Here’s an interesting pdf study that IBM did:
IBM | 2010 Chief Executive Officer Study
(You have to give them a ton of information to download it. But if you are in business I’d say it’s worth it.)
The point that jumped out at me was this:
Creativity is the most important leadership quality, according to
CEOs. Standouts practice and encourage experimentation and innovation
throughout their organizations. Creative leaders expect to make deeper
business model changes to realize their strategies. To succeed, they take
more calculated risks, find new ideas, and keep innovating in how they
lead and communicate.“Complexity should not be viewed
as a burden to be avoided; we see it
as a catalyst and an accelerator to
create innovation and new ways of
delivering value.”
Juan Ramon Alaix, President,
Pfizer Animal HealthIn our past three global CEO studies, CEOs consistently said that coping
with change was their most pressing challenge. In 2010, our conversations
identified a new primary challenge: complexity. CEOs told us they
operate in a world that is substantially more volatile, uncertain and complex.
Many shared the view that incremental changes are no longer sufficient
in a world that is operating in fundamentally different ways.
I am a HUGE proponent of small business. I believe small businesses have to be significantly better at business than big business. On top of that the leaders at these organizations have to be better than corporate leaders.
Big business has so many advantages that small businesses don’t have:
- Economy of scale
- Tons of money
- Tons of resources (like being able to interview 1500 CEO’s. How am I supposed to get the time to take on a study like that, much less get the access to these people?)
- So much room for error (BP can have the largest oil spill in history and still probably survive.)
A small business hires one wrong person in a leadership position and there is a real likelihood that it could kill the whole operation.
But that’s what I love about small business.
You must be great! There is no other option.
I believe that small business is the future of the global economy. I believe small business is going to get so agile and fast that big business won’t actually be able to compete.
Small business can setup a Paypal account and instantly be global. I recently sold a $300 education series to a guy in Norway. He payed me on Paypal and streamed the content online. I don’t think I could have ever been able to do that in the ’80’s.
Small business can hire globally through places like odesk.com. We can buy globally.
All the benefits I mentioned above that big business has become deficits. They have so much overhead. They have the burden of resources.
On top of all that, small business is nothing if not creative. We have always had to be creative.
The fast moving global marketplace is a perfect environment for small business. It’s a hell hole for big business. Think of the American Revolution. Those British HATED the way we fought on our own land. We didn’t stand in a line in a bright red coat. We crawled around in the dirt in the woods. We were scrappy. We won.
That’s how I see the future of business. Big business is going to get killed in a world that requires “creativity.” That’s never a quality a corporation wants to see in its people.
Oh… and here’s “Creative” tip, IBM. Don’t make us give you all that irrelevant information to download your study. At most, all you needed was my email address. We all know that you are using the study as Content Marketing to continue to get the word out about your business services. You severely limited the number of downloads of this study with all those needless form fields. I almost didn’t download it because you made it such a pain in the ass. I’m just WAY into this stuff so I took the time.
And here’s something that will really twist your noodle, IBM. Us most cutting-edge small business marketers are starting to give this kind of resource away without ANY contact information what-so-ever. “How do you follow up with those people!” you may ask. That’s a little secret us small business revolutionaries crawling around in the dirt will keep for ourselves. In fact, you know what… just keep that awesome form you have to download your content. It’s a great idea.