Evolve 1st ® - Harnessing complexity for lasting success

By Adrian Hosford Extracts from Robert Bean's book of the same name.  Robert brings to life the history, chronology and humanity of one of the most successful UK brand creations - "It's Good To Talk" by BT.  Two of our Evolve 1st team were front and centre of the work, which built on a systemic approach to harness the complexity of the market and the internal BT culture and create a lasting success. Winning In Your Own Way - Robert Bean (chapter 7) .

By Adrian Hosford By 1988, I had led BT’s post privatisation marketing communication for four years and was satisfied that the short-term communication was pretty effective. However, I was convinced that long-term effectiveness could only be maximised if it were based on a more scientific and systematic understanding of customer needs, technology possibilities, competitive environment and BT’s organisation development. Hence we embarked on an ambitious and rigorous process to define the optimum market position for long-term growth and competitiveness. First Steps - A straightforward process but expect resistance Understanding customer needs - A complete review of existing research revealed a number of gaps in vital information that needed filling. Existing research on customer needs was very product focussed and patchy. We needed to understand what were the dominant customer needs of communication. And which needs where driving the market. Special research was commissioned. We ...

By Norman Strauss Published comment by Norman Strauss on an article by Sir Jeremy Heywood , UK Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, in Civil Service Quarterly. Norman writes, Yet again a senior Whitehall functionary - no less a one than the cabinet secretary - persists in viewing challenging policy problems through yesterday's conventional wisdom lenses. He has no idea that its legacy may both no longer work and could well be positively toxic. He exhibits ill-informed complacency by believing that things are now well under control and that present plans will work well. The reasons he cites for his confidence that all is well with his world are neither systemic nor strategic. How can members of the current neutral system possibly create original strategies that wrong-foot competitors' thinking, in what look like being lengthy, hostile and punitive negotiations? They are not complex as they do not involve difficult or ambiguous concepts. But they are mass...