Canada – a Poor Nation in a Rich Country?

 

Last Spring I wrote a series of articles on Canada’s economic, social & political malaise. If you do an AI search using the latter phrase, you’ll see the data. In those pieces I contrasted the ‘Great White North’ with Singapore, that economic & innovation powerhouse that I’ve come to know & love. I proposed a series of countermeasures and a road map back to prosperity. Has anything changed since I wrote those articles?

Things have indeed changed since I last wrote about Canada – they’ve gotten worse. Trade tensions with the US have further degraded productivity, business investment, and our standard of living. Trade barriers within Canada remain impenetrable. Our debt & deficit continue to mushroom, and per capita GPD declines. We are officially in a ‘technical’ recession.

Canada’s economic malaise is bleeding into day-to-day life. Family formation & birth rates are at historic lows. Kids can barely afford rent; home ownership is an impossible dream. Violent crime & infant mortality rates are spiking. Healthcare? - don’t ask.  Even life expectancy is falling.

There is strong separatist sentiment in Western Canada and Quebec. Alberta will hold a referendum on sovereignty this fall. As for Quebec, if the front-running Parti Quebecois wins October’s provincial election, we’ll soon have a second sovereignty referendum. Alberta & Quebecois separatism is fueled by the strong sense that ‘we can do better outside of Canada’.

And yet, Canada remains a ‘rich’ country. We are endowed with one of the planet’s most magnificent & munificent land masses. We have pretty much everything Singapore lacks. And unlike Singapore, our cities & infrastructure have never been destroyed. Our people have never been imprisoned or enslaved. We are not surrounded by enemies. We have never been invaded by a merciless imperial army. We live next door to the world’s richest & most innovative market.

Singapore has become a rich nation in a poor country. Is Canada becoming a ‘poor nation in a rich country’? Anxious to deflect attention, our elites invoke the ‘ogre down South’, but even that tactic is wearing thin.

Clearly, something has gone badly wrong. Is Canada’s decline irreversible? What would it take to regain our historic tenacity, self-confidence & entrepreneurial spirit? (I provided a humble road map in my earlier articles.) I believe our PM is sincere & capable and wish him well. His thankless challenge is to clean up a decade of malfeasance and restore a once-great country.

I do not wish to be misunderstood. This gives me no pleasure, and I have no partisan axe to grind. Canada (and America) gave my family a chance at a better life. Am I not obliged to signal the growing gap between my native land & the innovation powerhouses I’m lucky enough to experience?

They say, the ‘darkest hour is right before the dawn’. Let’s hope so.

Best wishes,

Pascal Dennis, co-author of Harnessing Digital Disruption

E: pascal.dennis@leansystems.org

Protect the Core & Ignite New Growth – Ambidexterity in Practice

The ambidextrous will prosper.

Pascal Dennis, co-author of Harnessing Digital Disruption

I’ve walked two pathways in my career– OpEx/Lean, and the way of Smart Growth (applied Innovation).  Integrating them is my aspiration these past ten years. So, what does such ambidexterity look like in practice?

Some years ago, I wrote a book about planning & execution called Getting the Right Things Done.  GRTD is about protecting your core business by focusing & aligning on a clear aspiration & winning logic. Our winning strategy is typically expressed in terms of core pillars, such as People, Quality, Delivery and Cost. Each pillar’s story is told on one-page A3-sized storyboards.  Each pillar’s A3 storyboard in turn comprises a clear aspiration & winning logic.

Simplicity is a key organizing principle in GRTD – if we cannot tell a clear simple story on one page, we probably do not understand the problem. The cost of complexity is extremely high – doing nothing is often less wasteful than pressing random buttons on the hope something will work.

Love the problem is a second core principle – develop a profound understanding of what we are trying to achieve before attempting countermeasures.  Given our impatient human nature, this is very hard to do.  (‘Don’t just stand there – do something!)  Plan & execute in accord with the scientific method a third core idea. In other words, our winning logic is a hypothesis, which we must test & validate based on data.

Protecting your core business in this way provides the foundation for Smart Growth. For a start, you free up plenty of cash which you can invest in your innovation portfolio. Moreover, the core principles of Protecting the Core are aligned with those of Smart Growth.  If you’ve been practicing kaizen, Growth Hacking (‘Lean experimentation’) will not be entirely foreign. If you’ve learned the physics of Flow in a great Lean company, you can readily apply them in an innovation sprint.

Igniting new Growth entails developing a balanced portfolio of innovation projects that a) align with your overall Aspiration & Winning Logic, and b) are mutually supportive. In other words, by doing project A & B, you are better able to tackle the more challenging C. Balanced means the right combination of better journeys, new journeys & offerings, and new businesses.

Your organization’s ‘mother Obeya’ (Control Tower, Cockpit, Big Room) with look just a little different.  In addition to the Pillar report outs and visuals, you’ll have a section showing the status of your Innovation Portfolio.  The visual system we use most often is a funnel with swim lanes corresponding to the type of innovation. We’ve also had success with race tracks and regatta courses.

Your funnel has to reflect the progress of each innovation (often called a ‘proof of concept’ – POC) toward validating the key tests:

1.     Does it Wow? (Desirability)

2.     Can we make money? (Viability)

3.     Does it work? (Feasibility)

But that’s a topic for another day. If you’re impatient, you can read about it here.

Best wishes,

Pascal Dennis         E: pascal.dennis@leansystems.org

In case you missed earlier blogs... please feel free to have another look….

AI and Innovation, part 2
AI Without Acumen = Garbage at the Speed of Light
Smart Growth (continued) - the Hacker
Smart Growth - the Huslter

Smart Growth - the Hustler

 Impactful innovation requires three quite different personalities – the Hipster, Hustler, and Hacker. The Hustler is the often quarterback.

Smart Growth (applied innovation) requires three different personalities, working together & fully caffeinated. In earlier blogs, I described the qualities of the Hipster and Hacker. Now, let’s talk about the Hustler, who is often the quarterback in the 3H model.

Hustlers know how to make money. Business acumen, like Design or Technical acumen, is a type of super-power. Effective hackers share the following qualities:

●      Financial Literacy: They understand financial statements, key metrics (esp. ROI, EBITDA, gross margins), and how business decisions impact profitability & cash flow. They know how to ‘manage a P&L’ and understand the power of OpEx/Lean.

●      Adaptability: They are flexible & able to pivot in response to changing circumstances. For example, a good Hustler will accept that traditional metrics like ROI & EBITDA do not apply in initial stages of an innovation launch. Why? Because they are all zero! And so, the Hustler will accept Innovation Accounting measures to assess traction. Moreover, a good Hustler understands & appreciates the contributions of the Hipster & Hacker.

●      Market Awareness: Hustlers understand their industry, competitors, and customers. They identify opportunities, anticipate challenges, and position their teams & organization for competitive advantage.

●      Strategic Thinking: Capable Hustlers can see the entire chessboard. They understand ambidexterity - the ability to both protect the core business AND ignite new Growth. At the macro level, they develop & execute innovation strategies that align with the company’s aspiration & winning logic. At the micro level, they adapt based on the results of Lean experiments. They understand the distinct phases in the innovation ‘hockey stick,’ and the critical tests of Smart Growth:

○      Does it wow?

○      Can we make money?

○      Does it work?

●      Resilience: Hustlers bounce back from setbacks, view ‘failed’ experiments as learning, and maintain focus despite obstacles.

●      Communication & Emotional Intelligence: Effective hustlers articulate their vision, expectations, and feedback clearly, fostering trust and alignment within their teams. Good Hustlers understand & manage their own emotions and build strong relationships & healthy work environments.

●      Analytical and Critical Thinking Skills: Capable Hustlers make decisions based on data & adapt both the macro & micro approach accordingly.

Such traits help Hustlers to make good decisions, get results, and guide their teams through the uncertainty, complexity & fog of innovation.

Famous Hustlers? Jeff Bezos, Jack Ma, Warren Buffet, Oprah Winfrey, Andrew Carnegie, Debbi Fields, J.W. Marriott, Jamie Dimon. Feel free to add more names.

Hustlers, Hackers & Hipsters working in tandem are an unstoppable creative force. Our challenge as business leaders & innovators is to build healthy 3H teams & address the blockers that hinder them. More on blockers in articles to come.

Best wishes,

Pascal Dennis         E: pascal.dennis@leansystems.org

#SmartGrowth #InnovationTeams #BusinessHustler #StartupSuccess #LeadershipMatters #3HModel #NewProductLaunch

In case you missed our last few blogs... please feel free to have another look….

Smart Growth (continued) - the Hacker
Innovation Fundamentals - Radical Collaboration & the 3H Model
My Hockey Stick Curve, part 1
OpEx/Lean, Innovation and Wakefulness