What is your experience with transformation? What do you think of transformation? What exactly is transformation? My research tells me that transformation means different things to different people in different roles.

For some of you, perhaps in functional positions, transformation is consultant speak for change that is often uncomfortable. You know this kind of change. It’s strategically unclear, politically charged, and haphazard in execution. Good luck with that.

For others in non-management roles, transformation is one of the words ‘management’ hides behind when driving down costs and/or driving up profits. You’ve seen this, too. “As part of our efforts to transform (insert company name) into a more competitive entity, it is necessary to immediately cut non-essential operating costs and reduce redundancy in our work force.” Right.

For others in executive management, transformation is seen as the way to break through the status quo with a powerful strategic agenda focused on achieving an organization’s fullest potential. This is the camp I fall into. This is where sustainable value and momentum get created.

Transformation is a radical departure from the ‘same old, same old’ ways of the past with a smart, powerful, and aggressive way forward. This kind of transformation positions an organization as vital to the interests of its top customers. It powers through what held it back by mobilizing and activating a belief system that creates a wave of palpable momentum that displaces the drag of inertia.

This is the kind of transformation I believe in and practice. It works best when it’s a CEO-led agenda that requires the alignment of the entire organization, especially the cornerstone units of product, sales, and marketing. [Read Align for Success]

Where has transformation made all the difference? Where has transformation worked? I can talk about three for whom I had direct influence — Red Hat, PTC, and Platform Computing. What’s interesting is each transformation started from a very different place. I was CMO at both Red Hat and PTC; and I worked with Platform through 21 Weeks.

• Red Hat. Red Hat was a media darling with a huge perceived potential, but in reality it was a small, low margin business. Despite a record-breaking IPO and follow-on offering, Red Hat lost a lot of money on only $8 million in revenue in 1999. That’s when Red Hat’s executive team began an aggressive transformation agenda that forever shifted the company from an interesting, developer-centric Linux operating system company to the enterprise leader of the more significant open source software movement. Red Hat passed the $1 billion revenue mark this past year.

• PTC was a very large and successful company that achieved $1 billion in revenue in only 12 years, but by 2001 it significantly lost its way and starting sinking fast on all levels. PTC’s Board of Directors instituted an aggressive transformation agenda in late 2001 that helped reshape this formerly great end-user applications software company to become the clear leader of the higher value, enterprise space of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). It began its transformation during the very difficult economic times following 9/11. Today it’s the clear leader of PLM, and the second largest independent software company in the world. [Read Noise]

• Platform Computing was a profitable $75 million leader of high performance computing, but its Founder/CEO had the confidence that it could play with the big boys in the much bigger and much noisier market of cloud computing. In 2009, Platform put in place a CEO-led transformation agenda intended to shift from being the comfortable leader of a niche market space to becoming the leading provider of private cloud management software. In less than two years, Platform grew at double-digit rates, won kudos for its new cloud products, and attracted the interests of major industry players like IBM, which acquired Platform in late 2011. [Read IBM Acquires Platform Computing. Whatever.]

There are many examples of successful transformations. Apple is clearly one. Ford is another. I have insights into some cool transformative work being done by challengers in hot categories like IT Automation, Big Data, and Video, but that’s another post.

What is your experience with transformation? What stories can you share?

Thomas Butta

Much is written about value. Even more is said about it. Value just might be the most overused word in business today.

At the organization level, we hear about customer value, shareholder value, and enterprise value. At the department level, Product Management wants its products to be perceived as good value not high cost. Sales wants to sell from value rather than feature/functions. And, Marketing is measured on the value of leads and brand equity.

Even support departments like Finance, IT and HR strive for value. Finance wants positive returns of value for capital deployed. IT must demonstrate value to its business unit customers. And, HR strives for a culture that recognizes the value of individuals.

If value is so important, why is there a dearth of proven ways to create and capture value in a given market space? A clear path to value would seem to be critical at a time when competitive differentiation is short-lived and the rate of change has accelerated.

My experience shows there is little content out there to help an enterprise know how to truly identify and realize top and/or bottom line value in their market. Which is enormously frustrating to client-side executives looking for clarity amidst the noise created by multitudes of companies touting their particular solution sets.

Wouldn’t it be nice to be shown the way to value rather than sold solutions? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a roadmap from a trusted advisor to guide your way to value — especially in a market that’s undergoing rapid change? You bet it would.

So what is there to do? Rise above the noise. Stop selling your stuff, and start making sense of the madness. Become a thought leader for your industry. Develop a value roadmap that shows the way to create and capture value in your market space. It works. I’ve helped architect a number of value roadmaps for companies in emerging or changing industries like PLM (product lifecycle management), Customer Experience Management, Digital Media, and Scientific R&D, among others.

What does a value roadmap look like? It’s a map that shows discrete routes to value along with specific advice on capabilities needed to capitalize on the journey. On the one hand you delineate the opportunities to create value. On the other you provide advice on the people, process, and technology needed to capture value. Simply put, a value roadmap shows where to go, how to go, and what’s needed to maximize value.

A road to value is organized by the following connected route and competencies:

More specifically, a value roadmap is comprised in the following ways:

–  Two measures of value. One is growth. The other is cost savings

–  Seven or eight discrete value opportunities. These are proven opportunities to create either top line growth or bottom line cost savings. One or two of the value opportunities might create both top and bottom line value

–  Two to four executing strategies for each value opportunity. These are the strategic imperatives that bring the value opportunities to life

–  Four to six business initiatives aligned to each strategy. These are the activities taking place deep inside an organization. Business initiatives are typically where most conversations start

–  Three sets of competencies in the form of people skills, process/workflow, and technology infrastructure needed to fully realize each value opportunity

Beyond the structure, it’s critical to know what a value roadmap is and isn’t.

A value roadmap is an overarching view of an industry for the benefit of everyone in that industry. As such, it is imperative to present a complete view of the capabilities and credentials needed.

A value roadmap is not a subset of just what your organization might be able to provide when it comes to knowledge transfer, process support or technology. The capabilities needed to fully leverage each value opportunity must be all encompassing.

Again, a value roadmap is an industry-leading effort. It is thought leadership at its best. And, unlike most thought leadership, a value roadmap is highly functional because it is actionable and real.

A value roadmap has clear and immediate benefits to any company operating in your market space. But, it also represents a significant opportunity for the company that publishes it and leverages it. Look for more on that in my next post, The Road to Value, part 2.

Note: If you like this post, you might want to check out another of my posts called Noise. It’s an example of how a value roadmap shifted an entire industry and helped position the company that brought it to market as that industry’s leader.

Thomas Butta

Writers Note: This post is about what’s possible for those of you facing an opportunity to accelerate your organization to a higher level of value. It showcases a company that had the courage to challenge the status quo and heavy-duty competition. The story is longer than normal, but it’s a compelling case study that needs room to unfold.

Did you catch the news of IBM’s latest software acquisition a few weeks ago? Business as usual for Big Blue? Certainly. But, who and what is Platform Computing? Click here to find out.

We had the same questions in late 2009 when 21 Weeks was retained by Platform Computing, Inc. to help position and package Platform as a credible enterprise software player in cloud and big data against behemoths like IBM, HP, EMC and VMware.

For 17 years, Platform Computing was a well-respected leader in the niche field of high-performance computing (also known as technical computing). Its clients were companies who relied on large, mission-critical applications, like models used in financial services, discrete manufacturing, and oil & gas. Platform not only helped such companies maximize application run time, but Platform helped them optimize infrastructure costs as well. Before cloud, such infrastructure configurations were known as clusters or grids.

Platform was successful because its software had at its core a highly intelligent algorithm that optimized the balance between effectiveness and efficiency, run-time and cost, performance and capacity. The smart algorithm enabled Platform to achieve levels of optimization that far exceed other software companies. And because Platform’s open architecture worked equally well on any operating system or infrastructure configuration,  it helped its clients avoid vendor lock-in, the unspoken cost of doing business with the dominant players.

That was all well and good, but Platform’s year-over-year growth slowed considerably by 2009 as its niche market of high performance computing matured. So, Platform plotted its  move to the much larger and faster-growing enterprise software markets for cloud and big data. Platform’s expertise and experience were a good fit, and the markets provided the opportunity for geometric growth.

That was the plan, but the move came with significant risk. Platform would be expanding outside its big fish/small pond comfort zone to arguably the hottest segments of enterprise computing — markets dominated by iconic brands and enormous companies with marketing departments larger than the whole of Platform.

How did Platform transform from a relatively unknown company to become a credible player in the enterprise software markets for cloud and big data?

How did Platform achieve year-over-year double-digit growth?

How did this niche company from Toronto become important enough to be acquired by IBM, one of the most powerful companies in the world?

It did so in two ways:

1. Platform made the smart decision not to focus on the broad-based cloud market, but rather on the emerging space of private cloud favored by enterprises running large, mission-critical applications. Not only did this space closely resemble Platform’s roots in high-performance computing, but it was an area that was still forming. The same held true for big data. Focus gave Platform the the chance to compete.
2. Platform embraced a classic challenger brand stance. It established a compelling positioning platform around a provocative point of view. To Platform cloud — and whatever they call that which inevitably comes after cloud (like big data) — is simply an iteration of what came before cloud, like clusters and grids. To Platform the fundamentals of managing applications in cloud and big data computing environments are the same as running applications in clusters or grids environments. It all comes down to optimizing an application’s run time and minimizing infrastructure costs. Nowhere was this more true than in the emerging areas of private cloud and big data where critical applications and big enterprises played.

A simple, but bold refrain became Platform’s provocative point of view, positioning platform, and rallying cry: Clusters, Grids, Clouds, Whatever.

Everything flowed from that compelling, challenger positioning platform:

• The opportunity for growth

— The move beyond technical IT to corporate IT brought with it the chance for double-digit growth versus single-digit growth in the maturing technical IT market

• The acquisition of talent with enterprise computing and market formation experience

— New talent was enticed and secured for  product management and marketing, sales, business development, and corporate marketing

• Clarity of market sector

— Cloud had correlation to Platform’s roots, but private cloud had highly credible      relevance and no clear market leader. The same was true with big data. Focus increased Platform’s odds of success.

• Internal alignment

— The positioning platform provided a clear framework for internal decisions and    actions: Product development (best performing software for clusters, grids, cloud and whatever came next like big data); sales (cross-sell existing relationships with technical IT to get to corporate IT; attract new, enterprise customers); marketing (win over analyst and media influencers; drive awareness, interest & adoption)

• Brand Identity

— A change in identity is an effective way to get people to look at you in a fresh, new way. Platform’s new identity not only demonstrated exactly what it did, but it did so in a memorable way thereby achieving two strategic goals with one effort

• Messaging

— Platform lived the role of the challenger brand by being provocative and embracing bold in speeches, booth displays, advertising, webinars, its website, etc.

• Analyst  Relations

— Industry analysts are critical influencers to buyers, which is why Platform set out to become the advocate for private cloud, for example

• Recognition

— Leaders need to be recognized as leaders so Platform worked important industry and trade media to win and promote Platform’s technical credibility and prowess

• Thought Leadership

— Emerging markets are often led by the company that owns the customer problem so a series of Point-of-View booklets were created and marketed

• Sales Training

— Selling into the enterprise is where the best software selling machines operate. Platform needed a new kind of sales executive and a different mode of selling — from  feature/function focused to one that was value-oriented

• Partnerships

— Rarely does a company achieve rapid growth in a new market sector on its own. Hand to hand combat (i.e., selling to one prospect at a time) doesn’t scale. Finding one-to-many distribution opportunities is an effective match to direct sales

In two years, Platform achieved what it set out to do. It grew at double digit rates. It attracted new talent. It won over new important enterprise relationships. It generated credibility with customers, analysts and the media for its newest products.  It got noticed.

Could Platform have made it big if it continued on an independent path? It’s hard to say. But, Platform certainly transformed itself from a niche market, technical computing expert into a credible player in the hottest categories in enterprise computing today — important enough that IBM wanted to buy the company.

Platform’s Founder and CEO, Songnian Zou, summed it up this way in his post-acquisition blog. “Platform Computing as a standalone company may come to an end, but the journey continues to clusters, grids, clouds or whatever comes next.”

Will you be ready when you have that rare opportunity to transform your organization into a more valuable entity?  Will you be ready? Or will your attitude be one of … “whatever”?

Social media is everywhere,

For all of our fascination with social media, I ask, have we become anti-social?

Sit in any office environment and what do you see?
People with their eyes glued to their computers. Alone.

Peer inside most cars on the road and who is there?
A driver. On the phone.

What forms of communication are most prevalent?
E-mail. Texts. Posts. Chat.

Sure, we’re communicating at record rates, but a critical form of communication is missing: Human interaction! You know, good old-fashioned face-to-face talking in real-time.

Nowhere is face-to-face communication more critical than when you are leading a change agenda. Whether it’s a new way, a new idea, or a new plan, experienced change agents practice a proven art form – socializing an idea. Remember that?

No matter how big or even how good your idea is, the best way to get people to try it, let alone adopt it, is to talk about it early and often. Successful change agents practice this anywhere and everywhere – in one-on-one or group settings, in a conference room, in the hallway, over coffee or during a meal.

There is extraordinary value gained when you make eye contact, witness body language, feel the emotion behind what’s said, and observe what’s not being said.

You’ve heard a lot about the transformation PTC was able to pull off in going from a once proud product company that had lost its way to a higher value thought leader in a new, more strategic space. The shift that needed to occur for PTC to have a chance to win was seismic. The forces of inertia holding the company back were formidable.

Sure, the ideas of what needed to be done and how to execute them were smart and powerful. But it was the practice of socializing the idea that won people over. Whether it was the early morning runs, one-on-one or small group meetings, lunches, dinners, or long flights, the art of socializing the new idea was practiced. Even large group settings weren’t one-way diatribes. They were either discussions or previews about early thinking, possibilities, and what might be. Dialogue was encouraged. Feedback was provided. Ideas were refined. So when the formalized agenda for the new way was officially launched, many people were not only on board, they felt as is they were already a part of the change culture simply because they had a voice in it.

Social media is fantastic for conveying information in new, exciting ways. But if you want to drive sustainable change, make time to have face-to-face chats, too. It will make all the difference.

Soul

What comes to mind when you see the word, soul? Think about it for a minute before reading on. When was the last time you thought about soul?

Soul shows up in many places.

• Like music. Soul music. Can you hear it?
• Like a dramatic performance. Soulful. Can you see it?
• Like religion. “Pray the Lord my soul to keep.” Did you recite it?
• Like food. Soul food. Authentic food, be it southern collards or Sicilian rice balls.

Even though we’ve shown many associations, soul isn’t really what you see. It’s more about what you feel. You either feel soul or you don’t. Is soul something that is tangible? You can’t buy it. You can’t sell it – although some people claim to have sold their soul to the devil.

Soul is about deep, resonating feelings. Soul is about authentic base tones. Soul is about fundamentals. When you really strip it down, soul is about the essence of something. It’s probably the most precious of all that we have.

• Save my soul.
• She’s a good soul.
• He’s got a good soul.

What a wonderful way to be characterized.

Can a brand have soul? Absolutely – especially if you infuse with emotion. After all, it’s humans that connect to it.

Soul. It’s a funny looking word … and nearly as powerful as love.

Do you have a philosophy for winning? Can you articulate it?

Does your company have a clearly stated philosophy for winning? Can you recite it? Is it constant or does it change year after year? Does it motivate?

While winning can be different things for different people it should always be clear, compelling, and constant. If it is, then every decision you make and every thing you do will forward that winning agenda. Or not.

I find it interesting to observe just how many companies have neither a clear nor compelling philosophy for winning. The same is probably true for most people.

My former neighbor very definitely has a compelling philosophy for winning. He once proudly told me “He Who Died With The Most Stuff Won.” Another person said winning is “Never Having Regrets.”

What about your company? Does it have a stated philosophy for winning or does it refer to things like profitability, retained earnings or stock price?

Are those philosophies of winning or are they measures of progress? Remember, winning needs to be defined as what drives everything you do.

Look at these examples from two very different companies. Both are abundantly clear to their leaders, employees, customers, and partners. And both are compelling in their own ways.

One is from an enormously successful entrepreneur who defines winning in the following way: “Our Sole Purpose for Being in Any Business Is To Annihilate the Competition.”

The other is from Nike, which communicated its philosophy of winning to the world on an outdoor billboard in Atlanta during the 1996 Olympic Summer Games. Along with the Nike swoosh, the billboard stated: You Don’t Win Silver. You Lose Gold. Just do it, indeed.

Winning matters. But what matters more is defining what winning is. Only then will you know exactly what to do at all times.

What exactly is inertia? Simply put inertia is everything that makes up what your organization stands for at the moment you embark on an accelerated path forward. Inertia can include any or all of the following:

* Fear of change

* Fear of the unknown

* Your organization’s culture

* Your organization’s processes

* Prior experience

* Comfort in how things were done before

* Your brand’s reputation in the marketplace

* The perception of the company within the company

I’m sure you’ve experienced what it’s like when a change program suddenly slows or stalls. For many it feels as if something grabs hold of the forward progress and pulls it backward. Some say it’s similar to running headfirst into a strong wind.

Think about it. Inertia is all about how it was. Yet, there you are trying to move away from how it was to how it needs to be. You’re committed to transcend beyond something with a lot of history and mass, and determined to morph it into something that’s relatively unknown. No wonder inertia disrupts forward progress. The laws of nature are fiercely at work.

What to do?

First, never forgot how powerful inertia can be. Recognize upfront that it will rear itself – right out of the gate and whenever cracks appear in your change program due to uncertainty, soft results, or a weak effort.

Second, be prepared. Anticipate the power of inertia by arming your change coalition as forcefully and deeply as possible. Give it the chance to succeed. Let everyone know that resistance will happen so they don’t panic. Evangelize how the future can be better than how it is. Continuously demonstrate how the competitiveness – even the vitality – of the enterprise is at stake. If you do all of this, the natural blocking force of inertia will ease enough to give you the time you need to move forward.

What can you do to facilitate an experience that is different, better, and more valuable? Here are some ways:

• You say your products are easier to use. Are they? Is the interface smooth and simple or have you simply put lipstick on a clunky solution?
• You say your pricing is better. Is it or have you masked the complexity with a cosmetic, first-level change? Have you stripped out the countless pricing permutations delineated in your pricing book in favor of something that can be captured on one page?
• You say you deserve to be positioned in the top-right leadership quadrant by analysts who cover your space. How have you earned such merit? Have you invested behind product and thought leadership that talks to the issues and problems customers experience or are you continuing to pontificate the finer points of your solutions?
• You say you want to speak or publish an article. Do you have something of substance to say – perhaps even a little controversial – that people will find interesting let alone valuable?
• You say there’s a better way than how the big dogs are doing it. Do you have the proof – either through a breakthrough research study or in clear performance measures from customers who have trialed and benefited from your better way?
• You say you have made a renewed commitment to customer service. Do you touch your customers first in all communications? Do you treat current customers as your franchise? Do you do more than simply measure their satisfaction?

These are the kinds of experiences you need to drive so your core constituents can feel – and then believe – positive change is happening.

• Install new leadership in the executive suite – especially in the areas of product, sales, or marketing

• Introduce either a new or drastically improved product

• Sign up an impressive list of partners – be they on the product or distribution side

• Commission a breakthrough industry study

• Publish the results of that study in a provocative point-of-view that challenges conventional notions

• Streamline and simplify your pricing, contracts and service

• Market the company more purposefully with a compelling voice and an engaging image

• Train your sales force to sell based on value not features, function or price

• Become more visible by participating in important industry venues – live and virtual – as a speaker, panelist, writer, and contributor

• Line up select customers, analysts and pundits to talk about the positive changes taking place at your company

• Identify a media channel that is intrigued by your moves

• Is your company in a position to accelerate? If not, what’s in the way?

• Are you positioned for value – or are you selling based on features, functions or price?

• Are you a thought leader in your market space?

• Is your competitive environment exploding in a frenzy of hype?

• Do you have a new offering that could leapfrog you into a desirable new position?

• Do you have big news that could change the face of your company?

• Do you have what it takes to challenge the big dogs? Or are you a big dog feeling the heat from challengers?

• Are you limited in your ability to reach up and over in your best customers?

• Are you seeing effective collaboration between marketing, product, and sales?

• Do you have the critical talent to push your brand promise to the next level?

• Is your company being valued fairly?  Are you at risk of becoming a commodity?

If you were to honestly answer the questions posed above, what would you learn? Is it time to change? If so, what’s stopping you?