This is the third post in a series intended to allow you to identify whether you are on the verge of a great opportunity with a new partner or just having an interesting conversation. The metaphor we are using is built around internal combustion, a process which needs compression, fuel and ignition to start and run.
To recap, if your business discussion has a suitable container for combustion, and the chamber is filled with air and fuel, the only element missing is a source of ignition.
There are three parts to ignition for business opportunities:
- external events
- internal ignition by a passionate changemaker
- the organizational response to their leadership
The key to powerful business decisions is knowing when you have connected a “spark” both from inside and from outside the organization.
External Sparks
The year was 1957. The cooperation between allies that led to the end of WWII had ended, and the Cold War was firmly entrenched. Then, on October 4th, a new object could be seen crossing the night sky: the Soviets had launched Sputnik.
Sputnik was a huge spark. One satellite, the size of beach ball, orbiting the earth, resulted in an immediate release of funding for space exploration. It galvanized the American public behind the space program and in many ways, led to the space shuttle and all its successes.
External sparks are equal opportunity. These are visible to all, but favor the prepared organization or individual. What is not easy to come by is the judgement to know the real ones versus the head-fakes. Everyone sees these once they have the historic rear view mirror, it is the real time decision making that’s tricky.
Here are some ways of divining real external sparks:
- There is a real economic business case that makes sense before a government sponsored jump start.
- There is enough momentum to carry the need through the first wall of disillusionment.
- There is specific benefit that accrues to a real group of people of a reasonable size to carry the business case.
Individual: Altitude, Aptitude, Airspeed
The second component to spark is an individual who has a platform and can spot and drive business opportunity.
In the past, only highly-placed, well-funded and thoroughly-vetted individuals could carry the mantle of change leader and deal maker. But in the new world where influence is highly democratized, change can start with almost anyone. A word from a thought leader, a meeting on Sandhill Road, a comment or idea that goes viral — all of these, when combined with capital, talent and vision, can have amazing results.
When you are having discussions with this crowd, your perceptive ability will be stretched significantly, only because so many can talk the talk, but not many can carry the water. I look for three things:
- Altitude: How high does this person fly, and with whom? Are they a thought leader in their firm, their industry or their area of practice? Who listens to them, and how much juice do they have? This research is oh, so much easier in this day of public social profiles.
- Aptitude: What is their synthesis resume? How many big moves are on their background, and how early were they to the change party? Did the changes net something for the stakeholders? Changes move in big waves, yet only a few individuals who set them in motion are truly on the leading edge— it is worth it to find and track them.
- Airspeed: How fast are they moving? What is their current momentum — press releases, dealflow, Twitter stream, LinkedIn updates, etc. Have they been slaving away for decades without a major move? Are there green shoots to their trajectory — growth investments, results and uptake?
Can the flame spread?
Internal events in organizations are also powerful, but change starts on a very localized scale. Just like in baseball, there must be a pitcher and a catcher.
One well-chronicled event in design and technology was the first Walkman from Sony. The initiative was the then co-chairman of Sony, Masura Ibuka, who wanted his content available on transatlantic flights. This was the first time content became portable at a personal level — and it kicked off a stream of devices that led to the iPod. Another similar event was the move of Lee Iacocca to make a sporty car out of the Ford Falcon called the Mustang — a huge decade long hit that came to identify a generation.
How to know if the spark has caused a fire:
- It has air cover — there is sufficient sponsorship by someone that can keep it from getting shut down after the first (and inevitable) hiccup.
- It has a name — when discussed in the lunchroom or in the boardroom it’s called “project royal gorge” or some other suitable nondescript term. If it doesn’t have a name, its not real — trust me.
- It has a direct benefit — There is a really solid story of why the shareholders or owners will benefit from it. There must be a line of sight narrative to stakeholders that matter.
There are many, many more “tells” than can feed your intuition — please drop me a line or Tweet me with your best “spark detector” ideas.
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