RPA is becoming a popular term. It’s entering our business consciousness, showing up in speeches, articles, blogs, and online searches. As RPA enters our business lexicon, business leaders should know what RPA is and what it’s good for.

Over the last few weeks, we have been asked to facilitate multiple sessions for corporate innovation. Our clients end the session filled with excitement about Design Thinking and ask us for a few tools that they can use once we leave. We are dedicated to making others successful compiled some of our favorite innovation concepts below. We encourage everyone to explore each of these concepts to see if they have a place in their organization.

One of the most interesting books written in the last few years is Team of Teams by General Stanley McChrystal. The book explores organizational dynamics in the military and how they can best be applied to corporations. The main concept within the book is that a small, well-trained team, with a clear mission, superior communication, and mutual trust can defeat a larger force that is less agile.

Over the past few months, many people have asked why we named the company Stonehill. They comment that it seems to be a very boring name for a company that is involved in such exciting projects. With the work that we do in data analytics, customer experience, automation, and growth they would have expected something a little cooler. Everyone is surprised when we explain the story.

In recent years, a trend has emerged where Chief Marketing Officers (CMO’s) become (or are replaced by) Chief Growth Officers (CGO’s). The trend has gotten increased attention in 2017 because large companies (like Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, and others) are jumping on that bandwagon. So, is this just a trendy title change, or is there more to it?

In our practice, we often get asked what is the secret to a good PR campaign. In all reality you need a good strategy, you need a plan, and you need a good team to execute on all the individual tactics. With that being said there are a few items that Stonehill works to make sure is included within every strategy that we create and implement.

Over the past few months, we have worked with numerous businesses to help them establish new services and design innovative customer experiences. Many of our engagements leverage the Design Thinking methodology as the basis for our interactions and clients are always intrigued by the approach. Last week I was approached by one of our customers who asked the simple questions of “what is the magic to the Design Thinking methodology. Why is it so special?”

In today’s day and age, just about every business is fighting for the same thing; the key to creating long-term revenue.

Many of the solutions lie within the idea of enhancing the customer’s experience for a long-term relationship. Currently, customer attention is at a premium, due to the thousands of advertisements, spam emails, and telephone calls they receive every day. Consumers are simply looking to different avenues to learn about products and businesses of their interests.

Big Data has been the talk of the century. Firms are constantly searching for new strategies to collect and analyze big data for predicting consumer behavior, leveraging business segments, and improving the overall business. But when does "Big Data" become "too much data"?

Over the last few weeks, we have worked with some customers on identifying ways to decrease employee turnover. In our discussions, I have been amazed at the benefits and incentives that business owners have provided to their teams. The interesting thing is that regardless of what they provide, they tell me that the turnover KPI still does not decrease. I have done some extensive research and found the number one way to decrease turn is sometimes the most overlooked.

Over the last 20 years, my career has been rooted in professional services. As anyone knows, professional services is all about time. The only inventory you have is the time of the people that you have on your team. Efficient uses of time result in a thriving organization, non-efficient uses of time result in an underperforming organization.

When launching a new product or starting a new company it is very important to be able to explain what you do and the benefits of your services in a one-minute elevator speech. I have found that although this is much needed, people are much more visual than we believe. Furthermore (even in this digital world) there is something brilliant about putting the visual on a piece of paper, providing not only a visual but also a tactical experience.

As our firm consults with clients we continually hear growth plans that center on hiring more salespeople while expecting immediate results. When asked about marketing strategy, sales process, or leading indicators we get a variety of responses, but only in rare cases is the plan fully outlined. Without this clarity, it is impossible for the team to understand the expectations and leverage the individual skills they are good at.

No matter the size of your company, you must always be looking for new talent - even if you don't have available positions. Multiple times throughout my career I felt like we had a solid team and no one was looking to leave. In some cases, I followed my own advice and had individuals "on deck".

I believe innovation is derived from collaboration and that genius comes from a group - not an individual. As organizations become more mature they become very process-oriented. This allows people to become complacent and less innovative. In short, innovation burns more calories than just following the process.

As a company grows so does its structure. A small company with under 30 employees has a less complex challenge to segment staff into functional units or practice groups. The company is small enough that everyone works together to accomplish the end goal.