Dr Ken Hudson

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Keep Speeding.
Ken Hudson

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‘Hudson’s Law of Meetings’ is an adaptation of Parkinson’s Law which states that: work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. Hudson’s Law suggests that meetings expand to the time set for the meeting. So the first step in designing a better, faster meeting is to simply reduce the meeting time. In the service organisation where we are trialing these ideas we have reduced the meeting time from one hour (the default time) to 45 minutes with no reduction in output. Indeed there is a growing awareness that time is short so people must remain focused. For example, every 15 minutes a dedicated time keeper poses the question to the group that we are one third of the way through the meeting—are we one third of the way through the agenda? This reduction does not sound much but it does mean that you have reduced your collective meeting time by 25%. This time saving enables people to get to the next meeting, make a coffee, answer some emails and prepare for the next meeting and be on time.

2. Keep it Simple

Speed and simplicity have a symbiotic relationship. In trying to go faster you often have to simplify things. In simplifying a process or activity you can go faster. Hence with meetings it is a good idea to develop a standard agenda layout and format that can be used for most meetings. In the service organisation every department and it seems every manager had their own agenda layout. This slowed down comprehension and sometimes led to confusion where people were searching for where to find information and what preparation they had to do.

Every meeting should have an agenda with the purpose and the desired outcomes clearly stated and sent out at least 24 hours before the meeting. In this way the logistics of the meeting (e.g. place, time, location, participants) are confirmed. Much like kids at school where no hats means no play—no agenda means no meeting should take place (unless in an exceptional circumstance).

3. Collectively design some meeting rules and stick to these

One of the best things we did with the team from the service company is that they collectively designed a set of new meeting rules. These are the ‘rules of the game’ that everyone was expected to follow. Because they were created by the team they had a better chance of being followed and reflected the unique culture of that department and organisation. For example, some of the rules they agreed to were:-start every meeting on time (no ifs or buts), no meetings between 12.00pm and 1.30pm and no mobile phones in the meeting or any other electronic devices.

These rules also created peer pressure that made it easier for the person who called the meeting to enforce.

4. Speed Think your way through a few agenda items

In a normal meeting every agenda item is allocated roughly even time. But with a speed meeting you should divide the agenda into those everyday items and the more strategic ones. You can then speed-think the everyday items which will enable you to obtain a result quicker and the meeting will create momentum and energy. It will also free up more time for the more difficult items.

Another effective practice is that after you have made a decision, have two minutes of gut-feel time where anyone at the meeting can voice their intuition. People are now given permission to express what their emotional minds are telling them e.g. ‘I know the numbers don’t add up but my intuition is telling me that there is still a good opportunity here.’ We know that our intuition works ahead of our rational mind and informs all our decisions. A formal ‘gut feel’ time respects and validates this process.

5. Make every meeting also a learning experience

Every meeting should both have a purpose an outcome and ideally be a learning experience. It is a chance for the younger less experienced to learn from the leaders of an organisation and for the leaders themselves to role-model what they expect from others. Meetings reflect the culture of a business. If the culture is open and diverse you would expect the meeting to be conducted in a similar way. If on the other hand, the leadership team adopts an autocratic style this will become very evident in every meeting.

At the service business where we are trying to help some of their team break out of a few sloppy meeting habits we have suggested that the last few minutes of every meeting be allocated to a quick discussion on what worked in the meeting, what did not work and what did we learn and could do better next time. By thinking about meetings as learning opportunities ensures that whatever you decide, no meeting is ever a waste of time.

Running faster, better meetings is an important management and leadership skill that needs to be developed. I believe that every organisation should develop their own way of conducting meetings that reflects it culture, values and priorities and that this should be taught to all aspiring leaders of the future. It will make the business more efficient and productive and the time spent in meetings more enjoyable.

Dr Ken Hudson

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 I was talking to a colleague last night (Paul Leinberger–one of the smartest guys in the room) and he had a sudden insight. In recessionary times you have to do things differently. You have to try new things. You have to be quicker. This means that all of us in business need to learn how to think better.

But how do you do this? Here are four new ways based on a new set of concepts, language and theory.

 1.      Think mindset then marketplace

Business people are taught that they are in the business of satisfying consumer needs and wants at some form of profit. It makes perfect sense therefore to look at the customer first. But the biggest barrier or limitation on growth is not the market-place but our own mindset. It is our (and our teams) prevailing assumptions, beliefs, conventions and experiences that limit what we see in the market. Take for example the case of a garbage bag brand that I worked with; the management team believed that their product competed in a ‘low interest—low involvement’ category. But if you break free of this mindset (e.g. garbage bags are interesting) then you can suddenly see the marketplace with fresh eyes. This style of thinking led to the development of scented garbage bags which have taken the category by storm. You first have to research your mind rather than the customer’s one to unlock new opportunities.

2.      Think competitor imagination then analysis

Classic competitive analysis has become rigid, reactive and static. This has led to a form of incremental copying in most categories. Why? Because at the end of most marketing plans is some form of competitive analysis. This typically consists of a report on what the competitor has done, how much they have spent etc. But this is ancient history. This type of analysis does not anticipate what the competitor might do. It does not tell you how they might react to a move of yours for example. A much better way to handle this situation is to actually become the competitor. Divide a lager group into smaller ones than allocate each group a competitive brand. Then ask the group to imagine what the competitor will do in the next 12 months. Be specific, what new products will they launch and what will their new advertising campaign look like? This form of competitive imagination is far more insightful and dynamic.

3.      Think opportunity spaces then markets

One of the key concepts in marketing is the definition of a market. Typically however, a market has been defined in terms of a product rather than a how a customer might define their range of choices. For example, a few years ago I worked with one of the major breakfast brands. Their definition of the market in which they competed was ‘all breakfast cereals.’ Using this market definition meant that their brand could only grow if it took share from another cereal brand—a kind of zero-sum game. But what of baked beans, muffins, toast or people who do not eat breakfast? A better view was to consider the customer’s opportunity space ‘we compete in the space when customers wake up in the morning until lunch time’. This more expansive definition meant that they also competed against McDonalds for example. This new type of thinking led to the early development of breakfast bars and breakfast on the go type formulas.

4.      Think a compelling offer for one consumer then a target consumer

The next point follows the proceeding one. I often work with managers and they confidently can tell me everything about their target consumer. They say to me, on average, our target consumers buy this amount of product per year and are aged between 18-35 etc. My problem with this is that it leads to an average offer for an average consumer which leads to average results. I believe a more productive course of action is to design what I call a ‘Godfather Offer’ to a one specified consumer. This thinking tool taken from the academy award winning movie is to make a consumer an offer which is too good to refuse. If you can design such an offer for one consumer you can do it for another, then another and so on.

In a recession more than ever, it is a battle of ideas. It requires new thinking, new concepts and a new language if you are to out-imagine your competitor. It is the size of your imagination rather than the size of your budget that will dictate your future success.

Ken Hudson

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 It seemed to make perfect sense. There were courses on managing staff, managing projects, managing budgets so the idea of a course on managing time was the next logical step. You apply the same rational approach that you do to every other business activity. You plan, control, prioritise, review etc. But is this the way that we should be thinking about time?

Have we entered a new era where so much (e.g. work, growth, sales, information etc) is expected from so few resources (e.g. time, people, dollars) that trying to become better at managing time will not be enough?

Can you really manage time in the first place?

Don’t we need to think differently about time? As Einstein said we need new thinking to solve new problems.

My aim with Speed Thinking is to help everyone create more time for themselves by becoming more efficient and productive with everyday problems, ideas and solutions. By doing so you actually feel better and you often do better work. It also means that you can free up more time to invest in other activities that have meaning to you.

The thrust of Speed Thinking is that everyday problems can be resolved by paradoxically not over-thinking these. By keeping it simple and by thinking quicker. All you need is two minutes and the courage not to filter your responses.

It is not about managing time but creating more of it for you to spend it how you wish to.

So start thinking quickly right now!

Ken Hudson

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Imagine being a manager and you are in front of 40 of your fellow employees and someone offers up a new idea or solution which you have to make a decision right there on the spot. Sounds intimidating? Welcome to the GE Work-Out.

As the name implies, the Work-Out is a process introduced under Jack Welch which aims to take work out of the system via a series of regular meetings of cross-functional teams that get together to talk about problems. The Work-Out is both a cost-reduction process and a way to drive growth. It forces, immediate decisions which leads to fast action and fast learning. It also means that employees’ ideas are heard and acted upon quickly. Recommendations are tied to action plans that, if approved by leadership, will be implemented within 90 days.

The key benefits of the GE Work-out System are:

- It becomes a way of solving problems quickly

- Reduces beau racy

- Leads to action and

- Becomes a wonderful learning process for managers who have to interact with staff and do what they are paid to do which is make decisions quickly. 

 The GE Work-out system has been used in hundreds of organizations with dramatic results. The net effect is one of creating a faster, more flexible, simpler organization. It is the ideal way of building a speed-driven organization.

For more information,  The GE Work-Out by Dave Ulrich, Steve Kerr and Ron Ashkenas, 2002, McGraw Hill is a wonderful starting place.

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The other reason I like pictures is that according to the brain research we have different specializations-the left side is more linear and language based and the right, more visual. Hence if you are faced with a problem that is challenging, open-ended and difficult, using your right brain is the ideal way to go.

For example, in a recent workshop with an international airline the challenge was to find ways to improve the customer service. I asked participants to remember when they had experienced exceptional customer service and asked them to try and capture that feeling and draw nine different images of this in two minutes. The emphasis on speed meant that people did not filter their responses. The insights were profound as we moved around the room and revealed each set of drawings. The group could then use these insights to create a fresh array of service behaviours and ideas.

So the next time you are stuck–draw the solution quickly and see what happens (perhaps on the back of an envelope).

Ken Hudson

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With Speed Thinking what problem does it solve for customer, supplier, partner, employee etc?

What a great question.

I had to quickly jot down the following nine problems:

Speed Thinking will help anyone to address the problems of:

- Procrastination

- Small, incremental and ‘me-too’ ideas

- Achieving a better work-life balance

- A lack of personal energy

- Unproductive and time-consuming meetings

- Slow speed to market

- Decline in sales

- Too much to do and to little time

- Poor team building and results

By thinking about what problem you solve you are in a better position address to market and communicate your services.

What problem does your business solve?

Ken Hudson

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Hence one Speed Thinking Tool to solve a problem is what I call ‘Nine New Questions’. With this tool your aim is to ask nine new questions about the problem at hand. The aim is not to solve these questions but simply to try and create a range of new questions. If we can ask new questions we can dramatically increase our chances of developing an original solution.

For example, let’s assume that the problem was to better manage our work life balance. One new question might be what will you do with this free time or should married managers with kids have first preference with work-life options. These are all good questions that might lead to a more original response.

It is important in this process of asking the questions quickly. Try and ask nine new questions in two minutes. Then if you are working with a partner, select the most unexpected question then spend another two minutes trying to answer this question.

Asking new questions is a wonderful way to start and become unblocked. Nine New Questions is a practical, effective tool to help you think faster. Try it!

Ken Hudson

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