Competing poorly outside your core is not the way to win
On Twitter today @paul_irish shared this infographic which illustrates why the legacy carriers can’t effectively compete with low-cost airlines.
The information on this picture is nothing you can’t learn from taking any business school class, but what is interesting is how something so obvious is not put to good use. I have felt for a long time that by trying to compete with the low cost airlines, the legacy airlines are “stuck in the middle” as Porter suggested. Today these companies are neither differentiated nor low cost.
Bailout after bailout the legacy airlines pursue the same failed strategies. They continue to cut costs at the expense of service and I have noticed in my travels that the low cost airlines continue to outperform. The same was true of the US automakers and we see where that led.
Instead of trying to compete on price, legacy airlines should look for ways to leverage their size and put up a good fight against low cost airlines. A “fly anywhere” for a month pass from American Airlines is surely better than one from JetBlue. How about giving passengers who have to go through hubs the flexibility to book their connecting flight on a different day? I think everyone would see the value in being able to take a detour for a few days in Chicago on their way to Indiana. This perk would win favor with passengers while only increasing airline costs marginally (for additional baggage handling, automated check-in, etc.).
When a company sees itself losing sales to someone following a different generic strategy it can’t defend itself by trying to compete using the competitor’s strategy. It needs to get better at their strategy when on the surface it appears they need to abandon it.
Could Target ever beat Walmart on price? Probably not. Instead it chooses to have reasonable prices and compete on differentiation tied to style and trendiness. Dell has been trying for a few years to compete with Apple on style and has not done any better. When Apple was faced with extinction in the 90s instead of trying to compete on price they chose to go after innovation which was their core and is why today they are the model every company tries to copy. If you look at the early 90s, you can argue that it was the CEOs who lost that focus at Apple which put it in the predicament in the first place.
So when someone is competing with you don’t blindly abandon your core strategy. Look for ways to leverage what you have because your competitor won’t be able to effectively counter a strategy foreign to them.
Virtual relationships and the art communication
Services like Twitter and Facebook have allowed us to connect with people in ways we never imagined. They have also allowed us to learn more about these people and to put our virtual feet in our mouths without even know we had.
You see, verbal communication and written communication are very different beasts. When you hear someone tell you something you get cues about their intention and motivation from the manner in which they say it. If someone is speaking to you and you are standing in front of them, you can pick up additional cues, but in the written word all you have are the words in front of you.
Some people are naturally gifted at writing eloquently. These people can defuse conflicts with just the right words, however, there are others who can innocently put a few words together and come across the wrong way. A comment made in jest or the combination of several tweets over time can distance those with whom you’d previously had close relationships.
The problem with social networks is that it is very hard to know if those in your network have been offended by something you said or something you did. It is even more difficult to try to mend a relationship once you think you have offended someone. In this new medium we don’t “have to” work with one another. We can block a user or simply choose to ignore them.
An employee known to work at a certain company posts a link to a video and their followers will unconsciously attach the emotions the feel while watching the video to the company. If a person makes a comment about healthcare reform, the type of computer they use, the political party they belong to or if their positions on such matters can be inferred, some followers will superimpose their offline prejudices on to those people and possibly the companies they work for.
We all look for ways to connect with others who share our passions, the problem now is that these passions are now being merged on to the same stream. One of your followers may share your interest for a programming language, but the same person may detest your love for Sarah Palin.
In the long run we are going to have to make a few concessions if we want to make the most of this new medium. We are going to have to learn to be more open with one another and instead of ignoring those who hurt us we could try to find the best in them and learn to forgive. We are going to have to understand that we are all multi faceted individuals and while in some ways we will agree, in other ways we may not. We shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bath water because there are still great things we can learn from one another. Now more than ever we need to give people the benefit of a doubt because some people are just not as gifted at putting together 140 characters as others.
Sending email in Rails via GMail & using HAML with Action Mailer
Sending Email via Gmail
I was following the Action Mailer Rails Guide to set up outbound email from my app and I came across a problem when trying to use GMail. Many blog posts and the Rails guide point to plugins which enable TLS. I kept running into a wall and getting this error:
wrong number of arguments (3 for 2)
Luckily I finally found there is a very simple solution which is defined in the Rails API in ActionMailer::Base. This essentially says that Section 5.2 of the Rails Guide can be simplified by adding an additional parameter to the smtp_settings:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 | ActionMailer::Base.smtp_settings = { :enable_starttls_auto => true, :address => "smtp.gmail.com", :port => 587, :domain => "domain.com", :user_name => "user@domain.com", :password => "password", :authentication => :plain } |
There is no plugin / gem needed, but you must be on Ruby 1.8.7
From the Rails API:
:enable_starttls_auto - When set to true, detects if STARTTLS is enabled in your SMTP server and starts to use it. It works only on Ruby >= 1.8.7 and Ruby >= 1.9. Default is true.
Using HAML with ActionMailer
Section 5.3 of the Rails Guide also mentions a configuration setting to get Action Mailer to recognize HAML templates. This configuration is not needed. As I found here.
I added comments to the Rails Guide Lighthouse ticket, so hopefully the guide will be updated.
Book Review: Rails Freelancing Handbook
As part of helping out on a RailsBridge project, I was given a copy of the Rails Freelancing Handbook by Mike Gunderloy so I thought I would share my impression of it.
Overview
Even though the book has the word Rails in the title, a lot of the advice in this book can apply to anyone who wants to work on their own, from a freelance designer to a business consultant.
The book covers topics from deciding if freelancing is for you to legal and tax implications, marketing, and managing clients.
Writing Style
This book packs a lot of good advice and is a quick read at just 65 pages. I love this. There is no fluff, just clear concise advice based on Mike”s personal experience as a freelancer.
Mike’s Advice
Mike does not pretend to have all the answers, but instead points you in the right direction. Whether that means telling you to find a lawyer and an accountant, or pointing you to web resources for doing it yourself if you can’t afford one,. This makes the book a really practical resource which you can refer to as you move through the stages of becoming a freelancer.
You will find that Mike’s advice is pretty comprehensive and you will gain nuggets of wisdom even if you have experience freelancing. Even though I have done consulting work and have gone through the process of establishing an LLC, I learned about factoring receivables which was something I had no idea even existed.
Mike even covers ergonomics, using multiple monitors, and web based tools to improve your workflow. I had never put as much thought into an office chair as I know Mike has, and since I’m a person that rather get the Consumer Reports version, I found this topic particularly interesting.
Conclusin
For under $10 you can’t ask for more. This book is full of actionable advice for anyone starting a small business. There is a free chapter online, so check that out and if you find it as useful as I did, you will want to get yourself a copy of this book.