The Biology of Business (p. 35)
FC Article

Christopher Meyer explains how a company experiences the life cycle like a human. Are there any 'new tricks' going on at your old company? Have your members diagram their companies to identify the human biological aspects of them (i.e. what is the ear, the heart, the limbs?). What do they consider the lifeline? Evolution has left humans with vestigal parts like the tailbone. Does your company have any vestigal branches that could/should be collapsed in order to let the company continue to evolve?

FastTalk (p. 59)
FC Article

• This month's FastTalk looks into the future of the auto industry. Begin by finding out which auto manufacturers your group members drive. Give the 'car friendliness' of your particular city. Does overall ownership within your group strike your members as high, low or expected? Do any particular model/makes seem popular among your group? Are these specific cars functional for your city's roads and parking, or is there another reason the owners like them?
• Re-read Tim Benner's page on the Honda Element. Have one of your artistic members listen to how your group would design their ideal car -- interior and exterior. Does the Element fit into this mold? Looking at the design you came up with, what does your group feel their car 'says' about them; does it have any emotional connection? Ask the same about what your members actually drive. If there any VW owners, have them react to Karen Marderosian (p. 65).
• Hold your meeting somewhere Web accessible, and link up to Ebay motors. Discuss its functionality and how, if it all, it addresses the fear most people probably have of buying a car online.

The New Normal (p. 74)
FC Article

• Discuss the breakdown of the new normal. Do people feel an actual change in how their business life functions, or did they feel one after reading what McNamee had to say? What elements of your group's business life is running in real time? How could you speed up the transition?
• Talk about the assertion that the 90s were 'not normal.' Try and get younger members to chime in on what their first jobs (presumably in the 90s) were like and strike a contrast with older members who started working in previous decades. Did the 90s make us too impatient/unrealistic? Are there any elements of the 90s that you're still hanging onto at work? Could you devise a way to recreate those somehow in the new normal?
• Compare the 90s 'CNBC CEO' to what we have now. Where does your CEO fall in?

Daniel Richards contributed this month's Flash Points.

May 2003 Connexus | Flash Points | Next Steps

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