Virgin Contradictions

Robyn Waters

Here is the latest e-mail alert from Robyn Waters, by far one of the sharpest, most innovative thinkers now helping us to understand an ever-more complicated global marketplace:

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I wonder. Is it possible to love a brand without ever really experiencing it? And if you could, would that qualify as a paradox?

I’ve never flown Virgin Atlantic Airlines. I’ve seen their ads and I’m aware of Sir Richard Branson’s antics (as well as his business acumen.) I can say with all sincerity that I love the Virgin brand, and I hope to someday have the opportunity to fly them.

There’s a joke about the airline industry. Q: How do you make a million dollars in the airline business? A: Start with a billion dollars. Despite the recession and soaring fuel costs, Virgin Atlantic reported last May that their pretax profits almost doubled in fiscal 2009. (Now there’s a contradictory business trend.)

Since it was founded 25 years ago, Virgin Atlantic has become Britain’s 2nd largest airline serving the world’s major cities. It’s the quintessential Virgin story with several contradictory elements: the small newcomer taking on the giant and complacent establishment; the people’s champion delivering better service via lower costs; whimsical marketing spotlighting serious competitive advantages. Virgin survives by being different; it thrives on contradiction. When the market zigs, Virgin zags.

I had the opportunity to hear Joe Ferry, Head of Design for Virgin Atlantic Airways, speak at Design Management Institute’s Annual Conference in Boston last week. Joe shared wonderful examples of how the Virgin brand bucks the trends, reframes obstacles into opportunities, manages to give a down-and-dirty business an air of natural glamour, and has a good time doing it. Here are some takeaways from his DMI talk.

Virgin’s Upper Class “Suites” (not seats) have received great praise from passengers and won major design awards. Joe’s team spent 2 years designing the luxury flat beds to capture a feeling of “enclosed openness.” When upright, the suite has its own ottoman, which doubles as a seat for a guest. The seat flips over with the push of a button to become a fully flat bed that is longer and wider than the competition’s. All seats have direct access to the aisle, even the window seats. At Virgin, it’s not “either an aisle or window,” it’s BOTH. It’s not seats, but “suites,” offering “privacy in a social setting.”

When British Airlines opened a spacious state of the art lounge at Heathrow’s newest terminal, Virgin knew it couldn’t compete on size. Instead, the airline listened very carefully to determine what was really important to its customers and found a competitive advantage around the reframe “Speed versus Scale.” Recognizing what a hassle it was for passengers to make their way through security just to get to the lounge, Virgin designed a new check-in process called “Limo to lounge in 10 minutes.” Passengers’ chauffeur-driven limos are met curbside by special attendants, where they are checked in as they arrive and then whisked down a special hallway directly into the fabulously-designed lounge in record time. (Be still my heart.)

Joe also talked about Virgin’s “premium economy” flight experience, and the “strict yet flexible” brand guidelines that allow the brand to be “consistent yet unique.” He even told a story about how the well-designed butter knives had a way of disappearing as customers “accidentally on-purpose” made off with the silverware. Most airlines would have just stopped using the butter knives. Just for fun, Joe’s team decided to engrave the utensils “Finest Stainless STEAL.” (They’re still disappearing, and everyone is happy.)

Yes, it’s love at first flight for me, and I haven’t even left the ground. Even so, I can understand why a UK critic recently noted: “Two similarly priced products are normally the same, but the gap between Virgin and BA is planetary.”

Next stop, Virgin Galactic!

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Robyn Waters is president and founder of RW Trend, LLC. She is the author of The Trendmaster’s Guide: Get a Jump on What Your Customer Wants Next and The Hummer and the Mini: Navigating the Contradictions of the New Trend Landscape. Sign up for her free e-mail alerts and learn more about Waters at www.rwtrend.com.

CEO Insights: Tim Brown (IDEO)

Tim Brown

In previous posts, I shared brief excerpts from interviews of CEOs conducted by Adam Bryant that appear in his “Corner Office” column that appears in the BusinessSunday section of The New York Times. Here are a few insights provided by Tim Brown, CEO and president of IDEO and author of recently published Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation, published by HarperBusiness (2009).

Bryant: What’s your best interview question for job candidates?

Brown: One question I always find helpful is to ask who they’ve done things with. And of they can very quickly give you lots of examples of what other people did, then you’ve got some hint about how collaborative they are.

If, however, the answer is, “I did this and I did that and I was responsible for that,” and you get no sense of who they worked with and how they worked with them, I worry. Because then I see somebody who probably isn’t very collaborative, probably isn’t very good at promoting ideas of others and probably isn’t going to bring talent out very effectively.

They may be very inspirational, they may do brilliant work, but they’re probably not going to actually result in a more capable organization, which is what I’m looking for.”

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To read a longer version of this interview and of several other prominent CEOs, please visit nytimes.com/business.

Don’t Let Your Strengths Become Your Weaknesses

Gill Corkindale

Here is a brief excerpt from an article written by Gill Corkindale for the Harvard Business Blog:

One of the first things I ask my new clients to do is write down three of their key strengths and three of their flaws. Typically, strengths might be attention to detail, focus, and drive; flaws can be delegation, lack of creativity, and people-management skills. I then ask clients to look carefully at what they have written. Often, they will stare at the paper and then at me. They will ask me to explain. Rarely do they see the connection.

The fact is that our flaws are often the mirror image of our strengths, and it’s important to realize that we should not over-develop our strengths, causing them to turn into flaws. There is always an optimal point: confidence that doesn’t border on arrogance, wit that doesn’t slide into sarcasm, and diligence that doesn’t become perfectionism. I have observedmany leaders who have fallen into the strengths/weaknesses trap. Having been praised and rewarded for demonstrating particular strengths throughout their careers, they become blind to the shadow sides of these strengths. Often, this blind spot can derail a career.

I was therefore very interested to read about some new research that delves into leaders’ dark sides. The researchers interviewed 18,000 U.K. leaders over a decade (1999 to 2009) to discover what derailed them under pressure. They identified 11 derailers — strengths which turned into flaws under pressure. These include shrewd-mistrustful; charming-manipulative; vivacious-dramatic; and diligent-perfectionist. These “Dark Side Characteristics” were present in 85 percent of the leaders surveyed, with 16 percent having three dark-side characteristics.

Interestingly, the most common dark side characteristic in the U.K. is dutiful-dependent, that is being too appeasing and accommodating when under pressure. Additionally, a quarter of U.K. leaders also tended to withdraw from difficult situations and become remote.

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To read the complete article and check out others as well as to sign up for a free subscription to the Harvard Business Blog, please visit http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/corkindale/2009/10/dont_let_your_strength_become.html?cm_re=homepage-061609-_-lede-_-headline.

Gill Corkindale is an executive coach and writer based in London. She works with managers and leaders from Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East to develop strategies for business effectiveness and personal change. Formerly management editor of the Financial Times, she uses her journalistic skills and business insights to bring a new perspective on global management and leadership.

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