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How to Save the Manufacturing Sector

Like most industries, the manufacturing sector is transforming rapidly. Because of recent technological advances and globalization, U.S. manufacturing is facing intense international competition, increasing market volatility and complexity, a declining workforce, and a host of other challenges. Yet we know that in order to have a strong economy, we need a strong manufacturing base. So what’s the answer?

Today’s manufacturers must transform along with the rest of the world by adopting six advanced Next Generation Manufacturing principles. They are:

Anticipate customer needs: Look at your customers’ future and focus on what you DO know rather than what you don’t know. Ask, “What are the hard trends, the things that will happen, versus the things that might happen? What are the industries that are converging around our customers that our customers currently don’t see?” Then you can start seeing both needs and opportunities before they happen.
Innovate around the core: What are your core competencies? Are you still using your core competencies? In the past, manufacturers could go decades between innovations. That strategy doesn’t work anymore. Today you cannot just innovate now and then: to survive and thrive in a time of vertical change, you have to be innovating around your core competencies continuously. So what is your core, and are you using it?
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Posted in Anticipating the future, Business Strategy, Competitive Advantage, Cyclical and Permanent Change, Economy, Innovation. Tags: Business, Business Trends, Dan Burrus, Daniel Burrus, empowerment, Flash Foresight, Futurist, Innovation, Manufacturing, Success, tech jobs, tech trends, Trends. No Comments »

Security Stocks

Last year 85% of the phones sold globally were Smartphones – and, of course, that percent will go up this year. As a matter of fact, it won’t be long, and we won’t have dumb phones.

What is the difference between Smartphones and dumb phones? The answer is the web browser. If you have access to the Internet, your phone is now smart. A quick way to tell if you have a Smartphone or a dumb phone.

Smartphones give you access to the Internet, which of course then gives you access to apps. They have email, access to the cloud, and many other capabilities, including the ability to watch TV, & listen to radio.

That phone, then, is transformed into a multifunction utility, almost like a mobile living room, giving you more than what you would normally do on your computer.

This hard trend that will continue and as that happens, we have GPS as part of all phones, and we have people leaving their systems on and giving permission for apps to use location-based tracking, so that they can serve you in a better way. Privacy will be stretched once again.

I think what we’re doing is really just seeing something that’s been a long trend, and it’s harder and harder to manage our own privacy with the wide-scale acceptance of social media.

It is increasingly difficult to manage your privacy. At some point, the only way you’re going to manage your privacy is to unplug. And yet, you won’t be able to unplug because everything else, everything that you do and need will be plugged in.

Let’s face it, if we knew exactly what was happening with the movement of all people and their phones, just from being in cars, we’d be able to tell where congestions are taking place. You would be able to get better routing ahead of time so that traffic could move better. You could get routes that would give you better gas mileage. There could be a lot of positive aspects to being monitored where you are at any given time. But, once again, the downside is privacy issues.

Posted in Anticipating the future, Cyclical and Permanent Change, Economy, Trends. Tags: Business, Business Trends, Dan Burrus, Daniel Burrus, empowerment, Flash Foresight, Futurist, Innovation, Occupy Wall Street, Social Media, social media revolution, Success, tech trends, Trends. No Comments »

The Power of Certainty

In my new book Flash Foresight, I share seven principles that can make invisible opportunities visible. One of my favorite principles is using the power of certainty.

In times of unprecedented change and uncertainty, we need to ask ourselves, “What are we certain about?” Strategies based on uncertainty equal high levels of risk. Strategies based on certainty dramatically reduce risk and produce superior results.

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Posted in Anticipating the future, Competitive Advantage, Cyclical and Permanent Change. Tags: Burris, Burrus, Certainty, Change, Cycles, cyclical change, Dan Burrus, Daniel Burrus, Flash Foresight, Trends. 1 Comment »

The Power of Certainty (One of Seven Principles from the new book Flash Foresight: How to See the Invisible and Do the Impossible)

In my new book Flash Foresight, I share seven principles that can make invisible opportunities visible. The first is using the power of certainty.

In times of unprecedented change and uncertainty, we need to ask, “What are we certain about?” Strategies based on uncertainty equal high risk. Strategies based on certainty reduce risk and produce superior results.

Continue reading ‘The Power of Certainty (One of Seven Principles from the new book Flash Foresight: How to See the Invisible and Do the Impossible)’ »

Posted in Anticipating the future, Competitive Advantage, Cyclical and Permanent Change. Tags: Burris, Burrus, Certainty, Competitive Advatnage, Dan Burrus, Daniel Burrus, Flash Foresight, Strategy. 2 Comments »

Plug Into Your Future By Unplugging from the Present (Part II)

The key to becoming an opportunity manager is to have the discipline to unplug from the present at least once per week and instead plug into the future. Last month, I shared two steps on how to solve tomorrow’s problems before they occur and see the new opportunities change can bring. This month, I have two additional steps you can take to move the ball forward and watch your success grow.

Continue reading ‘Plug Into Your Future By Unplugging from the Present (Part II)’ »

Posted in Anticipating the future, Cyclical and Permanent Change, Planning, Solving Problems. Tags: Burrus, crisis management, cyclical change, Dan Burrus, Daniel Burrus, opportunity, opportunity management, Predictable Problems, problem solving. No Comments »

Plug into Your Future by Unplugging from the Present

What if there were a way to predict the challenges your organization will face and stop them from ever happening? Short of having a reliable crystal ball, most people believe such a concept is impossible. In reality, you can solve tomorrow’s problems today – you simply need to give yourself time to do so.

The fact is that in today’s marketplace, change is coming at us fast…and it’s only getting faster. That means organizations will be facing more problems than ever before. One thing we know for sure is that most problems or changes come from the outside in – external factors impact the organization. This causes people to react, crisis manage, and continually put out fires.

Continue reading ‘Plug into Your Future by Unplugging from the Present’ »

Posted in Anticipating the future, Cyclical and Permanent Change, Marketing, Planning, Solving Problems. Tags: Burrus, Challenges, crisis management, cyclical change, Dan Burrus, Daniel Burrus, permanent change, problem solving, Solving Problems. 1 Comment »

VIDEO CAN STRENGTHEN RELATIONSHIPS

A major challenge today is that many companies are going into crisis mode. Because air travel and gas costs are high, they’re using video and Web conferencing, as well as the new high-end videoconferencing called telepresence offered by Cisco and HP, to save travel money and meeting costs. However, if their only motivation is to save money on travel, rather than the more important goal of enhancing communication and collaboration throughout the enterprise, then they’re simply creating another fad. Video conferencing has evolved tremendously over the past few years, and companies need to use the technology of today to pave the path to future profits, all of which hinge on relationships.

To add fuel to the fire is the fact that rising gas prices and travel costs are not cyclical this time; they’re permanent. Major social changes are taking place worldwide in such places as China and India, and the increased global energy consumption affects everyone. In other words, fuel costs will fluctuate but will not go back to the low levels we once enjoyed.

Therefore, smart companies are changing how they think about meetings and the new video conferencing technology, and they’re realizing that it offers business something more powerful than they’ve had in the past. These companies are thinking in terms of “visual communications” rather than simply video and Web conferencing.

Visual communications heighten the bond you have with someone when you cannot see them face-to-face. It’s about adding dimension to the communication. There’s a reason why you shake someone’s hand when you meet them: The more senses you involve, the higher the connection. Those companies that can enhance their communication, both internally and externally, are the ones who can cause change faster and stay competitive longer.

Despite the current conditions of gas prices, transportation costs, and airline cuts, the need to meet, share knowledge, and develop relationships will not only continue, it will accelerate. Therefore, successful interactions will depend on your ability to master the concept of visual communications and develop guidelines that leverage both old and new tools to build trusting relationships that foster greater communication, collaboration, and community.

Posted in Cyclical and Permanent Change, Environmental, Future Tech, New Tools, Planning. Tags: Burrus, Collaboration, Communication, Community, Costs, Dan Burrus, Daniel Burrus, Relationships, Video, Video Conferencing. No Comments »

THE FUTURE OF REAL ESTATE & MORTGAGE LENDING

In the past month, I have given speeches to some of the nations top Real Estate agents, and a few days later, to executives from the largest Mortgage companies. As you might guess, none of them were very happy. This isn’t hard to understand when you consider that in Nevada, one in eight homes are in foreclosure, and soon mortgage lenders will own 25% of all the homes in the entire United States. Every day the news gets worse with no end in sight. In both audiences, the mind set was a mirror image of their entire industry – crisis.

I asked both groups; “Is the dramatic downturn in the housing market and the accelerating rate of foreclosures a permanent change or a cyclical change?” I could see on their faces a sigh of relief when they all agreed that what they were experiencing was a cyclical change.

What I did with a single question was help them to see light at the end of the tunnel – there will definitely be an end to the current situation.

Next I asked; “Will people continue to both want and need to buy and/or sell homes?” Once again they said yes! Will they need an agent and a mortgage? Yes! At this point, in both cases, you could feel the energy shifting in the room.

I asked the agents if there were opportunities in helping lenders liquidate foreclosures. This question seemed to open their minds to look for hidden opportunities they could act on today. And, when you have a room full of top sales professionals who have a mindset of opportunity instead of crisis, positive ideas begin to flow.

I asked the mortgage lenders if they wanted to own 25% of the homes in the entire United Sates due to foreclosures on their loans? No, they all responded.

Will the value of homes go back up again if we look beyond two to five years? Yes they agreed.

To stimulate their thinking further, I suggested that they provide an option to refinance mortgages by extending them to forty or even fifty years giving the homeowner the ability to keep making payments – a lower payment they can afford – and more time for their house to regain its value. Lenders could even add a mandatory life insurance and/or unemployment insurance policy. Continuing to collect billions of dollars in mortgage payments might be better than experiencing billions of dollars in losses.

As with the real estate agents, the room started buzzing with positive energy. The suggestions stimulated their thinking and their crisis mentality started shifting to identifying new opportunities.

Are daily bad news headlines keeping you from seeing the unlimited possibilities that are right in front of you? Ask yourself if the challenges you are experiencing are cyclical or permanent. Look for opportunities. The more you look, the more you will find.

Posted in Anticipating the future, Cyclical and Permanent Change, Planning, Sales, Solving Problems. Tags: Burrus, Change, Dan Burrus, Daniel Burrus, Foreclosure, Lenders, Mortgage, opportunity, Real Estate. No Comments »

Our World is Changing. Are We Ready?

In recent years, global competition, especially from China and India, has been causing many Americans to wonder whether we are in danger of losing the tremendous lead, and earning power, we have had over other countries for the past 50 years. To see the future of American business, it’s a good idea to begin by taking a look at what is happening in our schools. After all, the future workforce is already there for us to see.

In recent tests of general knowledge, U.S. 12th graders performed well below the international average for 21 countries. In addition, an advanced mathematics assessment conducted in 15 countries revealed that eleven of the 15 countries outperformed U.S. students. In 2004, more than 600,000 engineers graduated from institutions of higher education in China. In India, the figure was 350,000. In the U.S., it was 70,000.

Now, I know what many of you are thinking – our graduating chemists and engineers are better. Perhaps, and perhaps not. Regardless, we need to consider that: 1) many of the functions that businesses need chemists or engineers to perform can be done by average engineers and chemists, and 2) the rest of the world is rapidly upgrading their universities to close the quality gap with regard to education standards.

Is the U.S. ready for global competition? In light of these facts, it doesn’t look good. But Americans have a long history of doing amazing (and even seemingly impossible) things once we accept the facts and focus our collective minds and efforts on taking action!

Posted in Anticipating the future, Competitive Advantage, Cyclical and Permanent Change, Solving Problems. Tags: Burrus, Change, Change Management, Competition, Competitive Advantage, Dan Burrus, Daniel Burrus, Global Competition, Solving Problems. No Comments »