Flavor Forward Strategy

Independent Strategist partnering with brands to create healthy, sustainable food innovation

Recent Projects:
• Innovation Strategy Lead for a rapidly growing ($50MM) BFY confectionery snack brand. Established brand guardrails, landscaped 5 adjacent categories, and facilitated cross-functional ideation workshop culiminating in category extension / brand stretch recommendations.

• Interim Innovation Director for a ($1.5B+) private equity backed juice brand. Created brand & innovation architectures, shaped consumer insights & unmet needs into innovation platforms, wrote 75 product concepts in <1 week, and filled the brand's 5 year innovation pipeline.

• External Facilitator for a ($300MM) growth-stage, better for you, better for the planet meat snack. Conducted stakeholder interviews, planned, moderated, and directed the brand's first-ever innovation summit generating 10 testable new product concepts.

• Brand Strategist supporting a global team of behavior change specialists & nutritionists. Tasked with landscaping the dietary diversity needs of school-age children in India to fight malnutrition & micronutrient deficiency, mapping best practices & gaps in existing programs (public, private, NGOs, and PPPs), and making recommendations to further improve the ($600MM) health drink's social impact.

• Head of Insights & Innovation for a rapidly growing ($50MM), purpose-driven, clean-label frozen novelties brand. Established repeatable commercialization process, tested 50 category extensions, filled 3-year innovation pipeline, wrote sell-in story and customer-facing category strategy for long-term growth.

• Innovation Strategist for two of the world's largest ($1B+) salty snack brands. Elevated jobs to be done with culturally relevant & emotionally rich consumer insights, drafted discussion guides, moderated digital consumer interviews, facilitated cross-functional ideation workshops, and wrote new product platforms & concepts.

More here: 
FlavorFwd.com

Founder & Innovation Director

Drake University

Guest Lecturer for Drake's College Of Business & Public Administration

Courses:
-Consumer Behavior: Marketing + Psychology (Mktg 115)
-Money or Mission: First Year Seminar in Social Entrepreneurship (FYS 004)

Guest Lecturer - Consumer Behavior & Social Entrepreneurship

The Taste Trust

Co-Founder of The Taste Trust. We're a merry band of food innovators with 3 goals...

• Connect - smart people with different perspectives (brand, co. size, location, function, seniority)
• Learn - from each other, making each of us 10% smarter about food innovation
• Play with Purpose - bringing fresh air to stale (but real) business problems

Every month, Taste Trustees bring one of the the following to our call:
• A food innovation challenge / business issue we're wrestling with
• An untapped whitespace opportunity we believe has potential
• An innovation trend we're keeping an eye on
• A new product that we love / hate

Along the way we learn a little and laugh a lot.

Co-Founder

Tropicana Brands Group

Interim Innovation Director, Tropicana

GoodPop

Interim Head of Insights & Innovation

Wells Enterprises

Brand Manager for Blue Bunny's $500MM ice cream & frozen novelties businesses

• Served as "general manager", overseeing all daily operations for flagship Blue Bunny brand
• Orchestrated 8-figure IMC/360 marketing campaign incl. TV, social media, digital, PR
• Led new product commercialization & portfolio management for all product lines
• Supported director & innovation team on 3 year plan and innovation pipeline
• Owned media plan & marketing budget; led monthly demand meetings with senior leadership
• Managed two senior associate brand managers & creative/PR/social/media agencies

Brand Manager, Blue Bunny

Yum! Brands

Brand manager with P&L responsibility for $1.5 billion KFC U.S. Group Occasion segment

• Returned declining segment to growth, delivering +30% sales growth YTD thru Aug '20
• Coached 2 associate brand managers & served on KFC’s Coaches Council on behalf of marketing
• Oversaw the design, planning, and execution of 10+ cross-functional projects at a time
• Facilitated bi-weekly innovation alignment meetings with c-suite and key franchisees
• Sold 400k Cinnabon Desert Biscuits per day and won QSR's 2019 package of the year
• Generated over one billion impressions with Chicken & Donuts, driving millennial consideration
• Coached new ABM through KFC's biggest bet of 2019, Kentucky Fried Wings in <6 months

The relaunch of Kentucky Fried Wings effectively tripled our sales of wings during the promotion, and doubled ongoing everyday sales for the layer.  This was a highly complex launch, touching virtually every part of the business, including:

• Renovation of 2 core menu items (hot wings & BBQ sauce)
• Launch of a new sauce (buffalo)
• Development of new cooking & saucing procedures back of house
• Significant changes to menu boards
• National rollout of Delivery via GrubHub
• An ambitious supply plan increasing wings production to over one million pounds per week

Brand Manager, KFC Calendar Marketing

Innovation manager responsible for overhauling KFC’s innovation stage-gate process

• Redesigned KFC’s innovation process to generate more ideas and standardize consumer testing
• Accelerated product development process, cutting down on paperwork & time to market
• Filled 18 month innovation pipeline, a key enabler for 2018 & 2019 annual operating plans
• Started embedding a culture of innovation with R&D, marketing, finance, and operations teams

Brand Manager, KFC Upstream Design & Innovation

Unilever

Innovation lead for two of Unilever’s largest heritage ice cream brands: Popsicle & Klondike

• Initiated format launch across 4 brands estimated to contribute $100M in retail sales
• Collaborated with agencies to reposition Popsicle, including 2019+ communications roadmap
• Led innovation for Popsicle Canada & Klondike Canada (new products & claims through 2020)
• Ran point on nutrition & sustainability, ensuring that our growth was responsible
• Redesigned Popsicle.com (managed 4 external agency partners and cross functional teammates)

Senior Associate Brand Manager, Popsicle & Klondike Innovation

Resident expert on developed markets for the world’s largest hand washing program 

• International short term assignment in Mumbai, India
• Crafted strategy for launching Lifebuoy in new countries (i.e. white spaces) 
• Localized Lifebuoy’s interactive voice response (IVR) mother's program for Indonesia and Kenya
• Streamlined UX for reporting the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan’s (USLP) reach

Senior Associate Brand Manager, Lifebuoy Social Mission

Brand expert for sales teams & customer expert for the brand team

• Coordinated development of national sales strategy, incl. price & promotional guidelines
• Partnered with all major customer teams to set trade rates & sales targets
• Optimized trade spend by analyzing past events and vetting in-year funding requests
• Tracked all in-store merchandising to ensure flawless off-shelf product placement
• Set standards to prevent channel conflict between e-commerce and brick & mortar retailers
• Supported retail sell-in of Hellmann's Vegan (Carefully Crafted) and Organic Mayonnaise 
• Supported foodservice and retail sell-in of Hellmann's Stick Packets

Channel & Customer Development, Hellmann's/Best Foods

Business Manager with P&L responsibility for $200 million personal care brand 

• Led all cross-functional margin improvement & innovation projects
• Owned business operations for the brand, incl. P&L management, budgeting, and forecasting
• Managed external agency partners (PR, design, and social media) 
• Led digital marketing (incl. SEO, SEM, and e-commerce)
• Supported Unilever’s campus recruiting team and employee wellness business resource group
• Delivered Q-tips best-selling month ever (to-date): August 2015
• Recognized by AdWeek as the #8 Most Trusted CPG Brand for Women

Senior Assistant Brand Manager, Q-tips & Vaseline

Unilever’s boots on the ground in Minnesota for Walmart, Target, and the Grocery channel 

• Enhanced store-level execution of customer marketing programs 
• Piloted new share of shelf software & reported compliance vs. planograms 
• Built and maintained displays and other forms of in-store visibility (ISV)
• Influenced store managers to participate in marketing programs, improving display support

Retail Analyst

Data Analyst for Unilever’s 200+ Hair Care SKUs at Target

• Supported TRESemme, Nexxus, Dove, Suave, Clear, Axe, TIGI, TONI&GUY, Motions, Just for Me
• Optimized coupon drops to prevent layering & maximize ROI of brand/retailer trade spend
• Conducted ad-hoc analysis using Nielsen & RSi to refine category price & promo strategy 
• Developed data-driven consultative sales support material
• Partnered with Category Management & Customer Service to improve forecasting & in-stocks

Sales Analyst, Target Hair Care

Brand Management Intern for Vaseline – encouraged men to add skin care to grooming routines

• Developed launch plans for Men’s Spray Lotion with external agencies (PR, Design, and Media)
• Conducted competitive analysis of men’s lotion category using Nielsen Nitro and ad spend data
• Recommended growth opportunities in men’s grooming segments to marketing leadership

Brand Management Intern

Merrill Lynch Wealth Management

Marketing intern – helped a team of financial advisors find & serve high net worth individuals

• Developed full marketing plan for financial advisors to grow assets under management (AUM)
• Improved conversion with snowball sampling and referrals in place of cold calling 
• Worked with an advanced CRM system to generate warm leads (high net worth individuals)
• Partnered with compliance team to develop new, substantiated marketing claims 
• Recommended business development opportunities with large local businesses
• Recruited and trained my replacement to ensure a seamless transition

Marketing Intern

I'm an innovation strategist on a mission to create $500MM in healthy, sustainable food innovation by 2030 in support of the United Nations' SDGs.

It's a blend of food innovation, brand strategy, consumer insights, and environmental & social impact work.

➤ Who I Help:
✓ Entrepreneurs: 
co-founders | bootstrapped startups | investor-backed scaleups

✓ Intrapreneurs:
purpose-driven brands in the food & beverage and CPG industry


➤ Where I Started:
✓ In-house brand management / strategic marketing for...
✓ Unilever (Popsicle, Klondike, Hellmann's, Best Foods)
✓ Yum! Brands (KFC)
✓ Wells Enterprises (Blue Bunny)


➤ What I Do:
✓ Food Innovation:
product-market fit | category extension | category creation | brand stretch | whitespace mapping | platform innovation | portfolio architecture | competitive landscaping | innovation process design | concept writing

✓ Consumer Insights:
concept testing | consumption data analysis | qualitative research | focus groups | interviews | ethnography | consumer journey mapping | workshop facilitation | research vendor referrals

✓ Brand Strategy:
value proposition | brand positioning | brand purpose | social mission | vision | values | brand personality | brand archetypes | distinctive attributes | functional benefits | emotional benefits | brand key


➤ Why I Do It:
1) We need to accelerate our transition to a more sustainable food system. Today, global food production accounts for ~35% of emissions and ~50% of habitable land use, yet ~1/3 of the food we produce goes to waste. By 2050, there will be 10 billion people on this planet. They will need to eat.

2) We need to encourage people to make healthier choices with food. 1/3 of Americans are obese. Another 1/3 of Americans are overweight. Plant-based diets reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, and stroke, and simultaneously improve our quality of life while we're here.

3) If the core skills of a marketer are behavior change & demand generation, and if the core function of innovation is to solve human problems, I can think of no better use of my time & talents than helping people make better choices with food -- both for themselves and for the planet we all inhabit.


➤ How I Do It:
✓ Values: growth, truth, freedom
✓ Strengths: learner, focus, achiever, analytical, significance
✓ Archetypes: creator, explorer, sage
✓ Enneagram: 5 (investigator), 1 (reformer), 8 (challenger)
✓ MBTI: INTJ (architect)


If you're a founder, entrepreneur, investor, innovator, or strategist working to make the food world a better place...
🌍 read more: FlavorFwd.com
👍 let's connect!

Florida is on its way to banning – and criminalizing – alternative meat. So much for small government and the free market.

Here's the argument:
“You need meat, OK. And we're going to have meat in Florida. We're not going to have fake meat. Like that doesn't work.” – Ron DeSantis

"As of today, the unknowns are so great. There are no long-term studies.” – Danny Alvarez

Super well thought out – just like most of the arguments against alternatives to animal-based meat. An earlier bill gives a peek at what's actually behind this move to ban & criminalize alt meat.

“Farming and cattle are incredibly important industries to Florida… (And cell-cultivated meat is an) affront to nature and creation.” – Tyler Sirois

As someone who works in food innovation & sustainability, I find this incredibly frustrating. Externalities aren't enough? Subsidies aren't enough? At what point can we openly acknowledge that we're standing in our own way? At what point can we talk about how we are *actively creating* our own problems?

We're not just pretending climate change doesn't exist. We're not just choosing to ignore the disproportionate role that livestock plays in it. We're not just subsidizing our own unhealthy & unsustainable diets. We're not just perpetuating the status quo and providing financial support to huge incumbents in extractive industries. Now we're actively legislating to block innovation, preventing a new industry from emerging, stifling economic growth, and making ourselves less competitive on the global stage in the process.

All to protect our god-given right to eat *not just* meat – but meat that must come from one living animal at a time.

How is that “natural”?
How does that support “creation”?
How does that “like, work” long-term?

Please, someone, make this make sense.

#food #innovation #strategy 


Nick Budden

foodandwine.com • 4 min read

Florida Is on Its Way to Banning — and Criminalizing — Alternative Meat

“Why don't *WE* do that?”
After a week in Japan, we've said this dozens of times.
It's become something of a running joke for our group.
But beneath the humor there's something substantial.

It all stems from one key cultural value – consideration.
Japan is deeply considerate of other people’s needs.
They care.

Sometimes this shows up in big & obvious ways.
Like “keep left” signage – reducing clumsy foot traffic.
Like pink train cars  – designated for women late at night.
Like grooved sidewalks – functioning as braille for the blind.
Like lost & found offices – in train stations & shopping centers.

Or luggage shipping.
Or umbrella valets.
Or storage lockers.
Or house slippers.
Or ramen bibs.

But it's the small & subtle consideration that hits me hardest.
Like restraint & modesty – putting the group’s needs first.
Like etiquette & punctuality – minimizing disruptions.
Like appreciating the past – and the future – all at once.

We can help the few without inconveniencing the many.
We can innovate while respecting tradition.
We can embrace technology and still care.
We can design for real human needs.

Why don't we do more of *THAT*?

#innovation #culture #travel #design

This is a masterclass in healthwashing.

Everything about this packaging was carefully designed to make this product look healthier than it really is. The brand team knows this. You can *see* that the brand team knows this because they never explicitly cross the legal or regulatory line. Instead they take every opportunity to claim as much they possibly can without overtly putting themselves into litigious territory. They follow the letter of the law while completely disregarding the spirit of it.

Here’s what I mean.

1. In the product name, they shout TRUE and FRUIT –
while minimizing that pesky but legally necessary word “to”

2. They say “fruit” three times on the front of the pack –
and five times on the back of the pack

3. Flavor names take the names of real, specific fruit varieties – 
bing cherry, white peach, concord grape, honeycrisp apple

4. They include other descriptors to cue authenticity – 
TRUE to fruit
NATURAL flavors
inspired by REAL fruit flavors
colors from real fruits, vegetables, and SUPERFOODS
NATURALLY we had to do it again
like fresh fruit PICKED AT THE PEAK OF RIPENESS
experience the FLAVORS YOU KNOW AND LOVE

5. They include obvious and irrelevant health claims – 
Fat Free, Low Sodium, Gluten Free – 

You know…like…real fruit.

So you’d have plenty of reason to believe this is actually fruit.
Or that it contains a significant amount of fruit.
Or that there’s more fruit than added sugar.
Or that it contains vitamins or fiber.
But you’d be wrong. On all counts.

Flip the pack over.

The FDA requires brands to list ingredients “in descending order of predominance by weight, with the ingredients used in greatest amount first, followed by those in smaller amounts.”

Here’s the ingredient list, in order:

Corn syrup, sugar, water, gelatin, natural flavor, citric acid, juice concentrates, colors, pectin, lactic acid, malic acid, vegetable oil, and carnauba leaf wax

More corn syrup than fruit.
More sugar than fruit.
More water than fruit.
More gelatin than fruit.
More natural flavor than fruit.
More citric acid than fruit.

And what fruit it contains is in the form of juice concentrate.

Here’s a crazy thought: 
If you love the taste of real fruit…
Eat real fruit.

If you need a brand to do it, go with a classic like…
Driscoll's
Dole Food Company
Del Monte Foods, Inc.

Or get really fancy with it and try...
Oishii

#food #marketing #innovation #nutrition

Meanwhile, in South Korea…
Beef Rice.

"If successfully developed into food products, cultured beef rice could serve as a sustainable protein source, particularly in environments where traditional livestock farming is impractical.” – Professor Jinkee Hong of Yonsei University in Seoul

“The beef rice contains approximately 8% more protein and 7% more fat than conventional rice. Hong noted the protein is 18% animal-based, making it a rich source of essential amino acids.”

“Priced at about $2 per kilogramme (2.2 lbs) and with a far smaller carbon footprint than traditional beef products, cultured beef rice could compete on grocery shelves.”

Love it or hate it?

#food #innovation #trends 

reuters.com • 2 min read

South Korea scientists tout 'beef rice' as source of protein for the future

Freshly squeezed juice – 
When you read this phrase, what comes to mind?

Maybe it’s a roadside stand in front of a sunny orange grove.
Maybe it’s a farmer pressing oranges into a reamer one by one.
Maybe it’s a bright 7 yr old with a citrus press charging $2/cup.
Maybe it’s a caring dad finishing up Sunday’s family brunch.

It’s probably not a fully-automated robot on a busy city street.
But why shouldn’t it be?

In juice research, “freshly squeezed” is a highly desired attribute.
Consumers will tell you it’s unmistakably higher quality.
People will say it’s because “it just tastes better”.

But if it’s just about taste, how important is the process?
Does HOW it’s made matter?
Does it lose some of its magic if it’s done by a machine?
Or does automation add to the appeal?
Is automation more appealing if you can see it?
Why does “seeing it happen” make a difference?
And why is this in Japan and not in America?

Because context matters. 
Because nuance matters.
Because insight matters.
Because culture matters.

In America, “freshly squeezed” might mean “natural”. 
Simple.
Caring.
Familiar.
Nostalgic.
The Past.

In Japan, “freshly squeezed” might mean “just in time”.
Quick.
Modern.
Innovative.
Convenient.
The Future/Present.

Each process achieves “freshly squeezed”.
Both sets of attributes convey “quality”.
But they get there very differently.

Success hinges on knowing what quality *means* to people.
That’s contextual. That requires insight. 
And that’s why innovation is difficult, delicate work.

–
What do you think? Would this work here?
Why/why not?

#food #innovation #marketing #research 

As a food industry, we really should be talking about this.
But holy smokes – this one needs nuance that’s being missed.

1. Not everyone is in control of their weight.
Some people have medical conditions. 
Like hypothyroidism. Or Cushing’s syndrome.
Other people have real, medically-diagnosed eating disorders.
These often have a genetic/biological basis. It’s not just a choice.

2. Sometimes social factors limit dietary choices.
Some people live in food deserts or food swamps.
Some households are food insecure.

3. Most people are able to make most of their food choices.
Most people know what constitutes a healthy diet.
Yet most people struggle to consistently act on that knowledge.

4. Most Americans are overweight or obese.
Some of this is genetic.
Some of this is due to social factors.
Some of this is due to personal choice.
Some of this is due to the influence of brands.
Some of this is due to culture, including norms and shame.
The standard American diet is not something to be proud of.
For those with the ability to choose otherwise, we often should.

5. Shaming a person is not the same as shaming a behavior.

6. Shame can be toxic. Shame can also be productive.

“Toxic shame is the pervasive sense that one is essentially unworthy and unlovable, usually the result of childhood trauma or sexual abuse. There’s another type of shame…that is induced by society’s perfectionistic role expectations. Such types of shame globally indict a person’s character and destroy one’s self-esteem by telling them they have no worth or are a complete failure.”

“By contrast, productive shame focuses on discrete traits or behaviors rather than the entire person. Instead of making global statements about someone as completely worthless and irredeemable, productive shame leaves room for her to feel good about herself as a whole while also suggesting changes that might help her feel even better. Our evolutionary ancestors used shaming and shunning to encourage change, to help tribal members reform their transgressive behavior and then reintegrate. Helpful shame always leaves room for improvement rather than making someone feel fundamentally worthless, with no hope for growth.”

We shouldn’t shame people for being overweight.
We should shame choosing the standard American diet.

We should shame brands that perpetuate food swamps.
We should shame making cheap, unhealthy food pervasive.
We should shame brands putting profit before public health.
We should shame brands funding misleading nutrition studies.
We should shame brands who lobby against label transparency.
We should shame brands that prey on peoples’ vulnerabilities.
We should shame CEOs who encourage cereal for dinner.
We should shame healthwashing, in all its forms.

As LEADERS of the food industry...
We should be ashamed that Americans can’t “eat intuitively”.
We should take pride in changing food & culture for the better 
– so maybe we all someday could.

#food #marketing #leadership #culture

theexamination.org • 12 min read

Big Food and dietitians push ‘anti-diet’ advice, despite rising obesity

Daniel Kahnemam – the nobel-prize winning behavioral economist and best-selling author of Thinking, Fast and Slow – died yesterday. 

I didn't know him personally, but I knew him through his writing. And that was enough to make him one of my heroes.

Here are 6 things he taught me:
1. People in markets are NOT perfectly rational consumers (despite what we’re taught in Economics 101). 
2. Two systems drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, automatic, intuitive, effortless and emotional. System 2 is slow, deliberative, effortful, and more logically sound. 
3. Most of the time, we’re intellectually lazy (to save energy) – and this makes us prone to a wide range of biases. 
4. We all have a hard time distinguishing what’s familiar with what’s true. 
5. What You See Is All There Is (WYSIATI) – perception shapes our reality, we tend to ignore what’s not immediately in front of us, we filter out contradictory information, we try to answer an easier question than the one posed, we allow what’s salient to outrank what’s statistically probable, and how a situation is framed strongly influences our decisions. 
6. Because there’s more than one way to see the world, our greatest rivals can become our greatest partners. Here’s a bit of what Daniel had to say about his partnership with Amos Tversky: 

“Amos was the more logical thinker, with an orientation to theory and an unfailing sense of direction. I was more intuitive and rooted in the psychology of perception, from which we borrowed many ideas. We were sufficiently similar to understand each other, and sufficiently different to surprise each other… 

Perhaps most important we checked our critical weapons at the door. Both Amos and I were critical and argumentative, he even more than I, but during the years of our collaboration neither of us ever rejected out of hand anything the other said. Indeed, one of the joys I found in the collaboration was that Amos frequently saw the point of my vague ideas much more clearly than I did… 

We developed a routine in which we spent much of our working days together, often on long walks. For the next fourteen years our collaboration was the focus of our lives, and the work we did together during those years was the best either of us ever did.”
--

If you only have 1 minute, read this:
https://lnkd.in/gcs8mYjS 

If you have 5 minutes, watch this:
https://lnkd.in/gHdwb2j4 

If you have 1 hour, listen to this:
https://lnkd.in/gSfMvFhs 

If you can find 10-20 hours, read this:
https://lnkd.in/gDi5YCbq 

--
#economics #psychology #marketing #leadership 

bbc.com • 1 min read

Daniel Kahneman: Nobel prize-winning behavioural economist dies

Consultants, freelancers, contractors --
It's not just you.

Founders, execs, brand leads, --
If you're hiring independents, let us know!

#freelance #consulting #strategy

businessinsider.com

Consulting firms are cutting projections and tightening their belts as demand for their work slows

Manifesting, Hustle Culture, and Bad Strategy all share the same problem: disconnection.

If you want to achieve anything meaningful, you need a goal, a strategy, and action.

The biggest problem with manifesting is when people don't *do* anything -- it's a goal without action.

The biggest problem with hustle culture is when it becomes hustle *for its own sake* -- it's action without a goal.

The biggest problem with bad strategy is when it becomes disconnected from the other two -- the strategy lacks a clear goal, or the strategy lacks meaningful action.

You need all three. 
And they need to stay connected.

So if things aren't working...
Look for the disconnect.

#strategy #goals #execution

Chicago is losing an icon. Blommer Chocolate is closing its Chicago factory.

Yes that one. The one that makes downtown smell amazing. 

I'm personally bummed. Passing it was one of my favorite parts of biking from Logan Square & Wicker Park into the city. It made my day a little bit better. And it didn't cost me a dime. 

Economists call this an externality. Usually, people focus on negative externalities like pollution and carbon emissions. But positive externalities exist too. And even though it's often easier to notice the presence of a negative than the absence of a positive, this one will still hit home for many Chicagoans.

While production will shift to other facilities (in PA, CA, and Ontario), the company is keeping its HQ and R&D center in Chicago (at the Merchandise Mart).

Thanks for 85 great smelling years, Blommer Chocolate Company!

#food #chicago #chocolate #candy 

chicago.suntimes.com • 4 min read

Blommer Chocolate to close Chicago factory

Surprisingly, this was published on March 31st.

According to the USDA, as long as you're not drinking raw, unpasteurized milk, there's not a human health risk at this time.

Still, it was pretty weird to see this one today.

#foodsafety #food #agriculture

npr.org • 4 min read

A person in Texas caught bird flu after exposure to cows that were thought to be ill

There are A+ players…and then there’s everyone else.
A+ players are competent and motivated.
They’re smart, humble, and even-keeled.
They’re rainmakers *and* team players.

You can always count on them to get things done.
So they get the most important projects.
So they get the biggest raises.
So they get promoted first.
Right?

If only…
Here’s what usually happens.

Someone excels at something.
Subject matter expertise gets generalized to “competence”.
A few hits forms a trend. The trend becomes the expectation.
The A+ player makes a name for themselves.
That’s their new baseline: “high capacity”.
Then everything flows their way.
Management encourages it.

They get the good projects.
And the mediocre projects.
And the garbage projects.
Because they’re reliable.
They have bandwidth.
For a while.

“Suddenly” there’s too much on the A+ player’s plate.
They’re buried in low impact work. It has to get done.
There’s no time to do good work.
They drop the ball on something.
Now they’re unreliable.

They’re unmotivated.
They need coaching.
They’re resentful.
They resign.

And it starts all over again.

The problem isn’t the A+ player.
The problem is the assumption that A+ players exist.

Competence and motivation is task-specific. Always.
If you take an honest assessment of your team’s strengths…
Everyone on it will have a mixed report card.
Everyone. Really. Look closer. Go talk to them.
Some people are A+ operators.
Some people are A+ strategists.
Some people are A+ relationship builders.
Some people are A+ individual contributors.

But the idea that someone is an A+ player at everything? 
That’s an unexamined worldview. 

There are even psychological terms for this kind of lazy thinking: 
The halo effect – where we generalize a single positive trait and
The horn effect – where we generalize a single negative trait.

The A+ player mindset is sloppy management.
It’s a recipe for burning people out.
It’s one that far too many companies have institutionalized.
And it’s probably the root of most revolving door problems.

Agree/disagree?

#management #leadership #hr #strategy 

The best “new product” posts in your feed today will be those that take it *just about* one step too far. 

Too ridiculous? 
People will see it as an obvious April Fools’ joke and scroll on.

Too safe?
People will think it’s real & be bummed when they see it’s not.

Getting this balance right actually requires some skill.

1. A brand needs self-awareness.
“Where might people expect the brand to stretch next?”

2. A brand needs self-confidence.
“This will work. And even if it doesn’t it will be okay.”

3. A brand needs cultural sensitivity.
“This is funny today. This isn’t funny today.”

If a brand has all three, they’ll probably nail it today.
But here’s the thing – these are all transferable skills.
If you nail it today, you can probably nail it the rest of the year.
Because creating real breakthrough innovation isn’t so different.

You still need self-awareness…
to know where you can credibly stretch.

You still need self-confidence…
to take risks, knowing that not all of them will work out.

You still need cultural sensitivity…
to understand what’s relevant & meaningful to people today.

Yes, there’s an operational and financial component to consider.
Yes, it’s easier to take a risk on social one day than IRL all year.
Yes, writing a few words is easier than making a real thing.

But IMO…
Building a culture where it’s actually safe to play & take risks…
That’s the hardest part.

Bonus…
April 1st shows you your competitors’ hands.
There will be a few accidentally good ideas out there today.
And your competitors just told you they will never go there.
Consider it. Read the comments. Test it. Maybe you should.
Because one person’s “too far” is another’s “not far enough”.

Agree/disagree?
#marketing #innovation #strategy #aprilfools 

More. Of. This. Please. 👏👏👏 
Walmart achieved its Project Gigaton goal SIX YEARS EARLY, cutting 1 billion metric tons of emissions from its supply chain. 

Critics, I know what you’re thinking:
Walmart isn’t perfect. 
They could do so much more. 
This is great, but let’s not forget about X, Y, Z…

Suspend negativity for a moment to see the good work here.

1. A huge company, with a huge impact is taking action.
2. They are taking action even faster than goals dictate.
3. They’re partnering for impact, engaging 5,900 suppliers.
4. Those 5,900 suppliers account for ~75% of Walmart’s sales.
5. First they said no. They kept listening. Learned. And said yes.
6. After hitting a small target, they set their next one 50x higher.

I’m a big skeptic about big companies driving real change.
But this one gives me hope. Genuine hope.
Small or big, you can take climate action.
Small or big, your actions can make an impact.
Really.

#sustainability #esg #climateaction

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