If you run a corner store:
- You must open from 7 ’till 11
- You should stock milk, bread, toothpaste…
- And you know to you will work Sundays
If you run a fast food restaurant:
- The food must be filling
- The food should be tasty (enough)
- And you know to keep the toilets clean
If you run a bank:
- You must be polite to depositors
- You should be sure who to lend money too
- And you know exactly how to get it back
These are just the basics
There is nothing very clever about them. They just have to be done right.
Are you brilliant at the basics? Or getting distracted by something fancier?
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James,
Indeed, get the basics right. However, I wonder how many new CEOs and executives get carried away with ‘leaving their mark’ and forget the basics? We need to make the basics sexy all of the time and not a strategy that gets resorted to when things go wrong.
Adrian
Absolutely
James,
I’m all about getting the basics right first, but I agree with Adrian – sometimes execs are so (self) absorbed in doing something that is big and wow that they forget (or intentionally) avoid doing the little things or the foundation for the big things.
Annette :-)
Hello James
I get what you are getting at and I find myself in agreement with you.
What I find interesting is that there are people who come along and introduce something to the ‘taken for granted basics’ which shows up as useful is labelled innovative and transforms industries. Here i cannot think of a better example than intuitive finger based navigation of the iPhone. Hasn’t a great user interface became a basic (that you have to get right) for the consumer market?
And then there is the opportunity to look at the basics and subtract. Isn’t that what the low cost airlines have done?
All the best
maz
I hadn’t thought of that Maz.
I once attended a course where they preached that innovation is all about observation, then twisting what you see in a new / different direction. I guess that is exactly what you mean.
James