Thoughts on The Apprentice...

A recent article in the Independent on Sunday questioned whether The Apprentice represents the antithesis of what modern business is really about and if it's time to promote business in a better way on mainstream TV.

Here are my thoughts but please feel free to comment and add your own...

I don’t know any serious businessperson or entrepreneur that would disagree with The Apprentice being the antithesis of modern business. I’m sorry Lord Sugar but even you can’t deny that it’s just good prime time entertainment, less-real business and more show business!

Its remit is without doubt to entertain and it certainly does but I think it’s a stretch to suggest the candidates represent the top young business talent the UK has to offer. Any serious young entrepreneur (having said that some of the candidates aren’t that young) wouldn’t be distracted with thoughts of self-promotion or capitalizing on short-term fame. Unless an appearance on the show, however brief is a premeditated, strategic, fame-hungry move that is?

As a genuine thought leader and speaker myself I can tell you that the speaker circuit is ‘flooded’ with ex apprentice contestants now hungry to impart their extensive business, strategic, leadership and motivational expertise. A few are exceptional, like Tim Campbell from series one for example. Others seem more focused on capitalising on the opportunity of a radio or TV career that a momentary appearance on the small screen creates. However, should we really condemn them for that?

Unfortunately we live in a society that values the opinion of a celebrity over that of a true expert. So, I think it’s time to ‘fire’ the apprentice and make way for the true experts to be given a platform to impart real knowledge and insight into what it’s really like to run, lead and grow successful, dynamic and agile businesses. Understanding ‘real-world’ subjects like leadership, engagement and innovation will help our public and private sector organizations rescue our economy, repositioning the UK as the economic powerhouse it should be.

On another, more topical note, maybe ‘firing’ The Apprentice will free up some much-needed budget creating the financial breathing room for BBC Director General Mark Thompson to deal with his issue of not being able to offer ‘commercial salaries’? And maybe the new director of BBC Vision will breathe a little innovation into the institution and create a business programme with real substance. Get in touch and I’ll host it if you want? Just don’t condemn me for wanting my five minutes of fame!

An overview from my keynote on innovation culture at MI EXPO...

Love, hate and desire drive innovative cultures, says Beswick!

Only 3% of businesses can consider themselves to be truly innovative, according to Cris Beswick, innovation, strategy and leadership expert. Addressing  UTalkMarketing’s MI Expo, Beswick said that despite the fact “businesses are all competing for the same things”, only a few can say that they offer something truly unique to customers.

“In business, we are all here to differentiate, yet the reality is we all compete for similar things, in similar ways and at similar prices,” said Beswick.

“The ones [businesses] that don’t subscribe to this notion and step outside of it – the Googles and the Apples of this world, are the ones that innovate. I believe that any person in any organisation has the potential to do amazing things. Average companies do not innovate – fact.”

Beswick said he believes that the key to becoming an exceptional brand is to create a “culture of innovation” by employing the right people and by focusing on the three emotions that drive the success of a business – love, desire and hate.

“Everybody in an organisation has to love what they do. Managers cannot contractually make staff become energetic and inspired – it’s about having people working in a company that they believe is going somewhere,” he said. On the point of desire, Beswick cited the example of people queuing for hours to get hold of new Apple products.  “That’s desire – people buying with their hearts and not their heads. There are comparable products out there but people have fallen in love with that round little Apple symbol,” he said.

“And hate, [that’s about] your competitors hating you guts. You want to have them scratching their heads and saying ‘how did those guys do that?’”

Beswick outlined seven key traits that he believes can drive innovation in business; strategy, people, community, communication, environment, creativity, risk and leadership; and cited Richard Branson as an innovate individual, illustrating the point that it is often people’s quirks that allow them to innovate.

“Branson was dyslexic at school and a bit of an outcast – look at him 30 years later”, he said. “It’s often more eccentric people, who might not appear to quite fit in, or who look at the world in a different way, that have the ability to innovate,” he said.

He also stressed the importance of an organisation working as part of a team, and working flexibly, to achieve goals. “Create a team spirit, create as flat a structure in your organisation as possible,” he said, adding that getting rid of departments and silos is one of the ways organisations can encourage innovation.

“In terms of innovation, too many people want quick wins. It’s bloody hard work and won’t happen overnight,” he concluded.

How well do you know your customers?

Over the past decade, I’ve been preached to time and time again by MDs and CEOs about ‘customer-centricity’ and how ‘we know what products and services our customers like and we even know what they want us to improve upon and which of our new products they’ll like’. My response: “I rest my case. Haven’t you’ve just told me all about your ‘stuff’ and nothing about your customer?

Being truly customer-centric isn’t about showing them what you’ve got and asking them if they like it. It’s about looking at the world from their perspective and appreciating the problems and tensions they face and the things they aspire to. Without the right insight it’s more likely that what you do will be more about what’s best for your organisation rather than your customer.

When you really know your customers you’ll go beyond trying to sell them products and start to focus on solving their problems and that’s when you start to fuel innovation and differentiation. In the modern fast-paced commoditised world we operate in, it’s no longer about ‘what you do’ it’s about ‘how you do it’. Your competitors can copy products along with everyone else but they wont be able to do it like you do!


“We have only two sources of competitive advantage. The ability to learn more about our customer faster than the competition and the ability to turn that learning into action faster than the competition."


Jack Welch, former chairman/CEO, GE.


There are two points when customers talk about your business. When you’re pretty ‘Poor’ at what you do your customers will let everyone know about it. In the middle sits ‘Good’ but no one really mentions this as ‘Good’ has become the new ‘Average’. At the other end of my scale is ‘Exceptional’ and people talk here of brand loyalty, recommendation and constant endorsement, even Love!

The customer-centric organisations that sustainably differentiate do so because they understand the symbiotic relationship they have with their customers. The benefits for both are obvious but never the primary focus. In adopting this ‘Strategic Mindset’ you move beyond the traditional lip service or at best superficial attempt at customer focus. However, this means creating a different organisational approach to how you do what you do and involves being what I call ‘People-Centric’. Striking the right balance between customer pleasure and shareholder return will always, always be done through your people.

To do this, everyone in your organisation needs to understand how to collaborate on solving your customers’ problems in order for you to provide an exceptional end-to-end customer experience. So, in the same way your customers aren’t ‘Transactions’ your people aren’t ‘Resources’. Create a true relationship with your people and inspire them to be exceptional. Then passionately forge a relationship with your customers by replacing a ‘product-centric’ model with solutions as the fundamental part of your value proposition. Differentiation, innovation and shareholder return will be your natural by-products.

Good luck!

Promotion: The only way isn't always up!

The value of any brand is based on the talent of the people in the organisation!

It is not a business that takes a revolutionary step or comes up with a must-have product, but the people behind the business. It is the final few words that make all the difference here - knowing what to do with the talent you have in your organisation. Unfortunately, many modern businesses still operate in a traditional way when promoting talent: in other words, the best salesperson becomes the head of sales. But this is an approach that can, at best, misplace talent, and at worst do serious damage to a business. Just because you're great at sales, doesn't necessarily mean you'll be great at managing a sales team! While the person becoming head of sales has been rewarded with a pay rise and more responsibility, the business may have lost its best salesperson and, in cases where the management skills are lacking, contributed to a major downturn in the sales team's morale and performance.

Getting the right people on board is hard enough to do in the first place, so finding the right way to retain them should be your top priority, right? The traditional approach has been to reward top performers with a promotion, as it typically comes hand-in-hand with a pay increase. As the global economic recovery slowly gains momentum, research suggests that nearly half of your top talent will look to the horizon for fresh opportunities. But is the dangling carrot of 'career advancement' the best way to retain them? It is time for organisations to look beyond linking engagement and remuneration with 'promotion' - it isn't guaranteed to align employee goals with an organisation's fundamental objectives. Engaged employees are people that are highly motivated and are passionate about your organisation. They will have an emotional attachment and in most cases be willing to contribute far more than they are contractually obliged to. When you have a culture where discretionary effort is part of the day-to-day differentiation, business performance and shareholder return will far outpace your competitors.

What you will also have is shared purpose: openness and a level of understanding (being 'people-centric') that will allow you to align employees' aspirations and goals with the vision and strategy of your organisation in order to inspire them to maximise their personal potential. When you start dialogue with your people about what they want, you might be surprised to find that 'promotion' probably isn't it; but it's often a fait accompli. The world's leading organisations have 'talent mobility' that allows alignment, engagement, development and freedom for their talent to rotate or take different directions, other than upwards. It is about allowing your people to decide how they want to progress through your organisation, instead of only being promoted upwards. The challenge then is to support them, train them and develop them to reach their true potential.

Apple's tagline is: 'To build something truly different, you need to work in a truly different way.' It may be time for such a change in your organisation. Is it time to ask yourself some questions about your business and your team? Have you asked your people what they want? Have you ever offered them the ability to create their own role, or have you ever considered letting your people choose their managers and leadership teams? On the face of it, these seem like pretty big questions, but your company will only become 'outrageously good' as a result of doing things differently. If you engage your people and align them to your organisational journey, you will set their talent free. Utilise your people - make them a part of the decision-making process and you won't be constantly faced with the dilemma of 'do we or don't we?' when playing the promotion card. This may seem like a radical prospect, but remember what Mark Twain said: "If you always do what you've always done, you will get what you've always got!"