Future Trends:  The Next Five Years - What's It All About?

• There is more going on than the internet and the boomers!!  This unique presentation combines economics, demographics, psychographics, corporate restructuring, technology, and globalization trends to draw a surprisingly different landscape a few short years from now. Fact based, common sense, and upbeat, it dispels common trend myths from both a business and personal perspective.
  
  Wayne Gretzky says the key to success is to always be skating to where the puck is going to be.  Everything we try to accomplish in our corner of the universe, personally and professionally, will happen against a backdrop of the bigger trends we see swirling around us.  By examining what is driving these trends, and how they are interacting with each other, it paints a compelling picture of where the world is going . . . and what tomorrow's successes are doing, today, to make sure they meet it there. 
   

  • Why most economic news is irrelevant today

  • The 2 biggest reasons demographics are often a dangerous planning tool

  • The 5 major trends driving a fundamental, and largely invisible, economic restructuring

  • America's Achilles Heel in a globalizing world

  • The 3 psycho-graphic forces shaping this decade; and what they'll mean to business, politics, population patterns, and pollution 

  • Three reasons the retirement funding crisis, isn't

  • What happens when business becomes the dominant institutional pillar in society

  • The coming wave of PowerHouse Philanthropy 

  • The pending immigration wars

  • The era of 'Pax Americana'

  • What all this means to the future of work

• Based on 15 years of hands-on, in-the-trenches experiences during in-house projects, this presentation explores the principles and practices of Service Management and how you can apply them to create a competitive weapon for your organization. These are the foundation blocks for any successful TQM / CQI / re-engineering kind of effort. This presentation will give you the insight, simple models, and tools you need to "make it happen" for your organization.
   

  • the 5 most common myths surrounding service delivery.  

  • a 3 step strategic sequence for using service to increase sales and margins.

  • streamlining/bureaucracy busting/and "re-engineering".

  • how to decide if you're over-servicing.

  • when and why "smile training" will backfire.

  • quick and simple customer scorecards that produce "actionable" information.

  • how to get everybody willingly involved in helping make change happen.

  • the 4 components of a service initiative that must be addressed simultaneously to ensure success.

  • lower costs and better service are not mutually exclusive!

  • how to avoid the biggest single mistake that makes most TQM and "internal customer" efforts fail.

• Today you need fast, flexible, innovative responses from empowered people throughout your team.  To get it, you've got to burn the policy manual and remove  micro-management. The challenge is to ensure the judgment calls being made are consistent and healthy (and prevent chaos!).  Managing this change effectively requires harnessing the power of symbolics to drive the right message. Here are the research-based "how-to" tips and techniques every leader can use . . . starting tomorrow.
   

  • why you can not "thrive on chaos!!"

  • this is grammar: 
         -management is reporting the numbers and enforcing the rules
    this is poetry:   
         -leadership is conveying the vision and unleashing potential
     

  • memorable words
         -making the words come alive
         -planned spontaneity
         -recognizing power moments
         -seizing (and creating) teaching opportunities

  • perfect heroes
         -why you need them, what they look like
         -where to find them, what to do with them

  • the "invisible They"
         -who they are
         -harnessing the grapevine
         -decisions and explanations

  • the weapon on your wrist
         -using your calendar to set organizational priorities

• This presentation delivers the tools to increase speed, innovation, and flexibility, throughout any organization. It explores the mind sets that prevent everyone from being able to recognize, embrace, and implement the changes needed to stay competitive.
   

  • how the policy and procedures manual became the central controlling reality in our organizations, and why it made sense . . . then.

  • the 5 kinds of "rules" that prevent teams from getting to that next level.

  • burning the policy & procedures manual without losing control.

  • empowering employees by giving them the tools they need to "think" and make the right decisions.

  • resistance to change: "everyone hates change," and other myths of corporate success.

  • powerful memory triggers to use on an ongoing basis.

  • with humor and insight, forces everyone to re-examine what they do and why they do it.

  • introduces that "YABUT monster" that kills new ideas and stifles innovation.

• The hiring practices of the last 20 years will backfire on us today.  This presentation explains why; AND details a step-by-step blueprint that delivers field-proven results.  Today's service sensitive economy makes every organization dependent on their front line people. Finding GOOD ones is such a challenge (and firing "mistakes" so difficult) that a practical recruiting system has become a key strategic issue for success. Those not putting one in place today, will be hiring from the leftovers of those who are tomorrow.
   

  • the reasons that strategically and tactically most of what we've learned about hiring is actually working against us in today's environment.

  • hiring vs. recruiting: completely different approaches to finding people.

  • why recruiting needs to be an ongoing line management activity.

  • the RECRUITING FUNNEL, and how to keep yours full.

  • "Don't look for winners" . . . and what to do instead.

  • the 4 steps of a radically different interview process . . . that works!

  • the more often you earn the right to let somebody go, the less often you'll have to do it.

  • the Mutual Success Contract: a powerful management tool.

  • a customized action plan tailored for each individual.

• A lighthearted look at how and why things go wrong on the service side of  organizations.
  
  Mostly humor -- built around some solid message -- the humor/content mix can be adjusted from 70/30 to 90/10 to fit agenda needs. 
  
  Running 20 to 45 minutes, it's mostly used in an after lunch or dinner slot - all the humor of a comedian (all clean) and some useable ideas. Also successful as an opening kickoff, or to close serious/technical agendas with energy and laughter.
   
  • Definitions of SNAFU and how, if untreated, it can degenerate into FUBAR.
  • Diagnosis:  how to tell if an outfit you're dealing with has got it . . . and the warning signs for your organization.

  • Treatment:  what to do if you discover you've already got it - or are a carrier.

  • Prevention:  steps to immunize your team from this deadly affliction - or its' recurrence!

  • Also room for political and current events commentary, as appropriate.