Can A Failed Project Provide The Basis For a Successful Venture

Initiating a new project is always a risk. Some projects will succeed, but unfortunately, many more will fail. When things don’t go as planned, it can be easy to beat yourself up and focus on the negative aspects of the experience. However, it’s important to remember that failure is an important part of the learning Read More …

Applying The Principles of Effective Action Learning to Your Marketing Activities

Action learning (also known as experiential learning) is a teaching method of having learners participate in a real-world situation, complete activities under direct supervision, and reflect on their experiences afterward. It works fairly simply—participants are invited to collaborate through key questions. The goal? To inspire action, catalyze ideas, and transform interactions internally or with customers. Read More …

Developing Provocative Propositions; Short Statements that Describe the Desired Future

Sometimes, a compelling visual image may be enough to encapsulate the dream. However, groups often prefer to add a brief message, which can act as a purpose statement or summarize their strategic vision. The power of the Dream phase (The Starting Point for a Business Development Project) is that it encourages people to use the Read More …

Customer Discovery Interview: Emergent Process

A successful product launch involves not just a strong marketing strategy and appealing product design but also the team that is responsible for finding new customers. The ideal solution for this challenge is an emergent sales and marketing process that can be executed at different times, on different teams, and in different locations. However, while Read More …

Rules for Constructing Causal Sales Theories

Sales theorists have long debated the most effective way to construct causal sales theories. Or, have they? The most common approach is to identify a set of variables known to affect sales outcomes and then develop a model that describes the relationships between these variables. However, this approach has several drawbacks. First, it is often Read More …

Action Research is a Small Idea

Action Research should be an iterative process that takes shape as knowledge emerges. The premise here is that you learn, do, reflect, know how to do better, do it better, learn from that, do it better still, and so on. You work through cycles that converge towards better situation understanding and improved action. The goal Read More …