Show Notes:

Christian Hyatt, Founder of Risk3Sixty, discusses the top three or four things that chief information security officers at sub-enterprise firms are most worried about right now.  He explains that these concerns include the business environment, threat actors, cybersecurity regulation, nation-state actors like Russia and China, and phishing campaigns. He also highlights the unique bridge between cybersecurity and information technology coming to a head with the recent CrowdStrike incident.

Advice to Clients on Cybersecurity 

Christian suggests that independent consultants should ask clients questions or warning signs to raise their concerns and consider consulting a cybersecurity expert. He suggests that clients are looking for someone who is a good listener and not operating off fear, uncertainty, and doubt. By listening to clients' needs and concerns, consultants can offer advice on implementing best practices on their existing toolset and spreading security awareness. Christian emphasizes that many big enterprise tools, such as Office 365 and Google Suite, have built-in security, covering many bases. Independent consultants should listen for how well implemented their tools are, listen for business problems they have, and offer security assurance. Offering advice on implementing best practices and spreading security awareness can help firms understand how security is impacting their business and make informed decisions about investing in security measures.

Cybersecurity Due Diligence

In the context of due diligence, Christian states that it is important to consider the company's internal infrastructure, including its cloud-based and on-premises systems. This can help identify potential red flags and ensure the company's sustainability and scalability. For example, if a product company is being acquired, it is crucial to ask about its application security, product security, and scalability. Additionally, understanding the company's mastery of its own product and its ability to scale without the team is essential. Another key factor to consider is the company's internal infrastructure, whether it is cloud-based or on-premises. Integrating with the acquiring firm can impact the cost of the process.

Cybersecurity for Independent Consultants and Boutique Firms 

Independent consultants and boutique firms with a few employees should also take cybersecurity precautions. Some good tools for small businesses include G Suite or Office 365, which have built-in tools for file share sharing, email security, and internal messaging. These tools help protect against cybersecurity attacks that originate from email. Installing antivirus tools like CrowdStrike and Sentinel can help prevent attacks at the endpoint level. Blocking and tackling security processes, such as using file sharing platforms like OneDrive or Dropbox. It’s also important to identify areas where money changes hands and take protective measures. Creating an offline backup of key files once a month can help protect against ransomware attacks. Office 365 or G Suite can also be used to store files in the cloud, with tools like spanning for Office 365 creating backup copies of cloud storage. Exploring the full suite of options available to small business owners can help them get coverage for their biggest risks.

Employee Training on Cybersecurity

The conversation turns to the importance of raising employees' awareness of phishing dangers. He recommends using tools that periodically send white hat phishing messages to test employees' skills. Christian suggests that small businesses should focus on creating a culture of awareness and vigilance, letting candidates know about potential scams and asking questions if they feel uncomfortable. There are several tools available for security awareness training, including Curricula. Additionally, he suggests using YouTube videos as part of training, as they can be more effective than expected. By implementing these tools, businesses can create a culture of vigilance and prevent employees from clicking on suspicious links.

The Origins and Growth of Risk 3 Sixty

Christian started his firm as an independent consultant eight years ago, with a trajectory of impressive growth. He initially had one client, a $30,000 one-off engagement, but from there eventually grew the business to 60 clients. Christian shares a few of the tactics behind the growth, including his shift towards cybersecurity.  He focused on a few cybersecurity services that had great demand and packaged them as multi-year deals, and recurring revenue. He also learned that organizations have huge compliance requirements. They built a SaaS platform to help them manage the information. They invested in the SaaS platform and started selling it as a subscription. Today, their services are tech-enabled services, where companies often outsource their entire programs to them due to the need for human labor. Christian made strategic decisions early on, scaling the business around recurring revenue streams, over-delivering, and building a good culture. He centered around those activities that felt risky at the time, saying no to big contracts that didn't fit within his revenue stream. He also explains how a book by Gino Wickman, Traction, and The Entrepreneur Operating System, helped him shift the responsibility for business development off of his shoulders to other members of the firm. 

Recruiting Talent for Risk3Sixty

Christian hired a West Point graduate to become an ops manager. He believed that hiring great people was a risky move but ultimately helped build a sales function and complement the founder's role. The company also hired a strategic partner with Georgia Tech to hire top students. Despite the early hires, the success of the company can be attributed to the smart people who pushed the founder to think more like a leader and helped him see the future. The company's success can be attributed to the excellent people who helped him make decisions that he wouldn't have made on his own. 

The Structure of a Successful Company

Christian’s company has 60 employees, and a top-down structure consisting of an Executive Leadership Team (ELT) consisting of six members: the CEO, President, Head of People, the Chief Operating Officer, the Chief Revenue Officer, and the CTO. The CEO focuses on mission and metrics, breaking down the vision into KPIs and measurables, and making sure everyone understands it. He also works on brand equity through social media, podcasts, and speaking events. He also talks about how he approached pay bands and benefits to attract talent and maintain retention. The CEO manages the ELT, ensuring they are motivated and have the same vision. An initiative Review Board was created to address pent up projects or initiatives that were not previously budgeted. This allowed people to request new projects or initiatives outside of budget season, providing a pressure relief valve for strategic initiatives.

A Successful Marketing Philosophy

Christian's marketing philosophy focuses on teaching good concepts and adding value to people, rather than being an influencer. He uses content such as videos and white papers to add value and engage people, leading to more leads and engagement. He initially used LinkedIn outbound to find open job opportunities and reach out to hiring managers, but found that more people would ignore him than respond. Christian shares his teaching methods on LinkedIn, YouTube, and a newsletter. For cybersecurity-focused content, he hosts a weekly cybersecurity executive brief on YouTube. He also has a marketing team that helps with content creation, and practice leaders who produce content regularly, called media properties, on LinkedIn. Each member of the team has a dedicated content pillar, and it's up to them to create content that resonates with the audience. A marketing team supports them with video editing and accountability. Christian initially did it all himself, using a video editor tool and recording videos and writing white papers. 

Timestamps:

03:14: Cybersecurity precautions for independent consultants and small firms

08:10: Cybersecurity awareness training for small businesses

13:51: Growing a consulting firm through strategic decision-making and recurring revenue streams

18:19: Scaling a consulting business by hiring a leadership team

22:24: Leadership decisions and team structure

26:55: Using LinkedIn for business growth and content creation

Links:

• Connect with Christian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianhyatt/

• Check out his book: https://risk3sixty.com/stos

 

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

 

Show Notes:

In this panel discussion, Lisa Carlin, director of Future Builders and author of the newsletter Turbocharge Weekly, and strategy execution specialist  introduces the three panelists, who discuss the challenges of traditional strategy development, including volatility, uncertain business environments, and significant digital and AI disruption. The panelists,  Will Bachman, Founder of Umbrex, a global community of independent management consultants,  Alex M.H. Smith, breakthrough strategist and author of No Bullshit Strategy, and Rob McLean, investor, philanthropist and co-author of  two books on strategy, discuss the challenges of traditional approaches to business strategy. 

The Problem of Business Strategy

Rob emphasizes that, previously, strategies were deterministic and assumed certainty in business plans. However, increasingly, there is global uncertainty, and risk and probability should be included in a strategy. He mentions that there are assumptions about uncertainty that don’t hold true. He also highlights the fast change and that the cadence of strategy is changing, but despite this, many enterprises are locked into three and five-year plans.  Alex explains why he believes that many businesses lack understanding of effective strategy development and deployment. He emphasizes the importance of making precepts accessible, engaging, interesting, and usable for medium-sized businesses. He believes that traditional strategy is not bullshit but has limited purchase as it doesn't address the needs of small and medium-sized businesses. Will shares his experience with 500 conversations per year with clients seeking consultants, and he shares the main trends in what clients want from consultants and states that it has not changed dramatically over the years, but he also stresses the need for alignment, clarity, and action. Alex identifies the importance of substance and the ability to convert to action. He mentions the difficulty of achieving engagement, encouraging action, and the underemphasis of style in communications. He suggests thinking about strategy as a motivational discipline. Alex suggests that focusing more on sexing up the strategy can make a significant difference in making progress. He suggests that if strategy is viewed as a motivational discipline, it is essential to motivate people to do it. He believes that making the strategy “sexier” will bring stronger results in engaging and motivating buy-in.

Problem-solving, Strategic Intent and Strategic Development

Robs talks problem-solving as a driver of strategic development. The identified problems are  viewed through different lenses to achieve a 360-understanding. He mentions the greater premium on new data, and on trials and experiments, and mentions strategy that includes peeling back layers of uncertainty, putting people in a position where they can make decisions and evolve the strategy. He uses an example from Amazon to illustrate this.  He also points out that strategic intent is often confused with strategy, as strategy is an integrated set of actions that build value and competitive advantage. Rob shares his experience with the concept of continuous development,  and how businesses have changed the timeline on strategic development and clarity on the future. Alex states that medium-sized businesses face a challenge in understanding strategy literature, as it is often constructed to be relevant to large, polar businesses like Amazon. This makes the strategy literature inaccessible for single-brand founders or CEOs, as it is often too broad. This gap in communication between the concerns of large companies and those running small businesses makes it difficult for the latter to effectively develop and communicate their strategies.

Business Strategy in the Context of Technology and Culture

The discussion revolves around the impact of AI on consulting and strategy building. Lisa mentions a top-rated technology podcast, which emphasizes that the number one difference will be strategy and that the most significant impact of AI will be on product managers.  Will builds on the use of AI for strategy consultants. He explains the difference between  skills and services that rise in status and which ones are lower in status and where using AI is applicable. He offers examples on both using an energy storage company as an example.  

Dark Room Consulting

Lisa brings the discussion towards  “dark room” consulting where the consultants and executives operate in private before disclosing the strategy to the company at large. Alex  explains why he prefers this approach, stating that while it may not be politically beneficial, it can provide a sense of involvement and ownership for a radical, meaningful move. However, this approach can also lead to a slightly autocratic approach, as seen with Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, who were both successful business leaders but also tyrants in their own businesses.

Rob talks about the workers’ strategy as bifurcating, and he shares an example from McKinsey where they used AI, and that employing “dark room” tactics can work well however working closely with the front line is also important in strategy building. Will shares a story from his days as a submarine officer that clearly demonstrates the benefits and need of front line work a consultant needs to do. This also involves gathering information, and Alex adds how this allows everyone to feel involved, while maintaining the core idea and decision-making  back to the people who lead the company. While this approach may not be as democratic as some may prefer, it is essential for businesses to adapt and evolve to stay competitive in today's competitive market.

Q&A Session

The conversation opens up to questions and panelists are asked to share one recommendation. Rob suggests a problem-solving approach that recognises uncertainty, a tolerance for ambiguity, and taking steps forward feeling the stones beneath the feet. Alex states that, if a change in results is desired, changes to strategy must be made. Will focuses on implementation, stating that strategy implementation, or execution, or transformation is in high-demand and notes that increased resources in these directions are needed to make the change happen. The conversation covers a variety of areas including strong leadership vs. dictatorship, helping people feel comfortable with uncertainty, the need for monitoring and evaluation improvement during implementation, and the importance of measuring the impact of their work, particularly in implementation. And finally, the audience shares their key takeaways from the discussion. 

 Timestamps:

05:43: Strategy development for small to medium-sized businesses

10:11: Strategies for effective communication and implementation in business

17:01: Strategy in a rapidly changing world, with a focus on dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity

25:08: Strategic planning for businesses of varying sizes, with a focus on the challenges of scaling and the importance of industry knowledge

31:04: The impact of AI on strategy development and execution

37:13: Strategy development, emphasizing the importance of gathering insights from frontline employees and changing meaningful aspects of the business to improve results

42:46: How to handle uncertainty in business strategies

47:33: Implementing strategies with uncertain outcomes

Links:

Connect with the other two panelists on LinkedIn: 

Robert McLean:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-mclean-412268ba/

Alex M. H. Smith:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-m-h-smith/

Connect with Lisa Carlin on LinkedIn  Connect on LinkedIn  

For for more like this, please subscribe to Turbocharge Weekly: Fast-track your strategy. 3 tips in 3 minutes from 50+ implementations. Join 8,000 leaders now. https://info.theturbochargers.com/register-turbocharge-weekly

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Show Notes:

In this episode of Unleashed, Will Bachman discusses cold outreach with David A. Fields. David advises that cold outreach is a last resort tactic and should not be included in the mix of marketing strategies. Instead, he suggests that consulting firms should focus on the five marketing musts to build their network.

Why Cold Outreach is Inefficient

David emphasizes that cold outreach is remarkably inefficient for most consultants, as it is often slow to close and has a long sales cycle. He suggests that firms should experiment with cold outreach to find the best approach based on client feedback and experience. David also shares some historical insights about cold outreach. Cold outreach tends to respond better when closer to product sales when hardcore selling messages works better. David states that, when selling expertise and experience which is trust driven, cold outreach doesn't work well.  

The Aggressive Reframe Approach

Aggressive reframe, which involves asking for something rather than just asking for it, can also work well for cold outreach. David suggests that most consulting firms think they should differentiate versus competition, but this is not how they win business. David explains what the aggressive reframe approach is and how it works for consultants.

The 111 Messaging Effective Outreach Technique 

David discusses the effectiveness of 111 messaging, a technique developed for cool contacts in your network core. This approach is particularly effective for cold outreach on LinkedIn, as it requires some modifications. He explains that 111 messaging is a way to construct messages to people, focusing on the other person and their needs. It is a right-side-up email, one line, and one question that must be easy to answer. The 111 approach is designed for cold outreach and works well on LinkedIn. The message should be one-sided, one-line, and asks one simple question. The message should be short and simple, and the recipient should be able to answer the question easily. David shares the response rate from this technique, which is better than any other engagement technique, and offers examples of simple questions to ask. 

How to Use Cold Outreach Effectively

David talks about using cold outreach correctly  in acquiring clients. He believes that it is not efficient enough to get leads, as it requires a long sales cycle and a high close rate. To do cold outreach correctly, he suggests viewing it as the first step in a three-year process of winning clients and think of it as an investment in gaining future clients. David shares his tips on how to engage someone connected through LinkedIn who may be a potential client. The best practices in messaging are discussed, including keeping messages short to the point and focused on a topic that meets the needs or interests of the recipient. David also shares a story about using focus groups and how companies can be encouraged to launch products that nobody wants. He talks about  the Ben Franklin approach, which involves asking for a small favor instead of trying to give a favor, such as asking for help on articles, webinars, research, podcasts, or other activities.

How to Use Content as Lead Magnets

The conversation turns to the concept of lead magnets, which is content that people can download and engage with on social media. David offers the example of his two published books which have generated millions of dollars in business. He believes that a book is a lead magnet, but it is not free on the website. He suggests that the best way to convert people who consume content into clients is by creating an opportunity for them to join in and engage in conversation. It is suggested that, instead of just putting content out there, it is important to create engagement and opportunities for people to join in and interact with the content. 

It is recommended that, if someone comments or downloads a piece, there are steps that need to be taken to reach out to that person.  Higher engagement approaches, webinars, and podcasts that generate a conversation have been more successful than just putting content and lead magnets out there. David discusses the importance of making it easy for people to reach out to a firm. He believes that longevity and having published around 500 articles in addition to books contribute to this success. He also mentions that they do not engage with their tribe members, but rather let them know about the Boutique Consulting forum and he discusses models for engaging with tribe members.

Timestamps:

04:55: Cold outreach techniques, including Ben Franklin approach and 111 messaging

10:03 Using 111 outreach for consulting firms to re engage with leads

17:16 LinkedIn outreach strategies for connecting with potential clients

20:37: Lead magnets, cold outreach, and converting blog subscribers to clients

26:35: Creating opportunities for conversation in content marketing

32:24: Cold outreach effectiveness with client success stories

Links:

Sales Benchmarks: https://www.davidafields.com/important-sales-benchmark-for-your-consulting-firm/

Website: www.davidafields.com.  Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Tish Baldez, a leading expert in management consulting, has worked with small and mid-sized consultancies and 20,000 professionals worldwide. She shares the trajectory of her career from an independent consultant to a managing partner and leader at  P31 Consulting LLC, a training program for professionals in management consulting, life science, IT consulting, finance, banking and more, and how they became a 100% referral-only business.

 The Foundations of the Consultants Training Program

Tish introduced the foundations for consulting skills program about a year and a half ago, which enables small businesses hiring new analysts, consultants, and engagement managers without formal structure training on how to do consulting or work in a consultative way. The program focuses on providing foundational skills, storyboarding, and teaching how to synthesize data and communicate it meaningfully for clients. The program is currently running multiple sessions a year in the US, UK, and Latin America. The P31 Academy offer to help scale up and accelerate the learning curve of consultants, allowing them to be more effective and successful.

 Storyboard Presentations for Consultants

Tish also trains 30-40% of their people on how to storyboard presentations in the traditional consulting way, teaching the principles of how it works and why it works. They also have a special version for scientists, medical professionals, and people working within Life Sciences or data science organizations, helping them become business fluent. This program helps them understand what they’re presenting and translate it into language that is meaningful for their audience, making it easier for them to make decisions and take actions based on the presentations.

 The Foundation for Consulting Skills Program

The foundation for consulting skills is a 100-day experience that combines online, self-directed, and self-paced learning in addition to a combination of in-person and virtual-led instruction with expert consultants. The program includes a three-day intensive, where participants work independently for a few weeks, then come together for a three-day intensive in different locations in the UK and the United States. The remaining weeks involve small group exercises and one-on-one coaching and group coaching sessions. The focus is on major transformational bills, such as skill development, practical application, and theory. The program ends with a celebration of completion. One unique aspect of the program is the incorporation of neuroscience, which is intentional about engaging the brain and getting synapses going to ensure learning sticks and becomes habitual. The program also uses brain exercises to activate both the left and right side of the brain. The program is fun, engaging and conducive to adult learning, with participants finding it challenging but ultimately gaining the necessary skills.

 Breaking Down the Consulting Skills Program

The program typically has 20 participants, with four coaches in the room, two of whom serve as facilitators. Each pod is assigned to a coach, who ensures that the participants receive individual coaching and feedback. This approach helps maintain a one-to-five ratio, ensuring individual coaching and that participants feel comfortable participating without feeling overwhelmed. The program begins with framing the problem, teaching the hypothesis-based problem-solving model, breaking down analysis and synthesis into separate pieces. Storyboarding is introduced, with the principles and reasons behind its effectiveness, as well as articles and papers that have been studied and proven effective. The program also emphasizes content and messaging, with key messages supported by evidence. The final presentation is a case-based course that covers various industries, including science, data science, finance, and accounting. The purpose of the case-based training is to provide a good foundation upon which the participants can apply their skills.

The Demographic Profile of Attendees

Tish discusses the demographic profile of attendees, which includes people coming out of college, mid-career professionals, and robots. They initially intended to cater to individuals who were hired by their consultancies and needed training for their skills. However, they found that many consultants from industry had never been taught how to do consulting, leading to a need for foundational training.  Tish also talks about the pricing for their programs, including a course that specifically addresses the unique needs of these experts, scientists, and medical professionals, who need to learn how to translate their brilliant work into meaningful messages that make sense for the business.

The Key Values of a P31 Coach

Tish discusses the role of facilitators in their business. They are looking for experienced consultants with a background in management consulting to facilitate effective training. They believe that consultants should not just be great lecturers but also be able to identify learning opportunities for the participants and make adjustments accordingly. The company has a core team with a leader in the UK, overseeing Latin American business, and overseeing the United States and Asia Pacific.The focus is on business transformation, not just skills development. The company aims to help consultants build relationships that last a lifetime, ensuring they bring value on an ongoing basis. As the business world has changed, the training they provide has evolved. One key aspect of their training is staying relevant and ahead of clients. Tish mentions that COVID-19 has changed the way they interact and engage with clients, and the skills needed to be effective have evolved.

 Timestamps:

05:35: Training consultants for business fluency

09:46: Incorporating neuroscience into training programs to improve retention

13:25: Intensive three-day training program for consultants

18:23: Training programs for consultants and scientists to communicate effectively with business audiences

23:54: Hiring subcontractors for training with a focus on experience and relevance

28:26: Staying ahead in business by providing value and building relationships

Links:

P31 website: https://p31-consulting.com/

P31 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/p31-consulting-llc-us/

P31 Academy: https://www.linkedin.com/company/p31-academy-for-consulting-performance-excellence/

 

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

In this episode of Unleashed, Michael Rubenstein discusses the importance of organizational culture in mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Michael's expertise is broader than organizational culture; he offers a bird's eye view of an organization to help move it to the next phase in their evolution which includes: Strategy, M&A, Value Creation, People and Culture, etc.  It’s all about moving an organization to the next phase in their evolution and includes: Strategy, M&A, Value Creation, People and Culture, etc. He believes that culture is the key to a successful integration and that it often goes unnoticed. He suggests that when assessing a company's culture, it is essential to identify the culture elements of the current company and the target company, and identify any gaps.

Key Points in Assessing Company Culture

To do this, Michael recommends conducting self-assessments and assessments of both companies, as well as conducting interviews with stakeholders such as leadership, employees, customers, and suppliers. These interviews can help identify critical issues that could be problematic or could be beneficial. A culture diagnostic is a process that involves asking open-ended questions about how decisions are made within a company. This can include whether the organization is meritocratic, where instructions come from the top, or more empowered, where people have more autonomy in their roles. It is also important to consider whether the decision-making process is customer-driven, or operationally driven.

Unpacking Elements of Company Culture 

Michael states that culture is a complex concept that encompasses behaviors, norms, and rituals. Behaviors involve people working together, collaborating, hiding information, and doing things for the greater good or their own benefit. Norms are standards that hold individuals accountable for values, self-integrity, and communication within an organization. Rituals are important and often involve stories and networking opportunities.

The Benefits an Organizational Diagnostic

An organizational diagnostic can help identify gaps in culture, which can be useful in assessing the current state of the organization and the target acquisition company. A visual representation of the organizational diagnostic can help identify gaps and areas for improvement. For example, if the company being acquired is more advanced than the current one in terms of collaboration, it can help probe and identify areas for improvement. Michael explains that a case study can help assess the impact of a mismatch between cultures and the success of a merger. In a successful merger, culture was a key factor, as the acquiring company focused on taking the best people, processes, and models from both organizations. However, in a failed merger, the acquiring company ignored the value of the best people and processes, leading to a loss of billions of dollars in acquisition costs.

The Importance of Culture in Organizations

Michael discusses the importance of culture in organizations. He suggests assessing gaps, identifying positive aspects, and assessing alignment. He emphasizes the need to create a sense of unity and use language that is meaningful. Rubenstein also suggests soliciting input from stakeholders about creating a future state and creating a cultural strategic weapon. Culture is crucial as it is unique and cannot be duplicated by competitors. He suggests using a culture lens to frame people processes and tools, and building initiatives around this. Michael's practice is a boutique advisory firm that focuses on culture across various industries. He believes that culture can either facilitate or kill any other initiative, whether it's about strategy, change management, or continuous improvement. In conclusion, culture is a crucial aspect of any organization, and it can be a powerful tool for fostering harmony and success. By addressing cultural gaps and fostering a culture of alignment, organizations can create a more successful and successful future state.

Timestamps:

00:12: Organizational culture in M&A deals, including diagnostic tools and assessing gaps

05:50: Organizational culture, behaviors, norms, and rituals

13:01: Culture in M&A deals and its impact on success

 

Links:

Email:[email protected]

 

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Lisa Carlin, founder of Future Builders Group, discusses her experience in consulting and the need for a more passive income stream. She has over 50 strategy execution projects and programs that focus on business strategy, project management, and change management. Lisa believes that achieving scale in these areas requires changing the focus of the business and execution messages to what is important to the culture. In this episode, Lisa talks about developing and running a membership community.

Building a Subscription Business

The TurboCharge Hub membership offers a platform for functional experts to learn how to develop and execute strategies. The group is currently launching its own website called TurboChargers.com, and she meets with members twice a month on Zoom. One of the biggest lessons learned from her experience is the importance of understanding the client's pain points and tailoring their solutions accordingly. As people join, Lisa learns about their ideal customer profile and their biggest pain points, which allows her to provide key messages to the market.

Lisa also shares her lessons learned from her own experiences, such as being clear on the ideal customer profile and understanding the key message. By learning from her clients and focusing on their needs, she hopes to help others build their own successful memberships.

Key Steps in Recruiting Members for a Subscription Business

Lisa shares how she built a following, which included learning more about building a strong brand, and reaching out to B2C and B2B communities. She started doing podcasts, signing up for conferences, and having a lead generation machine set up on LinkedIn. This has been effective in growing her LinkedIn profile and inquiries. She met with people she knew would sign up. The next phase of people signing up was people who heard her on a podcast or at a conference. The audience is mostly business leaders, CEOs of medium to large organizations, and entrepreneurs with a strong innovation flair. Lisa has also learned to hone her writing skills and set up a newsletter. The community now consists of 7300 people, mostly CEOs of medium to large organizations and entrepreneurs.

Working with a Podcast Agency

Lisa discusses their experience with a podcast agency and the results she has received from it. She shares information on fees and services, which involves developing a podcast profile and reaching out to potential clients. The agency also offered the opportunity to choose the podcasts she wanted to produce and post them on LinkedIn as native content and as YouTube clips for their YouTube channel. She also mentions that she has not considered offering a special discount code for listeners of the podcasts, but she is interested in taking on affiliates to distribute their software. She is also interested in partnering with consultants to help spread the message that understanding culture is essential for success.

The Benefits of the Digital Funnel

Lisa shares her experience with the digital funnel and the benefits it provides. She has a cohort of about 40 subscribers, some of whom are clients and colleagues, and some are paying members.  She uses Tekmatixs software, based on a system called Lead connector, which includes an education platform. The platform allows users to sign up for a newsletter, access a lead magnet, or resource, and eventually become paying members where they can access the modules, master classes, and playbooks of frameworks. The system also includes access to Tekmatixs, which is an affiliate link for those interested in trying the system. Group coaching sessions are also available for users to take and participate live. Lisa also shares her experience with email marketing and conversion rates.

Working with a Podcast AgencyLisa discusses their experience with a podcast agency and the results she has received from it. She shares information on fees and services, which involves developing a podcast profile and reaching out to potential clients. The agency also offered the opportunity to choose the podcasts she wanted to produce and post them on LinkedIn as native content and as YouTube clips for their YouTube channel. She also mentions that she has not considered offering a special discount code for listeners of the podcasts, but she is interested in taking on affiliates to distribute The Turbocharge Hub. She is also interested in partnering with consultants to help spread the message that understanding culture is essential for success. The Benefits of the Digital FunnelLisa shares her experience with the digital funnel and the benefits it provides. She has a cohort of about 40 subscribers, some of whom are clients and colleagues, and some are paying members.  She uses Tekmatix software, based on a system called Lead connector, which includes an education platform. The platform allows users to sign up for a newsletter, access a lead magnet, or resource, and eventually become paying members where they can access the modules, master classes, and playbooks of frameworks. The system also includes access to Tekmatix, there is an affiliate link for those interested in trying the system. Group coaching sessions are also available for users to take and participate live. Lisa also shares her experience with email marketing and conversion rates. Becoming a Speaker at Conferences The conversation turns to getting booked at conferences and identifying potential speaking engagements. Lisa finds that it's easier to pitch her content when people are in a defined niche, such as change management or AI. She also participates in mastermind groups, where she speaks to 15 CEOs at a time and shares her material with the group. This process helps build reputation and attracts more subscribers. She discusses the various conferences on functional areas such as strategy and project management culture and mentions that industry players and executives typically attend industry-focused conferences, such as the auto industry or waste management conference. She mentions that there are various industry associations, such as marketing and finance associations, that focus on project management and transformation, and virtual conferences that offer virtual speaking opportunities. Lead Generation SuccessLisa shares how she has gained 7,000 subscribers on her newsletter. She mentions SkyLead, a tool that can target a group of people who have commented or liked a post. She shares results on a tactic where she received a 72% rate on connection requests. She has also used SkyLead to send connection requests in three different ways: direct email, direct connection request, and in-mail messages and she shares the results. She also mentions that the messages are incredibly sensitive to the length of the connection request, which can sometimes lead to a 10% decline in response rates or acceptance rates by adding three words. She concludes by emphasizing the importance of short, concise messages in connecting with people who have commented or liked her posts. Lead Magnets and Email Strategies that Work Lisa shares her experience with experimenting with different methods, such as sending lead magnets or emails, which had varying degrees of acceptance. One example was sending an email message to someone who agreed to subscribe to her newsletter, which she found to be more effective than sending a direct message. She also mentions a passive approach to managing connections. Her goal is to provide value to her connections and make it easy for them to unsubscribe if they want to. She talks about the platforms she uses to increase the number of connections and convert them into subscribers. She also emphasizes the importance of providing value. SkyLead allows users to send connection requests, emails, and both free and paid in-mails. It also offers a built-in algorithm to ensure that messages are only sent to people who have not been previously connected with the platform.  

Timestamps:

06:06: Marketing and growing a membership business for functional experts

12:18: Podcasting for business growth, with a focus on strategy execution and culture change. 

17:42: Digital marketing funnel for education business

24:22: Growing a community through newsletters, conferences, and mastermind groups

30:53: Speaking at conferences, lead generation, and newsletter subscribers

37:04: LinkedIn automation tool Sky Lead, with 72% connection request acceptance rate

43:46: LinkedIn connection requests, email newsletters, and automation tools

50:42: Using LinkedIn's Skylight system for automated messaging

 

Links:

 

Website: http://www.futurebuildersgroup.com/

CEO Guide: Boost Your Productivity with AI Tools for Strategic Initiatives: https://learnadmin.futurebuildersgroup.com/grab-your-ceo-guide-boost-your-productivity-with-ai-tools

5 Future Trends in Change Management https://learnadmin.futurebuildersgroup.com/grab-your-5-future-trends-in-change-management

Discover your capability for strategy execution and transformation. Calculate your free Transformation Success Score

Subscribe to Turbocharge Weekly.  Join over 7,000 business leaders and innovators are interested in accelerating their strategic projects with a Culture-Friendly approach.

Connect with Lisa Carlin on LinkedIn

17 top transformation tips, the checklist behind the 96% success rate in strategy execution  

Turbocharge Hub, for frameworks, learning and community to reach your full potential as a change leader.

FutureBuilders website

Lisa Carlin New YouTube channel

Lisa’s Tech Tools:

• SKYLEAD LinkedIn automation  

• Tekmatix CRM Newsletter Education Workflow Calendar tool

 

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

 

Show Notes:

Jeremy Greenberg discusses the AI-powered audience simulator built by the Avenue Group. The tool allows users to provide a set of custom instructions for different audience segments, like research or interviews. It allows users to ask questions of qualitative and quantitative nature, and within minutes, results from simulated respondents are obtained. The tool mirrors the sentiment of collective segments and audiences, similar to chats or LLMs on a one-on-one basis. This tool is useful for collecting the opinions of celebrities, for example, Steve Jobs, highlighting the immense power of LLMs in capturing the distributions of the underlying population.

Creating an Audience

Jeremy discusses the process of updating the front end and the first section of the tool. He states the importance of setting this to create an audience, which is the global population interested in a specific topic, such as Americans drinking Coca Cola. This audience is then used to create sub-segments within the audience, each with its own criteria. For example, if the audience is comprised of decision-makers who decide on software for small businesses, they can segment them into different countries.

The Creation of Segments

The second section of the tool allows for the creation of segments. These segments can be categorized by industry, such as executives responsible for sourcing and procuring uniform rental services. For example, if the audience is comprised of executives in the food service industry, they can create a segment with one trait, such as "work in the food industry." The third section allows for the addition of more traits, such as "work in the food service industry," to further narrow down the audience. This allows for more targeted and targeted marketing efforts.

An Example of Segmentation

Jeremy uses the example of the janitorial services industry to identify the three segments. They create a review section that outlines the different traits and elements that comprise each segment, with a sample for each and a percentage base of the total. The group is asked questions about their current use of uniforms and key buying criteria.

Jeremy recommends starting broad and going deeper with research, such as asking about the company, title, years in the industry, demographic information, and other relevant details. Open-ended questions can be added to gauge the industry's knowledge and understanding. For example, asking about the company's history and the number of vendors they work with could provide valuable insights.

Quantitative questions can also be added to gauge the wallet fragmentation and the primary vendor's satisfaction level. For example, asking about the number of vendors they have for uniform rental services could provide insight into the distribution of the wallet. Additionally, asking about the top three criteria for selecting a vendor can help determine the industry's competitiveness.

The Inspiration for Building the Tool

The inspiration for building the tool came from research in academia. He cites a podcast called "Me, Myself, and AI" where they talked about research they’d done and hypothesis tested  on price sensitivity related to income and brand value, which demonstrated that AI can understand these factors. They also wanted to understand the distributions of different responses, mirroring the reality of the world. To achieve this, they worked with an advisor and member of a research team at the Wharton School. This allowed them to learn how to use the tool in more advanced and creative ways. The tool is currently being developed and is in the process of being bolted up with all its features and capabilities.

Analyzing Responses from Segments

Jeremy talks about the process of creating a tool for analyzing responses from different segments. He discusses the importance of creating a sequence of events within the tool, such as creating 60 different personas and interviewing each one individually. The tool also ensures that subsequent respondents are aware of previous responses to avoid repetition and create a distribution that is representative of the actual segment. The results of the survey can be viewed in Excel and Google Sheets, with column headings that represent traits and the segment response. The questions include the industry, company, title, years in the industry, and number of vendors. Jeremy explains how the tool provides information on the internal consistency of the responses. 

Conducting Research and Comparing Data 

Jeremy emphasizes the importance of getting comfortable with the tool's accuracy and comparing it with their own data. He believes that this will be a significant impactful tool for conducting research. He also mentions that the panel industry faces challenges in getting surveys and finding people, and the power of these models is strong. He believes that the future of the survey tool will likely involve collaboration with various organizations, such as consulting firms, research firms, and researchers from various industries. 

For listeners interested in signing up for the beta version or to be put on the waiting list, email: [email protected]

Timestamps:

00:25: AI-powered audience simulator for market research

06:09: Creating segments and adding traits for a target audience in market research

14:14: Uniform rental services, including vendor selection criteria and annual spend

19:11: Building a tool to simulate human responses using AI, with a focus on understanding price sensitivity and brand value

25:09: Vendor selection for uniform rental services

29:42: Using AI to improve survey research with demos and beta program

Links:

Demo Video: https://us17.campaign-archive.com/?u=66d85c8e8b72aebc12535cdfa&id=c98ffd78d4

 

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

 

Show Notes:

In this discussion, Professor Bryan Caplan discusses the science and ethics of housing regulations and the argument for housing deregulation, which he believes benefits everyone across the political spectrum, including lower costs and more equity. 

Barriers to Radical Housing Deregulation

Bryan believes that to achieve radical housing deregulation, it would require convincing a large audience of people that it is a good idea. He explains that most people don't see the connection between letting people build and low prices, and there is a hypersensitivity to the harms a building can cause. The conversation also explores issues of environmental regulations and renewable power, and opposing forces lobbying to keep current housing regulations in place, such as community activists and the construction industry. 

Housing Developers and Zoning Laws

The discussion turns to various types of regulation and barriers faced by developers, including zoning laws, which are often used to separate industry from commercial and residential areas. He talks about the expression “the zoning tax”, used by economists. Bryan believes that abolishing these regulations would be the best solution, and that, unfortunately,  there is a slippery slope in allowing owners to preemptively stop someone from using their property as they want, it stymies action of any kind, and it can lead to laws that are overreaching and, most often, unnecessary. He talks about the law of nuisance and the burden of making a lawful complaint should be the responsibility of the complainer and not of the court to mitigate potential complaints in advance. 

Historical Preservation and Housing Regulations 

He discusses the issue of  historical preservation regulations, which may not necessarily lead to the demolition of historic buildings. Market forces play a role in preserving historic buildings, as people often value them and don't want to tear them down. However, if there is a significant difference between the value of renting office space in historic buildings and the extra value from turning them into residential spaces, the market is spoken. He mentions that every historic building was built on the rubble of a previous, more historic building. Bryan states what he believes is the best, most easy solution to this problem. He also offers an example of why the motivation to preserve many historic buildings is quite ironic. 

Environmental Building Regulations

Bryan addresses the environmental regulations that new builders face when building new buildings. He believes that current environmental protection laws are counterproductive, as they prevent developers from building in areas with favorable climates and reducing carbon emissions. Instead, he suggests making it easier to build in areas with good conditions, such as Southern California, where the weather is good and housing units can be built for millions of people. He talks about the importance of privatizing government land, particularly in the US, and suggests that developers should focus on what people want to pay for rather than environmental philosophy. He also discusses the lack of research on building codes and standards, which are often focused on land use regulations and safety regulations. He believes that the free market can ensure quality products, and explains how licensing, certification, and insurance companies play a role. 

Accessibility Requirements in Housing Regulations

The conversation turns to accessibility requirements, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Bryan suggests a voluntary system where developers can target specific markets for ADA accessible buildings. He also discusses the challenges of building skyscrapers and density regulations in the United States. He argues that while technology has allowed for the construction of tall buildings, getting government permissions to build them is difficult, especially in desirable areas. He suggests that if skyscrapers could be built closer to desirable locations, it would make living in these areas more affordable. Density regulations are another issue, as 80% of residential land is zoned for single-family homes. This makes it difficult for builders to build multi family homes, which is often expensive due to the paperwork involved. However, if housing is cheap enough, it is possible to have spacious apartments and entire floors of skyscrapers at a reasonable cost. Bryan also discusses the difference in cost per apartment or per square foot between single-family and multifamily housing. 

Building Costs and Economies of Scale

Building costs can be influenced by economies of scale, with skyscrapers being more expensive per square foot. Research shows that, averaging over the United States, regulations roughly doubles the cost of housing, with San Francisco and Manhattan having the worst regulation costs. Deregulating a small part of New York City could lead to skyscraper development almost immediately due to high prices in surrounding areas. However, if all the land was deregulated, then building skyscrapers of a certain height would no longer be profitable if there were many skyscrapers in the area and housing costs had been lowered. Overall, the cost of housing per square foot in a neighborhood depends on factors such as land, labor, structure, and regulation.

Community Engagement and Developers

Community engagement and public hearings are crucial for developers to build a building, as they must negotiate with the community to determine the benefits they will provide. However, many complaints are unmet, leading to delays and potential financial losses. A book called Neighborhood Defenders provides transcripts of land use meetings in Massachusetts, revealing that the complaints are often from paranoid homeowners, not wealthy homeowners, who fear disturbance or the neighborhood's character. The democratic process, while effective, puts the power to veto progress in the hands of paranoid people who don't speak for anyone but themselves.

Local Politicians and Housing Developments

Local politicians often claim to focus on increasing the tax base and lowering housing costs, but they often face criticism for their actions. The most simple-minded emotional arguments often prevail, as politicians are not there for the long term and may prioritize re-election over long-term goals. The antipathy for the housing industry is rooted in the fact that it is a big business, and housing is the second most vital necessity after food. Despite this, housing is often maligned, as it is the second most vital necessity after food. 

Affordable Housing Regulations 

Bryan discusses the concept of affordable housing requirements and their various versions. He identifies three common approaches: subsidizing demand and strangling supply, rent control, and public housing. The most common approach involves government subsidies for poor people to buy housing while restricting the supply. The least common approach is taxing the housing industry to produce different types of housing, which can make unsubsidized homes even more expensive while making affordable ones less expensive. Public housing, on the other hand, addresses the issue of not having enough housing and produces more housing. However, this approach generally faces issues such as high costs, lower quality, and poor maintenance by nonprofit sectors. 

Noise and Nuisance Regulations

When it comes to noise and nuisance regulations, Brian compares the old system to the new system. Bryan suggests that there was a better system during the period without regulation, where complainers could take recourse to the courts. He also mentions the homeowner association (HOA) as an intermediate market system for handling complaints. HOAs are flexible and limited to one area, allowing residents to be aware of the rules in place and decide whether they want to buy in or not. Bryan closes the conversation with a brief discussion on the ratcheting of regulations, economists, embedded interests, and political psychology.

Timestamps:

00:23: Housing deregulation, with insights on opposition forces. 

04:42: Regulations and their impact on development, with a focus on zoning laws, historical preservation, and the role of the government in decision-making 

12:29: Preserving historical buildings and environmental regulations

16:19: Government regulations and building codes, with a focus on the free market and insurance companies setting standards

21:05: Regulations and their impact on affordable housing

27:35: Housing costs in New York City, with a focus on Astoria

32:21: Skyscraper construction costs and community engagement challenges

37:44: Affordable housing requirements and their impact on development

43:02: Housing regulations and their impact on affordability

48:12: Regulations and their challenges in society

52:54: Housing regulation and special interests

 

Links:

Website: http://www.bcaplan.com/ 

Email: [email protected] 

Substack: http://betonit.substack.com/

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

 

Show Notes:

Maria Isabel Rios discusses the importance of making a firm work for you, rather than working for your firm. She emphasizes that firm leaders often immerse themselves in their firm in service to growing the firm to make it successful. Maria Isabel suggests that a better way to be a firm leader is to make your firm work for you. This involves finding ways to evaluate your firm, add value to your life, and bring success into the picture.

A Formula to Make Your Firm Work for You

A formula for making a firm work for you includes identifying key areas of importance in your personal life, and looking at your consulting firm's purpose, values, and intentions. Then, you can look at how these elements can intersect. The formula should be tailored to your needs and preferences, and should be specific to your goals. For example, if you want to spend one weekend day with family, zero work, every week for the next 52 weeks, this can be a more specific goal. Another example is a firm leader setting their goals for financial success, which can be a specific percentage of their income that goes into their retirement account. By making these personal intentions specific, you can create a formula that works for you and your firm. 

Personal Intentions and the Intersection with Work

Maria Isabel discusses the importance of identifying personal intentions and focusing on what brings joy to oneself then move on to the intersection with a firm. She describes five models of intention for firms and how this intersects with personal goals. Maria Isabel gives examples of firm leaders intentions and what they want in their personal and professional life, and how they make both work. She suggests that, by focusing on these models, individuals can better understand their intentions and make decisions that align with their goals and objectives. Maria Isabel explains how the different models work in both professional and personal life. 

Shifts and Growth in Business Models

Maria Isabel talks about the concept of a shift in business model. She shares examples of clients who are overworked and need help to reduce their hours and focus on a healthier lifestyle. She emphasizes that independent consultants often have an embedded model in mind, which often involves working long hours for high profits and success. However, when clients feel burnt out, they may need to consider the happiness the firm life brings to the firm leader. To make a shift, Maria Isabel suggests that clients should consider their personal intentions and work backwards to determine how to achieve this. This could involve taking larger projects or creating more sustainability in their pipeline. Additionally, they should strategically shift the model of how they deliver to reduce the firm leader's role in delivery. Maria Isabel also touches on other aspects of the firm's role, such as building a reputation as a thought leader or creating an online course to generate revenue. By planning ahead and aligning activities to achieve these goals, clients can create a sustainable firm that can deliver on their desired lifestyle. Maria Isabel emphasizes the importance of being intentional about what they want and not automatically taking on more projects and hours each week. 

Timestamps:

08:07: Prioritizing personal intentions and defining firm goals for the next 3-5 years

15:55: Building a business model for impact vs. financial gain

23:32: Scaling consulting firms sustainably, prioritizing firm leader's well-being

30:35: Planning and intentionality for consulting firms

 

Links:

https://www.davidafields.com/mondaylive

Website: https://www.davidafields.com/blog

 

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

 

Show Notes:

Lindsay McGregor discusses her firm's focus on building high-performing organizations. She explains that the highest performing organizations motivate people in a specific way, unlocking play, purpose, and potential for the problem they're solving. The firm trains leaders to be inspirational and consults with organizations on designing their operating models. She shares a story about how the firm explained the deeper concepts of play at work and how implementing these concepts of play was worth millions of dollars to the fund's portfolio managers every year. Play is often seen as something we do during our hobbies, but when we feel engaged by what we're solving, we perform at our best.Utilizing Play Concepts for Growth ManagementLindsay talks about the tools used to facilitate the play process and shares a sample engagement with a client who was the founder of a tech company that had scaled rapidly and the former processes no longer worked. Lindsay shares examples of the challenges faced in managing a team due to the rapid growth of the organization, including issues of talent retention, burnout, and AI adoption. To address these issues, Lindsay’s firm found three simple, easy-to-implement routines: goal checks, health checks, and skill checks. She shares a story that demonstrates the benefit of problem-solving activities. She explores each routine and explains that, by focusing on these strategies, companies can ensure their teams are equipped to handle the demands of their rapidly growing environment and maintain a competitive edge.Outcome-related Goals, Process-related Goals, and Idea-related GoalsThe conversation moves to outcome-related, idea-related, and process-related goals in a company. Lindsay emphasizes the importance of tracking process metrics and idea metrics to track how many ideas or experiments are being run. Aggressive goals can lead to increased effort, but it's crucial to manage experimentation and work smarter instead. For example, a tech company's recruiter had to fill double the number of jobs in the coming quarter than she normally does. By breaking down her goal into six categories, AI helped her create five sub-goals that focused on working smarter, not harder. This allowed her and her leader to focus on creatively adapting their approach.Team Alignment, Strategy, and Outcome GoalsIn some organizations, having a senior leader join the goal meetings and challenges can be powerful, as it allows senior leaders to help block the team and identify blockers that are outside of their control. This creates a sense of understanding and cooperation between the team and the executive. The quarterly health process and skill check are essential for ensuring the right goals are set and the team has the necessary skills to accomplish them. Motivation in the workforce is a key factor in achieving success. A study found that people who learn valuable skills on the job and have good work-life balance are more motivated. However, many find learning new skills difficult, as it is often seen as a big training or time-consuming process. Lindsay talks about the problem of skills gaps and how to deal with this issue. Lindsay also mentions the benefits of remote work culture, which can be great but requires more intentional skill building and offers a few approaches to team skill building.Vega Factor Certification for ConsultantsThe discussion revolves around the firm's resources and tools for consultants to access, such as goal checks, health checks, and skill checks. One of their current offerings is a platform called Factor, which enables consultants to run goal checks, health checks, and skills checks. They train and certify consultants to do these checks with their organizations. The certification and training process for using the platform is a six-part learning session that goes deep into how to conduct these checks. The platform is designed to help consultants and leaders retain top performers by putting in place good processes, making it easier for them to problem solve with their teams. Lindsay talks about the popular training sessions, including how to solve problems cross-functionally and how to make cross-functional collaboration and problem-solving easy for high performers. One of the leaders mentioned that this way of asynchronous problem-solving brought depth, breadth, and lightness to his job. He was able to go deeper into the problems, look at the solutions, and make informed decisions. In conclusion, the firm's platform offers valuable resources and tools for consultants and leaders to improve their work and retain top performers.High Performers and the Play ProcessesCompanies need to focus on retaining high performers and fostering a culture of play, purpose, and potential. High performers are more likely to leave a company that is bureaucratic and dysfunctional, while non-high performers are more likely to stay due to the perks and benefits they receive. Millennials are more skeptical than ever about the value of work, and they tend to see it as a transactional decision. However, high performers know that work can be meaningful, important, and impactful. To help them realize this, companies should focus on fostering a culture of play, purpose, and potential.The Genesis of Vega FactorLindsay explains that the firm’s journey began with researching what makes a high-performing company and culture. They wanted to understand if there was a quantitative, productive way to build a high-performing culture. They measured hundreds of factors from psychology and business best practices across thousands of people and hundreds of companies. They found that employees from companies like Home Depot and Lowe's answered questions differently and that their performance management systems and leader behavior were also different.The research was conducted through market research firms, where they found that employees from companies with similar systems answered questions differently. They also found that when the survey was administered internally by the company, there was a consistent increase in positivity, which they believe occurs because people don't trust the anonymity of their survey. The firm's website offers screenshots, interactive tools, and tips for implementation. They also provide links to download research.

Timestamps:

04:43 Using goal, health, and skill checks to improve company performance

09:35 Goal setting and performance, with a focus on problem-solving goals

13:04 Using AI to help teams work smarter, not harder, and improve team health through goal setting and problem-solving

17:40 Teamwork, motivation, and skill development in the workplace

23:30 Apprenticeship-based learning in consulting and remote work culture

28:50 Using AI to improve team performance and retain top performers

34:35 Motivating high performers and millennial employees through problem-solving processes

Links:

The website: https://www.factor.ai/

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Dr. Ron Razmi discusses his book, AI Doctor: The Rise of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare, which focuses on the applications of AI in various areas of healthcare. Ron talks about AI as a foundational technology that uses statistical methods to analyze data and understand its meaning. It can be applied to various areas, such as coding and documentation, and can create algorithms to analyze heartbeats and detect abnormal rhythms.

 

AI Use in Diagnostics

In diagnostics, AI can be helpful in analyzing clean structured data, such as radiology files from CAT scans or MRIs. AI can be trained to identify bleeding or abnormalities on these scans, but it must be trained on specific abnormalities. Currently, AI excels in radiology due to the digitized and structured data, but it's not as effective in narrative formats. Ron states that AI's applications in healthcare are vast and deep, and while it's still in its early stages, it has the potential to revolutionize various sectors, including healthcare.

AI Tools in Radiology and Triage

AI is increasingly being used in various fields, including radiology, dermatology, and sound AI. In radiology, AI tools are helping radiologists identify potential issues that might have been missed in traditional workflows. There are applications that read CAT scans for bleeding and stroke in acute settings, allowing radiologists to quickly identify and treat stroke patients. This helps in regaining function and ensuring patient recovery. AI can also aid in triage, prioritizing tasks based on urgency. 

 

AI in Dermatology

In dermatology, AI applications can help diagnose skin lesions. Additionally, sonar technology can be used to monitor people's activity and detect falls. This passive data collection method allows AI to analyze the signals and take action, reducing the need for manual data entry and manual data input. This technology is particularly effective for elderly individuals who may not want to be monitored with cameras, as 50% of falls occur in the bathroom. This technology is particularly useful for those who prefer to stay home but still need constant monitoring, such as those in assisted or independent living facilities. 

 

AI in Cardiology

In cardiology, AI tools can help read EKGs, which are crucial for diagnosing heart conditions. Historically, algorithms have been used to read EKGs, but they were often basic and inaccurate. AI has shown great promise in finding abnormalities on single lead data collection, as it can discern the rhythm of an EKG from a live core or smartphone application. This field-based data collection could significantly reduce the simple analytic and downstream work needed by clinicians in the medical staff. 

 

AI in Therapeutics

AI takes action in therapeutics, such as providing assistance to patients with mental health issues. AI chatbots can interact with patients who need help and provide frontline assistance until they see a mental health professional. Generative AI has improved natural language processing capabilities, which has been a problem area for AI in healthcare due to the heavy use of medical jargon in doctor's notes. This will allow for more efficient interactions with healthcare consumers and better guidance in their care. However, there is still much work to be done in this promising area.

 

Technology and Medication Adherence in Healthcare

The conversation turns to medication adherence, which is a significant problem in healthcare. Long-term studies show that people who have had a heart attack are more likely to stay compliant with their medications, with the refill rate for statins being the highest documented rate. However, most people do not follow their prescription advice. Technology is part of the solution to this problem. AI technology can potentially analyze data and interact with patients at the appropriate moment to ensure they are aware of the needs, issues, and dates of medication use or the lack of, which is crucial in healthcare. 

 

How AI Helps Doctors

AI applications in healthcare can help alleviate the burden of documentation work for physicians and nurses. One example is the use of AI in critical care settings, where doctors often spend time typing notes into the electronic health record, which can lead to missed information and negatively impact the quality of care. AI can also analyze conversations using natural language processing, which can identify the meaning of words and improve communication. For example, AI can listen to conversations and extract key elements that need to be documented, allowing doctors to focus on the patient and generate notes in their preferred format. AI can also perform downstream tasks, such as prescribing medication, making referrals, and creating prior authorization letters. This could save time for medical staff, preventing them from seeing more patients and making them less productive. Another use case could be for AI to assist nurses in creating notes for patients based on interaction with them, reducing the time spent documenting. This could make a significant difference in the quality of care and well-being since it allows medical professionals to focus on the patient instead of taking notes. 

 

Evaluating AI Healthcare Applications

Ron’s book goes beyond cheerleading and emphasizes the business and clinical barriers to adoption. He talks about the importance of evaluating the business model of AI products or applications, considering the incentives of buyers and the potential for job loss or revenue reduction. As an investor, he suggests considering the pain points that AI could address, such as staff shortages and burnout, and how AI could help medical centers and pharmaceutical companies improve their clinical trials. Ron also discusses the importance of understanding the value proposition of AI products in medical settings. He shares his experience as an investor in the healthcare AI space, advising companies and funds on identifying great use cases and evaluating barriers. Ron recommends reading sources like healthcare AI digests, health tech news, and interviews with experts to stay informed about trends and the latest AI applications. 

 

Timestamps:

04:00 AI applications in radiology and dermatology, including AI-assisted diagnosis and triage

10:54 Using AI to analyze passive data collection from sonar/radar in indoor environments for health monitoring, including fall detection and heart rate measurement 

15:12 AI in healthcare, particularly in diagnostics and therapeutics

21:22 Using AI technology to improve medication adherence

26:40 AI applications in healthcare, including documentation assistance and quality of care

34:41 AI in healthcare, investment considerations, and product evaluation

39:44 AI in healthcare with a former doctor turned investor

 

Links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronald-m-razmi-md-2b55b8/

The Book: AI Doctor: The Rise of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

 

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.