At a recent conference I attended, one of the speakers presented the following syllogism:
- What drives a company –> sales
- What drives sales –> marketing
- What drives marketing –> data
The implication is clear, ultimately data drives a company. Unfortunately, this thinking is all too prevalent in the business world (perhaps, just the world, leave business out of it).
It is also exactly wrong because it reverses cause and effect. Data is not the cause of company activity, it is the effect of it. Further, conclusive data is only available about the past.
Instead, I would like to posit the following syllogism:
- What drives a company –> profit
- What drives profit –> creating value for customers
- What drives value for customers –> innovation
- What drives innovation –> knowledge
- What drives knowledge –> relationships (conversations)
In my chain, it is relationships that ultimately drive a company.
If you think I am onto something with this syllogism, I invite you to join me at my upcoming webcast, Innovation Beyond Technology, for Insightful Accountant on Sept. 11 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time. This session is dedicated to the possibility that innovation goes beyond just technological developments. Technology is important, but it is only a small part of innovation. For innovation to be more fully complete we must look at other areas including the internal processes of the organization and most importantly the very language we use. Register Here.