XCELERATE

‘In today’s climate of fear and uncertainty, never has it been more important to step up to the leadership plate, challenge old thinking and forge new ground. This book will give you the clarity, confidence and courage to do just that.’

 

Margie Warrell

Bestselling Author of Stop Playing Safe

‘Bringing entrepreneurial approaches, which are more commonly used with startups, into the corporate innovation space can challenge the corporate mindset. Xcelerate offers leaders, who want to increase pace in this area, refreshing and new approaches to business model innovation and how to achieve successful launches for new growth units.’

 

Mike Herd

Executive Director, Sussex Innovation Centre, UK

‘Growth is non linear, so we will need jumps in thinking around our business model, our sales model and our whole of business approach. This book sets a new high water mark as an approach to designing new business growth in rapidly changing times.’

 

Matt Church

Founder, Thought Leaders Global

‘You don’t wake up a game changer, you become one. Experience, expertise and passion are critical to fuel the pace of business innovation. Rigorous methods and a disciplined approach will maintain the necessary stamina in such a difficult journey. Xcelerate is the recipe to succeed in innovative transformation. It’s a must-read for those who wish to play their part in disrupting their industry.’

 

Matthias de Ferrieres

CEO, Insurance Republic, Stark Group

‘As we evolve in the 21st century we have no choice but to innovate beyond conventional thinking. Paul educates the market, but also pioneers a new way of thinking that will propel your company forward. I know from personal experience that he is not your average business consultant. Quite frankly there is nothing average about Paul. He writes with wisdom far beyond his years. So if you’re interested in being leading edge then read this book and adopt the teachings. It will give you market advantage far beyond the norm.’

 

Sally Anderson

Founder/Director, Evolved Leadership

‘We are living in the decade of disruption. Nobody understands the impact of this on business in Australia more than Paul Broadfoot. In Xcelerate he not only unpacks what’s behind the changes that we all face, he also spells out exactly what we need to do to not just survive but thrive in these uncertain times. Essential reading for any Australian business leader.’

 

Peter Cook

CEO, Thought Leaders Global

‘Paul’s thought leadership and breadth of knowledge is on full display in this impressive first book. Colourful examples, cutting-edge business topics and case studies of global companies make Xcelerate a fun read, but also a wise guide for managers and leaders who are launching new business units for disruptive innovation.’

 

Tanya Menon

Associate Professor, Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business

‘Disruptive innovation receives lots of attention in organisations in Australia and across the world. Turning that into revenue, however, is a challenge. Xcelerate offers many fresh approaches to turn talk into sales. Paul enunciates how to step past competitors via innovative thinking and more effective responses.’

 

Graeme Orr

CEO, Australian Sales & Marketing Institute

 

 

Copyright © 2017 by Paul Broadfoot

ISBN 978-1-925590-29-6 (eBook)

Published by Vivid Publishing

P.O. Box 948, Fremantle Western Australia 6959

www.vividpublishing.com.au

eBook conversion and distribution by Fontaine Publishing Group, Australia

www.fontaine.com.au

The rights of Paul Broadfoot to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the copyright holder.

Editing and publishing by Kelly Irving

www.kellyirving.com

Cover design and internal layout by Ellie Schroeder

www.ellieschroeder.com

www.paulbroadfoot.com

 

 

 

CONTENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Introduction

Warning: the freak wave is coming

PART X – UNDER ATTACK!

1 Walls don’t work

2 Australian research leaves a bitter taste

3 King tides of change

PART Y – STRATEGY

4 Business model

5 Be first and be lonely

6 Revenue model

7 All you can fly

8 Communication model

9 Tinker, tailor, solder, spy

10 Differentiation model

11 Wired for sound

PART Z – ACTION

12 Diving in

13 Be a speedboat, not a battleship

14 Fast forward with Melanie Farmer

CONCLUSION

MOVE IT

SOURCES

About the author

Paul Broadfoot is passionate about what to do next.

As an entrepreneurial strategist, mentor, speaker, facilitator and now author, he works with enterprise executives and leaders to identify high-growth opportunities in times of rapid market change.

His fast, finite frameworks harness business model innovation to increase revenue and ignite engagement, energy and conviction for the future. Developed over years of rigorous real-world analysis and research of business disruption and innovation, these frameworks provide breakthrough market innovation.

After 20-plus years in corporate life, lamenting the lack of real conversations about business improvement, Paul set out to make a much bigger difference. Now he works with select groups of clients and companies who are serious about change, who are passionate about leading their markets and who refuse to settle for vanilla.

Paul is as comfortable developing strategy as he is talking financials. He has an MBA from the prestigious University of Chicago and a degree in chemical engineering.

He believes that the rate of change right now, catalysed by technology, is something our current generations have never seen before. That this is the reason we must learn to innovate the way we work, not just our products and services. That this is the only way ‘normal’ businesses will be able to thrive in the imminent future.

This book is the result of his dedication and passion to what’s possible.

Paul will force you to think differently about your role, your organisation and your future.

More importantly, he will inspire you to act.

www.paulbroadfoot.com

Acknowledgements

Reading the acknowledgments in a book probably tells you more about the author than the rest of the book. I personally always read them. It’s a great way to get the energy, passion and emotion that the author is hoping to convey to those who have helped along the ridiculous path of writing a book. (Little did I know the magnitude of the endeavour!)

So I’d not only like to thank the people who helped me become an author, but also tell them how they helped. As a result, I hope that you, the reader, will get to know me a little better ahead of the journey we are about to embark upon together.

My wife Kim – your belief and love are my major energy source. How many conversations on the couch have resulted in this book? I simply could not have done this without you.

My daughter Kimmy – you keep saying you are so proud of me: well, snap! I have always been so very proud of you.

My daughter Jacqui – you always listen to my ‘business stories’ with such interest and this has really helped with my thinking. You have such a curious mind, little buddy.

My mum Carolyn – for all your support, encouragement and patience.

My editor and thought distiller, Kelly Irving – without your guidance there would be no book. Your ability to clarify thinking is a talent and a gift. You helped me find my flow and get my rant on. You treated this book as your own, caring about even the smallest details.

My business manager, Melissa Angelovski – it’s so much fun working with you. There is craziness, lots of laughs and loads of work! I love it when we get our high-five game on.

My mentor, Sally Anderson – I remember sitting in my backyard telling you over the phone that I wanted to do more speaking, workshops and write a book. You pointed me to Thought Leaders, and even before that, you taught me that soft skills trump hard skills. You were right on both occasions.

My teacher, Matt Church – you see the potential, the essence, in people’s thinking, often more clearly than they can. The depth of your thought leadership is truly spectacular and this book wouldn’t be here today without it.

My role model Peter Cook – you make everything seem so effortless, but for everything worthy, you show us how to apply our effort. You live your word, in life and in work.

My innovation advisor, Melanie Farmer – I don’t think there is anyone else in Australia with as much knowledge about innovation as you. Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed and for our world-changing chats.

There are many others to thank, but a special mention goes to: Mike Herd, for your kind and wise input; Mark Hodgson and Laurel McLay, for being great TLBS mentors; Cam, for being a sounding-board extraordinaire; Ellie Schroeder, for your wonderful design work; Rosa and Sash, for the coffees and quiet place; and to my many clients, for your passion, work, belief and success.

You are all amazing.

INTRODUCTION

When did service stations become petrol stations with no pump attendant? When did they start selling Red Bull, milk, deodorant and hot cheesy wraps? When did we stop lining up at the bank to deposit a cheque? When did it become cheaper to buy new clothes than get them mended? When did TVs and appliances become disposable too? When did we stop getting landlines and buying CDs and then DVDs?

When will we know the outcome of the smartphone wars? When will we know who won the race to become lenders of choice in new-age banking?

When are we going to stop shopping at supermarkets? When are we going to stop paying to see a GP face-to-face? When are we going to stop turning lights on with our hands? When are we going to buy our first robot and a driverless car?

When will, ‘When are we going to stop …’ become, ‘When did we stop …’?

If you don’t start thinking about this now, then I can tell you exactly what will happen and when.

You’ll lose your reputation for making the right leadership decisions, as the board loses its patience with you and your team, and your company downsizes or disappears entirely. You’ll be forced to explain to your employees why their organisation – once considered to be ahead in the race – is now up shit creek without a lifejacket on.

‘Artificial intelligence’ will be the joke levelled not at the new robotic process automation at your competition, but at your leadership – a derogatory term for the ‘old-school bosses’.

The world will move on. The trend will pass you, leaving you rocking on the waves in its wake, asking yourself, ‘What the hell just happened?’

Robinson Crusoe you are not. You are lumped in the same boat as all the others in big, lumbering, incumbent business today.

Maybe you’re already in this position. Maybe you’re already questioning why your sales are declining or asking if your future strategy is flawed.

Sure, once, 50 years ago, your business model would be good for another 50 years.

But times are a-changin’, and they continue to change, like it or not.

The world has actually experienced this rapid speed of change before. But we weren’t around in the 1700s, during the first and second Industrial Revolutions, to see that.

We weren’t alive to see the first automobile roll off the ranks, to experience electricity powering our production and lighting our homes for the first time, or to travel by steam train instead of horse. Digital is doing to the world what electricity and phone communications did in the 19th and 20th centuries – only this time, the speed of change is on steroids.

Technology is changing everything, fast.

We need to remind ourselves that the car was once new, too.

»The advent of the telegraph enabled communication companies and killed the Pony Express.

»The advent of the locomotive enabled transport companies and killed stagecoach companies.

»The advent of electricity enabled utility companies and killed gas lantern manufacturers.

An interesting thing is happening in business right now, in the exactly same way it has happened before: new technology is enabling new business models.

We are seeing battles being waged not just along product innovation lines, but along market innovation lines. Markets are being created, expanded, shut down or shifted.

One tell-tale sign of market innovation is when companies enter spaces where they have no traditional footprint, or when startups change the prevailing way business is done in an industry.

»The advent of the internet enabled online stores for everything and killed Blockbuster and Borders.

»The advent of driverless trucks enabled remote mining and killed jobs.

»The advent of 3D printing helped us make our planes lighter and killed some traditional manufacturing.

Don’t just sit in endless meetings talking about the same old stuff, fixing the cracks that are constantly forming.

Stop asking, ‘Will this happen?’ and start asking, ‘What must I do?’

Unlike most business books today, this one is written from an Australian perspective (unless otherwise stated, all costs and revenue are in Australian dollars) and even provides bonus access to the first Australian research on the longevity of our ASX200 companies over the past 40 years.

It will change the way you look at your business, now and forever.

You’ll learn:

»why your current business innovation efforts aren’t leading to new customers or substantial growth

»why you need to innovate the way you work, not just your products and services

»how to shift the prevailing way your market operates using a fast and finite framework that identifies new innovation options easily

»how to find new growth amidst huge change.

You’ll find the tools and skills you need to:

»apply a fast and finite Xcelerate framework, comprising four models, that will help you innovate your business and your market

»understand why Uber and Airbnb are Xcelerators, not disruptors, and what you need to do to be like them

»work out what type of business model you have, one of 24 current market types, in under three minutes

»get inspiration from real-life examples, stories and case studies that bring this stuff to life

»‘hack’ your market, not just your product.

Many of the tools available today for business model innovation are designed for startups and focus a lot on experiential and experimental learning. This is incredibly valuable stuff and this book in no way diminishes any of that great work. This book is intended as an adrenaline injection into your thinking on the subject, so you can then use ALL the tools at your disposal.

 

 

In many ways, this book is a precursor to the lean startup methodology that may be necessary to implement some of the outcomes. I help you achieve breakthrough thinking fast by giving you finite frameworks, not brainstorming. That’s the hack.

It is not based on customer surveys, customer observation or customer testing. It is based on your company and the way your market operates. As you’ll soon see, this gets us thinking about strategy immediately, and gets us very good at it. It puts your and others’ strategies and business models in high resolution. This is how you create opportunity and create markets as you switch out of old ones that are about to decline.

This book is written for women and men who are here to do great work in business – for you, as leaders of large organisations, to locate and identify your current state and then look at other ways of working.

My perspectives on business came from an insatiable appetite for the pursuit of better performance. I would and could never settle for average. Still to this day, I’m always looking for what’s coming around the corner, and weighing up the risks. It has definitely made me a bit of a rebel at times.

In the past, I have worked as a leader in large, global B2B corporates, private companies, and with businesses of all sizes, from startups to incumbents. My thinking is refined by the distinctions and differences between the highly successful and the mediocre, from the large organisation to the small nimble business, and their respective pros and cons.

These days, I find more enjoyment consulting from the outside in. This way, I have a greater impact on many more organisations and see more transformation. I’m hired when changes need to be made, breakthroughs achieved, performances turned around or the future created.

As a corporate outsider, I am paid to get results, so I have to work out better and better ways to do that: to get the right strategy for growth, to get leaders to deepen their thinking, and to get change to stick.

I’ve been in those meetings where everyone is struggling to avoid bringing up the bad news, the thing that is concerning everyone, that they know is a problem. Everyone knows the unsaid gets unsorted – so I’m usually the guy to ‘call it’. Yep, I’m usually that guy pointing at the big, ugly mess in the middle of the table and saying, ‘What the hell are we going to do about this?’.

One of the things that happens in business, large or small, is changing when the business has to, not when it chooses to. Usually this change is forced by low-performing results. Leaders fail to react, innovate or change until it’s almost too late. And if it’s not too late for the company, it’s too late for the leaders. If you ask my behavioural economics buddies, they’ll tell you it’s well studied and a very human trait. Status quo bias is in us all.

You’re about to learn that longevity and performance are not like a game of pass-the-parcel at a kid’s party where everyone wins and gets a prize. ‘A for effort’ it is not. Some companies float and others sink; some people swim and others grasp for the lifejacket, spitting water. One of our first reactions is to cut jobs. In my opinion, that’s not acceptable – as leaders we’ve got to create jobs, not kill them.

The concepts are new, the case studies are practical (with comprehensive sources listed in the back of the book) and the real-world stories and examples help lighten the mood.

I love this quote by playwright George Bernard Shaw:

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

This is where you have to go. This book is written for you if you want to lead and enact real change.

Call yourself an innovator, a disruptor if you will, but I’m going to call you an Xcelerator.

The only question left to ask is – is this you?

Good.

Then let’s stop asking questions and start implementing answers, and fast.