Category: Other
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All Models Are Wrong, But Some Models Are Useful: Business Implications of a Timeless Truth
Introduction Businesses today rely heavily on models—financial models, economic forecasts, consumer behavior models, risk assessments, and even AI-driven predictive analytics—to make decisions. Yet, no matter their sophistication, models are fundamentally only approximations of reality. The saying “All models are wrong, but some models are useful,” serves as a powerful reminder…
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An Unexpected Lesson in Change Management
If you were raised even modestly Christian, or know a little about art history, you probably recognize this image as a depiction of the Last Supper. However, if you look closely, you notice something unexpected – amidst the familiar wine and bread, in the center of the table, is a…
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Thinking like your Customers’ Buyers
We recently completed an adjacent-market strategy project for an automotive supplier looking to diversify beyond the cyclical and price-sensitive auto OEMS into adjacent markets with similar technology needs. For them, like many of us, the phrase “strategic sourcing” conjured up images of scowling purchasing managers at their automotive customers devising…
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Reliving the Glory Days and Boomerang CEO’s
In case you missed it, Robert Iger returned to the helm as CEO of the Walt Disney Company in November, less than two years after “retiring” in 2021. This makes him the latest in a series of high profile ‘boomerang CEOs’ who return to their former posts after allegedly leaving…
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RACI: Love them or hate them, but used correctly, they can add value
After years of documenting key processes, re-writing job descriptions and automating org charts, many organizations still struggle to have clarity and alignment around roles, responsibilities, and authority. This impacts business processes, project execution and day to day decisions resulting in frustration, inefficiency and sometimes poor decision-making. We have seen this…
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The Adventures of 2023 Planning and Lessons From a Tumultuous 2022
By any measure, 2022 was a year of nearly unprecedented change and for many of us, one that we are not in a hurry to see repeated. While 2022 saw most of the covid-related restrictions lifted, experts are still debating the lessons and the long-term cost to things like education…
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Don’t Apply the B2C Customer Journey to B2B
Regular readers of our blog know that we have an instinctive negative reaction to consumer marketing concepts being applied in B2B. Ideas like personas and brand equity are critical in B2C marketing, but when inappropriately applied in B2B they can drive bad decisions based on customer preferences and personalities as…
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Taking the Customer’s Perspective?
OK, time for a quick test. If you were looking at this menu board, what would you expect to pay for a bottle of Piper Heidsick champagne? This is a real picture of the menu board that my wife and I were faced with on a recent Friday evening (I…
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Corporate Culture: You Don’t Know What You Think You Know
The list of books and blogs focused on corporate culture is expansive and it is a topic that has been discussed for decades. Why then is culture still one of the top issues leaders seek to address in their organizations? What holds organizations back from being able to develop the…
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Can you make the headache of budgeting a thing of the past?
It’s that time of year again – no, we are not referring to the holiday displays starting to appear in stores which seems to happen earlier each year as the holiday season gets longer. We are referring to the equally long season of budgeting that is ongoing for many of…
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Innovation – You Can’t Go It Alone
Senior innovation leaders confirm that after years of talking about innovation, they are still struggling to integrate customer/market perspectives into the innovation process Amphora Consulting recently completed a survey of 20 senior innovation leaders. Our findings support the perspectives shared below. Complete results of the survey can be found here.…
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Leadership Now and in the New Normal
Decision making in times of unusual uncertainty is one of the greatest, perhaps the single greatest, challenges of leadership. Navigating the current COVID-19 crisis and crafting appropriate responses has been a challenge for leaders around the world. And whatever happens, we are likely to have years of second-guessing as to…
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What do Innovation, Rock and Defense Tech have in Common?
What do Rock ‘n’ Roll, innovation and defense technology have in common? If you’ve heard this story, you probably have a guess. If not, it might surprise you to find the answer is one person: Skunk Baxter.
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This is a Time for Thoughtful Re-Planning
Rethinking your plans in light of the unthinkable To call these times turbulent is an understatement. Obviously reducing the risk to lives is paramount, but the unprecedented threat of the Covid-19 virus and the necessary response are already wreaking havoc across the economy, with some second and third order effects…
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Is it time to take the ‘product’ out of product management?
Frequently, we are asked to tailor our ‘Grassroots Strategy’ workshops to serve as training for product managers. Typically, the identified need is a lack of strategic thinking and/or tools for analyzing markets in a company’s product manager group. Beneath the surface, however, we believe that the problem may run deeper.…