The Accelerator

Using the X-Factor to Differentiate Your Business

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 13:00:00 GMT

You may have seen my interview with author and business expert Carl Moe on differentiated value and its impact on sales revenue. If we can put our value in terms of what the customer gives up by not having our DV, we can make a better selling proposition.

It got me to thinking about the broader topic of how we define uniqueness in today’s business environment. In other words, what’s the X-factor when it comes to an organization’s long-term success...

Tags: X-Factor,Differentiate Your Business,differentiated value,carl moe,Jeff Fritz Leadership Blog,leadership blog

Differentiated Value – Interview with Carl Moe

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:00:00 GMT

09-16-2011 Differentiated Value – Interview with Carl Moe

Tags: carl moe,moe,differentiated value,value,interview

Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 13:00:00 GMT

There are probably hundreds of songs that end with, what musicians commonly call, the “Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits” ending.

Hard to illustrate in text but in vaudeville days a song would close with a common musical phrase that when put to those words gave you a cadence – “Shave and a Haircut [pause] two bits”...

Tags: Shave and a Haircut - Two Bits,Jeff Fritz Leadership Blog,leadership blog

The New Wild West

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 13:00:00 GMT

08-26-2011 The New Wild West

Tags: wild west

Value of 3rd Chair Clarinet

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:00:00 GMT

As a kid I guess I was a bit of a “band geek”. In “band” or “Orchestra” there are always multiples in each instrument section -- 8 Violins, 10 flutes, 6 Tubas etc. For the non-musicians, this is not simply to get more volume, rather, a broader mix of notes from an instrument that improves the music you receive in your ears.

Each instrument section (like the clarinet section) is organized by “Chairs.” First chair clarinet leads the section with the most dominate notes you hear, while the other chairs harmonize to broaden the musical quality of the piece...

Tags: 3rd Chair Clarinet,contributors

Silos are Landscape Antiques

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 13:00:00 GMT

07-19-2011 Silos are Landscape Antiques

Tags: silos,landscape antiques

Federation of Systems

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 13:00:00 GMT

United States of your Federated IT Systems

“We, the multiple systems that make you successful,

in order to form a more perfect union of internal and external technical capabilities,

establish a best-in-breed IT delivery approach...

Tags: Federation of Systems,4th of July,Building a Powerful IT Federation

Could Better Data Mean Better Care?

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 11:00:00 GMT

06-21-2011 Could Better Data Mean Better Care?

Tags: better data,better care,better

Innovating in a Legacy World

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 13:00:00 GMT

I’ve been thinking about the barriers to innovation within larger companies. As an outsider, it seems like resources are vast but the time required to build, test, and deploy new things makes capturing the opportunity illusive.

In a recent Harvard Business Review article, “The Ambidextrous CEO” the authors discuss how large organizations with legacy business technology and practices need to focus the responsibility for innovation at the top rather than cede to core-business division heads...

Tags: Harvard Business Review,Innovating in a Legacy World,The Ambidextrous CEO

Choice Design

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 13:00:00 GMT

04-26-11 Choice Design

Tags: choice design

The Personal Check Engine Light

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 13:00:00 GMT

There was a point in time, perhaps in the 70s, when the automobile began to run self -diagnostics to prevent really bad things from happening to your car. We are on the cusp of a similar time for healthcare...

Tags: The Personal Check Engine Light

Innovate or Die

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 13:00:00 GMT

03-29-11 Innovate or Die

Tags: innovate or die

Shave and a haircut two bits – the value of finding a close

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 13:00:00 GMT

03-09-2012 Shave and a haircut two bits – the value of finding a close

Tags: shave and a haircut,two bits,value of finding a close

EOS with Mike Paton

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 13:00:00 GMT

03-01-11 EOS with Mike Paton

Tags: mike paton,eos

Play Your Position - Avoid Conflict in a Supply Chain

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 13:00:00 GMT

I wasn’t a jock. Not that I didn’t play sports, I just wasn’t built to be a star athlete. However, you didn’t need to be a jock to understand the importance of focusing on your position and not getting in the way of other players on the team.

What is a “supply chain?” A supply chain is simply a map of positions that make up the delivery of value to the end user -- like a stream of contribution. Along the way there can, and often is, competition to perform a certain function. In many industry supply chains there are companies that declare a core-competence in performing a specific function (contribution) to the end product or service...

Tags: Play Your Position

Innovation Capital with Peter Birkeland

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 13:00:00 GMT

 02-01-11 Innovation Capital with Peter Birkeland

Tags: innovation capital,peter birkeland

No Wimps

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:00:00 GMT

01-18-2011 No Wimps

You know the sign with the word circled and a red slash through it. I was thinking of that sign while I watched a showing of The Pacific. The scene was that of marines slogging it out in a muddy, disease ridden warzone. These WWII soldiers were fighting, and often dying, in terrible conditions, against a determined enemy. Incredible.

As a forty-something, my generation of American has never really felt this level of primal challenge. In fact, it’s probably a multi-generational phenomenon. Not to sound trite but let’s be honest, not having satellite TV or a current generation PDA is almost considered undue suffering nowadays...

Tags: no wimps

Top Three New Year’s Resolutions for Business Success

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:00:00 GMT

01-04-2011 Top Three New Year’s Resolutions for Business Success

Tags: new year,resolution

RAIN Makers Conference

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 14:00:00 GMT

12-01-10 RAIN Makers Conference

Tags: RAIN Makers Conference,saas

Securing Funds

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 14:00:00 GMT

11-01-10 Securing Funds

Tags: Securing Funds,Blog

Team Building

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 14:00:00 GMT

10-01-10 Team Building

Tags: Team Building,Target Field

The Accelerator Blog Introduction

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:00:00 GMT

09-01-10 Accelerator Blog Introduction

Tags: Introduction,Accelerator Blog