By: Michael Kanazawa

Sometimes the Biggest Ideas are the smallest things. Quiznos is in the midst of a major turnaround under the leadership of veteran turnaround CEO Greg Brenneman. Reviving the growth and profits of a 5,200 chain restaurant certainly qualifies for a BIG Idea to BIG Results transformation.

What is Brenneman’s answer to this challenge? Go smaller.

Quiznos has been steadily slimming the menu that had grown overly complex with too many choices of sandwiches, specials, sizes, and coupon deals. That complexity was driving up food costs and slowing down operations. There can be real costs to going too big.

They also just launched an innovative new product called the Sammie. The new sandwich is a flatbread snack that looks like a taco, but is filled with meats and vegetables. For some who are familiar, it is really like a Gyro (Greek sandwich), but with deli fillings. The new sandwich is small and comes at a smaller price than their other menu options at just $2.00. This will give them a BIG boost with an innovative product into the value-conscious snack buyers. And rather than just creating a low-end, cheap knock-off version of their famous toasted sandwich priced at $3.99 rather than $4.57, they truly created a new product to meet customer needs for a convenient and well priced snack. (more…)

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By Michael Kanazawa

Remember when you used to dream about what wishes you would make if a genie showed up? Wasn’t the first one always, “I wish I had 1,000 more wishes.” That is absolutely the best one you could ever make, right?

On top of all New Year’s resolutions lists is there an equivalent must-have item? No, it’s not to get yourself a Wii. Here is our suggestion…

#1)  Turn my Big Ideas into Big Results

New Year’s resolutions, company priorities, strategic imperatives and operating goals are all just lists of things to get done. But even as we create those lists at the beginning of each year, are we really committed to seeing them through? Promise to make your big ideas into big results first, then whatever you put on your list after that will get done. You will produce results, which is really the only reason for making a list in the first place.

Go ahead and put that resuloution on your list, but now how will you follow through? This year we have just the thing to help. As you work through setting goals and direction for yourself, your team, your division or your company, the new book BIG Ideas to BIG Results (FT Press/Pearson Hall) is just what you need to ensure you have the streamlined process, tools and knowledge to follow through and drive results.

Bob and I wrote this book based on our years of experience in helping leaders through the challenges of taking charge, focusing companies for dramatic growth, and engaging their organizations for breakthrough results. Our desire in writing the book was to bring valuable solutions, that were once only available through the Harvard Business School MOE program and then only to top executives at global companies, into the hands of leaders at all levels in all types of companies. 

We’re looking forward to having a great 2008 with you! No matter what your aspirations for 2008, if you make turning your Big Ideas into Big Results your number one commitment, you’ll be sure to see success on all your other commitments throughout the year.

Photo source: www.timessquarenyc.org

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By: Robert H. Miles 

Two of my colleagues, Noel M. Tichy and Warren G. Bennis, have just released a new book called “Judgment: How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls” (New York: Portfolio, 2007). I’ve reviewed the book and wanted to share some perspectives on the book.

Hurrah for Noel and Warren. At the very prime of their careers, these distinguished scholars have pooled their knowledge and research to wade in to the deep end of the pool on the murky but critical subject of management judgment. This has been a domain in which many others have feared to swim because of the inherent ambiguity and almost certain exposure to criticism associated with such an interdisciplinary construct.

Both authors have worked in tight with some of the most powerful transformational leaders on the planet. The sheer access these scholars were able to create to high-profile leaders embroiled in some of the major business crises of recent times is quite impressive. Less established scholars would have had to sit on the sidelines as distant observers or head for the basement to run yet another round of experiments on college sophomores. Yet, despite their clear association with these industry titans, Tichy and Bennis make a strong fact-based case against the “superman” idea, focusing instead on the critical information and influence that resides in the members of the team and among the stakeholders surrounding a great leader during times requiring major judgment calls.

Here are some their more important insights into the phenomenon of judgment: (more…)

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October 22, 2007 

Barak Obama, though happily married, is looking to get engaged. Engaged with the American people, that is. It is not clear when the formula for Presidential campaign success became developing policy ideas and plans in a closed room with a few consultants and then proclaiming to the world that if elected you already have all of the final answers to put in place. The reality is, nobody believes one person can come up with all of the answers and nobody really wants a know-it-all as a leader. So, leaders can drive enormous action and breakthroughs when they learn how to truly engage the people around them. Obama almost got it perfect and we can all learn as business leaders from him.  (more…)

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By: Michael Kanazawa

There are numbers everywhere today in business advice. And I don’t mean financial analysis. We have The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Leaders, the top 10 traits of Silicon Valley Dynamos, Know How: The top 8 skills that separate people who perform from those who don’t, and, to top off this representative list, even a book of the Top 10 Business Books.

If I add up all of the business book top lists together that gives me about the top 12,875 essential tips for being a better leader and for business success! No problem, I can do them all if I could just find the time to master and learn all the advice from the book’s 500 Tips for Developing a Learning Organization.

There is definitely a better way to advance towards your full potential than getting buried by the massive number of top tips you see.

(more…)

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By Michael Kanazawa

This post is based on a question by a reader looking for specific recommendations on how to inspire and engage people for maximum performance. The question is worded quite well because inspiration and engagement are more linked that people think.

All of the following tips are based on the principle that if employees are truly engaged in the business they will be inspired to drive for excellence. So, how does engagement happen? Here are five specific tips that you can implement immediately.

#1: Create a vision that is a “cause” (more…)

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By Michael Kanazawa

Believe it or not, Fall is almost upon us. And, once again, the USC Trojan football team is being ranked #1 in their conference and nationally in many polls. They have created a dynasty of championship teams and there is something for business leaders to learn from how they are run as a team. Similar to stock analysts having to divulge their holdings, I am a big USC football fan and therefore biased. However, whether you love, hate, or don’t know the USC Trojans, there is a great lesson to be learned from them about how to lead your team to greatness. For you, maybe Fall is the time to refocus on a push for the year-end results and maybe a good time to try out a new facet of leadership to get you there.

Too often in business, people fall into the trap of trying to drive results in ways that cause individuals on the team to play with fear. People end up working to avoid getting in trouble, to just keep their job, or to meet their minimal performance standards. Stories of bosses intimidating, dominating, and humiliating employees are unfortunately pretty common. For short spikes, you can yell and scream your way into getting more from people. But in the end that wears out and never gets the best out of each person. There is a better way to build a high performance team. (more…)

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