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BILL BURNETT

STRATEGY AND
INNOVATION
Thomas Edison

CORE BUSINESS
STRATEGY

CORE BUSINESS
STRATEGY
In their book Tuned In Craig Stull, Phil Myers, and
David Meerman Scott suggest that in response to the
question “What business are you in?” there is only
one answer.

CORE BUSINESS
STRATEGY
In their book Tuned In Craig Stull, Phil Myers, and
David Meerman Scott suggest that in response to the
question “What business are you in?” there is only
one answer.
“We are in the business of continuous problem
solving for our market.”

INNOVATION DEFINED
We innovate to create competitive advantage.
We create competitive advantage by solving the
customer’s problem better than the competition.
Problem solving is the key to competitive advantage.
Not just any solution, but one the competition cannot
copy. That takes new knowledge.
Innovation is solving the customer’s problem with
new knowledge that creates competitive advantage.

PROBLEM SOLVING
Where do you find problem solvers?

CULTURE IS THE
STRATEGY
The key to success in a
company is a culture of ‘we’.
Robert Galvin

RANK AND FILE
INNOVATORS
Gary
Starkweather at
Xerox
Dick Drew at
3M
Art Fry at 3M
Joseph Henry at
Princeton Univ.

WINNING ON THE
FRONT LINE
Gen. Wesley Clark

WINNING ON THE
FRONT LINE
“And then it hit me: Only
soldiers win battles. The
top leaders can lose by
making mistakes, but the
winning is done by the
troops, by their skill,
cunning, discipline,
intuition, and motivation.”
Gen. Wesley Clark

“It was obvious, and like many other
obvious by previously unseen factors, it
was a bombshell in its implications, for
we had clearly invested far too little in the
most critical element on the battlefield:
our soldiers... Commanders could lose a
battle, but only soldiers could win.”

FACING THE TRUTH
The biggest problem in problem-solving, is getting
the problem right.
“If I had an hour to save the world, I would spend
fifty-nine minutes defining the problem and one
minute finding solutions” --Albert Einstein
Getting the problem right requires the ability to face
the truth, even when it’s unpleasant to do so.

ENABLING THE TRUTH
Trust - People must trust that they are not putting
themselves in harms way by telling the truth.
Trust is two-way.

ENABLING THE TRUTH
Truth trumps trepidation where the relationship is
adult-to-adult.
Hierarchies that foster power and prestige put people
in adult-to-child relationships -- truth suffers.

HOW WE ENGAGE
Humans are natural problem solver, and tend to be
highly engaged in whatever problem is at the top of
the heap.
The environment determines if the problem at the top
of the heap is the customer’s problem or the
employee’s workplace problem.
Hierarchy of power and prestige elevates the
employee’s workplace problem.

HOW TO ENGAGE
Engagement depends upon trust. But more
importantly it depends on the person’s ability to
utilize his or her talents.
The degree to which employees are engaged in
solving problems for the company and customer is
dependent upon their empowerment.

THE EMPOWERMENT
PROBLEM
Empowering employees to solve problems is one of
the toughest things for a manager to do.
Managers worry about loss of control.
Where the rubber hits the road with Trust.

TRUE EMPOWERMENT
A fellow walks into a
Nordstrom department store to
return these four well-worn
tires. He has no receipt so the
Nordstrom clerk asks the
customer how much he paid
for the tires. $264. The clerk
goes to the register an refunds
the $264 to the customer.

WELCOME TO
NORDSTROM
We’re glad to have you with our Company. Our
number one goal is to provide outstanding customer
service. Set both your personal and professional goals
high. We have great confidence in your ability to
achieve them.
Nordstrom Rules: Rule #1: Use good judgment in all
situations. There will be no additional rules.
Please feel free to ask your department manager, store
manager, or division general manager any question at
any time.

COMPETITIVE
ADVANTAGE ENABLERS

G.O.L.F. T.E.E.™
Great Organizational Leaders
Facilitate:
Trust
Engagement
Empowerment

LAUNCHPAD PARTNERS
BILL BURNETT