The new motto of innovative organizations should be "catch me if
you can." Confronted with a constantly shifting array of players, competitors, strategic alliances, as well as increased market volatility, the only hope for survival lies in developing the ability to move and change as rapidly as your competitive environment. It is time to think and act beyond the bounds of conventional wisdom.
Since it has become exceedingly difficult to see more than a few months into the future, most gaming organizations that want to be successful have two alternatives:
- They can achieve a commanding position in the marketplace and dictate the changing rules of the game through creative innovation.
- They can develop the ability to react immediately to those who do.
The winners are the ones who have the determination to move
forward with their innovative ideas. Unfortunately, in most gaming organizations today, employees are swiftly punished for failure and not adequately rewarded for success. The traditional gaming organization paradigm hobbles creative thinking, with an entrenched culture that simply makes the decisions that are necessary, but doesn't "rock the boat." Look around. Do you see innovation or replication? Is your organization creating new ideas, implementing new processes and procedures, or simply following the trail left by others?
Is your gaming marketing plan defensive and designed merely to
keep up with the competition? Well, today that is not good enough. The strong emotions that feed our competitive spirit should be used to promote innovation. We must lead with our minds and follow with our hearts. Ideas are the spark that ignites the fire of creative innovation, and innovation is a gaming leader's best offensive weapon.
When you get right down to it, only four viable strategies for
coping with this accelerated pace of change exist: continuous change and improvement, innovative thinking, creative marketing, and speedy implementation. Of course, one of the greatest threats to developing this kind of organizational quick-strike capability is the age-old syndrome of "paralysis by analysis." Be aware that more and more analysis will not help. The only sane response to an increasingly complex, fast-changing world is to establish procedures that can be mobilized almost as quickly as the changing gaming realities around you. Here's how to do that:
1. Continually Change and Improve
Most people find change, particularly rapid and unpredictable
change, frightening and upsetting. But turbulence and change are not
going away; instead, they will become more pronounced. Change happens and there is nothing your company can do to stop it. Nor should you. In change there is inherent opportunity just waiting to be discovered by those who are quick enough and bold enough to take advantage of it. Therefore, it's time to readjust your thinking to understand that you should be causing change, not reacting to it.
Your best chance to succeed is to be the one who's driving most of
the changes. Of course, not everyone gets to be the leader. So it is
incumbent on the rest of us to do the next best thing, namely develop
super-fast reflexes that can respond quickly, turn on a dime, and make near instantaneous adjustments to the turbulence of the marketplace. There is simply no alternative if you want to stay competitive.
While we can't slow the pace of change, we can use many
strategies to speed up our own gaming processes. The only effective response to rapidly changing conditions is to develop the capacity to move at ultra-high speed. In other words, increase your operating velocity. While no one can realistically expect to move as rapidly as the constantly changing environment around us, those who can come closest will be best positioned to survive.
2. Think Innovatively
Opportunities will be waiting for you in today's gaming world if
you can overcome resistance to new ways of thinking. What stops most gaming organizations from innovation is hesitation due to uncertainty. But when you cast aside uncertainty and start to ask "what if," you unleash the unlimited possibilities of innovative problem solving that result in new profits for your gaming organization. As you search for innovative solutions to your gaming challenges, consider the following:
- Have I defined the problem accurately?
- Am I objective in my thinking?
- Is there a need for this solution that is economically viable?
- Am I avoiding issues that must be addressed?
- Does my thinking recognize its imperfections and liabilities?
- Have I substituted assumptions for facts?
- What are the weaknesses of this solution?
- Have I gained intellectual congruence with others?
- Is the solution intellectually honest?
- Am I applying the same standards to myself that I demand from others?
- Is this something others can use?
- Will others pay for this process, invention, etc.?
- What would happen if our competition came up with this first?
- What if we don't act quickly?
The key is to recognize the competitive power of speed and to turn the pursuit of innovation into a central organizing principle in your company and career.
3. Market Creatively
One essential practice to integrate into your gaming strategy is
superior player communication. You can strengthen your player
relationships by introducing your gaming innovations without technical jargon. We all have seen new products introduced with a fanfare of technical terms so complex that companies may as well be speaking a foreign language to their players. You can avoid this mistake by talking to your players in terms they can easily understand. They will be grateful for your ability to communicate clearly, and you will be giving them intelligible information they can relay to others in their organization.
When you sign up a new "slot player," you may be tempted to
spend time telling them how good your new casino is, but this is really a waste of their time. Instead, tell them how much more they will enjoy the overall experience when they visit. Every communication should demonstrate the benefit to the player, not congratulate the seller. Use words like "you" and "your" more than "we" and "our" to keep their interest and keep the emphasis on them. Start the experience at check-in. Continue it at the pool and every restaurant.
The goal is to bring them back. . .again and again.
Make sure your casino host has a "Call To Action" list. This list shows
them step-by-step what needs to be done to position your gaming organization against your competition. If prospects don't know when or how they are supposed to "play with you", then you have a problem, because they simply will not try to return. Remember, innovation is how we make money from creativity, but your organization can't be recognized as innovative if no one comes to see you. Benjamin Franklin may have discovered electricity, but it is the person who invented the electric meter that is making all the money.
To convince your player, leverage the power of the new
information technologies by delivering your materials into the right hands at the right time. Websites and email are wonderful communication tools, but it is essential that they are easy to access or download, because your player is probably pressed for time. Think technology that is easy to associate and use. Text messages,
Pop-ups, SideKicks, cell phones, Blackberry, are media unto themselves. It is time to use them to attract players of all ages and technical familiarity. Are you using all the tools available?
4. Implement Swiftly
Just as action ultimately accomplishes far more than pure analysis,
speed will beat perfection every time in today's gaming environment.
Because failure is intricately interwoven with success, you must create a safety zone in which everyone understands that failures will not curtail attempts to succeed. Learn from your failures and then quickly overcome them. Try it. See if it works. If not try something else.
You're far better off being 80 percent right and first to market than
100 percent right and six months late. Implement now and perfect later. Let me say it again: Try something, test it, learn from it, and try it again quickly! As an example, Bic® Pen often introduced products while it biggest competitor, Gillette®, was still field-testing. The result was that Bic owned the disposable razor market first, as well as the inexpensive ballpoint pen market, while their competition refined product features.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Do we consolidate the experience from check-in to checkout?
- Why do our players come back?
- What are we doing to understanding our player's interests?
- Is our slot players club a mere replication of our competitors?
- Do we integrate the entire "visit" into a meaningful experience?
- Are we constantly asking our players what they want, expect, need?
- Do we allow our employees to have valuable input into products and processes?
- Are we the leader or follower?
Let's be perfectly clear about what's at stake here. For those who
really can do things faster than their competitors, the rewards may be
extraordinary, including:
- Ownership of the de facto industry standards.
- Lasting position on the leading edge of innovation by incorporating technological advances.
- Rapid responses to market opportunities.
- Opportunity to claim premium prices.
- Attractive and strategic player base.
- Higher staff morale and commitment.
- Off-balance competitors, bewildered and put on the defensive by your constant, quick-paced innovations.
The Future is Now
To survive and compete in the new gaming environment, you will
have to create and maintain a gaming model that recognizes the supreme importance of urgency and speed. You must learn to anticipate your player's future needs, which will be fueled by a new type of demand that is constantly changing. As you develop your creative strategies, your organization will be building a bridge to future success. Make speed and urgency core values by placing them at the center and not the periphery of your action plan. By doing so, you will be well positioned to take advantage of the opportunities the future will surely provide.
