TVtoWear "Persona Pain-Gain Map"

TVtoWear

For any woman who has coveted the clothing or accessories she sees on TV while watching shows like Sex and the City, TVtoWear is a website that will put that outfit in your shopping basket with just a few clicks of the mouse. Unlike other clothing websites like Amazon or department store sites, TVtoWear will connect you directly with only those fashions you are interested in as seen on the likes of actresses like Sarah Jessica Parker.

To put together a pain-gain map for TVtoWear, we start by asking some key questions:

• What does a bad day look like for her?
• What is he afraid of?
• What keeps her awake at night?
• What is he responsible for?
• What obstacles stand in her way?
• What does this person want and aspire to?
• How does this person measure success?
• What can we offer this person?

Toyota's A3 Report

The story of Toyota's A3 Report (found here:  http://www.thequalityportal.com/notes/A3Shook.pdf) is an outline of how Toyota implemented a process to address not only the problem solving that goes on within a highly advanced company like theirs, but also a process they introduced to incorporate learning and enhanced mentoring.  

This process is sophisticated in the way it has been executed within Toyota, but the actual report itself is an interesting mix of both visual and common sense tactics.  The approach is broken down into easily consumable parts that include the following:

• Background on a problem
• Current Conditions
• Goals/Targets
• Analysis
• Proposed Countermeasures
• Plan
• Follow-up

These are all typical aspects of a strategy or project plan, but in this case developed in a way that helps junior engineers/employees to work through a problem without rushing to a solution.  It is intended to develop those skills that more experienced personnel demonstrate after having been through a variety of challenging scenarios over time.

I think this is an excellent mechanism for mentoring while accomplishing a given task or tasks in a thorough manner.  In my experience, there are limited methods in place (especially for larger corporations) to go through a process like this.  There are often opportunities for an individual to ask for input from more experienced or senior employees, but it can be left up to the individual.  In this case, there is more structure and in my opinion, a true hands-on experience that is more impactful than what many employers provide today.

Another positive thing I took away from this approach is the use of graphics and images to convey a message.  Some of this is based on statistics and some just used for mere demonstration.  It reminds me of work being done to simplify messaging to employees as well as customers.  One example of this is Edward Tufte, a specialist in the world of human interaction and design in general.  I've seen at least one presentation from him that has impacted the way I communicate whether it is internally or externally.  The more simple the message and less complicated powerpoints, documents, etc come into play the more likely you are to capture the attention of your audience.  I like this concept as a lesson in learning but also in how to communicate.  Here is a link to his blog: http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/.

7 Sources of Innovation

In addition to the SWOT analysis, I'm including a post on the seven sources of innovation, along with examples of each.  I'm planning to coordinate this with my team (Shadow Cast) as it may ultimately become part of the contribution to our team blog - http://etrshadowcast.blogspot.com/

Sources of Innovation:
While I can relate to nearly all of the sources of innovation described by Peter Drucker, I find some of my most influential inspiration comes from my own needs as opposed to a significant interruption in an industry and/or event outside of a specific industry.  A lot of my aspirations and "wish-list" ideas come from an immediate need I have or a need that a close friend or family member brings to my attention.  I am an incessant problem-solver so I thrive on coming up with ideas for ways to help people, including myself.  Not to say that all of the ideas are gems, but my process is probably more introspective than someone that may look outward to the industry as a whole - for better or worse.

Below are some examples that I can connect to Drucker's 7 sources:

1. The unexpected - With the failure of  some structural infrastructure - for example, the massive display with the collapse of Minnesota Narrows Bridge - new innovations were necessary to ensure that type of failure did not happen again.  One such way was looking at the reinforcements of the bridge and how the suspensions were maintained.
2. The incongruity - Some people perceive the many devices we have to be convenient - one example being a laptop.  However, the reality is that the battery life for many laptops is limited and therefore, we have to be near a power source in order to utilize that device (among others).  Devices that are truly wireless and/or have maximized battery life are currently thriving in the market.
3. Process need - When it comes to process need, I think of some of the ways in which we physically get around today.  For example, the way we rely on cars to get from one place to another, more common than any other form of transportation.  There are innovations that have risen in an attempt to alleviate this reliance on cars and therefore the repercussions that go along with that (traffic, accidents, etc).  One innovation is the high speed rail and other more urban uses such as monorails to sufficiently provide the transport we rely on.
4. Unexpected changes in industry or market structure - Some market segments have had to adapt based on structural changes.  One example is that of the telecommunication companies.  In may cases, there has been a shift from every person having a land line to almost everyone owning a cell phone (or multiple) and often using that as the primary form of communication.  As a result, the industry is required to expand on their service offerings and create new ways to entice customers.
5. Demographics - By investing some time looking at the number of people that are living to an older age (a result of advanced medicine or taking better care of ourselves) there is an apparent need for more ways to assist the elderly as they get older.  Some ideas that have developed over time include nursing homes, assisted living, senior centers, etc.  This is much farther beyond the scope of a typical medical industry or even the real estate industry - so could be deemed outside the enterprise.
6. Change in perception, mood, or meaning - As some people begin to perceive the effects we have on climate change as a reality (large storms, drastic change in temperatures, marketing by environmental agencies, etc.) - the more important certain sustainable actions become important.  An example of this is the efforts to create home management systems (remote or controlled by a central location) that will allow homeowners to adjust lights, temperature,etc of their home in an effort to be more efficient with electricity and gas/water usage.
7. New knowledge (scientific or unscientific) -  Some market segments have grown as a result of scientific information that is gathered.  One example is the natural gas industry.  There is an abundance of activity happening as a result in new information regarding the amount of recoverable oil and gas from shale deposits.  In addition to advancements in technology that allows the gas companies to access these deposits, we have witnessed a tremendous uptick in this market.

Google SWOT

Below is a copy of my SWOT analysis.  As a side note, I have created several of these for my company but found that certain people are looking for specific qualities in a SWOT (and business plan in general).  At times, the feedback has me confused on what is seen as a threat and what is seen as an opportunity - in a lot of cases, I find these items overlap.  Has anyone else had this problem?

I look forward to your comments!