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Newsletter
May 2002A
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A Printable Newsletter Format May 2002A
POPULAR OPINION:
Are Assumptions Steering You Off Course?
In our efforts to lead and manage more effectively, we are
always seeking out the newest trends in business. In many
cases, we pick up valuable information that helps us to do
our jobs better. Unfortunately, in more cases than we may
realize, what we assume to be helpful is just assumption.
Too often, we accept a technique, a product, a procedure simply
because it's the current "rage." Being popular does not equal
being right.
Take a popular product on the market today, the Abtronics
abdominal, muscle-stimulating belt. The assumption, based
on the television commercials, is that you, too, can have
a washboard stomach simply by strapping on the old belt and
going about your everyday business. While the electronic stimulation
of your muscles may in fact tighten the muscles, your stomach
will never look that way if you don't remove the layer of
fat (sometimes a thin layer) that is covering those muscles.
The second assumption is that the belt will burn that fat.
According to researchers at the University of Virginia, it
would take 250,000 stomach crunches to burn just one pound
of fat; that's 100 crunches a day for 7 years. Based on sales
of the product, it's safe to say that its popular. But if
we don't address the misleading assumptions that are also
popular, we will not achieve our desired results.
Let's examine some beliefs we have about management and business
that are popular. We'll take a look at two assumptions to
see how they may or may not be hindering progress.
Assumption
#1: "Teams are productive ways to accomplish projects."
Yes,
teams are productive. But, how many times have you heard complaints
from people who are frustrated with the snail's pace of their
"team." They want to know why they have to wait for committee
approval to move incrementally forward when one person could
have completed the task quickly. Bureaucracy and waste are
the results of GROUPS that only think they are functioning
as TEAMS. In Organizational Behavior by Stephen P. Robbins,
readers are shown the vast characteristic differences between
groups and teams: the latter has a common objective and each
participant fills a specific and different role to propel
the group to achievement. If you are really working as a group,
your assumptions about teamwork are steering you off course.
Assumption
#2: "Time management cuts out wasted time, enabling you to
reach your goals faster."
The truth is, time management is better than no time management,
but without PRIORITY time management, you are still likely
to be engaged in important activities that do not move you
close to your goals. In the early 1990s, a local business
colleague, Tony Ebersole, introduced us to the twist in time
management provided by Priority Management Systems, Inc. Looking
at your annual plans, you note on your planning calendar those
activities that you must perform throughout the year, month
by month, in order to reach your goals. Each day, not only
do you list what needs to be accomplished to meet that month's
goals, you indicate which activities must be done first...that
are priorities over all other activities. If you are faithfully
planning your days without prioritization, then your assumption
about time management could be steering you off course.
Take
a look at other management aspects and explore the validity
of your assumptions in those areas, for example:
decision
making techniques
your key support staff's involvement
in everyday progress
current operational systems
and equipment
competition--who they are, where
they are, what makes them successful
planning tools and methods
Simply
because an opinion is popular doesn't guarantee that it is
will return predictable, reliable results to your firm. There
are many roads that lead to our desired destinations. It is
your responsibility, in spite of what everyone else is doing,
to make sure that you are leading your company down the road
that is best for your company. By examining your assumptions,
you can stay the course and achieve stellar results.
_________________________________
WINNING
CHOICES:
Being Number One or Having the Best Product
Depending on your industry, you may know that being number
1 is not the top priority, but this is often a question asked
of us, so we've taken it on for you. Can you make the distinction
between being number 1 in your industry and being the best?
Can you further distinguish being the best and being the best
that you can be? Sometimes a simple shift in vocabulary makes
a huge shift in perspective: perspective essential to building
a profitable, successful enterprise.
In
the past, we have seen the VCR beat out beta, Apple get pounded
by Microsoft, and the Tucker 48 automobile destroyed by the
Big 3. The common misconception is that our goal is to be
number 1 at all times by just having the best product. Unfortunately,
if it were that easy, there would be many more products on
the market.
In
the process of building a business, we are surrounded by a
host of elements that make a product successful. Sometimes,
the success of a product has very little to do with the product
at all and much to do with the people who bring it to market.
Think about the VCR and Apple: the former developed alliances
and excelled in marketing, the latter never opened up its
architecture and did it alone.
Preston
Tucker was a man who was so innovative that he frightened
his competition into destroying him. Made recently famous
in the 1988 Francis Ford Coppola movie, A Man and His Dream,
Tucker is known for his progressive inventions, including
the third headlight that followed the front wheels of a car
enabling one to see around a corner before the main lights
illuminated the way. And the "Tucker Turret" gun used in WWII
and a "combat car" armored personnel carrier that was rejected,
because it went too fast.
For
the average company, building to reach the level of a VCR
or Microsoft is well beyond the scope of reality. Most are
just trying to make a living and create a business that can
continue operations into the future. Excelling into the stratosphere
is most likely not part of the real business plan, yet this
could happen to the firm building a stable company. You would
be surprised how many business owners can't read financial
statements or don't receive financials until months after
the end of an accounting period. This is because they have
built systems and successes partially by accident, rather
than through calculation and planning, that keep them on a
winning path.
A
general rule of thumb that applies to all organizations is
to aim to be the best that your company can be. Here are some
ways of attaining this goal:
1.
Focus on value for the consumer. This may come in the
form of price, usability, purchasing options, aesthetics,
location or mood/atmosphere. Starbucks and Barnes and
Noble have married the two in the bookseller's super stores
to keep customers lingering amongst the book shelves longer,
resulting in increased sales for both parties.
2. Build an infrastructure to create predictable, reliable
results. Do not rely on everyone in the firm to do what
you expect unless you supply them with the tools and knowledge
so that the results become a part of the system rather
than being based on individual actions. Customers demand
some form of consistency as witnessed by the high volume
sales of cable products offered through venues like QVC.
UPS, FedEx, and Airborne Express channel the efforts of
tens of thousands of people via systems that ensure, for
the most part, that packages arrive at their correct destinations
on time.
3. Raise the bar of your employees by either keeping them
educated and well rounded or by terminating employees
who will never get you to the best that your company can
be. It's much easier to build a winning team with players
that know how to win. This might mean letting go of employees
who are not cutting it.
4. Create new products or product innovations continually.
There are several approaches to creating products and
services. If you're marshmallow Fluff sandwich spread,
this might mean changing the container rather than the
product inside the container. The packaging is also a
product. Quaker State Motor Oil made packaging innovations
when it shifted from cans to plastics well before its
competition. If you're the local donut chain, you can
offer something new in the way of opening at a second
location. Krispy Kreme used this strategy to reach more
customers by being more easily accessible geographically.
Complete overhauls are sometimes the answer, too. Lockheed
Martin just won a $200 billion contract for their new
version of a fighter plane.
5. Keep aware of technology that can impact the speed
of delivery or service internally and externally from
the firm. For example, supply chain changes have been
radical in the past few decades from cross docking to
radio frequency (RF) inventory systems. Other examples
of technology that increase the pace of business include
laptop computers, hand helds, wireless and even the faxable
barcodes. CRM software combined with web-based applications
tied to call center technology has made vendor to market
almost invisible to the consumer when done correctly. |
The key to being number 1 is not always being the true number
1 in terms of gross sales or profits. It is found by measuring
how high the bar for your entire company is. The old saying
that you are only as strong as your weakest link could be
a standard for evaluating your firm. The following references
are downloadable files that enable you to evaluate your firm
from a whole-enterprise perspective.
_________________________________
David & Lorrie Goldsmith are founders
of the Syracuse based MetaMatrix Consulting Group Inc. Their
firm specializes in consulting, executive management education
and speaking services. They can be reached at 315-476-0510
888-777-8857 or emailed at dgoldsmith@davidgoldsmith.com
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