Cookies help us display personalized product recommendations and ensure you have great shopping experience.

By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
SmartData CollectiveSmartData Collective
  • Analytics
    AnalyticsShow More
    image fx (67)
    Improving LinkedIn Ad Strategies with Data Analytics
    9 Min Read
    big data and remote work
    Data Helps Speech-Language Pathologists Deliver Better Results
    6 Min Read
    data driven insights
    How Data-Driven Insights Are Addressing Gaps in Patient Communication and Equity
    8 Min Read
    pexels pavel danilyuk 8112119
    Data Analytics Is Revolutionizing Medical Credentialing
    8 Min Read
    data and seo
    Maximize SEO Success with Powerful Data Analytics Insights
    8 Min Read
  • Big Data
  • BI
  • Exclusive
  • IT
  • Marketing
  • Software
Search
© 2008-25 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: A Company is like a Sphere
Share
Notification
Font ResizerAa
SmartData CollectiveSmartData Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
  • About
  • Help
  • Privacy
Follow US
© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
SmartData Collective > Uncategorized > A Company is like a Sphere
Uncategorized

A Company is like a Sphere

Jim MacLennan
Jim MacLennan
3 Min Read
SHARE
Where do these great analogy ideas come from? Full credit – I got this one from a speaker at the SAP Research Center in Palo Alto, last spring.

A company is like a sphere.

As it grows, volume increases much faster than surface area, and the large a company gets, way more people get embedded and hidden from the end customer than are on the fringe, in customer-facing roles.

As a general rule, this is a bad thing. Well, maybe a less-than-optimal thing – what percentage of your corporate attention span is customer-focused?

Our Challenge is to poke some pockets into the surface, and get more surface area exposed to the outside air.

  • Will this help a company go farther? It seems to work for golf balls …
  • Will this make the company more human? Perhaps, in a self-fulfilling / reverse fractal kind of way …
  • Will rough edges generate incremental profit? Some counterintuitive friction …

Previously …

  • Heisenburg KM (July 13, 2004)
  • Customer DNA – A Different Take on Understanding Markets and Networks (June 11, 2005)
  • Misapplying the Pareto principle (January 7, 2006)
  • Interesting How the Mind Works (October 1, 2007)
  • Innovation That Matters – Substance Over Style (January 12, 2008)
  • Failing Faster .. …

Where do these great analogy ideas come from? Full credit – I got this one from a speaker at the SAP Research Center in Palo Alto, last spring.

A company is like a sphere.

As it grows, volume increases much faster than surface area, and the large a company gets, way more people get embedded and hidden from the end customer than are on the fringe, in customer-facing roles.

As a general rule, this is a bad thing. Well, maybe a less-than-optimal thing – what percentage of your corporate attention span is customer-focused?

Our Challenge is to poke some pockets into the surface, and get more surface area exposed to the outside air.

  • Will this help a company go farther? It seems to work for golf balls …
  • Will this make the company more human? Perhaps, in a self-fulfilling / reverse fractal kind of way …
  • Will rough edges generate incremental profit? Some counterintuitive friction …

Previously …

  • Heisenburg KM (July 13, 2004)
  • Customer DNA – A Different Take on Understanding Markets and Networks (June 11, 2005)
  • Misapplying the Pareto principle (January 7, 2006)
  • Interesting How the Mind Works (October 1, 2007)
  • Innovation That Matters – Substance Over Style (January 12, 2008)
  • Failing Faster (June 14, 2009)

Technorati Tags: business value of IT, CRM, entrepreneur, innovation, Knowledge Management, marketing, people management, SAP, Social Networks, Web 2.0

Invisible Technorati Tags: cazh1, James P. MacLennan, jpmacl, MacLennan

Share This Article
Facebook Pinterest LinkedIn
Share
ByJim MacLennan
Follow:
Jim MacLennan is Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at IDEX Corporation, a Fortune 1000 manufacturer that sells highly engineered products in a variety of markets worldwide. MacLennan has responsibility for Corporate IT services for all IDEX business units, and also drives innovation through initiatives that leverage Information and Technology as growth drivers for the industrial manufacturing space. He regularly publishes his observations and insights on the intersection of business and technology - check out his work at www.cazh1.com.

Follow us on Facebook

Latest News

image fx (2)
Monitoring Data Without Turning into Big Brother
Big Data Exclusive
image fx (71)
The Power of AI for Personalization in Email
Artificial Intelligence Exclusive Marketing
image fx (67)
Improving LinkedIn Ad Strategies with Data Analytics
Analytics Big Data Exclusive Software
big data and remote work
Data Helps Speech-Language Pathologists Deliver Better Results
Analytics Big Data Exclusive

Stay Connected

1.2kFollowersLike
33.7kFollowersFollow
222FollowersPin

You Might also Like

The Best of Business Intelligence: Innovation at the Fringe

7 Min Read

Satisfying Saturday: The Buzz on Google Buzz

11 Min Read

Make it Conversational

3 Min Read

Federal Government Technology Directions and the Fed CTO

4 Min Read

SmartData Collective is one of the largest & trusted community covering technical content about Big Data, BI, Cloud, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, IoT & more.

AI chatbots
AI Chatbots Can Help Retailers Convert Live Broadcast Viewers into Sales!
Chatbots
ai chatbot
The Art of Conversation: Enhancing Chatbots with Advanced AI Prompts
Chatbots

Quick Link

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Follow US
© 2008-25 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Go to mobile version
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?