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Shift Ahead: How the Best Companies Stay Relevant in a Fast-Changing World
The future is closer than you think.
In a world that’s changing faster and more furiously than ever, the ability to shift focus is critical.
Why is it that some organizations can continually evolve to meet the times and the marketplace, and others can’t? How do some businesses recognize the right moment to shift, and others, ruefully, only after it’s too late? Packed with insightful interviews, Shift Ahead offers a smart, calculated approach to knowing when to change course and how to pull it off.
The book brings every internal and external factor into view: competitors, risks, culture, finances, and more. And it taps success stories and cautionary tales — including HBO, Adobe, BlackBerry, National Geographic, NYU, Microsoft, Kodak, and P&G — to explain how to:
Spot warning signs that it’s time for reinvention ● Overcome obstacles in the way of future goals ● Maintain authenticity when changing gears ● Execute a bold change seamlessly
To stay competitive, you must shift; to stay credible, you must focus. Shift Ahead turns this difficult maneuver into a straightforward strategy.
- GenresBusiness
272 pages, Hardcover
Published November 9, 2017
14 people are currently reading
294 people want to read
About the author
Allen Adamson
3 books5 followersAllen Adamson is a noted industry expert in all disciplines of branding. He has worked with a broad spectrum of consumer and corporate businesses in industries ranging from packaged goods and technology, to health care and financial services, to hospitality and entertainment. Given his broad perspective and depth of experience, Allen is able to help clients see and seize opportunities before the competition, activating solutions that enable them to shift ahead of the market, generating long-term value and increased brand equity. He and his teams help clients identify what truly matters to the audiences they serve – what is relevant to them – and deliver on it brilliantly.
Allen's newest book, Seeing the How: Transforming What People Do, Not Buy, To Gain Market Advantage, focuses on the consumer experience as a competitive advantage, and how this change in perspective has allowed companies to achieve dramatic growth and categorical leadership. The book’s driving idea was sparked by Allen's recognition that experience transformation has been fast outpacing product transformation as a winning and sustainable marketing strategy.
His previous books, BrandSimple, BrandDigital, The Edge: 50 Tips from Brands that Lead and Shift Ahead, are used as textbooks in higher education business programs across the country.
Allen’s multifaceted knowledge of all things brand and branding is the result of having worked on both the agency side of the business, and the client side. He spent the earliest part of his career as a marketing executive in packaged goods, at Unilever, one of the world’s largest consumer goods companies, where he oversaw a broad range of consumer products. He is proud to acknowledge that he spent a lot of his early business life in supermarket aisles, perusing one aisle or another in order to gain an understanding of the consumers’ outlook– and that of his brands’ competitors.
On the agency side, Allen held senior management positions at iconic advertising firms, including Ogilvy & Mather and DMB&B, before arriving at Landor Associates, a full-spectrum brand consultancy dealing with brand development and the myriad factors that makes one brand more successful than another. He eventually rose to the position of Chairman. Under his leadership, the company partnered with a variety of global brands, including Accenture, GE, Johnson & Johnson, FedEx, HBO, Marriott, MetLife, P&G, Sony, and Verizon. Additionally, he guided non-profit organizations, including the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, the Central Park Conservancy, and the Council on Foreign Relations, among others.
For the past several years, Allen has been an Adjunct Professor and frequent guest lecturer at New York University's Stern School of Business, and the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University, where he lectures on the significant and numerous challenges brands are confronting - and overcoming - in a fast-changing marketplace. He also serves as the brand expert-in-residence at the Berkley Center for Entrepreneurship at NYU Stern, working with student entrepreneurs from across NYU to help them develop and execute their brand “story,” providing guidance on the many aspects required to launch successful brands.
Given the depth and breadth of his expertise - his perspective of brands from both an academic and a long-standing practitioner’s point of view – Allen has been called on as an expert witness for companies across a number of industries involved in litigation over the protection of their brand assets, the distinguishing characteristics that differentiate one brand from another. His multidimensional experience makes him unparalleled in his ability to offer valuable insight to those defending brands that have come under competitive threat and encroachment of these assets.
A sought-after
Allen's newest book, Seeing the How: Transforming What People Do, Not Buy, To Gain Market Advantage, focuses on the consumer experience as a competitive advantage, and how this change in perspective has allowed companies to achieve dramatic growth and categorical leadership. The book’s driving idea was sparked by Allen's recognition that experience transformation has been fast outpacing product transformation as a winning and sustainable marketing strategy.
His previous books, BrandSimple, BrandDigital, The Edge: 50 Tips from Brands that Lead and Shift Ahead, are used as textbooks in higher education business programs across the country.
Allen’s multifaceted knowledge of all things brand and branding is the result of having worked on both the agency side of the business, and the client side. He spent the earliest part of his career as a marketing executive in packaged goods, at Unilever, one of the world’s largest consumer goods companies, where he oversaw a broad range of consumer products. He is proud to acknowledge that he spent a lot of his early business life in supermarket aisles, perusing one aisle or another in order to gain an understanding of the consumers’ outlook– and that of his brands’ competitors.
On the agency side, Allen held senior management positions at iconic advertising firms, including Ogilvy & Mather and DMB&B, before arriving at Landor Associates, a full-spectrum brand consultancy dealing with brand development and the myriad factors that makes one brand more successful than another. He eventually rose to the position of Chairman. Under his leadership, the company partnered with a variety of global brands, including Accenture, GE, Johnson & Johnson, FedEx, HBO, Marriott, MetLife, P&G, Sony, and Verizon. Additionally, he guided non-profit organizations, including the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, the Central Park Conservancy, and the Council on Foreign Relations, among others.
For the past several years, Allen has been an Adjunct Professor and frequent guest lecturer at New York University's Stern School of Business, and the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University, where he lectures on the significant and numerous challenges brands are confronting - and overcoming - in a fast-changing marketplace. He also serves as the brand expert-in-residence at the Berkley Center for Entrepreneurship at NYU Stern, working with student entrepreneurs from across NYU to help them develop and execute their brand “story,” providing guidance on the many aspects required to launch successful brands.
Given the depth and breadth of his expertise - his perspective of brands from both an academic and a long-standing practitioner’s point of view – Allen has been called on as an expert witness for companies across a number of industries involved in litigation over the protection of their brand assets, the distinguishing characteristics that differentiate one brand from another. His multidimensional experience makes him unparalleled in his ability to offer valuable insight to those defending brands that have come under competitive threat and encroachment of these assets.
A sought-after
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 25, 2018
Shift Ahead
Allen Adamson
Joel Steckel
2018
The book is quite well laid out but in the end it is lacking. It did not give the reader an ‘aha’ moment that explains the how and when to shift.
Lots of examples and anecdotal evidence but in the end it comes down to management – to have the understanding of the need to change in the marketplace, to have the vision of where to shift and, finally, in having the wherewithal, in terms of resources, team and systems that would allow you to get there.
Also this is a BIG company book.
Yes there are elements that can be used for startups but it is not geared for this market.
Worth reading.
If you have an ‘aha’ moment, please let me know.
Thanks
In a world that's changing faster and more furiously than ever, the ability to shift focus is critical.
Why is it that some organizations can continually evolve to meet the times and the marketplace, and others can't? How do some businesses recognize the right moment to shift, and others, ruefully, only after it's too late? Packed with insightful interviews, Shift Ahead offers a smart, calculated approach to knowing when to change course and how to pull it off.
The book brings every internal and external factor into view: competitors, risks, culture, finances, and more. And it taps success stories and cautionary tales - including HBO, Adobe, BlackBerry, National Geographic, NYU, Microsoft, Kodak, and P&G - to explain how to:
• Spot warning signs that it's time for reinvention
• Overcome obstacles in the way of future goals
• Maintain authenticity when changing gears
• Execute a bold change seamlessly
To stay competitive, you must shift; to stay credible, you must focus. Shift Ahead turns this difficult maneuver into a straightforward strategy.
https://www.amazon.ca/Shift-Ahead-Com...
Notes:
Chapter 1: Why this book?
1: Maintaining relevance in a world that is changing so very, very fast is very, very challenging.
2: Thomas L. Friedman, of New York Times told us, the planet’s three largest forces
• Moore’s Law (technology)
• Market (globalization)
• Mother Nature (climate change and biodiversity loss)
o Are all accelerating all at once, transforming fie key realms:
Workplace
Politics
Geopolitics
Ethics
Community
3: Brand Asset Valuator (BAV) …world’s largest database on how consumers see brands
https://www.bavgroup.com/
6: Differentiation; relevance; Esteem; Knowledge
EN: Is trying to understand the customer impossibility? Instead focus on understanding why someone buys from you and repeat, over and over again. Build communities and make a difference to their lives.
Chapter 2: Heed the Red Flags
All good tag lines express a brand’s point of differentiation…
21: 1> Basic math
22: 2> Competing on price, not differentiation
23: 3> Big on data short on analysis
25: 4> Neglecting table stakes
26: 5> Pride often does go before a fall
28: 6> Being too deep in your comfort zone
31: 7> Yertle the turtle is left behind
Chapter 3: The Road Barriers
34: Kodak saw the writing on the wall but wasn’t willing to go all in…
42: Xerox: Sunk cost bias and golden handcuffs deterrents to both business and brand
47: Toys R Us: Playing catch-up is hard when you’re competing on the wrong metrics
50: Procter & Gamble: Not too big to fail (or Stumble)
54: Blackberry: Invincibility is a myth
58: National Geographic: A well documented case of cultural myopia
62: Playboy: A yesterday brand, with a lesson relevant for today
66: American Cancer society: Leadership on Autopilot is fatal in fast-changing conditions
69: Teach for America: The challenge to get back to the founder’s mentality
EN: Beware the benefits of hindsight and micromanagement without the responsibility of management, but let us see what they say are the lessons learned!
72: Lessons learned:
1. Beware ‘the golden handcuffs”
2. “Empty pockets’ restrict options for maintaining relevance
3. Culture clashes kill
4. Pride goeth before a fall
5. It takes a special leader to execute a shift
a. EN: see my preamble above – this one is critical
6. The magic only happens outside the comfort zone
Audentes Fortuna iuvat = fortune favors the bold.
Chapter 4: Ready the organization for a shift
81: By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail ~ Benjamin Franklin
EN: Fake quote: To verify the authenticity of any Franklin quote, McCormick said the essential first step is to search on key phrases at the Franklin papers online (www.franklinpapers.org).
101: Lessons learned:
1. Have clarity of purpose
2. Understand the ecosystem
3. Bathe with your customers
4. Be constantly looking out for the next big thing
a. EN: DANGER Will Robinson!!!
i. Have a plan
ii. Have vision to major things
iii. Use Moore’s Law
iv. Use Learning Curve
v. Constant improvement!
5. Culture matters
a. EN: so does BRAND
SCANNING
Chapter 5: Making sense of the road ahead
EN: So now it becomes a management consulting course?
119: Lessons learned
1. Get out of the bubble
2. Find the fringe
a. Where scientists, artists….are testing seemingly bizarre hypotheses…
i. EN: READ, Think, Research….find your muse(s) but not too many!
3. Look for the pain points
a. In the spirit of “necessity is the mother of invention”
Chapter 6: Which shift to make? It depends on what’s ahead
126: Barnes & Noble: Understand your DNA
128: Katz’s Delicatessen: Sometimes staying in Park is the right gear
131: Cheerios: Small Shifts to meet shifting attitudes
133: Hasbro: Game on…shifting by “Zooming out”
138: CNN: An important message for Media companies
143: Conservation international: A shift to link environmental conservation to economic growth
148: IBM: A legacy of continued shifting
152: Lindblad: Shifting to deliver deeper expertise to core focus
154: Comcast: Two shifts, Two roads, One purpose
160: BP: A lesson learned
EN: While case studies are typical of large businesses, will this help entrepreneurial (smaller) business?
165: Lessons learned:
1. Respect your DNA
2. As time passes and markets welcome entrants, segments emerge and products must become more specialized – and firms must shift to adapt
3. Update your marketing to conform to and reflect current social norms
4. Shift involves more than meets the eye
5. Sometimes the best moves are the ones you do not make
6. EN: Sometimes the best moves are the ones you do not make
a. Just saying!!!
Chapter 7: Leadership
EN: Leadership that mystical idea that can make the mundane good and the good special…
173: Top ten leadership attributes:
1. Vision
2. Think laterally
3. Embrace change
4. Pick the right team
5. Trust your instincts
6. Be tolerant but human
7. Give the credit. Take the blame
8. Be cool under fire
9. Make tough calls
10. Be decisive
201: Lessons learned
1. Leaders do not only have VISION, they have peripheral vision
2. Authentic credibility helps leaders through strategic change
3. Leaders’ personal values impact how they lead a shift
4. Shifts require bold action
5. Have a purpose – instill it, communicate it, live it
Chapter 8: Success stories: What it takes for the long haul
207: The preeminent skill requited to shift ahead in the twenty-first century is the ability to see and seize
222: Putting it all together
There are no magic formulas
EN: TPARR: #TPARR=Think Plan Act Review Repeat
There are no magic formulas
223: All could attest to the fact that these five dimensions were essential elements to being able to see and seize:
1. Financial wherewithal
2. Cultural disposition
3. Clarity of focus
4. Executional excellence
5. Leadership
Chapter 9: Success is never final
…you can never take your foot off the gas…
…you can never take your eyes off your customers and the purpose you serve in their lives….
Allen Adamson
Joel Steckel
2018
The book is quite well laid out but in the end it is lacking. It did not give the reader an ‘aha’ moment that explains the how and when to shift.
Lots of examples and anecdotal evidence but in the end it comes down to management – to have the understanding of the need to change in the marketplace, to have the vision of where to shift and, finally, in having the wherewithal, in terms of resources, team and systems that would allow you to get there.
Also this is a BIG company book.
Yes there are elements that can be used for startups but it is not geared for this market.
Worth reading.
If you have an ‘aha’ moment, please let me know.
Thanks
In a world that's changing faster and more furiously than ever, the ability to shift focus is critical.
Why is it that some organizations can continually evolve to meet the times and the marketplace, and others can't? How do some businesses recognize the right moment to shift, and others, ruefully, only after it's too late? Packed with insightful interviews, Shift Ahead offers a smart, calculated approach to knowing when to change course and how to pull it off.
The book brings every internal and external factor into view: competitors, risks, culture, finances, and more. And it taps success stories and cautionary tales - including HBO, Adobe, BlackBerry, National Geographic, NYU, Microsoft, Kodak, and P&G - to explain how to:
• Spot warning signs that it's time for reinvention
• Overcome obstacles in the way of future goals
• Maintain authenticity when changing gears
• Execute a bold change seamlessly
To stay competitive, you must shift; to stay credible, you must focus. Shift Ahead turns this difficult maneuver into a straightforward strategy.
https://www.amazon.ca/Shift-Ahead-Com...
Notes:
Chapter 1: Why this book?
1: Maintaining relevance in a world that is changing so very, very fast is very, very challenging.
2: Thomas L. Friedman, of New York Times told us, the planet’s three largest forces
• Moore’s Law (technology)
• Market (globalization)
• Mother Nature (climate change and biodiversity loss)
o Are all accelerating all at once, transforming fie key realms:
Workplace
Politics
Geopolitics
Ethics
Community
3: Brand Asset Valuator (BAV) …world’s largest database on how consumers see brands
https://www.bavgroup.com/
6: Differentiation; relevance; Esteem; Knowledge
EN: Is trying to understand the customer impossibility? Instead focus on understanding why someone buys from you and repeat, over and over again. Build communities and make a difference to their lives.
Chapter 2: Heed the Red Flags
All good tag lines express a brand’s point of differentiation…
21: 1> Basic math
22: 2> Competing on price, not differentiation
23: 3> Big on data short on analysis
25: 4> Neglecting table stakes
26: 5> Pride often does go before a fall
28: 6> Being too deep in your comfort zone
31: 7> Yertle the turtle is left behind
Chapter 3: The Road Barriers
34: Kodak saw the writing on the wall but wasn’t willing to go all in…
42: Xerox: Sunk cost bias and golden handcuffs deterrents to both business and brand
47: Toys R Us: Playing catch-up is hard when you’re competing on the wrong metrics
50: Procter & Gamble: Not too big to fail (or Stumble)
54: Blackberry: Invincibility is a myth
58: National Geographic: A well documented case of cultural myopia
62: Playboy: A yesterday brand, with a lesson relevant for today
66: American Cancer society: Leadership on Autopilot is fatal in fast-changing conditions
69: Teach for America: The challenge to get back to the founder’s mentality
EN: Beware the benefits of hindsight and micromanagement without the responsibility of management, but let us see what they say are the lessons learned!
72: Lessons learned:
1. Beware ‘the golden handcuffs”
2. “Empty pockets’ restrict options for maintaining relevance
3. Culture clashes kill
4. Pride goeth before a fall
5. It takes a special leader to execute a shift
a. EN: see my preamble above – this one is critical
6. The magic only happens outside the comfort zone
Audentes Fortuna iuvat = fortune favors the bold.
Chapter 4: Ready the organization for a shift
81: By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail ~ Benjamin Franklin
EN: Fake quote: To verify the authenticity of any Franklin quote, McCormick said the essential first step is to search on key phrases at the Franklin papers online (www.franklinpapers.org).
101: Lessons learned:
1. Have clarity of purpose
2. Understand the ecosystem
3. Bathe with your customers
4. Be constantly looking out for the next big thing
a. EN: DANGER Will Robinson!!!
i. Have a plan
ii. Have vision to major things
iii. Use Moore’s Law
iv. Use Learning Curve
v. Constant improvement!
5. Culture matters
a. EN: so does BRAND
SCANNING
Chapter 5: Making sense of the road ahead
EN: So now it becomes a management consulting course?
119: Lessons learned
1. Get out of the bubble
2. Find the fringe
a. Where scientists, artists….are testing seemingly bizarre hypotheses…
i. EN: READ, Think, Research….find your muse(s) but not too many!
3. Look for the pain points
a. In the spirit of “necessity is the mother of invention”
Chapter 6: Which shift to make? It depends on what’s ahead
126: Barnes & Noble: Understand your DNA
128: Katz’s Delicatessen: Sometimes staying in Park is the right gear
131: Cheerios: Small Shifts to meet shifting attitudes
133: Hasbro: Game on…shifting by “Zooming out”
138: CNN: An important message for Media companies
143: Conservation international: A shift to link environmental conservation to economic growth
148: IBM: A legacy of continued shifting
152: Lindblad: Shifting to deliver deeper expertise to core focus
154: Comcast: Two shifts, Two roads, One purpose
160: BP: A lesson learned
EN: While case studies are typical of large businesses, will this help entrepreneurial (smaller) business?
165: Lessons learned:
1. Respect your DNA
2. As time passes and markets welcome entrants, segments emerge and products must become more specialized – and firms must shift to adapt
3. Update your marketing to conform to and reflect current social norms
4. Shift involves more than meets the eye
5. Sometimes the best moves are the ones you do not make
6. EN: Sometimes the best moves are the ones you do not make
a. Just saying!!!
Chapter 7: Leadership
EN: Leadership that mystical idea that can make the mundane good and the good special…
173: Top ten leadership attributes:
1. Vision
2. Think laterally
3. Embrace change
4. Pick the right team
5. Trust your instincts
6. Be tolerant but human
7. Give the credit. Take the blame
8. Be cool under fire
9. Make tough calls
10. Be decisive
201: Lessons learned
1. Leaders do not only have VISION, they have peripheral vision
2. Authentic credibility helps leaders through strategic change
3. Leaders’ personal values impact how they lead a shift
4. Shifts require bold action
5. Have a purpose – instill it, communicate it, live it
Chapter 8: Success stories: What it takes for the long haul
207: The preeminent skill requited to shift ahead in the twenty-first century is the ability to see and seize
222: Putting it all together
There are no magic formulas
EN: TPARR: #TPARR=Think Plan Act Review Repeat
There are no magic formulas
223: All could attest to the fact that these five dimensions were essential elements to being able to see and seize:
1. Financial wherewithal
2. Cultural disposition
3. Clarity of focus
4. Executional excellence
5. Leadership
Chapter 9: Success is never final
…you can never take your foot off the gas…
…you can never take your eyes off your customers and the purpose you serve in their lives….
April 26, 2018
The thing I liked most about this book was its actionable takeaways. Adamson and Steckel make good on their promise to not only inspire the right kind of big-picture thinking, but also to lay out the necessary steps to execute effectively. It reads like a MBA course meets career-coach pep talk. For leaders in leaner businesses who can't hire a heavy-hitter consultant like them, this makes you feel like part of that elite club that *does* have the privilege of that access. For me, it was a great read - I took lots of notes, and am starting to implement his advice in the way I conduct my own business. I'd recommend to friends."
August 30, 2019
A fascinating look at how some companies can shift and adapt to changes in the world, and how others cannot because of their internal mindset. This book lays out many of the internal reasons that some mainstay companies like Kodak and Yellowpages failed to shift and prepare for change, and how others like Sony and IBM have. An interesting insight into the survival and management decisions of companies.
May 20, 2022
This book provides good arguments why companies need to think disruptively and be willing to shift to emerging business models quickly and dare to shift their focus away from established markets to emerging markets and make necessary changes to survive and thrive.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews