When customization leaves the customer out of the frame

A version of this post was published in Quartz Magazine on September 25th, 2014. Click here for the article.

This year, as our 11-year old twins prepared to go back to school, they convinced my husband and I that they deserved something special for their 5th grade and middle-school entrance test results. Each had set their heart on customized shoes. I had been curious about how these services had evolved in recent years, so I decided to set up an experiment of sorts.

The criteria we established were simple: speed, concept delivery, no spam. The unsaid factor, of course, was customer satisfaction.

We started with a general search for customized soccer cleats for my son and sneakers for my daughter. After some price and value research, we decided to go with Vans for the sneakers and Adidas for the soccer cleats. Among the soccer shoe providers, Nike and Adidas have done the most to offer the greatest level of customization. Vans stood out as the only one, apart from Nike, that seems to provide customized casual keds. Toms, a leading contender provides artist-designed shoes and monogrammed pairs, but don’t get to the level of customization we were looking for. Of course, there’s a lot of speculation around 3-D printable shoes—I looked at a couple of options like the MiMiniFactory and Dezeen shoes, but it wasn’t easy to find anything practical and that didn’t require a lot of work to get set up, printed and tested. But I suspect my next shoe will come hot off a press somewhere near me.

After we selected Vans and Adidas, came the family mix-and-match fun, after which we had a couple of impressive looking shoes designed. Both websites (vans.com and adidas.com) did well as far ease of use goes. However, Adidas won when it came to the types of customization you can incorporate (the player’s name, a country flag, etc.) As we hit the order button, we were surprised at the expected time to delivery – 4 weeks for the MiAdidas, and 7 weeks for the Customized Vans. Not to put too fine a point on it, but given the difference in the types of shoes we’re talking about here – cleats seem to be a slightly more complex product than Vans keds – this seemed a bit off. I get a sense that there’s a huge opportunity to simplify and speed up the process at Vans!

The criteria we established for the experiment were simple: speed, concept delivery, no spam. The unsaid factor, of course, was customer delight and surprise.

How to save your Preemie: Wrap her in a Robot

A version of this post was published in Quartz Magazine on September 25th, 2014. Click here to see the article.

To listen to Hollywood's Sci-Fi machine, AI (artificial intelligence) is going to change the world. Unfortunately, it's a bleak tale - the earth is either an all-out dystopia or a fragile fantasy of happiness that is shattered when the heroic protagonist realizes that after all, it's rotten to the core. Whether you're a battery suspended in gel to feed the machines in the Matrix, or a rebel fighting a last ditch battle against the T800 Terminators, it's not looking very good for you, feeble human!!

This week's NYT has an article by Jayson Greene reviewing just this generally dismal vision. He references Arthur C. Clark's essay, "The Hazards of Prophecy" where he posits that it's the failure of imagination and the failure of nerve that results in such fatalistic views. We fail to envision a hopeful future, because we imagine the worst. Beware the Terminator, Hal, NS-54s and Preston.... Of course, they're all about power and control. The assumption seems to be that AI will drive to our baser instincts. 

Star Wars had a different take, though. Apart from C3PO and R2D2, there's Chroon-Tan B.

In 2005, Chroon-Tan B made an appearance in the public consciousness as the midwife robot in Star Wars III; Revenge of the Sith. She, because she definitely sounded like a she, crooned softly as she gently cradled the newborn twins Leia and Luke, as their mother was unceremoniously and traumatically despatched to film heaven. An odd little gentle interlude before the gory scenes that followed as dad Anakin was despatched limb by limb to his Darth future....

Imagine my surprise earlier this week when I found BabyBe on AngelList. Chroon-Tan was here, and maybe was better for not having taken the momma out of the picture. Instead, it was clearly a device created by engineers who understood the role of mothers in the lives of preemie children.

Take a look here for what BabyBe does - their tag line is Soft Robotics for neonatal healthcare.

The 3 most important drivers of innovation…. location, location, location?

There are reflections from my reading of Indian PM Modi's Independence Day Speech delivered August 15, 2014.
See the original article printed in the Atlantic Weekly's online publication, Quartz.

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s independence day speech from the Red For set a distinctly modern tone. This was a speech focused on the realities of India, and its modern aspiration: Women’s rights and safety, manufacturing and banking for the poor, ubiquitous broadband and access. He underscored reforms such as the disbanding of the Planning Commission, and its replacement with the National Development Reforms Commission.

Resiliency - Reflections During The Commonwealth Games

I was asked a series of questions by the Times Of India about my sporting days when the current Commonwealth Games swung around (I was a gold medalist and record holder in rifle shooting for India), including the inevitable "why did you leave?" question. Here is my original response the the questions:

“Don’t dwell on the past, or worry about the future - just take the shot at hand.”

“Maintain your equanimity - no need to celebrate the great shot, or fret about the bad one. Just learn from the last shot and keep going.”

The Art And Science Of Placing Little Bets: A Conversation With Peter Sims

Note: This article was published in The Economic Times on June 14, 2014

Image from PeterSims.com

This week, I spent some time shooting the breeze with PeterSims, Venture Capitalist and serious believer in “Little Bets”. In his recently published book “Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries”, Peter examined what Apple CEO Steve Jobs, comedian Chris Rock, and other greats have in common. In essence, he posits that all of them have achieved remarkable results using a surprisingly similar approach: methodically taking small, experimental steps. Rather than believing they have to start with a big idea or plan a whole project out in advance, trying to foresee the final outcome, they make a methodical series of little bets about what might be a good direction, learning critical information from lots of little failures and from small but significant wins that allow them to find unexpected avenues and arrive at extraordinary outcomes.

Retail As Storytelling

Note: This ran in edited form in Quartz Magazine

When Fantasy Meets Retail Showrooms, Do Your Online Platforms Follow Suite?

The best retail firms have always been great at storytelling. I remember my first weekend in NYC, fifteen years ago, when I stopped dead in front of a Saks 5^th Avenue display window and was enveloped by a fantasy woodland tale. Yes, they were selling the evening gown, shoes and clutch, but they were accessories to the story of luxury, confidence and power.

These days, that kind of retail story bleeds into more than a display window.

While less than 10% of US retail purchases are made online, given how many online shoppers use these sites for research and exploration, you can see why creating a compelling and cohesive experience can make financial sense.

There’s also a more porous customer experience emerging. In the increasingly ADHD world, the retail experience means being inspired around the dinner table, a quick inspired search on a mobile phone, deeper research late that evening on the website, and then possibly a visit to the store over the weekend to test it out…oh, and that may not be the end of the line. Sometimes, there’s the urge to research further and do some price comparisons, which takes the customer back online….it’s a dizzying world out there. How’s a retailer supposed to keep up?

How To Build A High Octane Network

Note: This article was also carried on Rediff.com on June 5th as 5 Rules To Building A Strong Network

Solopreneur. An inelegant word, addressing an elegant and increasingly pertinent value-creating part of our economy. The dictionaries definition is "an entrepreneur who works alone, with contractors, yet is fully responsible for running the business." That rang true to my almost two years running Center10. Globally, a growing number of professionals have taken the path of establishing their own enterprises, often small enterprises that tap into powerful networks and deliver specialized services to those who need that support.

The richest element of my entrepreneurial experience has been the vibrant network of partners who have been part of my journey. They have been my cheering squad, advisors, quasi-employees, and above all, my always dependable partners.

Networks Rule: My Linkedin Contacts Map

Of course, there have been partnership hiccups along the way, but those have been few and far between. I realized, as I reflected, that the network that has swung into effect have been decades in the making. Over 15 years, they have advised me when I was moving into a leadership role with a global team, when I was making the decision to move organizations, and of course, when I was setting up my new firm, and making decisions around structure, logo, firm name, client strategy, offering...everything.

All this to say, whether you are contemplating setting off on your own, or growing within a large organization, invest in building a vibrant network. It will stand you in good stead.

Some rules for building a strong network:

Five Global Trends The Young Entrepreneur Should Harness

I was invited to write an opinion piece by The Economic Times, the largest financial daily in Asia. Here is the the article as it ran on March 12, 2014, Below is the unedited version

Reflecting on global trends that could continue the already impressive transformation of India’s culture and business, I had to start by acknowledging all that has already shifted in the country. For example, go onto freelancer sourcing sites Freelancer.com, PeoplePerHour or elance.com and you’ll be inundated by qualified, competitively-priced Indian bids for anything from web and logo development to analytics. These globally aware young Indians will continue to shift India’s future prospects. They should consider the following global trends – all providing opportunities for entrepreneurial ventures and change in India as well.

Image courtesy of Smarnad/FreeDigitalPhotos.net                                            

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The Impact Of Coaching

In a conversation with a prospective coachee, I landed up looking for a short article I'd written a couple of years ago in trying to introduce executive coaching into a company I had a senior talent role in. Thought I'd share.
In my decades of experience in corporate settings globally, I have found that executives appreciate and buy strategic and functional advice, but often are in deep need of interpersonal, behavioral and executive coaching. I have provided executive and career coaching in formal and informal relationships with my clients, and believe my strong ability to help clients in their planning and goal-setting, raising their awareness through powerful and skillful questioning and building trust by engaging with integrity and candor have helped my clients get to their goals.

Some data points on the Impact of Coaching

The multiplicity of goals that coaching aims to deliver on, in its broadest sense, makes a simple statement of impact difficult to capture. As Alan Levenson of The Center for Organizational Effectiveness pinpoints, statistically valid impact data is complicated. For example, Smither, London, Flautt, Vargas and Kucine (2003) examined the impact of coaching on multi-source feedback ratings (direct reports and supervisors) for 404 senior managers, compared to 957 senior managers who received the same multi-source feedback but no executive coaching. They found that working with an executive coach improved direct report and supervisor ratings, but that the measured change in ratings was small.

If I were Chris Christie's Executive Coach...OR Being The Best Self One Can Be

On the walk back home from the kids' drop-off, I landed up chatting with an old friend who happens be transitioning to a big new job. He's looking to take over the role vacated by a well-loved leader...who also leaves a slightly less than well-performing team. Our conversation naturally turned to all things leaderly.

As good New Yorkers, our minds veered immediately to the Christie Traffic Incident. You couldn't switch on or pick up any news source last week without an onslaught of New Jersey governor, Chris Christie's team and their seeming interference with the traffic from Fort Lee - apparently as retribution for the Ft.Lee mayor's lack of support of the their boss. The Governor of New Jersey sought to distance himself from the petty, corrupt maneuverings of his underlings, only to come off as unapologetic and unempathetic. Christie prides himself on who he is, and often talks about how what he is, is what you'll get.

On a parallel course, I ran into article as I was clicking through on a yoga website, and saw a quote about a woman who prided herself on reducing her weight by 40 pounds - "I wanted to be the best self I could possibly be."

What is it about the times we live in, that efforts to change how we look are lauded, but efforts to change the one thinks or acts is considered flip-flopping?

We have painted ourselves into a strange little corner, where evolution is a concept that can polarize. But the core of the human condition is the constant learning and growing that's possible, if we are open to it.

My experience working with leaders for the past decade and a half suggests that the best leaders:

• Recognize that the skills, mindset and capabilities that brought them success and recognition yesterday, won't fully propel them forward tomorrow
• They are brave enough to listen to insights from colleagues and direct reports without dismissing them, but trying to get to the kernel of truth hidden in those insights
• They recognize the impact they have on their people and their organizations - their attitudes and foibles provide excuses and encouragement to those around them to behave in ways that can sometimes be appalling (see an analysis of Christie's case here)
• They respect the friends, partners and collaborators who got them to success, but understand they will need to get to a higher level of capability - new teams, better talent that gets embedded in the existing networks, etc.
• They work on their own evolution, often with a strong mentor, a sponsor, an executive coach or a trained facilitator (and, not infrequently, all of them!)
• A mentor...based on Mentor, the character from Greek mythology, who advised and goaded Odysseus and his son to action, a mentor is someone who imparts wisdom and shares knowledge with a less experienced colleague
• A sponsor, on the other hand, is much more active - they are "dream-enablers" says Sylvia Ann Hewlett, who connect you to people in and beyond your company
• An executive coach, can perform many services in partnership with an executive. It is often a truly strategic partnership in which a coach empowers the client to clarify goals, develop action plans, get to real self-awareness, move past obstacles and build on strengths. See more here.
• A facilitator who can help with team issues, including team chartering, strategy and vision-setting.

I'm going to assume Christie has some form of coach - I'd urge that person to help Christie to flex and test new leadership behaviors, and general capabilities that include being respectful of "the other." Time to upgrade, and to bring in folks who will hold the mirror up to him - often.