What are the limits of the Nature vs Nurture debate?  Was I really a St. Louis Cardinals fan at birth?  (of course).  One friend of mine seems predisposed towards the Jersey Shore.  Is it in her nature?  (well, she is from New Jersey).

I’ve even heard echoes of the debate when members refer to their employers:

“It’s our nature to follow very specific processes”

“Our culture hasn’t changed in 85 years”

“Our leadership believes that our go-to-market strategy from 2002 is still relevant”

“Our brand personality mirrors one thing: our company’s history”

In other words, some members claim that Nature trumps Nurture.  That the innate qualities of a firm’s culture, leadership, brand personality and politics (Nature) eclipse the impact of externalities and experiences (Nurture). Read More »

Last weekend, I spoke with a friend who just returned from Italy.  He asked: do you know how long it took to build the St. Peter’s basilica?

120 years!  That’s 1.2 centuries.  Or, a decent-sized-fraction of a millennium.

Awe-inspiring, no doubt.  But what is particularly remarkable is that the basilica planners had to answer some extremely important questions before construction even began: would the building accommodate the size of the community in 120 years?  Would the design meet the aesthetic tastes of our grandchildren?  To answer these questions without the luxury of Excel, Stata or dartboards (created 100’s of years later by our friends in England) must have required luck—and prayer.

In many ways, it’s the equivalent of a modern-day, consumer product development cycle.  In a sea of shifting segments, who will purchase my product when it finally hits store shelves?  Not an easy question to answer, even with modern, predictive tools we now have at our disposal. Read More »