If you don’t know where you are going you could easily wind up someplace else. To avoid “some place else” organizations must do more than use goals to keep urgency and energy focused on results. Organizations must capture learning through the use of leading indicators tracked with dashboards.
The pace of business has gone from years, months, weeks, days, minutes and now nanoseconds. In the past lagging indicators were sufficient because speed was not an issue. Today speed is the catalyst for innovation. Organizations must focus on goals measured by dashboards that indicate to everyone we are going in the right direction, that outside influences have not made our strategy obsolete. Traveling at warp speed without dashboard indicators could cause insurmountable damage to an organization. Blotted inventories, massive consumer defections, employee dissatisfaction and unnecessary cash drain. This damage can only be avoided with the construction of navigational dashboards indicating an abrupt course correction is required, now.
Dashboards are an integral warning system used to catch issues before damage is done but they are at best a warning system. When the warning light or alarm indicates an emergency, PEOPLE must act. They must quite the alarm, verify the emergency and have the ability to generate urgency from those who can make decisions. Damage control must be focused; What has/is happening? Why is it happening? What are we learning and Who should we tell? Answering these questions directs people to act, keeping their goal in mind and focusing on results not effort. Learning is the reward of following processes that lead us to a goal. Rewards that are ahead of damage control, that prompt employees to grasp urgency and take action, without waiting for management to take control. Organizations that achieve this state have created transparency of information leading to many informed decision makers not just a few.
Learning captured, transferred, and shared becomes the process by which future indicators can be built. Indicators are forever changing because problems occur that are immune to old dashboards. The alert sounded will seldom repeat itself. Speed helps everyone realize tomorrow is another sunrise never seen. The new day will not be yesterday nor will tomorrow be like today. The only road that will lead us there is a process capturing learning for immediate action.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
April 2009 Deep Insights
A perfect storm is an event that requires everyone to dig deep within themselves, to remain calm and calculating, to act for the moment while thinking of the future... Everyone’s challenge is to act today knowing tomorrow will require innovation not the tried and true ideas from yesterday.
Disruptive events cause reactive tactics that can alter landscapes if organizations are not watching the world that influences results. Organizations must build a process to identify and analyze tactics that others are executing for their survival. They must determine how those tactics may or may not alter their landscape and determine how best to lead not follow. In the past this activity was the responsibility of management, who watched local, regional, and national markets. But today globalization has created markets far beyond the old landscape. These markets must be observed. Obscure and not on anyone’s radar, entrepreneurial innovation is now in the air; no longer limited to the few but available to the many, wherever they have access to internet. Management will not be capable of gathering the intelligence necessary to analyze tactics to lead in a global race with the unknown. Consequently, organizations must become an army of intelligence gathering fanatics. They must share what they learn immediately and create new tactics to succeed today knowing success may only last a day.
To create an army of intelligence gathering fanatics’ organizations need to engage their workforce in both heart and mind. They will need participation by all. Organizations can begin by assigning parcels of their landscape to employees, teaching them methods to uncover the important data, mentoring them to find tactics influencing results, and drawing insights for tactics to lead the organization to its greatest height. Through this process organizations will be challenged to create an environment for people who seek ownership in theirs and others destiny. People who are willing to set aside time for continuous learning. People who have the courage to act without concrete data and the determination to trash yesterday’s tactics inventing a whole new strategy for present and future success.
Everyone must admit: experience is only of value to the extent that tomorrow will be like yesterday.
Disruptive events cause reactive tactics that can alter landscapes if organizations are not watching the world that influences results. Organizations must build a process to identify and analyze tactics that others are executing for their survival. They must determine how those tactics may or may not alter their landscape and determine how best to lead not follow. In the past this activity was the responsibility of management, who watched local, regional, and national markets. But today globalization has created markets far beyond the old landscape. These markets must be observed. Obscure and not on anyone’s radar, entrepreneurial innovation is now in the air; no longer limited to the few but available to the many, wherever they have access to internet. Management will not be capable of gathering the intelligence necessary to analyze tactics to lead in a global race with the unknown. Consequently, organizations must become an army of intelligence gathering fanatics. They must share what they learn immediately and create new tactics to succeed today knowing success may only last a day.
To create an army of intelligence gathering fanatics’ organizations need to engage their workforce in both heart and mind. They will need participation by all. Organizations can begin by assigning parcels of their landscape to employees, teaching them methods to uncover the important data, mentoring them to find tactics influencing results, and drawing insights for tactics to lead the organization to its greatest height. Through this process organizations will be challenged to create an environment for people who seek ownership in theirs and others destiny. People who are willing to set aside time for continuous learning. People who have the courage to act without concrete data and the determination to trash yesterday’s tactics inventing a whole new strategy for present and future success.
Everyone must admit: experience is only of value to the extent that tomorrow will be like yesterday.
Monday, March 23, 2009
March 2009 Deep Insights
Urgency is everyone’s best friend in turbulent environments. People are stripped of stalling tactics; they cannot discuss the subject long into the night, postpone the discussion seeking more information, or build a pilot program to test tactical theory. Forward thinking must be embraced to make decisions with the information at hand allocating resources, people to serve customers, and tactics to produce immediate results.
People who are students of urgency in turbulent environments have learned to initiate active waiting through dashboards giving immediate feedback. They watch components of the strategy that influence results, preparing audibles if necessary for the organization to follow on an as needed basis. They rise to this challenge by activating the minds of all personnel who are executing the plan. They build an army of flexible, insightful, and result orientated people who can deliver information to them and execute by calling audibles without hesitation. This process builds urgency into the life of active waiting processes; assisting minds to be alert to customer, component change, and their influence on strategy.
Organizations cannot assume tomorrow will be yesterday or today. They are faced with urgent challenges that surface from around the world, day and night, from rich and poor economies, free or enslaved peoples. Asia, South America, Africa, Europe, Canada are all competitors. The world has shrunk, competition has grown, information is free and instant partnerships are formed cross country borders to deliver products in a market where there is urgent need. What is one nation’s trash is another’s diamond. The internet has made small and nimble entrepreneurial people or companies, capable of building partnerships with team orientation to be big efficient and powerful marketers; “IT.” IT provides a consumer experience that is seamless, noteworthy and therefore marketable to customers on the internet driven by an urgent need to purchase. Customer desires are tracked on dashboards preparing IT to return with another product to meet new customer desires and the process begins again.
IT creates urgency, knows products are becoming universal, markets are global, and being there first is success. The urgency is “if you aren’t, IT will be.”
People who are students of urgency in turbulent environments have learned to initiate active waiting through dashboards giving immediate feedback. They watch components of the strategy that influence results, preparing audibles if necessary for the organization to follow on an as needed basis. They rise to this challenge by activating the minds of all personnel who are executing the plan. They build an army of flexible, insightful, and result orientated people who can deliver information to them and execute by calling audibles without hesitation. This process builds urgency into the life of active waiting processes; assisting minds to be alert to customer, component change, and their influence on strategy.
Organizations cannot assume tomorrow will be yesterday or today. They are faced with urgent challenges that surface from around the world, day and night, from rich and poor economies, free or enslaved peoples. Asia, South America, Africa, Europe, Canada are all competitors. The world has shrunk, competition has grown, information is free and instant partnerships are formed cross country borders to deliver products in a market where there is urgent need. What is one nation’s trash is another’s diamond. The internet has made small and nimble entrepreneurial people or companies, capable of building partnerships with team orientation to be big efficient and powerful marketers; “IT.” IT provides a consumer experience that is seamless, noteworthy and therefore marketable to customers on the internet driven by an urgent need to purchase. Customer desires are tracked on dashboards preparing IT to return with another product to meet new customer desires and the process begins again.
IT creates urgency, knows products are becoming universal, markets are global, and being there first is success. The urgency is “if you aren’t, IT will be.”
Thursday, February 19, 2009
February 2009 Deep Insights
An economic downturn is an opportunity to revisit strategy, tactics and more importantly people and their skills to be competitive in the present and future environment.
Too often organizations begin to scale down their workforce with little or no analysis. Cutbacks are determined as a percent of the total financial goal 1) People from mature product lines are selected for layoff or early retirement 2) Sales and marketing people from scaling product lines are selected at random for layoff and 3) Administrative personnel by function for layoff. Next, budgeting processes trim training expenditures in the same crisis mentality, if not being used to fix the current emergency the dollars are cut from the budget to meet financial goals. Crisis is the mental mode of day to day activities. What has been accomplished? The workforce is reduced, expenses are trimmed, and the organization can rest its war against scale down efforts ---- or can it?
As the survivors begin to take inventory of skills and redistribute workloads they recognize they cannot do everything. Activity cuts will have to occur challenging others to do more or do without. The survivors also find a lack of skills to execute strategy and tactics and are without a budget to train those who are going to be held responsible. When skilled resources have been trimmed a best use of survivors’ strategy takes over and coaching by those who know the most is implemented; the inefficiencies begin.
Coaches, who have limited skills, and little time, attempt to teach those who do not have the talent and in many cases are not interested in learning new skills. Quality begins to be sacrificed, “get ‘er done” reigns, and revenue slips behind the forecast for budgeted expenses. Management is challenged to correct the revenue shortage and determines the best course of action is to permit part time and vendor personnel to be part of the solution. Those best fit for these positions are often the “terminated pool.” They are hired as consultants or part time people. All is well until the organization realizes they are paying more for these services now then when the people were full time employees.
The solution to this economic downturn crisis model is to visit strategy and tactics; determine the skills required for execution efficiencies, locate the people with those skills and act accordingly when determining scale down, training budgets and necessary hires. Then implement a “hiring and wage freeze” to insure productivity and employment cost control. The organization will be rewarded with increased efficiency, commitment and loyalty. Revenue will remain consistent with the available market, expense control will flow from budgets, and the organization will be positioned for the next growth cycle.
Too often organizations begin to scale down their workforce with little or no analysis. Cutbacks are determined as a percent of the total financial goal 1) People from mature product lines are selected for layoff or early retirement 2) Sales and marketing people from scaling product lines are selected at random for layoff and 3) Administrative personnel by function for layoff. Next, budgeting processes trim training expenditures in the same crisis mentality, if not being used to fix the current emergency the dollars are cut from the budget to meet financial goals. Crisis is the mental mode of day to day activities. What has been accomplished? The workforce is reduced, expenses are trimmed, and the organization can rest its war against scale down efforts ---- or can it?
As the survivors begin to take inventory of skills and redistribute workloads they recognize they cannot do everything. Activity cuts will have to occur challenging others to do more or do without. The survivors also find a lack of skills to execute strategy and tactics and are without a budget to train those who are going to be held responsible. When skilled resources have been trimmed a best use of survivors’ strategy takes over and coaching by those who know the most is implemented; the inefficiencies begin.
Coaches, who have limited skills, and little time, attempt to teach those who do not have the talent and in many cases are not interested in learning new skills. Quality begins to be sacrificed, “get ‘er done” reigns, and revenue slips behind the forecast for budgeted expenses. Management is challenged to correct the revenue shortage and determines the best course of action is to permit part time and vendor personnel to be part of the solution. Those best fit for these positions are often the “terminated pool.” They are hired as consultants or part time people. All is well until the organization realizes they are paying more for these services now then when the people were full time employees.
The solution to this economic downturn crisis model is to visit strategy and tactics; determine the skills required for execution efficiencies, locate the people with those skills and act accordingly when determining scale down, training budgets and necessary hires. Then implement a “hiring and wage freeze” to insure productivity and employment cost control. The organization will be rewarded with increased efficiency, commitment and loyalty. Revenue will remain consistent with the available market, expense control will flow from budgets, and the organization will be positioned for the next growth cycle.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
January 2009 Deep Insights
Turbulent times will not last and halting all investments for learning and innovation leads to a stale environment. Survival belongs to organizations that use turbulence as an active waiting period strengthening their skills, their knowledge of processes to improve employee and customer loyalty, and balancing investments in both long and short term learning. They commit to being AMBIDEXTROUS working both ON and IN the business.
In uncertain times organizations begin examining budgets to reduce cash expenditures without a focus on the skills needed to succeed today and tomorrow. The argument is made to reduce all costs and limit learning to what people already know. The organization is in “survival mode,” weathering the current crisis. The danger in this thinking is that an organization cannot allow its employees to become numb or complacent. An organization must focus its employees on HOPE, through an organizational commitment to learning the skills necessary to compete in today’s turbulent market as well as in better times. Learning energizes organizations to live through the turbulent times knowing they will be stronger in the future.
Energy through learning drives enthusiasm. It reduces inefficiencies, improves organic growth and helps an organization to focus on the opportunities not the turbulence. History proves innovations are not made by persons who have become complacent, but by those who are actively living today to improve tomorrow. These organizations know that their products and services must meet the customer’s needs, even more in turbulent times, and are constantly striving to create innovations that will exceed expectations. The innovations may be small steps or large leaps but they improve performance for today and lay the foundation for tomorrow. They drive personnel to exceed their capabilities delivering results beyond strategic goals. They commit people to a vision of survival painting a better life for themselves, their customers and the organization.
Energy through learning and innovations yields returns for short and long term investments. The foundation is laid for optimum results in a turbulent market and architecture for growth strategy. An organization will view itself in a light of leading change, leading customer and employee loyalty, leading its industry in return on investment and will be capable of sustaining itself in turbulent or good times.
In uncertain times organizations begin examining budgets to reduce cash expenditures without a focus on the skills needed to succeed today and tomorrow. The argument is made to reduce all costs and limit learning to what people already know. The organization is in “survival mode,” weathering the current crisis. The danger in this thinking is that an organization cannot allow its employees to become numb or complacent. An organization must focus its employees on HOPE, through an organizational commitment to learning the skills necessary to compete in today’s turbulent market as well as in better times. Learning energizes organizations to live through the turbulent times knowing they will be stronger in the future.
Energy through learning drives enthusiasm. It reduces inefficiencies, improves organic growth and helps an organization to focus on the opportunities not the turbulence. History proves innovations are not made by persons who have become complacent, but by those who are actively living today to improve tomorrow. These organizations know that their products and services must meet the customer’s needs, even more in turbulent times, and are constantly striving to create innovations that will exceed expectations. The innovations may be small steps or large leaps but they improve performance for today and lay the foundation for tomorrow. They drive personnel to exceed their capabilities delivering results beyond strategic goals. They commit people to a vision of survival painting a better life for themselves, their customers and the organization.
Energy through learning and innovations yields returns for short and long term investments. The foundation is laid for optimum results in a turbulent market and architecture for growth strategy. An organization will view itself in a light of leading change, leading customer and employee loyalty, leading its industry in return on investment and will be capable of sustaining itself in turbulent or good times.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
November 2008 Deep Insights
Creating change is the secret to managing change.
Organizations facing crisis often allow momentum to slowly dissipate into a wait and see process. They choose to hang on to a failing plan (that may have taken months to produce) rather than change course or walk away. To these organizations, to walk away or change would be akin to failure, while staying the course is seen as determination. At this stage crisis looms and the organization is immobilized; everyone is simply hanging on. In fact, just the opposite is what activates adrenalin, stirs imagination and mobilizes people to take action. Leaders raise the bar for current performance by searching for markets that have been ignored. Leaders challenge how monies are spent by seeking more from less. Leaders evaluate personnel and leave those with little potential or value behind. Leaders prepare the organization for success by creating an environment where crisis is an opportunity. They push through the fear of failure, knowing change is the soul of hope.
The journey to creating and managing change begins with a series of questions about an organization’s reality. What is the state of affairs within our ecosystem? How will others influence our action? Are there partnerships that should be broken? Made? Adjusted? Continued? Who is our customer? How can we meet WHO’s needs? Do we have the skills to deliver an experience to WHO that exceeds their expectations? Are our physical assets capable of producing the desired results? Will our personnel adapt to WHO’s needs? Do they have the mental tenacity to adapt? Are they the future of our organization? These questions must be answered in an inclusive environment that permits individuals, groups and partners to embrace reality as it is today and to form a vision of what tomorrow can be, leading the organization’s change. Strategy is then developed in collaborative surroundings generating buy in and momentum for execution. Collective action will protect ecosystem members and lead to a shared value increase.
Creating change is determined by the resolve to constantly observe ones ecosystem dynamics.
Organizations facing crisis often allow momentum to slowly dissipate into a wait and see process. They choose to hang on to a failing plan (that may have taken months to produce) rather than change course or walk away. To these organizations, to walk away or change would be akin to failure, while staying the course is seen as determination. At this stage crisis looms and the organization is immobilized; everyone is simply hanging on. In fact, just the opposite is what activates adrenalin, stirs imagination and mobilizes people to take action. Leaders raise the bar for current performance by searching for markets that have been ignored. Leaders challenge how monies are spent by seeking more from less. Leaders evaluate personnel and leave those with little potential or value behind. Leaders prepare the organization for success by creating an environment where crisis is an opportunity. They push through the fear of failure, knowing change is the soul of hope.
The journey to creating and managing change begins with a series of questions about an organization’s reality. What is the state of affairs within our ecosystem? How will others influence our action? Are there partnerships that should be broken? Made? Adjusted? Continued? Who is our customer? How can we meet WHO’s needs? Do we have the skills to deliver an experience to WHO that exceeds their expectations? Are our physical assets capable of producing the desired results? Will our personnel adapt to WHO’s needs? Do they have the mental tenacity to adapt? Are they the future of our organization? These questions must be answered in an inclusive environment that permits individuals, groups and partners to embrace reality as it is today and to form a vision of what tomorrow can be, leading the organization’s change. Strategy is then developed in collaborative surroundings generating buy in and momentum for execution. Collective action will protect ecosystem members and lead to a shared value increase.
Creating change is determined by the resolve to constantly observe ones ecosystem dynamics.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
October 2008 Deep Insights
The Road Less Traveled:
CRITICS challenge the behavior of one, a few or many. They seldom participate in the creation of what they criticize and rarely propose alternative solutions or evidence to justify their criticism. Critics love anecdotal discussions that feed emotional responses. They lie in wait for decisions to be made, then appear. Critics avoid participation and position themselves to fend off accountability and ownership. Their right, as they see it, is to voice their thoughts, take exception and dispute the behavior of others. Critics avoid criticism; their goal is to stand alone.
COACHES on the other hand encourage people to adopt reality and are driven to find the facts and embrace them. Coaches challenge anecdotal information and expect specifics or simply toss the anecdotal data aside. They listen but are not influenced, they probe, and they help others uncover their illusions. A coach adopts a mental model that embraces the traits of others. This model uses strengths to build collaborative behavior, action and/or solutions. Coaches help people concentrate on their strengths even when performing under extreme circumstances. They understand building a high performance team requires making weaknesses irrelevant by using the strengths of all. Coaches construct a route with others that includes interventions along the way. These interventions or meetings help determine what has been positive and what has been negative. Coaches direct dialogue helping the team redeploy its strengths increasing the positive and negating the negative. The goal is for everyone to succeed.
COACHING is an art, built on participation that holds everyone accountable for holding everyone else accountable.
CRITICS challenge the behavior of one, a few or many. They seldom participate in the creation of what they criticize and rarely propose alternative solutions or evidence to justify their criticism. Critics love anecdotal discussions that feed emotional responses. They lie in wait for decisions to be made, then appear. Critics avoid participation and position themselves to fend off accountability and ownership. Their right, as they see it, is to voice their thoughts, take exception and dispute the behavior of others. Critics avoid criticism; their goal is to stand alone.
COACHES on the other hand encourage people to adopt reality and are driven to find the facts and embrace them. Coaches challenge anecdotal information and expect specifics or simply toss the anecdotal data aside. They listen but are not influenced, they probe, and they help others uncover their illusions. A coach adopts a mental model that embraces the traits of others. This model uses strengths to build collaborative behavior, action and/or solutions. Coaches help people concentrate on their strengths even when performing under extreme circumstances. They understand building a high performance team requires making weaknesses irrelevant by using the strengths of all. Coaches construct a route with others that includes interventions along the way. These interventions or meetings help determine what has been positive and what has been negative. Coaches direct dialogue helping the team redeploy its strengths increasing the positive and negating the negative. The goal is for everyone to succeed.
COACHING is an art, built on participation that holds everyone accountable for holding everyone else accountable.
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