In Business, as in American Idol -- too often we make the safe vs. innovative choices

I love innovation and creativity. That's why I was hoping that Adam Lambert would win American Idol last night. But, as my son calls them, the "sheeple" won the day.
I'm not taking away from the fact that Kris Allen has talent. He has loads of talent. Unfortunately, he is like a lot of other performers out there and inherently a safe harbour -- people felt comfortable with Kris, whereas Adam, with his looks and his innovative approach to every performance made many a little uncomfortable.

Well, we often make this type of decision in business as well. Go with the "tried and true", vs. the innovative and creative. Yes, the choosing of the latter is riskier...you might be pushed to have to think in a whole new way, but the payoffs for reinventing your business could be amazing.

Just think if GM had chosen to follow the Lambert Way, instead of the Allen comfort zone? We might actually had seen some innovation and perhaps the firm would not be teetering on the edge of bankruptcy today. Same goes for Chrysler...and let's not forget Microsoft, which to a certain extent has rested on its laurels...as opposed to Apple, which has continuously pushed the envelope. The mantra of "it worked before, so let's not change it", is inevitably the death knell for many companies...who once were leading the pack, but now find themselves at the back of the pack...seeing the competition ahead by many lengths in the business Kentucky Derby!

So good luck to Adam Lambert. This young man is going to be a superstar, regardless of mainstream America's rejection of him. In a few years, Kris Allen will be all but forgotten, and Lambert will be playing to packed stadiums around the world.

Best-In-Class versus Best-for-You

Everyone is constantly talking about best-in-class, and very often, for the wrong reasons, labelling themselves as such or indicating that that is what they strive for. According to the business dictionary, best-in-class is defined as:

"Highest current performance level in an industry, used as a standard or benchmark to be equaled or exceeded. Also called best of breed."

So what is this thing that many companies strive for, and is it truly what they should be doing. Sometimes by focusing on best-in-class, are we missing what is best-for-you?

No two businesses are exactly the same -- that is a truism. Comparatives are always interesting and knowing what others are doing is of value -- what is working, what is not. But there is a danger when looking at best-in-class -- who decides what it is, and furthermore, when looking at instituting what someone had deemed as best-in-class -- are you perhaps trying to put a square peg in a round hole.

Often times, corporations are disappointed with the results from some of the mega consulting firms coming in and leveraging on what they have done before -- cookie cutter their solution to a client. Too often, what I have experienced is that when I get to the client, they have spent a couple of years trying to implement something, which truly didn't make sense for them, but because this "respected" consulting firm told them this is what the "best-in-classers" do, they felt obligated to try.

Don't get me wrong. I am a big fan of seeing what has worked (or hasn't) for other firms. Yet once you've done that -- then look at the business your running, and see if it makes sense for you. Having been as an executive in many different industries, and consulting in many more, I can comfortably say that the Pareto rule is alive and well. That is to say that 80% of the aspects of the business are similar -- processes, business drivers, etc., however 20% are unique. What I have also learned it that if you ignore that 20%, anything you try to institute is doomed to failure -- the square peg, round hole scenario.

So let's give "best-for-you" more credence. Create your own horizon -- take heed of the lessons learned from others, but don't follow blindly -- just because some amorphous mass tells you this is what should be done. Create your own footprint...and who knows -- tomorrow someone might be calling you best-in-class!