Status Updates From The soft edge: where great ...

It means that we must find that elusive sweet spot between human truth and data truth. Finding that zone, that sweet spot and operating within it are the keys to high performance in today's economy.

No company can get around the fact that imperfect humans are still in charge and imperfect humans are not exactly rational and consistent in the way that sensors, computers, and analytics software are rational and consistent. Most of us tend to do our best work when we're in the zone. But what does that mean in the data-driven world?

. Stories in the age of data will require statisticians with the skills of an anthropologist or artist.

Stories can turn customers into apostles and advocates. Stories need to be fought for. The best company stories ironically have to run the longest gauntlet of corporate communications and legal departments. Stories are often better told by your customers and sometimes your critics, than by your own employees. Embrace these outsider stories

Stories are a universal human activity. They express how and wildlife changes. They affirm who we are, that our lives have meaning. Stories are powerful leadership tool. Persuasion is at the very core business. Stories go across everything we do in business. They're the key to a strong culture. They stick in the memory in a way that bullet points and spreadsheets do not.

Teams do their best when they encourage cognitive diversity, that is diversity and thinking styles as well as race gender and age. Teams should borrow an idea from sports in the US military, use real world stress tests to see how team members respond under pressure. Teams are best built from people who have overcome difficulty in their lives. Team leaders should expect the gift of high expectations.

Teams are old, but the idea of teamwork and business is surprisingly recent period teams even in large companies tend to perform best when they're at their leanest, 8 to 12 people. Teams when small can move faster. Team members will sacrifice for other team members at a smaller size but not at a larger size.

They prefer to run a little bit scared but not so much that they're paralyzed. Smart companies encourage people to talk about their mistakes and what they learned along the way. Smart organizations embrace transformative technology even if it costs them in the short run.

Smarts is defined by academics as G and measured by the IQ test. Matters less in business than you might think. Smarts and business is more about tenacity and grit than IQ. Great turns on the adaptive response which accelerates learning. Smart leaders think laterally. They love to learn from innovative thinkers and different industries. Smart companies build alliances with other smart companies.

Sales people thrive when they trust the purpose of their career and their company. Trust is easily destroyed by executive hypocrisy. Trust can be improved with visual analytics because it creates a common language for diverse groups.

Trust is becoming more and more valuable because it's declining in society. It has two components, internal trust and external trust. Trust more than pay or perks is the secret to making a best places to work list. Trust is the bedrock of innovation because ideas can't be forcibly pulled from people's heads. It's also the bedrock of sales productivity.

Soft edge strength leads to greater brand recognition, higher profit margins, more loyal customers, and more committed employees. Soft edge excellence is the ticket out of commodityville. The company is strong and the soft edge can often survive the big strategic mistake or cataclysmic disruption that would sink companies without a sturdy soft edge. Hard edge strength provides A fleeting advantage.

Trust is the foundational soft edge advantage. It starts with two questions period does your external market, your customers and shareholders, trust you? And two, does your internal market, your employees and suppliers, trust you?

The number one thing that every organization has to get rid of strategy. You can have the best operations. You can have the most adept at whatever it is you're doing. But if you have bad strategy, it's all for not. The triangle of long term company success includes the hard edge, soft edge, and strategic base.

The innovation response in companies is very much like a healthy immune response and living organisms.

Innovate or die. The choice is not optional. The clock is ticking. If this sounds a bit melodramatic, it is also the truth. Disruptive waves seem to hit our companies more frequently than before. If we are to survive and prosper, innovation needs to be more than a one time event. It must be perpetual, built-in, and automatic response to challenges and changes.

The heart of this book, but not unlike the 8 basics at the heart of the "In Search of Excellence", it consists of chapters that examine and colorful and instructive detail the principal components of the soft edge: trust, smarts, teams, taste, and story.

Technology and competition are constantly raising the bar of high performance centered companies. But funnily enough, as the bar goes up, it's the ancient values of trust and smarts, teamwork and taste and storytelling have become even more important. We can't afford to ignore our company's soft edge.

No company can get around the fact that imperfect humans are still in charge, and imperfect humans are not exactly rational and consistent in the way that sensors, computers, and analytics software are rational and consistent. Most of us tend to do our best work when we are in "the zone". It means that we must find that elusive sweet spot between human truth and data truth.

Stories are often better told by your customers, and sometimes your critics, then buy your own employees. Embrace these outside stories. Stories in the age of data will require statistician the skills of an anthropologist or artist.

Stories are in universal human activity. They express how and why life changes. They affirm who we are, that our lives have meaning. Stories are a powerful leadership tool. Persuasion is at the very core of business. Stories go across everything we do business. They are the key to a strong culture. They stick in the memory in a way that bullet points at spreadsheets do not. Stories can turn customers into apostoles

Storytelling involves an array of tools and methods. While there's no right way to tell a story, the greatest commandment of good storytelling is "make me care". There aren't rules, but a few helpful guidelines: keep it simple. Know your audience. Avoid Chicken Little. Make it real. Don't forget the pain and suffering. Practice, practice, practice, and practice some more.

This means storytelling could be the key leadership competency for the 21st century. Knowing the right story to tell combined with knowing how to deliver it it effectively can Inspire everything from understanding to action. It can be used to connect employees to a strategy by providing understanding, belief, and motivation. Storytellingcan give a workplace something for people to lean on through rough economic times

The most powerful way to persuade others, to overcome resistance, is my linking an idea with an emotion. And the best way to do that is with a good story. If you can stimulate imagination through a good story, it causes people to suspend analytic thought.

In the business World, stories are used to launch new brands and enhance the image of existing brands. They're used to train new hires and invigorate seasoned employees. Stories help CEOs position themselves with investors, also building trust and unlocking passion, two soft edge equirements discussed in earlier chapters.