The Creedy Commentary
REINVENTION: PROFIT CLINICS
There is a level of neglect in our profession that will (and is) causing too many to approach the end of their careers facing great disappointment, forcing the postponement of retirement or spending retirement much more humbly than anticipated. It is too dangerous to be considered benign. Dangerous, certainly, at the individual firm level. […]
Reinvention: A 3 Pronged Plan
I once heard a sermon that now seems appropriate to this last in my series on reinvention. We all know the story of Jesus healing the blind. This sermon wondered not about the healing but THE DAY AFTER. The man’s whole life was turned upside down. He had KNOWN HOW to be blind. His livelihood depended on […]
REINVENTION: The “Valley Of Death”–Your Cycle Of Grief
Last week I referred to Andrew Grove‘s comments relative to the reinvention of Intel in which he referred to the process as the “Valley of Death.” Strategic Inflection Points: what happens to a business when a major change takes place in its competitive environment… what is key is that they require a fundamental change in […]
What You Should Know About Reinventing Yourself Before You Start
Reinvention will soon become the latest catchword in the DeathCare professions. I agree! Reinvention has been a long time coming. But I fear that many have already mistaken cosmetic touchups to our traditional practices as reinvention thus fooling themselves into continued complacency. There are many shades of reinvention and the magnitude of the one called […]
New Research: Why 99% of Funeral Facilities Reinforce Negative Stereotype
The Funeral Service Foundation has just released the results of its “Bleeding Edge” research project with world renowned Olson-Zaltman Associates simultaneously revealing both disturbing and encouraging insights. Recognizing that the growth of cremation has more than doubled (leaping from 1% to more than 2% annually in the last several years) The Funeral Service Foundation commissioned the unconventional market […]
The Non Question: Why Are Funerals So Expensive?
This question and its brother: “How much does a funeral cost?” Are non questions. When we attempt to answer them directly with rational logical explanations we only end up annoying most people. Especially if we weigh them down with a litany of hours, cost of having a building and the time we waste being ready […]
Video: If You Want A High Performing Organization Are You Measuring The Right Things?
My hero, Peter Drucker, believed: “For the organization to perform to a high standard, its members must believe that what it is doing is, in the last analysis, the one contribution to community and society on which all others depend.” For more than 30 years I have believed that DeathCare makes just such a contribution. […]
A Model For Change Within Your Organization
Here is an interesting perspective on implementing change within your own organization. Most funeral homes and cemeteries are at level III. One or two are possibly at level IV. To my knowledge, I have never been exposed to a level V. Where Do You Fit on The Scale? Will it be your tribe that changes […]
The Simpler The Strategy The More Likely The Success
Why do DeathCare Practitioners get these “Deer In The Headlight” looks when you use the word “Strategy” in their presence? I think it’s partly because they don’t really know where to start what can really be a pretty simple activity. And, besides, somebody keeps changing the starting point every darn day. If you attend enough conventions […]
Lessons On Leadership: Peak Performance From Adequate People
Peter Drucker was the first to draw a parallel between Leadership and Orchestra Conductors when he observed: “A great orchestra is not composed of great musicians but of adequate ones who produce at their peak. [A great conductor] has to make productive what he has…the players are nearly unchangeable. So it is the conductor’s people […]
You Must Be Present To Win
In the near future the difference between winning and losing in DeathCare will be a result of one factor: LEADERSHIP. Yet many owners and general managers are confusing supervision with leadership and are in danger of turning themselves into nothing more than shop foremen. Too many funeral home owners blame their staff for the lack of […]
Licensing Laws: Barrier To Survival
I feel like maybe I have backed myself into a corner. Price-Led-Costing A simple concept; but for an industry steeped in generations of pricing from exactly the opposite perspective and whose most respected financial advisors continue to advocate cost-led-pricing this is bound to be a real challenge. To enable you, dear reader, to flip the […]