I marvel at people who observe trends and do things that will shape what the future looks like. These people are to be treasured as they contribute to changing the world.
At The Icehouse, we focus on improving the performance of Kiwi businesses. We identify common challenges & opportunities, then we put this into action plans for businesses to reach greater potential and success. We think about what we have and consider how can we improve. We are no smooth talker. We have worked out where we can make a difference and where we have struggled to over the years. We have learned from the pain caused by venturing into parts of the market with different needs and where we were not successful in making a difference. Others have done the same and I think that by sharing best practice, the bruises and successes we can all learn.
The Icehouse vision is to see a thriving New Zealand driven by entrepreneurs and business owners. By 2021, the aim is to see our customers succeed so as to cause a 10% lift in NZ’s GDP since 2001. 10% growth in New Zealand’s GDP would broadly include 26,600 new jobs, incremental revenue of $27b of which $3.9b would be international and the creation of 1,250 businesses of international quality through a self-assessment tool we have created to help businesses improve enablers in their business.
One tool that I use to improve is comparable to the science experiment where you pour a solution into a model, to see where the liquid travels. In context, this is how New Zealand could improve its economic performance, improve its productivity and ultimately create a stronger community focused on business for good. This is about understanding what is happening, what is working, what is not and from the movements around these businesses to improve the outcomes in the future. It also creates an opportunity to contrast New Zealand with other communities offshore in countries like Singapore, Israel and even Switzerland as we look for insights to be better, do better.
I am sharing thoughts on what I see, what I think this means and how it could improve the performance of the economy. We are a collection of pattern matchers, watchers and followers, we see a lot at The Icehouse and we are constantly driven to think about how these patterns add up to something more, something repeatable that we can address and solve for others. We are not expert in all things, we have developed a level of knowledge around enabling change in people to help businesses to find their potential and their success and in seeing enough of these situations. It makes us reflect and share, which this paper is about. This paper is also on the same lines we have written over the last few years – NZ’s Hidden Metric and the 2300 Series. It also complements publications like Changing Gears: How to take your Kiwi business from the kitchen table to the board room, that one of The Icehouse founders and three of our key facilitators released in 2007.
At The Icehouse our core is helping Kiwi businesses, typically start-ups and SMEs, find their success and reach their potential, whatever that is for them. We think we have developed expertise in this area, largely because the owners and entrepreneurs allowed us to observe and also because our founders and stakeholders have encouraged us always to look to improve and enhance. The job is never done.
Some readers could naturally ask ‘why have I not covered this or that’, I remain focused at this point on what I know and what I see. Please share other areas that might be worthy of attention and focus for the future and get out and solve those issues.
I have also asked questions because one of our values as an organisation is Stronger Together. It is from the collision of thinking, from different perspectives that we get a better outcome. This series is not about how to enable change in firms at a micro-level, it is about the system performance that I see opportunities to impact and improve. The battle is continuing to improve, the how is never ending. Look out for the 2nd edition of Changing Gears next year which focuses on the established owner manager heroes in the economy and insights from the writers as to how they have achieved success.
My opinions complement the work other team members at The Icehouse do to challenge each other to write and share what we see to help others on their journeys as we contribute to making New Zealand a great place to live and work. This is not an Icehouse alone thing, the more deeply we think about how to win in this world and apply those learnings, the greater the chance we have to create the best place to live and work in the world. This modern age with blogs and networks like LinkedIn gives a great opportunity to document, share and engage on these topics.
I am going to start with some comments on three important segments of the market we work with – start-ups, SMEs and large organisations. There are also three further parts to this series. The first is what are the facts and what is the data telling me, the second is responding to questions I hear a lot. The third is a drill into sustainability of the start-up and SME ecosystem in New Zealand.
Pouring Solution is a commentary written by Andy Hamilton, CEO at The Icehouse, for people who want to see New Zealand do better.
Read the series:
Pouring Solution Summary - A series on improving New Zealand’s economic performance.
Pouring Solution Part One - What are the facts and what is the data telling me?
Pouring Solution Part Two – A few questions I hear often about the SME economy.