s a session I had last night on the Apple website, as I was preparing to purchase a MacBook Pro and decided to check out the financing option:

*************************************

You are chatting with Alan, an Apple Expert

Hi, my name is Alan. Welcome to Apple!

Alan: Hi, How are you?

You: Hi. I am looking to do this just to finance a MacBook Pro to replace one I need to return to work. How likely is it that I will be approved?

Alan: I don’t really know. The Juniper Visa Card is associated with Barclays Bank.

You: Are there other financing options?

Alan: You can use a Bank Debit card.

You: A debit card is not financing. That’s cash. Do you know if the card is any easier to qualify for because it is sponsored by Apple?

Alan: Just another minute…

[Almost 5 minutes later]

Alan: The Juniper Visa Card with iTunes Rewards is a credit card issued by Juniper, a division of Barclays Bank Delaware.

Alan: There are two ways to apply. From the main page of the Store, apply before you shop by clicking on the ‘Juniper Visa Card with iTunes Rewards’ tile - OR - apply from the ‘Select a Payment Method’ page during the Checkout process.

Alan: I would recommend filling out the application as they are very good at getting back to you as to weather you are approved.

You: Again, my question is: do you know if this is any easier to qualify for because it is sponsored by Apple?

You: And do you know which credit bureau they check for your credit scores? Can you find out for me?

Alan: I can’t find out for you because it is not sponsored by Apple. It is a completely separate company.

Alan: In Chat I do not have access to personal information.

You: Do you know of any companies that do leasing for Apple equipment?

Alan: I really don’t.

You: Can I get a transcript of this conversation?

Alan: Yes, but only by copy and paste on your end.

You: Ok. signing off. I’m disappointed that this chat was totally non-helpful and didn’t even answer my direct questions. Thanks anyway.

Alan: Thank you for visiting the Apple Store. We appreciate your business.

Thank you for contacting the Apple Store. If you require further assistance, please call 1-800-MY-APPLE.

*************************************

“We appreciate your BUSINESS?!” I walked away and they (at least for the moment) LOST my business solely because of this crappy experience. If you are not going to support a feature/function (like financing) any better than this, DON’T BOTHER DOING IT.

And by the way, how about that fabulous personalization (How did they know my name is “You?”)?

Yes, I realize that “live chat"--like pretty much all CRM applications-- is not at fault in and of itself. A technology can only be as good as the people using it. But I think chat has the following problems:

High expectations relative to the actual benefits- when we “chat” with an online sales rep, we expect to be able to converse with him or her as we would an actual salesperson in a store. But on the internet, “chat” technology and culture are really oriented towards-- and have evolved from-- abbreviated messaging among friends. more like idle chatter. Build a professional sales tool on that foundation? IMO DATS DUM 4 SHUR

Difficult implementation- I’m not talking about how hard it is to get working technically, I mean that it’s hard to train, monitor and balance the necessary quality of service cost effectively. I know– I ran and consulted for some of the earliest, largest multi-touchpoint (phone, email, chat, automated self-service FAQ) contact centers in the early dotcom days. A typical chat rep will be multi-tasking up to 4 chats at a time, while also doing email customer service. Can YOU have 4-6 conversations at a time? So of course, the obvious solution is to outsource your chat to a call center in India. Yeah, let me know how that goes.

The moral of the story is– how many times do we have to say it?– any tool or technology is only as good as the people and the plan behind it. Chat is just one of those “touches” that once you get over the “gotta have it” impulse, is particularly hard to execute well. And because of its immediacy and real-time “voice” can be more damaging to customer relations than most.

Was it Mark Twain who said it?

“It’s better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you’re stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.”

This is for all the “Little” People…

kurt@shouninjutsu.com — 2008-01-07T23:28:00-07:00

Read a great post on Simplenomics entitled, “Here’s a Little Used But Highly Profitable, B2B Sales Tip.”

I couldn’t agree more with what I considered the main theme of the article. Listen to the “rank and file” if you want to know what’s REALLY going on at a company.

At one point in my consulting career, I was hired several times as a “turnaround specialist,” and this was the very first (and sometimes only) thing I did:

1) Survey everyone in the company– top to bottom. Ask basically four questions:

What works?
What doesn’t?
If you could get rid of one thing, what would it be?
If you could do MORE of one thing, what would it be?

2) Throw out all the responses from senior management. For the most part, they’re the bozos that caused the problems in the first place.

3) Correlate and summarize the results, coming up with three specific recommendations. Build these recommendations directly from the result of the surveys. By the way, you don't necessarily want to tell senior management where those recommendations come from-- they often tend to discount the “little people.”)

4) 9 times out of 10, the client would end up telling me I was “brilliant,” and would want to hire me to implement the recommendations. If the payoff was big enough and I felt they would really follow through, I might consider it.

The moral of the story: Often, there is real WISDOM deep within the organization itself. The solutions to most companies' problems are already obvious to most folks who have to deal with them themselves day in and day out.

Smash the upper management BS-o-matic, haul that “dead moose” carcass (you know, the one nobody wants to talk about) off the conference room table, and harness the knowledge already buried in the organization.

————

Best part of the story? As the article pointed out, just by listening to the “worker bees,” I had instant credibility within the organization and often made truly lifelong friendships that are among the most satisfying of my career.

3 Steps to get RID of Your Fuzzy Decision-Making

kurt@shouninjutsu.com — 2007-12-12T23:14:04-07:00

Ask 10 people about the biggest frustrations they encounter in their working lives. 10 of them will put the “decision-making process” near the top of the list. Go ahead. Ask.

Told you so.

Let me share a short, sweet 3-step (what would you expect from “Shuriken Kurt”?) approach to simplifying the process in almost any group decision-making environment.

It’s called RID. It’s a matrix management approach that allows multiple people to serve multiple functions on multiple “task forces.” And it’s an attempt to clarify the exact role each individual plays in those projects. Used with a little bit of discipline, it can help avoid the “mob mentality” of trying to do everything by committee.

R (Responsible)- Only one person can be Responsible for a task. That person defines it, plans it and fulfills its requirements. He/she can draw on additional resources, but ultimately, he/she does it and defines how it is done.

I (Impacted)- Any number of people can be “impacted” parties. They may have information and perspective to contribute. They may have a vested interest— relative to their own primary responsibilities— in the results. “I” acknowledges that they are “Impacted” and need to be “Informed” about the task and it’s progression, but they are not active participants.

D (Decisionmaker)- This is the single entity tasked with making the final decision regarding the task. Most of the time, there should only be one person with a “D,” though there may be some (though fewer than you’d expect) cases where a small group makes the final decision.

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As an example of how this system works:

TASK: Establish budgets for various departments in an organization.

R- CFO/Controller. Clearly, the head finance person needs to be allowed to take the lead on this sort of project. He/she should have the right to draw on all department heads for input, but it’s his/her baby.

I- Department Heads. VPs, and department heads will need to provide input. They also need to know and understand the outcome in order to fulfill their obligations.

D- CEO/President. Ultimately, the top dog needs to have the final say. The Buck stops SOMEWHERE.

Another example:

TASK: Solidify a pricing model

R- Sales VP. Sales has to “sell it,” and are probably in the best position to define what the market demands in order to be competitive. NOTE: This Illustrates that there is more than one way to approach the “RID GRID.” Another company may decide to make someone in finance or marketing have the “R” on this sort of task.

I- CFO, VPs of Operations, Marketing. All groups that need to contribute to the discussion and whose function will be affected by the outcome.

D- CEO/President. Again, a “biggie” like this needs sign-off at the highest level.

But the “D” doesn’t always have to be the President for every single task. Let the office manager have the “D” on office supplies. A regional salesperson can “D” their own sales call scheduling.

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This paradigm clarifies that “I”s are not responsible, nor are “R”s and “I”s ultimate going to make the decisions. Nor does an “R” get to assume that just because they are responsible, they have final say.

It also creates a common vocabulary that is useful in avoiding miscommunication, duplication of effort, “dropped balls,” and a lot of frustration.

Who has the “R” on that task?
If I’m an “I,” what do you need from me?
I don’t need to be the “R” on this, but I still want to be the “D”…
etc.

And sometimes you need to use a RID-X system, where the “X” means “you specifically DON’T need to be involved! Stop hanging around the water cooler and get back to work!”

The Pareto Proclamation (Part 2)- Applying the 80-20 Rule to Everyday Life

kurt@shouninjutsu.com — 2007-12-12T23:02:17-07:00

Vilfredo Pareto was a French-Italian sociologist, economist and philosopher born in 1848 in Paris. In 1906, as a lecturer in economics at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, he first articulated what has become known as the “Pareto Principle” or the 80-20 rule when he observed that 20 percent of the population owned 80 percent of the property in Italy. It was immediately obvious that there must be some sort of underlying organic principle supporting this observation as the same 80-20 ratio seemed to apply to any number of situations.

In 1941, J.M. Juran discovered Pareto’s work and the “Pareto Chart” became part of the foundation of the quality and efficiency movements that have molded and shaped the economics and business models of post-war industrial society.

And your point is?…

9 times out of 10 (or perhaps it’s closer to 8 out of 10 to be more precise), we all go through an internal Pareto Analysis for virtually every decision we make. Simply stated,

“What is the most effective thing I can do in this situation with the greatest likelihood of producing the most favorable outcome?”

But ironically, in today’s information society where data, theories and “expert opinions” seem to know no bounds, it’s harder than ever to filter the truly critical factors out from the surrounding “noise level.” You need simple, direct, factual summaries and directions you can trust so you can get on with your busy life. Thus the popularity of “Idiot’s Guide to…” books. But you’re not an idiot– you just don’t want to (or have time to) sort through all the “fat and fur” to find the “meat” you’re looking for. The fact is,

…most of what you need to know can be summarized in 3-5 (max) simple steps or bullet points that will solve the vast majority of issues you face….

Not done talking about this yet.

SOON– The Pareto Proclamation in Practice

Three Ninja Marketing Techniques to “Keep it Fresh”

kurt@shouninjutsu.com — 2007-11-02T22:52:45-06:00

More lessons from Naruto Uzumaki that every Ninja Marketer MUST master.

Last post we introduced Naruto Uzumaki, currently the world’s most popular anime ninja. His flexibility and ability to use a wide variety of different techniques and approaches is a defining part of his appeal and integral to his success as a ninja.

Let’s look specifically at three of Naruto’s favorite techniques or “jutsu”:

影分身術 (Kagebunshin) – Shadow Clone Technique

Using this technique, Naruto creates multiple replicas of himself to both attack from multiple angles and to confuse his enemies at the same time. When a marketer leverages resources, channels, alliances and technologies to appear to be in “more than one place at a time,” he or she keeps opponents on the defensive and off-guard, not knowing from which direction the next attack will come.

変り身術 (Kawarimi) — Substitution Technique

In the middle of a battle, Naruto will sometimes completely replaces himself with another object, leaving his enemy befuddled as their well timed and executed attack is utterly ineffective as gives them a ninja “head fake” and totally slips them. Few things are more satisfying for a marketing ninja than to know that an opponent’s best laid plans are going to fall flat because he or she has “changed the rules,” and has taken the battle into totally new arena where that opponent is at a distinct disadvantage.

変化術 (Henge) — Transformation Technique

When Naruto uses this jutsu (technique), he usually not only “substitutes” himself with another person or object, but actually transforms himself to appear as an ally to lull him into a false sense of security, and then attack when that enemy least expects it.

As Sun Tzu said, “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.” Sometimes the best way for a ninja marketer to attack a more powerful opponent is to find a way to align with them in the short term, realizing that the time and opportunity will present itself to blow by and dominate the situation.

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Sneaky? Yes. Unfair? You know what they say about “love and war…”

Surprising, isn’t it, how much you can learn from a Japanese children’s cartoon show?

Who is Naruto Uzumaki and what does he have to teach me about marketing?

kurt@shouninjutsu.com — 2007-10-29T21:10:20-06:00

FIVE SECRETS OF THE WORLD’S MOST EFFECTIVE NINJA

Probably anyone in North America (probably the world) with preadolescent boys at home (or at least hard-core fans of the Cartoon Network) has heard about Naruto. The premier Japanese cartoon (“anime”) in production today, Naruto is the #1 brand/franchise of it’s kind in the world—surpassing the once mighty Pokemon.

Long story short, Naruto is a young “ninja in training” with aspirations to become the next “hokage”—Master Ninja of his clan. Naruto is not the strongest, smartest or even most talented of his compatriots, but he IS, in a word, INDEFATIGUABLE.

When he undertakes a task, there is absolutely nothing that can get in the way of the triumphant completion of said task. Time and again, he pushes just 10% harder, digs 10% deeper than opponents and even partners. He never hesitates. He constantly and consistently keeps moving, switching techniques and trying new attacks. There is no question in the minds of the show’s fans that ultimately, he will achieve his goal.

So what can you learn from Naruto? Here are 5 quick lessons:

Lesson #1– Don’t Quit.

Winston Churchill might not have had the appearance of a ninja, but nevertheless understood and articulated this principle well when he said,

“Never give up. Never, never, never, never, never give up.”

Lesson #2– Dig Deep.

Deeper than your own known limits—or at the very least, the limits of your competitors. 90% of what anyone and everyone brings to a particular challenge is identical, exactly the same. The difference between success and failure is usually only found after the typical and common answers have all been explored (and found wanting), and the extraordinary, unique and highly personalized skills and characteristics of the “ninja” in question are brought to bear. If you stop where everyone else does, you’ll end up where everyone else is. Push beyond, and you will soar beyond.

Lesson #3– Do it hard, fast and NOW.

Ninja battles are won in the vast expanses between microseconds. Modern marketing history is replete with examples of those who missed the boat simply because the failed to grab the brass ring when it came their way. IBM vs. Univac (mainframe computers) Microsoft vs. Digital Research (microcomputer operating systems). Cable TV vs. the “big three” networks (television programming).

George W. Cecil said, “On the plains of hesitation, bleach the bones of countless thousands, who at the dawn of victory sat down to rest, and waiting died.”

In that situation, in that very moment—could the stakes be any higher?

Lesson #4—Be consistent.

Jim Rohn said that the primary challenge of marketing is to "have something good to say, say it well, and say it often.” In marketing, life, and ninja battle, victory is seldom achieved via a one-shot knockout punch. After 30 years and six films, Rocky is still the champ in the minds of millions.

Lesson #5—Mix it up.

You’ve heard the old saw, “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” Well, sort of. With a slight but significant variation:

“If at first you don’t succeed, try (SOMETHING DIFFERENT), try (SOMETHING NEW) again.”

It’s reported that Albert Einstein said that the definition of insanity is doing the exact same thing over and over and expecting different results. Who can argue with logic like that? Especially when it’s coming from Albert Einstein.

A true marketing ninja not only keeps trying different attacks, techniques and approaches, but is also always thinking ahead instinctively, anticipating complete sequences of future moves based on the ever-changing realities of the here and now.

Next time we’ll look specifically at three of Naruto’s favorite ninja techniques for ideas of how a flexible ninja addresses changing battle realities.

Pareto Proclamation, Part 1

kurt@shouninjutsu.com — 2007-08-10T20:38:57-06:00

Another moment of inspiration spurred by some discussion at Grokdotcom.com as a result of a couple of recent articles,

Google and Yahoo Starting Social Networks

FaceBook Follies and LinkedIn Lure

I don’t know if I should be paying the guys at FutureNow, or if they should be paying me, but I find the discussions there stimulate some of my most salient (at least I think so) thoughts.

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So how many “friends” do YOU have on MySpace? LinkedIn contacts? Phonebook entries on your Treo? Email addresses in Outlook?

How much data do you have indexed? Technorati tags? Diggs? Bloglines RSS feeds? Podcast subscriptions? Twits?

Do we really need more “social networks?” Do we really need even more information thrown at us? WAVES of information that we can’t conceivably completely assimilate let alone make any real use of?

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It seems to me that there is more than enough data and information out there. More than 25 years ago, Alvin Toffler wrote a book called “The Third Wave.” He observed that economic society to that point had gone through 2 previous waves– the Agricultural Wave and the Industrial Wave– and that we had now reached the cusp of what he called the “Information Wave.” But is there any doubt that in the last 25 years we have moved way beyond the swell of an information wave?

How many websites are indexed by Google? (7,490,000,000 indexed for the letter “a” alone)
How many books can I buy at the click of a mouse at Amazon? (9,611,286)
How many movies are available at my local Blockbuster store (2,500) let alone online (over 80,000)?
How many channels are running right now on my DirectTV digital satellite– ALL of which I can TiVo for later viewing so that I can watch back-to-back Law and Order day and night, 24/7 for the next 3 months if I so choose?

I did a quick calculation and if I were to spend 8 hours a day to listen to every CD, watch every DVD, read every book, watch every family video and look at every snapshot (figure 15 seconds each) in my house, it would take me over 67 YEARS! Thank heaven I don’t have satellite TV and internet…oh wait. I guess I do.

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Practically speaking, we don’t need any more information. What we do need is better ways to filter, select, consume and use it in a meaningful manner.

So let me suggest the title for Toffler’s next book (or maybe I should write it. Actually, maybe you’re reading part of it right now)...

The FOURTH Wave– BRAIN Waves

We've got to start using our Brains! In computer terms, you brain is more than an input device connected to mass storage– there’s processing power in there! The intelligent organization, classification and indexing (intelligent filtering) of what’s already out there is far more important to you and me than the tons and tons of raw information virtually at our fingertips.

So, what are some of the organizing principles we can use to make sense of information overload? And what IS the “Pareto Proclamation?”

More to come, eventually.

Who Else Wants "Mad Ninja Skills?"

kurt@shouninjutsu.com — 2007-07-17T13:55:46-06:00

While Napoleon Dynamite might be a tad old news, aficionados of the Cartoon Network (or anyone who has tried to buy birthday present for a pre-teen boy in the last 12 months) know that Naruto has taken center stage as the "Ninja du jour." There always seems to be a spunky, heroic martial arts underdog lurking around the edges of popular culture.

And yet the underlying principles of “Ninjutsu” have been passed on by secretive ninja “families” for hundreds of years and have alway been embraced by “shadow warriors” seeking an unfair advantage against opponents with seemingly vastly superior resources.

So what is “Ninja Marketing?”

Successful Ninja marketers leverage the three primary traits that define a “ninjutsu” philosophy (thus the 3-pointed shuriken in the Shuriken Systems logo):

1. Simplicity
2. Agility
3. Speed

Simplicity– the shortest distance between two points is still a straight line, regardless of how many committees, corporate gatekeepers and self-proclaimed gurus say otherwise. Common sense and the 80/20 rule– when combined with the other “mad ninja skills” of Agility and Speed– will almost always get you farther faster than any other approach. The key is determining and absolutely mastering those few things that will really make a difference in your business. Forget about all the rest. At least for now.

Speed– You’ve got to be able to move fast. One of the key advantages of smaller, more entrepreneurially-oriented organization is the ability to make decisions quickly. In the four-dimensional universe that Einstein introduced us to in the last century, TIMING is ironically the element that is often the most easily utilized in manipulating the physical world. Learn to leverage speed and you can “be there” and “do that” before your competition has a chance to even notice you’re in the room.

Agility– the ability to make immediate, even instantaneous, course corrections is a key advantage in the 21st century business world when your competition may need to convene multiple meetings and conference calls just to be able to identify a problem or opportunity– let alone get everyone to agree as to how to capitalize upon it. Focus on what you really need to accomplish without being married to how it gets done, and you’ll reinvent not only your own internal “business models,” but your entire industry as well.

Balancing your Mad Ninja Skills

Notice that all three characteristics are critical and keep each other in balance. The main reason to simplify is so that you can “lighten up” to improve agility, speed and focus. Speed is hardly an asset if you’re still carrying around too much baggage. And without agility and flexibility, “business at the speed of change” can be very brittle, indeed.

In future posts, I plan to comment in more detail about each of the three key aspects of a “Ninja Marketing”-focused enterprise.

But don’t expect me to share any of my sweet dance moves…;)

What IS Ninja Marketing?

kurt@shouninjutsu.com — 2007-07-15T14:19:27-06:00

“Shouninjutsu”
Ninja Marketing

You’ve heard of “ninjas,” right? The sneaky little assassins always creeping around silently in old Japanese movies. Typically they wait until their opponents least expect it– usually the middle of the night. Then they slip through the tightest defenses, glide to the private bedroom of their most powerful enemies, slide open the shoji paper-screened doors, slink across the tatami floor and slit their throats before the victim has time to even blink.

Or perhaps during the hanami festival they hide in a tree 50 yards from where the target is taking a pleasant stroll enjoying the sakura cherry blossoms, when they take a small disc the size of a coaster from their sleeve and hurl a spinning, razor sharp shuriken chinese throwing star, and in less time than it takes to inhale, the enemy falls dead with the blade buried an inch deep, right between the eyes.

They never even had a chance to see it coming.

Marketing Martial Arts for the Life and Death Struggle to Survive and THRIVE in a Brutal Business World

This is not the watered down “guerrilla marketing” techniques that might have been fresh twenty years ago when people first starting talking about them. These are NOT the principles you will learn in the Harvard or Stanford MBA programs. And guess what– these are not even the “flavor of the month” marketing platitudes you’ll get from the latest flock of so-called “gurus.”

It’s all about strategy and tactics– Your “weapons” and how to use them.

Samurai have their katana, and yari, and yukinoshita do-style armour. Ninja have their shinobi shozoku, nunchaku and shuriken.

In most cases, for individuals and aggressive, growing businesses, a ninja-like approach to decision-making and action-planning is far superior to a more “samurai-style” process. And perhaps the most effective of all ninja weapons is the shuriken.

Shuriken (and shaken) are sometimes called chinese throwing stars or throwing needles/daggers. The shuriken is a (relatively) long range weapon that is inexpensive, light, easily concealed, extremely accurate and fast. The target doesn’t even know what hit him until it’s already too late to react.

Simple, direct, powerful actions with maximum effectiveness.

So why do we call our company Shuriken Systems?

Think about it.

So what got me to FINALLY start a blog?

kurt@shouninjutsu.com — 2007-07-14T14:07:10-06:00

Yea, I’ve known about blogging since it started. Been reading blogs since they started. And it’s not like I don’t have anything to say– anyone who knows me at all will confirm that. And in fact, I’ve not only had a series of personal websites (not to mention profession-related sites too numerous to mention) and even a couple of other small blogs over the years. But I never really felt “bitten” by the the blogbug. So why now?

Credit basically goes to two people and their respective cohorts.

My daughter-in-law, Ashley, who with at least encouragement if not actual assistance from my son Jordan, started a Haug family blog several months ago. I have eight children ages 25 down to 3, and while most of them still live close to us (with the exception of a married daughter Kourtney, who lives in Boston with her husband Adam who’s going to law school), the three oldest have “left the nest” and are off on their own. Another daughter graduates next year, and then we will have officially reached our empty nest “half life.” I was touched and appreciative that Ashley took the initiative to start a blog to help us all stay connected. I have really enjoyed it and participate often– maybe more often than everyone would like. It’s not like I haven’t had a chance to speak my peace over the last 25+ years!

Howard Kaplan and the crew at Future Now, Inc. I met Howard at a tradeshow recently and found his presentation one of only two during the entire 3-day event that was worth anything. Went up afterwards to tell him so, and enjoyed our brief chat. As a result, checked out Grokdotcom.com, Future Now’s official blog. And for the first time in a long time I’ve found myself actually sucked in to the dialogs happening there!

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The proverbial straw that…you know, the camel’s back and all… was a recent post (”You and I Still Learning about Blogging”)by Jeffrey Eisenberg, one of the founders of Future Now, Inc. where he quoted a blog post by Marc Andreessen who apparently also just recently started blogging (so even if I’m late to the party, at least I’m still in good company)

I should have started doing this years and years ago. Anyone who says blogs are not widely read is incorrect. I have been absolutely amazed at the range and diversity of the people who have been reading this blog, and so quickly.

It is crystal clear to me now that at least in industries where lots of people are online, blogging is the single best way to communicate and interact.

…writing a blog is way easier than writing a magazine article, a published paper, or a book — but provides many of the same benefits.[…] Arguably blogging is better because the distribution of a blog can be even broader than a magazine article, a published paper, or a book, at least in cases where the article/paper/book is restricted by a publisher to a limited readership base.

Another recent influential post (”Aren’t You My Competitor?”) by Bryan Eisenberg, Jeffrey’s brother and also a Future Now co-founder, where he referred to a Joe Duck post who in turn pointed to Kent Newsome, discussing a new “Blogging Revolution.” While I don’t particularly feel as radical as those referenced authors about the need to “refresh” my personal blog reading habits, it did inspire me to get my own voice out there.

Whether anyone ever reads this blog or not, I frankly don’t really care. But I’m thinking at least I’ll enjoy it, and perhaps I won’t feel so compelled to burden Jeffrey, Bryan, Howard, and Robert Gorell’s Grokdotcom posts with so many lengthy comments!

"The Journey of a Thousand Miles...

kurt@shouninjutsu.com — 2007-07-14T14:01:42-06:00

…begins with the first footstep.”

Here it is– my first post on the Shouninjutsu Blog. I got sick and tired of not having any place to memorialize some of the near-realtime thoughts and discussions I’ve had about Ninja Marketing principles and the whole of “Shuriken” thinking.

So if you find anything here of value, great. If not– that’s fine too. It’s more a place for me to document what’s on my mind at the moment than it is anything else.

GANBARE!

Ninja "Meeting" Principles and Tactics

kurt@shouninjutsu.com — 2007-07-28T17:49:49-06:00

Well, the boys and girls at Grokdotcom (in this case, Jeffrey Eisenberg, in particular) have done it again. They’ve spurred a debate that has inspired me to not only comment on a recent post over there, but to repeat my comments over here on the Shouninjutsu, Ninja Marketing blog.

As time goes by, I hope to be able to spell out more of the Ninja Marketing Philosophy that informs these particular views, but didn’t want to miss the opportunity to “memorialize” these thoughts in the meantime…

Ninja "Meeting" Principles and Tactics

FOR CONSIDERATION: Having taught countless classes/seminars all over the world on time management and effective leadership skills, here are a few of my personal rules of thumb regarding meetings:
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Never have more than one meeting a day. COROLLARY: Never spend more time in internal meetings on any given day than you are willing to spend the next day doing nothing but talking to real CUSTOMERS (not just “users”– but that’s a DIFFERENT comment).
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Schedule no more than 45 minutes for ANY meeting. Allow (and expect) people to excuse themselves as they see fit after that time.
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Remove chairs from the conference room. Don’t let people get too comfortable, and for Pete’s sake don’t encourage them by bringing DOUGHNUTS!
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Recognize that there are 3 different types of meetings: a) Informational, b)Celebratory and c) Decision-Making. Confuse this context and ensure confusion and frustration.
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Have a very SPECIFIC objective for each and every meeting and never have more than 3 things on the agenda for any specific meeting. Never give anyone more than 3 action items coming out of a single meeting.
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If you need a PowerPoint to get your point across, just send the PowerPoint. Most of us can read.

If an issue is too complex for just use a PowerPoint, write it up as a document. Better for one person to spend twice the time to develop a well-articulated proposal (remember what your English teacher said? “If you can’t write it down clearly, then you’re not thinking clearly”..), than to waste the time of everyone else involved.
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If it’s 2-3 people, it’s a “discussion”– have plenty of those. Organizational theory teaches that any group of over 5 is almost unmanageable because of the multiple permutations and combinations of the vested interests of all involved.
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Understand RID roles for every attendee:

R=RESPONSIBLE- party “responsible” for the specific activity tied to the objective/outcome of the meeting.

I=INVOLVED- not just “INTERESTED,” but those who are directly affected and/or need to provide specific input.

D=DECISION-MAKING- those who will ultimately have to make a specific decision based on the meeting.

Everyone who does not play one of these roles can “stay home”…
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Don’t insist or expect EVERYONE in attendance to actively participate. Don’t create a culture where people feel that they MUST comment continually just to prove they are “smart,” or “engaged” or “part of the team.”

Those of us who thrive in decentralized work environments (I've "officed" in 26 locations in virtually every time zone) have learned that most seemingly “necessary” meetings truly are not. Use technology to monitor and collaborate, foster trust and individual accountability and focus on smaller, manageable discrete tasks to cut down on time wasted in meetings.