Innovation. What does it mean to you? Is it something you embrace? Or is it an idea you find daunting and shy away from? If you find yourself in the latter category, it’s time to reassess your relationship with innovation because it’s imperative if you want your business to stay relevant in an ever-changing world.
As we continue to navigate through a global pandemic, specific recommendations on how organizations and individuals can be more innovative have surfaced from various sources. I argue, however, that we need a more flexible approach to innovation.
Now, in order to enhance innovation, we must first understand it and consider what our goals are in trying to do it. For example: There is a big difference between writing a new song and developing a vaccine for the Coronavirus.
Some questions to consider:
Are you tweaking a problem, examining alternatives, or creating an entirely new solution?
Does the problem involve diverse expertise, extensive analysis, and extensive outside resources?
What resources, constraints, risk, and requirements will affect innovation?
Let’s expand on a few of these issues:
Are you solving problems or developing new concepts?
Much of corporate innovation revolves around finding better or new solutions to existing problems. For instance, for many years, car companies focused on developing better combustible engines, retailers focused on developing better shopping experiences, and IBM focused on building bigger and better computers. In contrast, other companies focused on developing entirely new solutions, which gave us the electric car, E-commerce, and the cloud.
Decisions regarding these issues involve a number of considerations. Do you give research groups complete freedom or do you require specific goals and financial objectives? How much risk and error do you encourage and allow? In general, venture capital firms allow more risk and pursue a home run while corporations tend to stick with more planned efforts.
While new markets and technologies are exciting, minor innovations can also be very productive. Logistics involving areas like inventory management, customer service, and sourcing can have dramatic impacts on cost, sales, and profits. In particular, Amazon has become extremely good at what they do: Prime, their own truck fleet, and automated safe warehouses have dramatically stimulated their performance.
Simple measurement and focus can dramatically improve results. Reviewing sales by product, P&L, and the 80-20 rule can inspire effective new practices. I have a client who switched 70% of her business from retail to E-commerce and has grown 40%. The process also requires new strategies on pricing, inventory management, and marketing. One huge advantage was that she was able to introduce new products on the Internet almost immediately rather than waiting 6-12 months for the retailers to make and execute decisions. In this instance, a problem was solved using existing concepts, but it was innovative for her specific company.
How are your decisions affected by analytics and intuition?
Decision-making used to be a simple choice between things like experience and intuition. However, Artificial Intelligence and other tools have added a new dimension to reduce the uncertainty of decisions. There are even major breakthroughs in medicine regarding the diagnoses and treatment of disease using improved statistics and analysis. The development of the Coronavirus vaccine has also been greatly accelerated by new technologies and processes.
Tools and presentations are also dramatically changing. For example, a colleague of mine objected to my website because it was too dependent on PowerPoint and Excel. While these are great tools and are the most used for analytical and presentation methodologies, they do have many limitations. The information can be old, longitudinal analytics is frequently lacking, they are not interactive, and they may not be visual enough. The lesson being: we must continue to challenge our ways of doing things…
Analytics as a new dimension requires consideration of new parameters. The most important is replacing hierarchal structures with collaboration, analysis, and facts. Many organizational structures are based on hierarchy and this simply needs to be replaced by a search for excellence and consideration of alternatives. Additionally, as we deal with more complex goals and analysis, we must remember that intuition is still important. In particular, the more creativity and uncertainty there is in a situation, the more intuition is required.
Some of this dilemma is created by the differences between “left-brain” and “right-brain” thinkers. Left-brained people are said to be more analytical, logical, detail and fact orientated, numerical, and more likely to think in words. Right-brained people are said to be more creative, free-thinking, intuitive, able to see the big picture, and can visualize more. So, whichever you are, perhaps try asking someone who thinks differently than you how they would handle something you’re working on—you might realize they have an entirely different approach that may or may not be better than your own.
The most important aspect of this discussion is to understand the use of analytics versus intuition in your decision-making process. We love to hang on to our hunches, beliefs, experience, and hierarchy. We even twist facts and ignore reality to provide continuing support for an argument. But, we need to invest time and money to analyze, filter, and review ideas. New analytical tools can enhance our flexibility, testing, ability to adapt, and the evaluation of alternatives.
Are you focusing on excellence and collaboration?
Innovation requires collaboration. It thrives with participation, diversity, new rules, and (to some extent) chaos. It also rejects bureaucracy, authority, hierarchy, and closed decision-making processes.
A major component of collaboration is excellence. Large organizations say they want excellence, entrepreneurship, innovation, risk takers, etc. However, they often fail to revise practices that encourage mediocrity (i.e. hierarchal structures and non-diverse cultures). Testing and failure (both critical parts of innovation) are punished more than rewarded. Even sound risk taking is reduced because of the fear of repercussions within the organization. In short, organizations frequently ignore the advice: “you can’t score if you don’t take a shot.”
It’s also important to note that exceptional people are often eccentric and can be challenging to manage. You may find that these employees like to work odd hours, need specific environmental stimuli for inspiration, and, generally, refuse to do things in a traditional way, which can often be disruptive to an organization’s flow. The upside, of course, is that they’re producing remarkable work.
Does your company culture encourage innovation?
While we tend to focus on innovative methods and technologies, we sometimes forget that culture can dramatically affect innovation. For example: California has about 15,000 patent applications a year compared to less than 200 in eleven other states. There are simply more resources and a more comfortable culture in California, which spurs innovation. Some organizations encourage testing, failure, and research while others believe in the “we have always done it this way” approach (which never stands up to the test of time). You need a forward-looking company environment for innovation. For example, market research should be a tool rather than an absolute. As Steve Jobs said:
Are we having fun yet?
In order to balance innovation, you must enjoy what you’re doing. You started your business because you had passion—Don’t lose that! If you’re truly happy doing what you’re doing, your customers will want to buy into that. They will feed off of your excitement!
You have to be willing to change with the times. And you have to give emerging business trends more than just a passing thought or you may miss out on big opportunities. Consider multiple and dynamic alternatives, goals, and methods. Innovation is the key to growth, profit, and sustainability. And the great thing is: there’s no one way to do it. Be innovative about innovation—the possiblities are endless!
Dr. Bert Shlensky, president of Startup Connection (www.startupconection.net) is a graduate of Sloan School of Management at M.I.T. He served as the president of WestPoint Pepperell’s apparel fabrics business as well as the President & CEO of Sure Fit Products. Having provided counseling to over 2,000 clients, he now focuses on working with select startups and small businesses.
The pandemic has caused some chaos, to say the least. The uncertainty and severity of the situation has caused most of us to shift focus, reconsider our efforts and priorities, and question risk. As a result, it’s critical to reexamine how to maximize opportunities, results, and challenges. While there’s still plenty of unpredictability, there are several clear rules to follow that will help you prioritize and improve results.
I believe the 80-20 rule (which states 80% of results are from 20% of sales) is one of the most useful guidelines. Reassess and renew efforts on programs that have the most potential. But, it is equally important to eliminate unproductive efforts.
Bigger is getting more important: For example, between 40-50% of online consumer sales are on Amazon. You can’t ignore that impact and its affect on results.
Prioritize innovation. Culture, execution, measurement, marketing, and operations are critical elements that support success from innovation.
Learn to prioritize more effectively. Focus on what you’re good at and pay less attention to your weaknesses. For example, I have a client who has the best product in the industry, but charges a little more money. She has achieved success by moderating some prices, but mostly by developing messaging that explains her quality difference.
Limit objectives to a handful. Limiting strategic priorities allows you to focus on what matters most. It can also serve as a way to drive a decision when faced with difficult trade-offs, which can also increase results. We are frequently encouraged to develop multiple alternatives; yet, spending time on weak alternatives can be extremely wasteful.
Make the hard decisions. We need to be flexible in order to evaluate alternatives and respond to change, but we also need to make firm choices to manage challenges and trade-offs.
Address critical vulnerabilities. We tend to focus on strengths and opportunities and ignore challenges, but this can lead to neglecting a vital aspect of a plan. For example, logistics, customer service, and safety are frequently overlooked, but they can provide important differentiation that will make your business stand out.
Provide specific action plans. They should be concrete enough that participants throughout the organization can understand what to focus on and what to avoid.
Eliminate costly and unproductive activities. This is key. Consider cell phones, email, social media, and the Internet: Most of it is time-consuming junk that can be eliminated or reduced (or, at least, not viewed every minute of the day). Develop a master list of activities and then categorize them into areas like: urgent, maintenance versus development, cost, risk, results, probability of success etc. This will help you see which activities need more focus and which need less as you prioritize.
Consider culture. It’s a critical component of establishing priorities. Sometimes, “now is not the time” is an appropriate response. Other times, opportunities for change are required and you need to be as prepared as possible. For example: Issues like safety, stress, and uncertainty have become critical elements and adapting to the pandemic is unavoidable.
Opportunities to expand your market will arise—so keep the 80-20 rule in mind as things change. Some efforts could be declining while new critical opportunities may be emerging. These instances are worth serious consideration—especially when the investment is minor. You may open up a door to a broader 20 percent.
So remember: prioritization can produce dramatic results. Spend more time analyzing your priorities and watch how that affects your results.
Dr. Bert Shlensky, president of Startup Connection (www.startupconection.net) has an MBA and PhD from the Sloan School of Management at M.I.T. He served as the president of WestPoint Pepperell’s apparel fabrics business, and President and CEO of Sure Fit Products. Having provided counseling to over 2,000 clients, he now focuses on working with select start-up and small businesses.
I live in New Rochelle, New York and was part of the first quarantine after the pandemic hit the United States. I think, because we were first, our neighborhood may have learned to cope slightly better than some other areas. We walk, we talk, we shop, we distance. We wear masks and, in general, we seem to be much more supportive of one another than what seems to be happening elsewhere. People were even helping each other during the power outrage that lasted several days. I am diabetic and three of my neighbors with generators offered to store my insulin. I talk to people from other neighborhoods and, from what I’ve heard, many of them could be coping better with the impact of the pandemic. I’m not referring to the poor and the sick, but people who are still working, but stressed out far too much.
But, how do you improve your coping strategy amidst so much uncertainty and tension? A good place to start is to manage your expectations and focus on the things you have control over. In recent years, the U.S. experienced 9-11 as well as the 2007-2008 economic decline. Both of those events caused short-term disruption and long-term consequences. We are now seeing the same things happening with the pandemic and there are three key pandemic impact areas that I think should be considered as we forge ahead:
1.The most important factor is simply the pandemic itself, which is causing dramatic health, economic, and social consequences that will last through much of 2021, if not longer. There have already been approximately 200,000 deaths in the U.S. and we aren’t even close to a vaccine yet. There’s also been a shift in healthcare with Tele Visits becoming the new norm. Even if a vaccine does become available, healthcare will never be the same. Nursing home protocol, hospital financing, and virtual medical care are among the areas facing significant change. For example, it is even estimated that births in the U.S. will decline by about 500,000 or 10% in the next year.
2.Another major impact will be economic. While much of the economy is slowly returning, industries like entertainment, travel, restaurants, and sports will undergo dramatic change. We have no idea when and how these businesses will return, but they will certainly be quite different from what they once were. For example, it is estimated that there were 600,000 restaurants in the U.S. before the pandemic. At least 20-30% will probably close within a year. Similarly, most forecasters are predicting 6-10% unemployment next year.
Additionally, working from home has become a major social phenomenon that will definitely impact the economy. People have learned that they can stay home and be more productive while having more time for themselves. This is a result of not having to commute, reducing meetings, and eliminating long lunches. Many are estimating that work-from-home could replace 20-40% of office work, especially for the next two years. This will result in several byproducts including a decline in real estate and urban stores. And as more people move to the suburbs, several other markets could dramatically be affected as well.
The greatest impact, however, will most likely be the continued growth of income inequality. The thirteen wealthiest Americans increased their wealth almost $1 trillion dollars since the pandemic started. In contrast, the poor have increased hunger, loss of healthcare, and unemployment (especially among minorities).
3.The third key area is political and many do not want to discuss it because there is too much emotion and uncertainty attached to the subject. However, the election this November will have a dramatic impact on our society. Our lives will be affected drastically based on who is elected—and this applies on a national, state, and local level. Minimally, there could be more diversity and focus on areas like criminal justice, income inequality, health care, and education. While partisan politics will probably increase, it is always important to focus on solutions rather than rhetoric after elections.
Now, how do we deal with all of this pandemic impact when we don’t know the what, when, or how surrounding them? The most important thing you can do is to recognize change and deal with it. Don’t be surprised or stressed out by the changes because they’re not going away. So, consider alternatives and ensure that you relax. Accept that the next several months will be like “flying an airplane while you are building it.” Sure, that might sound scary, but try to shift your thinking. Attempt to approach daunting situations like they’re challenges rather than obstacles.
Accept the inevitable and search out opportunities. E-commerce, delivery, work at home, and tech are all growing. My local pizza parlor added lobster Wednesday night, a friend in advertising is doing yard signs for drive-by parties, drive-in movies are doing well, and other events—like virtual baby showers—are becoming popular. Companies are developing all kinds of programs in addition to Zoom that will make working from home more effective. Embrace your challenges and set your mind on problem solving.
Consider the increased opportunities for risk during this uncertain period. Basically, everything is pretty much up in the air anyway, so what do you have to lose by taking more risk? Additionally, there are lots of opportunities in areas that are permanently affected by the pandemic. Home delivery, virtual technology, and online shopping are all currently booming businesses. Even the gains in the stock market have shifted to new companies like Zoom and Tel-a-Doc.
“How will you ever know whether you’re a flying squirrel if you don’t give it a shot?”
In this rapidly changing environment, you should also do a brief self-assessment to evaluate your status quo and consider potential changes. The purpose should be to better understand challenges and opportunities rather than simply make changes. This review might include looking over your resume, evaluating your employment status, assessing potential changes in your status, education, and living environment. You should also consider what you like about yourself, your job, and your employer.
Extra Credit: Do something nice and maybe even outrageous for yourself. You probably used to spend gobs of money on restaurants, sports, travel, clothes, gas etc. that you aren’t spending now. Consider an extravagant treat for yourself. A special meal, a trip to the gourmet grocery, a health/spa treatment, a new pair of shoes, or a chauffeured car tour could all be nice distractions during this crazy time. (There are limits, however. I passed on a $50,000 chartered trip to California… and that was before meals and hotels…)
While we’re not sure what the new normal will require, we do know many of the opportunities and challenges. Avoid guaranteed failure with obsolete or doomed activities and, instead, embrace innovation, testing, and new paradigms. These cultural changes must include openness, infrastructure, and measurement. And cut yourself some slack and be kind to your neighbors… these are difficult times for us all.
Dr. Bert Shlensky, President of www.startupconnection.net, offers experience, skills, and a team devoted to developing and executing winning strategies. This combination has been the key to client success. We welcome comments, suggestions, and questions. You can write him at: bshlensky@startupconnection.net or call at: 914-632-6977
A compelling book title is fantastic and it may even entice people to pick up your novel, but if the content is sh*t, then what’s the point? You’ll quickly be found out and considered a phony. The same goes for any endeavor: a great idea is swell, but without substance to back it up, it’s just another half-baked plan and soon-to-be failure. In my experience, entrepreneurs are superb at expressing their ideas, passion, and excitement. However, their biggest misstep is neglecting the basics, which make a business successful. A great business idea is swell, but you need to lay the essential groundwork. A common “oops” moment is when an entrepreneur has failed to develop any estimates or parameters to understand their potential sales and profits.
While these obvious mistakes are unsettling, I find that many entrepreneurs are shortsighted when it comes to many basic business requirements. They skip vital steps (perhaps without even realizing they’re doing it), which can really leave holes in a business plan or proposal. You need to lay the essential groundwork.
The following is a list of basic considerations for small business managers. These topics are the essential groundwork of any successful business:
Set personal goals. What are your goals and priorities? And which of those need the most improvement? Remember the saying, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” You need to have a vision and some direction. And, in the middle of a pandemic, simply pausing or surviving might be the best goal.
Don’t be afraid of risk. There are numerous opportunities to take more risk. A great starting place is: Do something instead of nothing. Explore new options, get rid of failing efforts, and try utilizing outside ideas (whether it’s a think tank or hiring new employees with specialized skill sets).
Continue learning. Education is a key element to growing and staying relevant.Utilize books, the Internet, and external resources to make better choices. Pay attention to data, but don’t forget to trust intuition as well. You can also look to other businesses’ failures and successes to better understand your industry and market trends.
Embrace Change. Don’t just talk about change. Take action! Responding to disruptive change requires finding a way to incorporate data, analysis, and pre-existing models while also embracing out-of-the-box thinking and flexibility.
Don’t neglect key elements of success. Operations, customer service, and logistics are just as important as traditional functions.They present huge opportunities for a business to become more efficient and differentiate itself. (Like selling on Amazon or bundling products.)
Understand diversity. Demographics are affected by age, location, socioeconomic status, race, gender, etc. Current events have certainly affected trends relating to racial and female groups. Staying up-to-date on your target consumer and their habits will help inform your decisions. Do you know who your customers are and what demographics they belong to?
Measure and assess. Remember the 80-20 rule, which states that 80% of your sales will come from 20% of your products and/or customers. Are you measuring your sales, key items, and customers?
Know your parameters. As the saying goes, “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” Make sure to figure out where your weak links are as well as your strengths.
Relax. You can’t do everything in one day. Pace yourself and remember that there will always be uncertainty and change. Stay focused and take it one day at a time.
Always be willing to improve. What are your biggest challenges? Where are you overlooking potential opportunities? In what areas could you do better? Don’t be afraid to ask yourself, “How am I doing?” And then answer honestly.
People often hear “back to basics” and think, “That doesn’t apply to me. I’ve been doing this for years!” But, that mentality is detrimental. Performing a check-in is not regression. In fact, successful people frequently use a “back to basics” approach to keep themselves sharp and focused. Lay the essential groundwork. Fundamentals are important; they set us up for greater achievements.
Yoga is a great example: If you haven’t mastered the basic yoga pose, you won’t be moving on to that handstand or anything else more advanced. Yogis often perform check-ins by doing foundational poses to reset and strengthen the core of their practice. This approach is beneficial for everything we do—from relationships to business to athletics. An example would be checking in with a partner and doing the consistent work required to keep the foundation of your relationship strong. Or, it could mean reevaluating your business goals and analyzing your process to ensure you’re staying on track and heading in the direction you’d envisioned. In both cases, however, the benefits of going “back to basics” once in awhile can definitely help keep you focused and headed for success.
Contact us for a FREE evaluation and get an alternative perspective on your business. We’d love to help you identify ways to adapt to current trends. No one has time for BS—so we’ll cut straight to the point and answer any questions you have. Reach us at:
Dr. Bert Shlensky, President of StartupConnection.net, has an MBA and PhD from the Sloan School of Management at M.I.T. He served as the President of WestPoint Pepperell’s apparel fabrics business & President and CEO of Sure Fit Products. More than 2,000 clients have benefitted from his business acumen over the course of his long career. He now focuses on working with select startups and small businesses. Please visit our website: https://www.startupconnection.net/ for more information.
When we expect a certain level of quality from ourselves, we tend to work harder to meet those expectations. If we don’t believe we’re capable of achieving greatness, we probably won’t. In other words, we perform to the standards expect from ourselves. We must turn expectations into probable results.
My favorite musical has always been My Fair Lady because of the Pygmalion effect, which infers that having positive expectations leads to enhanced performance, which results in a higher probability of success. The implication is that confidence and energy will increase if we believe in ourselves. On the other hand, a negative self-perception results in a significantly lower chance of succeeding. What we think we’re capable of, therefore, basically becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. We can turn expectations into probable results.
It’s important to attribute this effect to human behavior rather than science. For example, in a coin flip, the odds of getting “heads or tails” will not change even if you’re full of hope and positive thinking. Similarly, expectations and attitude can help when it comes to things like sports. So, a team might play better if they believe in themselves (the movie Major League is a great and hilarious example of this). BUT, talent, practice, and consistency also play important roles in success—so positivity can’t guarantee that a lousy team will win a championship.
Additionally, if you enjoy what you’re doing, you also have a higher probability of success.
So, when we discuss “projections,” it’s important that expectations and probability (how likely it is that something will happen) are both taken into consideration. For example, when flipping a coin, the probability of getting “heads” is 50 percent. However, the probability of winning the lottery is 1 out of millions. This illustrates how probability is greatly affected by percentage, BUT it is also affected by volatility and variance. For instance, the pandemic is creating highly uncertain and volatile circumstances, which makes it nearly impossible to accurately forecast anything.
Despite this, it is my opinion that dubious circumstances can create opportunities if we remain patient and seek alternative solutions. For example, many restaurants are experiencing immense difficulties, but pizza parlors seem to be thriving. Perhaps the takeaway here is that restaurants should look into cooking and preparing family-style meals to deliver. Another option would be to partner with delivery services like Uber Eats or Postmates, if they haven’t already. At some unknown point, we will go back to attending sporting events, concerts, eating out, and traveling, but until then, we must shift our focus to addressing the needs of the time. That might mean expanding your work-from-home options or pivoting to a different target audience—in other words: it will take work, but that’s business.
Now, in order to effectively utilize expectations and probability, it’s imperative to develop, test, measure and adapt different approaches. Many plans, forecasts, and proposals are done in a static format with one dimensional analysis and results. Those are usually all wrong because we live in a more dynamic and interactive world. For example, branding, marketing, pricing, and operations must all be assessed together rather than viewed separately as isolated activities. Similarly, businesses need to have alternatives plans in place and ready to go so they can adapt quickly. Mistakes will occur. So what? Steve Jobs was fired, Thomas Edison tested thousands of light bulbs before succeeding, and Walt Disney’s editor told him that he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.”
So how do you use expectations to create positive outcome?
When it comes to the rapid changes that occur constantly in our society and environment, we are frequently afraid of risk. The Internet, digital technology, mobile phones, Google, and Amazon are all examples of technology that is transforming our lives. Therefore, relying on old methods or a “we’ve always done it that way” mentality may actually be riskier than making a change.
Similarly, business analysis, big data, the cloud, and other management tools are great resources to mitigate risk. I’ve done a lot of work testing different pricing strategies to improve performance, especially on the Internet. You can’t just stick with what used to work and, therefore, your expectations must include the assumption that you will need to adapt frequently.
Furthermore, your probability of success increases when your expectations include actionable goals:
If you expect big results, consider taking bigger risks.
If you expect accuracy, focus on obtaining better data and improving your testing, analysis, and measurement tools.
If you expect to keep up with competitors, include innovation and hire exceptional people (this might involve tolerating some “deviant” behavior from employees, but that’s often a side effect of utilizing out-of-the-box thinkers).
If you expect long-term success, create an open company culture that embraces diversity, change, collaboration, communication, and pushes boundaries.
If you expect greatness from your staff, empower them to do their jobs to the best of their abilities. This requires hiring and training good people, trusting them and giving them the authority, they need to perform effectively, and understanding that they will sometimes make mistakes.
If you expect to address and solve problems, develop reliable resources outside of your company. Don’t utilize friends and family who won’t tell you the truth in order to spare your feelings or who may not even understand your business’ needs. Visit places like Google, your library, and incubators for networking opportunities.
If you expect to increase profit, focus more attention on the process of decision-making. How good is the information you’re using, what are the consequences of possible mistakes, and how much risk can you afford? With the exception of issues like safety, I think we can all afford more risk. We’re generally overly concerned with the consequences of mistakes and we lose sight of the potential gains.
If you want to succeed, believe in yourself. Because if you don’t, why should anyone else? You need to turn expectations into probable results.
I have learned that traditional and detailed startup recommendations (like planning and budgeting) are not as important as we previously thought. Instead, a continuous process of analyzing, measuring, and adapting to ever-changing parameters, programs, markets, and risks has a much higher probability of success. Finally, expect greatness from yourself. Learn to turn expectations into probable results. Success requires positive thinking and high expectations. If you truly believe in something, you’ll work tirelessly to make sure it’s successful. So, why can’t that something be you?
Please visit our website www.startupconection.net to book a Free Session in which we can help you develop an action plan that will evaluate potential and risk. We always discuss process, expected outcomes, and cost before you make any commitment.
Dr. Bert Shlensky, president of Startup Connection, prides himself on his ability to define what is unique about each and every business. He works closely with individuals to develop a personalized approach that targets specific areas of concern and offers solutions based on his 40+ years of experience. His expert team will address your particular needs while working to save you time and money.
When you want to stand out, reach out to Bert for the tools that will build your “sticky” brand. My focus is on understanding and analyzing your dilemmas and challenges, so your company becomes profitable faster.
Call (914) 632-6977 or email me at bshlensky@startupconnection.net. Don’t leave without signing up for our useful free eBook!
Feeling stumped or overwhelmed? Contact Bert at (914) 632-6977 or Email to start the process. Thanks!
