No More “Work Arounds” – Enforce Change

We have all been in the position where an unexpected issue arises. It can be a product capability shortfall, or a process application mismatch, or just about anything in between.  Our first impulse is to find a “work around”. Something quick and dirty that will get the job done and allow us to move on. We have all done it.


 


The problem with this approach is that it requires two “fixes”: the initial “work around” and then the revisit of the issue to put in the correct long term change. The “work around” allows us to stay with the existing process or capability, when by the very nature of the need, we are seeing that we need to change. In today’s short resource, profitability and resource challenged environment, the “work around” has become too expensive.


 


The normal issue with a “work around” is that since it is working, we never seem to get around to implementing the correct long term solution. Change doesn’t (need) to occur and the “quick and dirty (re: inefficient) becomes the accepted process. It becomes the standard by default and gets (re)coded into the process going forward. The quick and dirty has solved a short term need, but has not generated the needed change to achieve long term efficiency and profitability.


 


In today’s economy when you encounter an issue, more often then not the correct course of action is to implement the long term fix – make the change. It may take a little longer than the quick and dirty fix to the existing system, but the end result is a cleaner, longer term solution. The business also ends up stronger, more efficient and more profitable.

Business Without OCD

I play bass guitar. I would like to call myself a musician, but that would indicate that I have more talent for it than I do. I do appreciate excellent musical instruments though. I even own some. I was out on the web looking at custom made instruments when I came across a luthier (guitar maker) who had an interesting blog on his web site.

He asked the question about how difficult it must be to be in business (in his case making instruments) and to NOT have OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). Obviously I was hooked and had to read further.

He brought out the (not almost) obsessive attention to detail that he felt about his work. He asked the question about how it felt when “good enough” was in fact good enough, even when you knew you could do it better. What came through was the pride he felt in the works he created. The compulsion he felt to not just get it done, but to get it done to the very best of his ability.

He questioned how hard it must be for other people to work and produce without that obsession with detail and that compulsion to do their absolute best at whatever they are doing. At this point he had struck a significant chord with me.

Please pardon the PUN, I couldn’t resist.

At this point I was interested  in his instruments. He seemed like my kind of guy. I read further. It was at this point that he went to a level that I just couldn’t go. He challenged his prospective customers to prove to him that they were worthy of his instruments. What could I say? I am really not that good a musician. I don’t know how I would have reacted if he had paraphrased the Soup-Nazi character on Seinfeld and said:

“No. No guitar for you.”

I did learn about what kind of pride in ones work, and the attention to detail that exists, and that how those things are key to creating the best product one is capable of. I’ll keep practicing and maybe I will get one of his instruments later.

It also reemphasized what I already knew about attention to detail and pride in ones work. We all know it, but on occasion it is still good to hear it again.

I just won’t ask my boss to prove that he is worthy of my output………

There is No “Tipping” in Business


A good friend of mine, John Schlueter, provided me with some topics for this blog. Here is one of them.

 

If you go to a restaurant and the waiter is late with your order, and you can see that he is working very hard in a busy section with many demanding customers, will you still tip him?

 

Most of us, pretty much without exception will tip the waiter based on the situation and the obvious effort he is putting out. Unfortunately in a performance based role such as management, or sales, this would not be the case.

 

In past sales roles there have been years where I have worked some of my longest and hardest hours pursuing sales, only to be not rewarded when the sale did not come in. Everyone knew how hard I was working, that I had difficult customers and significant competition. It didn’t matter.

 

I didn’t get a “Tip”(commission).

 

A “tip” is an incentive commission to drive a desired behavior in business. It is not an entitlement.It is there to drive a desired outcome – either fast and courteous service, or achievement of a sales objective – as the case may be.

 

Despite that position, I would still probably leave a tip, but I have been in roles where my bosses didn’t feel that way at all.

The Dallas Cowboys Are Starting to get it Right

I think there is a very good lesson to be learned from the recent success of the Dallas Cowboys football team. Much had been made about their poor record and poor performances in “December” in the past several years. This year they have done well by winning some of their high profile December games.


 


All of the sudden all the analysts and critics are back on the Dallas Cowboys band wagon. They are riding high. The team is riding high. The fans are riding high. Success makes life good. I too am impressed by their recent performance, but I also remember the words of one of their previous and most successful coaches, Jimmy Johnson.


 


He said to enjoy the success, but to remember that you were only one week from humility.


 


What he was saying is that past performances and successes would not guarantee future successes. You had to continue to work hard, and continue to perform at the levels that generated your success if you wanted to be a success in the future. The competition is always going to try and beat you.


 


The challenge for you and your business is going to be to look forward and continue to try and step up your performance, and fight the urge to look back and bask in the glory of previous victories.  You have already been paid for those.


 


As for the Dallas Cowboys, we’ll see how they do. They may have found the key to improving their December performance, but they still have not won a playoff game in 14 years……..

Cloud Computing – Yes, Cloud Management – No


As the use of cloud computing proliferates, the ability to access applications via the network without having a defined path or structure to them, we also seem to be proliferating “Cloud Management”. Cloud management is the creation of a matrix structured organization where both responsibilities and reporting structures are overlapped.

 

Cloud management can occur when Sales reports via a geographic structure, Operations, Marketing and Support report into functional structures and customers are organized by vertical market alignments. The cloud gets worse when none of these reporting structures converge until the very senior most levels in the organization.

 

The net result is that usually each reporting structure begins to duplicate aspects of the other functions due to the number and difficulty of management hand-offs and the lack of overall alignment. Sales will create operations and support “like” groups, operations will create sales and support “like” groups,etc. to make sure that their needs are looked after.

 

When multiple groups have similar responsibilities, it ends up that no group has final responsibility.One group will always think another has the responsibility, and can point somewhere else when the goal is not achieved. The matrix organization structure can be very elegant in theory, but very difficult to implement and work well. Organizations where reporting structures, responsibilities and objectives are clear, simple and defined reduce functional overlap and clear up the business confusion that the “Cloud”can create.

John McKay Was Right


John McKay was a very successful college football coach at the University Of Southern California (USC) in the 1960’s and early 1970’s. I am not aware of many unsuccessful football coaches there, but I guess there may have been one or two. Coach McKay was also the first head coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers professional football team when they came into the league in 1976.

 

As an expansion team the Buccaneers did not win a single game in their first season. Despite all the planning, preparation and strategies, they were not able to win. There was a question of the talent that was present on the team, but coach McKay never said that was the issue.

 

What coach McKay did say is best summed up in a comment he made in response to a question he was asked after one Tampa Bay’s many losses. When he was asked what he thought of his team’s execution that day, he thought for a second and then said…

 

“I am in favor of it.”

 

What he brought out, with a sense of humor, is that planning and strategy and talent and everything else is good, but it is the execution, the doing of the things that you are supposed to do, that is the key to winning, or losing.

 

Making sure you have a workable plan and that you have the best talent are keys to a successful business. Making sure that everyone is executing their responsibilities and achieving their objectives is the key to successful leadership. Your team’s“execution” will be the difference between winning and losing in the market place.

Secrets and Common Knowledge

I heard it once said that the difference between a business secret and common knowledge was that common knowledge was far more difficult to come by. I think to some extent this is probably the case.


 


Whether in sales or business management, as you progress up the ladder you become more of a “knowledge” worker and somewhat less of an implementation worker. By the nature of your expanded role you are entrusted with more information regarding the plans and strategies of the accounts or business (usually both).


 


This is pretty heady stuff. You are entrusted to know things that others are not. The urge is to show off and tell others the things you know. The requirement is to communicate strategies and directions so as to best align the resources to execute on the plans. The need is to do so without “broadcasting” in such a way as to reduce the value of the information by providing it to those who do not need, or should not have it.


 


I have stated in the past that the value of information is in sharing it. The art is being able to select what to share and who to share it with and how to share it in such a way as to be able to achieve your sales and business goals without your proprietary business information becoming “common knowledge”.

Perspective and Point of View

We have all been in the position where we have had to predict some performance or business event. It is a key part of leadership and management whether you are in general business, sales, or any other business discipline. There are those that are good at it and those that “needs improvement” if I may use the ratings jargon that we are all familiar with.


 


I have found that those that are good at this type of predictive management have the gift of not only assuming others points of view – being able to look at things from where others do, but also have the ability to assume the perspective of others – being able to look at things how others do. It seems that the difference is subtle but the results can change dramatically.


 


The key here is that when we look at issues from others points of view we still have the tendency to ascribe our preferences and biases to the view. Someone who is risk averse may not see the same opportunity as someone with a higher risk tolerance regardless of the point of view.


 


It is these perspective mismatches that can then lead to the issues. What may be blatantly obvious to one regardless of where it was viewed, may make no sense at all to another regardless of how it is described.


 


Successful business and sales requires you to not only look at things from where others are standing, but also to try and look at it through their eyes. You can not ascribe your preferences to others because then you are always expecting others to “see it your way”.

Dilbert Was Right About Strategic Plans

Strategic plans are essential to the continued well being of any business. We are all aware of this. I have been involved in organizations where the strategic plan was considered the most important document in the organization, and I have been places where it was considered a necessary (or unnecessary) evil. Wherever I have been, I have invariably found that the most successful strategic plans have adhered to what I call the Dilbert Rule for Strategic Plans.


 


When asked by his (pointy haired) boss for his suggestions for the strategic plan, Dilbert responded with


 


“Why don’t we find out what we make the most money at, and do more of that…”


 


Of course this was rejected out of hand as far too simple for a strategic plan. I would agree that for an entire strategic plan it probably is, but for a starting point I don’t think you could do much better. It requires a self analysis of profitability and competitive situations that will be the cornerstone of what the business is doing and will be doing going forward.


 


The key here is to identify your strengths and to build going forward from them. Too many times we tend to identify traits that we want to be strengths instead of those that are strengths, to build our future business on. It is by looking at both the current and desired capabilities that a good strategic plan can be created.


 


Next week I’ll be looking at the Jethro Bodine Clampett school of ciphering in your business. This topic covers the “goes into’s and goes out of’s” of your business. Its basic but it also works.

Read the Management Book Satires

In this Blog I have refered to several management books as good reference material on how to conduct both sales and your business. Despite our best efforts we invariably will find ourselves in a position that can only be described as comical. Someone will ask you a question, or senior management will give you an order that will cause you to stop, and look for the hidden camera that must be around to capture your response. It is times like these that make me glad that I have read some of the very good satires of management books.


 


Stanley Bing has two great satires out on books that I have recommended. “What Would Machiavelli Do?” and, “Sun Tzu Was a Sissy” are great examples of what really good management content can become in the wrong hands. I would be very surprised if you have not run into a manager as described in these books. It also gives you an idea of what can happen when fundamental principles are practiced (or twisted) to the extreme.


 


That also brings us to Scott Adams and the quintessential “Dilbert”. Despite its skewed view of business and management, I have learned many things and seen many truisms in Dilbert. I have also caught myself in more than one instance where I was going to act or say something that could have been featured there.


 


A broad sense of humor is essential for leadership. Without it we run the risk of becoming a characterization of what a good manager should be. Characterizations and satires help us to understand what the extremes of a good thing can look like. They also help us laugh, and sometimes the best thing to laugh at is ourselves.