Although I earn my living here in the world of IP Communications, my true passion has always been the performing arts. This goes all the way back to what used to be called “Nursery School.” I got my first taste of working in front of an audience when I was featured as “The Troll Under the Bridge” in “Three Billy Goats Gruff .”

Since that stage debut over 40 years ago (yikes), I have found I have a particular talent for the stage comedy. Often times, performing in a comedy is like trying dance on an unstable pile of gravel. As long as you are on the very top of the pile, everything goes well and the audience laughs in all the right places. However, one misstep and you start to slide, losing the audience on the way to a hard stop at the bottom. During one particularly bad Act I of the play, “Noises Off”, the cast and I definitely felt we had slid way down the gravel pile. The audience had barely made a sound in the first 50 minutes of the show. As we all dreaded having to go back out on that stage for TWO more acts, the director gave us an age-old comedy adage to help us regain our “comedy footing”- Louder. Faster. Funnier. Seemed pretty straight forward, and in Act II and III we had the audience roaring with laughter. That simple time-tested adage has bailed out more than one cast from their own comedy landslides.

So, here we are in the IP Communications world, standing upon our own gravel pile of declining markets, shrinking economies and narrowing margins.  Perhaps there is a simple adage we can look to help us through. Could it be…Better. Faster. Cheaper? In these tough times, it won’t be about what is new or cool. Find your customers’ pain points, and solve them- better, faster and cheaper than anyone else. Do that and you’re sure to end up on the top of pile.

If you don’t agree with my three choices of Better. Faster. Cheaper; please feel free to suggest some alternates.  I look forward to the discussion.