1. We want existing customers to be repeat customers
2. Existing happy customers are a wonderful sales asset
3. Existing customers are where we prove that we can deliver and not just sell
4. Existing customers can be great partners in driving improvements in our products and services
5. Existing customers are a great source of market intelligence

This neglect manifests itself in so many ways, but I loved this picture from the creating passionate users blog

77% of Gen Xers say they’d quit in a minute if offered “increased intellectual stimulation” at a different company. And they’re intent on managing their own time: 51% would jump ship for the chance to telecommute, and 61% of Gen X women would leave their current jobs if they were offered more flexible hours elsewhere.

The following short extract summarizes the approach taken in the article – excellent:

The six fundamental aptitudes outlined by Pink can be applied to many aspects of our personal and professional lives. Below, I list the six key abilities as they relate to the art of presentation. The six aptitudes are: Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play, and Meaning. My discussion is with presentations (enhanced by multimedia) in mind, but you could take the six aptitudes and apply them to the art of game design, programming, product design, project management, health care, teaching, retail, PR, and so on

I think we’re in the early stages of an increase of human freedom in business that may, in the long run, be as important a change for business as the change to democracies has been for governments.

The reason I think that’s happening is because for the first time in human history it’s now possible to have the economic benefits of very large organizations — like economies of scale — and at the same time have the human benefits of very small organizations — things like freedom, flexibility, innovation and creativity. And the reason that’s possible is because a new generation of information technologies — like the Internet, the World Wide Web, e-mail and business intelligence — is now making it possible for huge numbers of people, even in very large organizations, to have enough information to make sensible decisions for themselves instead of just following orders from someone above them in the hierarchy.

There are some powerful messages here, especially for knowledge workers, for example a few of the implications that spring to mind are:

• an individuals personal knowledge management and collaboration solution will become increasingly important
• individuals and small groups will become more self sufficient units
• these units dynamically form relationships with other individuals and teams and collaborate to get things done
• This will result in a significant reduction in the need for stable, traditional command and control hierarchies.

There are some good additional resources available to dig deeper into his ideas:

• An interview with Gartner
• A paper – What do we really want? A manifesto for the organizations of the 21st Century
• A paper – Making the Decision to Decentralize
• A book – The future of work

• Innovation research
• Innovation management
• Idea management
• Brainstorming
• and TRIZ problem solving

If you want to find out more about innovation then it’s also worth checking out this excellent white paper, by Howard Smith of CSC.