Monthly Archives: July 2011
A few days ago I wrote about the problems of “misaligned incentives”. The focus of that article was on the sales compensation models of inside sales reps, and the importance of aligning the company’s objectives with the compensation plans of its salespeople. Another example of misaligned incentives has come up in the last 2 days in a story that has been widely reported in the tech press. An Airbnb customer used the service to rent her house for a week to a visitor, and when she returned her house was destroyed and looted. I’ve written about Airbnb several times, including The Risks of User Feedback and Never Stop Innovating. If you aren’t familiar with Airbnb, it allows anyone to rent out their house, apartment, spare bedroom, or even their couch. For most people, the idea of inviting a stranger into their house is unthinkable, …
Savor That Open Table by Patrick Lefler Interesting announcement this past Monday in the restaurant sector that illustrates how OpenTable–the online real-time restaurant reservation service–is incorporating special pricing elements into its core business offering by partnering with Savored – a Groupon-like service that caters to restaurants and their diners. According to the story in the San Francisco Chronicle; Starting today, OpenTable will have Savored 30% Off Deals on its San Francisco Bay Area homepage. It will expand the deals to other markets in the next few weeks. When users book one of the Savored tables, they’ll be able to pay $10 up front and receive a 30% discount on meals. The discount process is seamless: as soon as a reservation is made, the restaurant is notified. Savored estimates the average OpenTable diner will save $40 per 4-person meal. In the past, OpenTable competed strictly on its ability to streamline the … Continue reading
Much like a heads-up display in a fighter jet, a phenomenon called ‘Augmented Reality’ promises to enrich our experience of the world by overlaying additional content on our surroundings. The Wall Street Journal recently reported on some fascinating Augmented Reality applications, including: A trial window display by Tissot that let people try on watches ‘virtually’ (reality here is your wrist, the overlay is the watch – the opportunity to try the product like this led to an 83% increase in sales at the store) A mobile phone app by the Museum of London that can show you what the street you’re standing on looked like hundreds of years ago, collapsing past and present Another mobile app called Stargazer that adds information about stars, planets and constellations to your view of the night sky A real estate app – again mobile phone powered – that shows you what’s for sale or … Continue reading
Excedrin is running a $200,000 contest on Facebook for video entries ($150,000 first prize) and photo entries ($50,000 first prize) and after a round of judging to pick ten finalists in each category, let the voting madness begin. Well, at least until the end of August 2, 2011. Voting in this case consists of getting people to go to the Excedrin page on facebook and select ONE photo and/or ONE video to vote for per day. Vote more than once per day and your vote is eliminated. Of course some people are trying to game the system to win the grand prize in each category, and apparently this has already resulted in some disqualifications – the result of people violating the rules. Now, I must disclose that friends of mine are participating in this contest in the photo category. I think their entry is the best one there, but this … Continue reading
I suspect that many people who’ve been around the block a few times are good at spotting fads. Fads come in all shapes and sizes, and touch our lives in a number of ways. One of my favorite fads was the “Pet Rock” – literally a rock with eyes glued on it. But during the Pet Rock craze there were thousands of people lining up to buy pet rocks. People were caught up in the humor and whimsy of a “pet rock” and wanted to be part of the joke. Fads exist in consumer markets, yes, but also in management circles. For example, I think job performance reviews have been subject to a number of fads, from the self-evaluation to the 360 evaluation. In each of these attempts to change or augment the standard job appraisal, there is some core kernel of value, but the …
There was a small mention in last week’s post on corporate amnesia about introducing information with a degree of uncertainty. While this was recommended as a way to help others “remember” events while saving face, being a little uncertain can benefit creative thinking as well. I regularly interact with someone who delivers points of view and information with an air of incredible certainty. The trouble is, after doing some fact checking, I’ve discovered numerous instances where the very certain information delivered to me is incorrect or at least tinged with some degree of error. But try successfully offering correction to someone when the individual is completely certain of very wrong beliefs. It’s easy for it to go very wrong. While there’s value to projecting a confident, certain air in business, don’t go so overboard that you don’t give others a chance to input, build on, modify, and yes, even correct … Continue reading
