Went to a fascinating Sir Kenneth Cork Management Lecture last night at the Octagon (part of Queen Mary, University of London in the Mile End Road).
The event was organised by the London Branch of the Chartered Management Institute and featured Brian Baldock currently Chairman of Mencap.
In his wide-ranging talk Brian covered the changes to technology, society, communications, business and finance which have brought us to our present state. He explored how once cutting edge Business Models are now universally outdated; why corporate re-engineering, re-organisation and cost-reduction processes are all time and effort wasted; why organisation structures and processes are generally not fit for purpose.
His role model companies were Google who are focussed on creating services their customers want, and Walmart who constantly reduce the price of products for their customers.
Amongst a long list of suggestions for what business needs to do to become competitive in the future were the following highlights:
- Eliminate committees
- Replace trainers with coaches
- Create a culture of ‘restless dissatisfaction’
- Become customer and consumer obsessed
- Think the unthinkable
- Recruit mavericks