‘Arre bhai. Kehna kya chah rahe ho?’ Goes The Famous Meme.
A lot of contemporary communication fosters this confusion. Only, calling it out aloud would be akin to saying that the ‘Emperor is Naked.’
Reputation management, blame dispersal, avoidance of cancellation or legal liability are common justifications for LinkedIn language. Ironic that this blog appears here.
At The Core
None of these concerns are invalid. But the real reason for obscure messaging is actually too many internal stakeholders. Goals become secondary to the maintenance of internal power structures.
A lot of work can be seen to be done, without anything tangible being done. Not talking of meetings alone. Though some might call five meetings a busy day. People genuinely believe that they are being productive.
The customer may disagree. An agile competitor might chuckle.
The New New-normal
The time for hierarchical, consensus-driven decision making is at an end.
We are entering an age of non-linearity and unpredictable consequences. Value capture also must be in sync.
Speed and sustainability don’t have to be at odds.
What is the specific intervention that makes the most difference to a customer? It’s not a choice between digital and physical. Those are just means to an end.
Thought Experiment
Maybe it means going one level deeper. If company wants to sell a bus or a safety-critical component feature to bus operator, the key would be to make stakeholders out of schools, companies and regulators. Create the right incentives for adoption including visibility.
It doesn’t cost a lot more. Planning takes more time. But the selling is almost done by the time the business development process is completed.
Along the way, you may also discover that the real competition for you is not another bus maker or component supplier. It is the family car and an aggregator who uses the same bus for staff transport too. Kids are getting taller.
A more disruptive competition might be a township with a school within its premises.
This thought experiment is an illustration to demonstrate that visualisation is as important as good old logic.
None of this is of course a shortcut for hard work. But now the effort has a dynamic framework, not a spreadsheet to guide it.
Uncertainty is Opportunity.
We are happy to ride the roller-coaster with you.
P.S. no AI was triggered while writing this piece.