World Fence News

62 • august 2016 • world fence news Is your business or association positioned for the changing economy? Do you have the strategy in place to put you and your staff/members in the best position to succeed? If the answer to the above questions is anything other than a solid YES, then contact us to discuss possible ways we can help you to improve your overall operations and to help put you and your business or association in a better position to succeed. MANAGEMENT MOTIVATIONAL ASSOCIATES, INC. When you need an experienced executive level management consultant like Jim Lucci to review overall business strategy and procedures or business specifics such as sales training, staff motivation, time management, inventory control, scheduling, yard/warehouse layout, etc., call Jim Lucci at 516-379-0903 or fill out and return the coupon below by mail or fax to 516-379-2404 or contact us by e-mail at MMAJandJ@aol.com (please identify subject as consulting). We will contact you promptly to discuss your needs and schedule business, seminar, meeting or convention appointments and rates. Appointments may be made for personal appearances or telephone consultations. Fill out (please print) and return to: James V. (Jim) Lucci Management Motivational Associates, Inc. 18 Hansome Place • Freeport, NY 11520 • MMAJandJ@aol.com Please call me. I'm interested in ______________________________________________________ Telephone _______________________________ Convenient time ___________________________ Fax Number ____________________________ E-mail: ___________________________________ Name ______________________________________________________________________________ Name of Business/Organization _______________________________________________________ Address ____________________________________________________________________________ City ____________________________________ State ______ Zip ___________________________ World Fence News contributing editor Read Jim Lucci's monthly column: The Human Link • Jim's Byline: PROFIT IS NOT A DIRTY WORD!™ Past IFIA Convention speaker and presenter of Eastern International Convention keynote addresses Jim Lucci COUPON Visit Logical Decisions at www.ldi.com Your Gate Operator Specialist Find us on How to keep your business from being "Uberized" by randy g. pennington Are you afraid of being Uberized? You should be. Uber, Airbnb, and Lyft aren't just the poster children for the Sharing Economy; they represent the continuation of a truth that is as old as civilization: Active thinking about how to leverage technology to disrupt your industry. This isn't the first round of dis- ruptors. Amazon changed the book industry. Netflix revolutionized the video industry. If you want to extend the examples, the telegraph destroyed the Pony Express industry. This time it is different, however. The disruptive companies of today are transforming from an idea existing on the bleeding-edge fringe into the mainstream at record speed. Uber, for example, has grown from a single location to providing service 300 cities worldwide in six short years. What this means for you The exponential growth of com- puting power has created an environ- ment of unbridled possibilities. The question isn't if your business and profession will experience dramatic change but when. If it can be transformed, it will be. Today it is entertainment, taxis, hotel rooms, and retail. Transportation and trucking will not be far behind, thanks to driverless automobiles, robotic de- livery capabilities, and drones. It is not a leap to imagine account- ing, law, and medicine Uberized to put the right person in the right place at the right time. Routine jobs per- formed by robots are not far off. Nan- otechnology will eventually repair the plumbing in your home and your body without any human involvement. Here's how you win Sadly, many of the businesses and occupations accepted as relevant today won't exist in the future. There are no guarantees, but you can take action today to increase your chanc- es of succeeding tomorrow. Here are four ideas to adopt now. • Re-think how you acquire and deploy technology. Are your technol- ogy decisions based on what you need today or with an eye toward what could be possible tomorrow? Is technology a cost to be managed or an investment to be leveraged and exploited? Are you locking yourself into ap- plications that will limit your oppor- tunities or those that provide the high- est degree of flexibility? This should be obvious, but start-up disruptors ar- en't using outdated technology. They are developing and deploying based on what's new and what's next to give them an advantage. You should do the same by integrating technology into every business decision. It also means being relentless in your search for new ways to leverage every dollar. • Leverage your advantage. You have what every disruptor wants – customers. Do they love you so much that they are selling for you? Are you engaging them in on-going conver- sation about what would make them more successful? The competitor coming after your industry will serve customers in ways that you haven't yet recognized. Learning from com- plaints is the minimum. You must go further to turn good customers into partners who will provide ideas about what they need in the future. • Give yourself time to think and explore. The idea that will disrupt your industry came into being because an individual or team invested the time to think and explore. Unfortunately, you are so busy working in your business that you aren't devoting the time and resources to think strategically. Keep- ing up with today's demands makes exploring the future a luxury you don't believe you can afford. It isn't a luxu- ry, however. It is a business necessity to ensure your long-term viability. • Create a culture that loves change and seeks to disrupt. The best way to keep from being Uberized is to be the disruptor in your industry. You can add love for innovation and con- tinual improvement to the culture of service, accountability, and execution you have worked so hard to build. Bal- ancing the freedom required for inno- vation with the discipline you need for consistent execution can be challeng- ing, but it is not impossible. It requires intentional effort to create and sustain the new habits you need to discover the future while executing today. The present should be guided more by the future than the past, and your future is destined to include a heavy dose of disruption and change. What are you doing today to en- sure your success tomorrow? Randy Pennington is an award-winning author, speaker, and leading authority on helping organizations achieve positive results in a world of acceler- ating change. To bring Randy to your next meeting, visit www.penningtongroup. com, e-mail info@penningtongroup. com, or call Michelle Joyce at 704- 965-2339. GATE RODS ALUMINIZED TIES ALUMINUM TIES ALUMINUM HOG RINGS VINYL TIES DOMESTIC BARBED WIRE STEEL HOG RINGS 6 GA. 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