Son, how about a quick game of chess?" my dad challenged. I had no idea how quick this game - and lesson was going to be. I was a senior in college. My dad barely had a high school education. Some how in my ignorance I confused education with experience (as far as chess goes). My dad for all intents and purposes was semi-pro material at the game. I took him up on the challenge.
I got to move first. “Why did you do that?” my dad inquired.
“I don’ know,” was my intelligent answer. He made his move. I made my second move.
“Why did you do that?” was my dad’s next question.
“Not sure, Dad. I guess partly because that chess piece can move that way,” I replied. The value of all my education and intelligence I was sensing was becoming more questionable. He made his move. This time to avoid his anticipated question on why I did what I did, I made my masterful move with one of the chess pieces from behind the front line. Surely this was going to throw him off and cause him to re-think whatever strategy he had going on.
“Why did you do that?” came the dreaded question. My response wasn’t a whole lot different than the other two. On his third and final move he had me in checkmate in less than 3 minutes! My dad had been in command of the board because he was playing strategically, and several steps ahead of me. I wasn’t. I was playing the game tactically - no real plan - just reacting.
Just reacting, that’s what a lot of businesses do today both large and small, start up or established. It’s amazing how many companies have no real plan. This is particularly characteristic of businesses whose ownership and management are constantly firefighting. In the end these folks burnout and their businesses stagnate, suffer in some way, or even fail. The leadership invests a disproportionate amount of their time, energy, and resources being in the business versus being on the business.
Then there are the companies that have an impressive looking leather bound strategic business plan that sits on the CEO’s mahogany credenza or in a drawer somewhere. The plan isn’t effectively implemented let alone a living and breathing document.
Here are some things to consider if your company demonstrates some of the above symptoms of being reactionary versus being pro-active or lack of proper focus.
o Get outside help. If developing a strategic plan were so easy, why don’t more companies have them? If they do have them, why is it often a challenge to get everyone in the company on the same page?
o Regularly review your plan through the use of a dashboard be it monthly or quarterly. Conduct a formal annual goals review with your leadership.
o Acquire a cost effective and proven evaluation instrument that measures corporate alignment with its goals, leadership effectiveness, and the overall health of your company. The ones with great value and validity are heavily researched and based on nationally acclaimed awards such as the Baldrige National Quality Program as identified by NIST.
o As you develop your plan as much as possible involve and get the investment of your people. Trust their intuition and value their opinions. If you can’t do that - then you've identified another challenge area.
o Change begins with its top leadership. So commit to change and embrace it. Good executive or corporate coaching is helpful here for effective implementation of your plan.
Due diligence in these areas will lend themselves to less firefighting, save you and your company an untold amount of resources, and improve your overall personal and company’s health.
David Libdan is President and Founder of Applied Resources and Knowledge - the leading regional performance and development company. Applied Resources and Knowledge is recognized and sought after by businesses for its results-oriented and customer focused processes.
In addition to operating a successful consulting and business coaching firm, David Libdan has owned other businesses for 15 years and possesses over a decade of experience in corporate sales, marketing and consulting. David Libdan is an active and much in demand speaker on the topics of change, system thinking, effective communication, and life balance. He is actively involved in local chambers of commerce and various professional organizations. His execution of results-oriented, innovative approaches enable clients to tap into their hidden potential and achieve outcomes once thought to be out of reach.
0 ความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น