Think Customers: The 1to1 Blog

Amid the economic downturn, Enterprise Forum 2009 saw 6,500 attendees--the most in the Forum's history. Verwaayen advised the audience that in this economy, companies must possess a specific set of skills to rise to the top: the ability to create an achievable vision of the future, a willingness to share that vision widely, and an absolute unwavering commitment to make it happen.

He said it's not about developing the next best product; it's about understanding human nature and learning the things that people value the most. "We need to take positive action," he said.

To create value people understand, he said organizations need an ecosystem of different talents and reaches that cater to their global customers. "Diversity is not a luxury; it's a must do," he said. "Talent has no passport, gender, or affiliation."

Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president, of Gartner Research, added that we live in an environment where cost optimization is dictating what we do right now. But organizations cannot just focus on cost-cutting measures to survive, they have to think about how to be competitive in the future. "If you are holding your breath until the end of the year when you think the economy will recover, you will suffocate," Sondergaard told the audience.

He cites two action items to make your company competitive in the future: 1) understanding the strategic value of your firm's and customers' information. He said if you go to your CEO tomorrow and ask what his or her strategy plan for information is, they most likely will not have a clue. 2) Creating a sensatory environment to act on the information. "It's not about running the business, it's about what we need to do to grow and transform the business," he said. "You can't just get caught up in cutting costs because you're run your business into the ground."

Sondergaard's action items also mean becoming a dynamic enterprise. Tom Burns, president of Alcatel-Lucent's enterprise group, said that a dynamic enterprise can only grow from the ability to execute knowledge to create innovation. "Communication is the key to executing any strategy. It's like the oxygen that helps us survive," Burns said.

And now is the most critical time for companies to become dynamic. For those of you who need reassurance, some of the most challenging times have brought innovation: the transistor in 1947, the solar cell in 1953, and the Internet in the 1970s.

"Some see this [economic downturn] as a crisis; some will see it as an opportunity," Burns said.

How will you decide to treat it?