Bigger = Slower?

So here I am watching Tom Peters speak to a group of business people that are attending his presentation because they all desire to see their business grow. One problem according to Tom - that may not be the right thing to focus on and often big companies often equate to bad companies.
Think about yourself - maybe you have put on a few pounds, maybe you are a "little" out of shape and surely as you have grown older you have discovered more aches and pains? Your bigger - so to speak, but you are hardly faster or more energetic. Same proves true in business - with growth often a business finds themselves losing some of their nimble moves and stamina, not to mention flexibility.
So the point would seem to be - focus on the right things, the fundamentals and not the flashy things. In history all empires seem to have grown to a point where they suddenly cannot get out of their own way, they experience a social and financial collapse and then they implode - sounds a little scary doesn't it?

Write it Down!

I was watching a show about Herodotus this weekend. Much of what we know about the ancient Greek world is seen through his lens. He was diligent about recording events and offering his interpretation of them - he wrote everything down. Not everything was spot on, not all of it was accurate, many criticized his viewpoint but still - he wrote it down.
Too often in business and especially sales there is not enough written down. Well of course there is no shortage of excel reports and forms but that is not really what I am talking about. If you are a CEO do you get sudden inspiration and ideas and then jot those down immediately, if you are a sales person do you document your success and your failures in a journal of some type.
When I think about putting all of your thoughts in writing I can't help but mention Rick Roberge. In his Blog he mentions everything that happens and willingly offers his perspective. I really enjoy watching events unfold through his lens and I know there are times when the mere process of documenting these situations helps him get his head around things.
The same is proven true for the belly to belly sales person as much as the high level CEO. Writing things down will help you get your head around things and provide a measurable way to improve your skills or your business!

Hey Diddle Diddle

So here we are - weeks since my last post and the news and outlook for this economy is worse than ever. More big banks have floundered and fell, AIG is in trouble for spending $500k on a trip to reward their sales people (who didn't sell by the way???), the Dow is below 9000 and the behemoth of GM is poised on the edge of bankruptcy.
Apparently all of these troubles were brewing under the surface for a long time and nobody saw this coming - imagine that! Could there be "huge problems" hidden beneath the surface in your organization? Wouldn't it be nice to expose them earlier, before they turn into a really big and unfixable mess.
I would imagine that if I could go back in time to speak to the CEO's of AIG, Bear Sterns, Wachovia or Lehman Brothers they would say "all set", "no problems", "I have a great team of people who know what they are doing" etc, etc. Of course they would have been wrong but therein lies the curiosity. All too often so called business leaders don't lead and have ulterior motives. Finding "problems" that need fixed will mean work and change for them - yuk!
It is rumored that emperor Nero started the great fire of Rome and played his lyre while it burned. Don't know if that is true but it would make sense knowing what we know about Nero. The fire made room for a new Palace and gave him an opportunity to frame the Christians for the disaster (and then persecute them) as well as ridding the city of slums and many of the poor.
In our modern situation I think we all know that the "fire" could parallel this economic melt down - I haven't worked out who Nero is yet, but I am sure he is out there somewhere playing a fiddle.

Always Inspect Growth

So it has been a rough week - economically speaking, for the U.S markets. Interesting that we saw the government respond with the bail out yet another company; AIG. I couldn't help thinking that although many customers of AIG are probably comforted by the bail out - would I want to do business or invest with a company that allowed itself to end up in this position? In fact would I want to do business with any of the companies that have required such massive help? What does their ending up there say about them?
A CEO that I know - when facing some financial hardships said, "we will just sell our way out of it" - what a concept, imagine if AIG, Bear Sterns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Lehman Brothers had that same philosophy, what would have been different?
Well first of all they would have been watching the sales numbers, the accuracy of forecast, inspecting what they expected and holding people accountable. If the numbers couldn't support the losses then they would have been driving, mentoring, motivating and coaching their people to counter act the problems - yes they would have "sold their way out of it".
Instead - we have what we saw this week. If in my years as a sales manager I had even for one month done as poorly as these CEO's did for months at a time I probably would have been asked to leave - or before that happened my own pride would have caused me to quit!

Wall Street Blues or Wall Street Bull?

The news yesterday included some troubling facts about the economy - 3 formidable "giants" had been bought out, bankrupted or made people aware of some major struggles they were facing. The Dow and the NASDAQ reflected this by having one of the worst days in decades. As I watch the news this morning - the world is following suite with awful trading and horrible numbers. Do you think we are in a down economy?
When you look at financial "crashes" in the past it becomes clear that they are usually a result of investors putting too much faith in one segment. That was true in the late 20's when people jumped off buildings, it was true when the Irish economy crashed and the potato famine followed and it was true when these companies decided to jump on the real estate band wagon.
Any Lessons? Well I am not an economist but one thing I notice is how - to quote Mike Douglas in the movie Wall Street - there is "no skin in the game". Right up to the final hour everyone still receives their fat salaries and the investors and even the public are left holding the bag. In my line of work if I know my numbers are not where I want them I work harder and if I don't hit them I make less - why should that be any different on Wall Street. I don't get it.

Experience - How Important?

There is so much talk about "experience" during these elections that I thought we should take a look back at the importance of experience. Abraham Lincoln was one of the most inexperienced Presidents that ever governed the United States - and he did so during one of the most tumultuous times in its history. Now, in retrospect, people think of him as one of the greatest leaders and his vision sits cast in stone at the Lincoln Memorial.
When the colonies were forming the United States King George and his cronies laughed about their ability to form and manage a country - why? No Experience in Governing. The constitution and Declaration of independence clearly reflect that "young and inexperienced spirit" in their language and tone. Experience is not listed as a qualification to be President.
So in light of the somewhat amateur political bent and history, why this obsession with experience. Because it makes people feel safe, comfortable and as though they know what to expect? All reasons that history has shown to be false to some degree.
The business world is no different - Executive Bios are full of "history" and "experience". When companies search for help they often limit themselves and tie their peoples hands by requiring "experience within our industry". This is especially critical when you look to hire sales people because often "sales ability" cannot be taught but the "industry lingo and processes" can be.
Instead of focusing on Experience- most companies would do well to look at Character, Natural Ability and Weaknesses as they make a hiring decision.
Experience is often a synonym for "baggage" and it comes at a heavy price financially. Imagine you are often paying more to get that - does that make you feel comfortable and safe?

Have Fun & Get it Done.

Jamaica - a tiny country that usually conjours up images of dreadlocks, reggae, rum and beaches but certainly not Olympic Champions. However for the past few days we have seen the Jamaican men and women pretty much dominate the 100 meters to the 400 meters. One of the things that you can't help noticing is how relaxed and how much fun this particular group of athletes are having - all the others seem very focused both before and during the race - maybe a little too focused?
I am definitely not an athlete myself so this is nothing more than my opinion, however the Jamaican team appear to have mastered the fine line between having fun and getting it done. The commentator last night was talking about Mr. Bolt - who just broke the world record by a substantial margin - as not having good form, making many mistakes on his take off and not staying 100% in the race right through the finish line, then he added - Imagine if he had.
Well maybe if he had focused on those things he would have been as worried about those things as his competitors were and maybe then he would not have won as easily or at all.
Sometimes sales people get so focused on technique, organization, what to say and presenting that they cannot simply relax and enjoy the conversations they are having with their prospects, they get a little too focused. The best sales people are able to relax and be themselves letting all of their training and natural ability come to the fore in the heat of competition. They simply have fun and get it done!

Going for Gold - Execution

Like so many others I have been up too late these days watching portions of the Olympics. There are of course certain events that are more interesting to me than others, but as a whole the entire competition is fascinating. There are a number of posts that will be coming out of these events so here is my first.

Last night was a night of contrasts - on one hand the US Swimmers totally dominated their events and were breaking new records in almost every contest. On the other hand, the US ladies Gymnastics team struggled with execution. It was pretty common to hear " they have done that hundreds of time in practice but...."

So I guess what is interesting is how the tension and stress of competition at this level can both bring out a surpassing of expectations and for lack of a better word - failure. History too is full of examples of those with grandiose plans and ideas that went nowhere or failed miserably when it came to execution - the Armada, the Titanic, the Hindenburg for example.

In the book "Execution" Larry Bossidy lists the question "can we execute this?" as a vital step for every strategic plan. Too often business leaders and sales people both fall victim to wishful thinking - I want this to work - nice but certainly not enough to capture the gold. When times get tough will your team get better under pressure or will they crack. Wouldn't it be nice to know the answer to that before you get to the Olympics?

Magna your Carta

I am always amazed when I speak with someone and they start to talk about what they are doing and how instead of the why they are doing it and is it working? My questions are usually intended to uncover the latter - and I am pretty direct - yet many of the executives or entrepeneurs I speak with try to skirt around those answers and prefer to discuss the details that they are most comfortable with. These are usually centered around numbers or activity descriptions and not around the real reasons that some of their problems exist.
When King John 1st found himself being forced into signing the Magna Carta the situation was similar. He had what he believed to be an understanding of the problem and a clear solution that was the exact opposite of the problem. How many times have you found out only after executing a strategy that it was the wrong strategy?
Look at it this way - when you shy away from tough penetrating questions that someone else is asking, how will you respond when you are asking them to yourself? Answer - the questions will not be as tough and your answers will not be as honest!

Picking up Steam

I really enjoyed hearing Scott Zimmerman speak earlier this week. He provided some really useful tips that involved getting an understanding of where our clients were coming from, how they processed information and made decisions that I know will be helpful to anyone, especially me, that attended.
All too often in sales and business in general we are trying to push things along and expecting the customer, the prospect and the market to respond as we would - in reality however not everyone is like us at all and this means that our pushing - regardless of how it manifests itself - will be like fingernails on a blackboard.
My friend Rick and I were discussing how we could both apply some of what Scott shared and there is no doubt that it will be difficult, but the idea of trying something new and watching it work or fail always excites the true entrepreneur.
when James Watts invented the steam engine it started with him making a cup of tea and watching the pressure exerted as the kettle boiled - a new way of doing things was born! If your business or sales needs some improvement - try changing something and start by looking at things differently to discover what to change. You never know how or what it will take to cause you to pick up steam.

A tale of Two Cities

As I was watching the news yesterday I noticed someone being interviewed and realized I knew the person. It was Michael Coughlin - now the town manager in a town called Westport here in Massachusetts. I knew Mike many years ago when he was the town manager in Southbridge - another town in Massachusetts.
Mike was being interviewed because once again his progressive policies and leadership are helping both the town of Westport as well the people living there. It seems as if everyone there appreciates his work and what he has done for the town over the years.
When Mike was in Southbridge things were far different - he had created some huge changes and the town was looking better than ever, he had cleaned things up and the town was moving in the right direction. For myself he was a breath of fresh air and I even found myself thinking that this might be a town I could live in - but that didn't last. All the other town selectmen were determined to get Mike out - he was making too much (not true) he was turning the town into Wellesley (not possible) and he was not the right man for the job (not from the evidence) But they squawked and complained and grumbled and fought and bellyached until Mike had finally had enough and moved on to a town where his talents would be appreciated - and they were!
Pericles tried to bring change to Athens thousands of years ago and faced similar challenges. Although the Athenians realized the changes were for the better they resisted. Human nature I guess. In their case Pericles was successful and ushered in the golden age of Athens - not so for Southbridge.
I drove through Southbridge the other day (and I visit a lot of towns in the state) what a mess. The town just looks dirty and old, depressed and gloomy - hopeless. All the decent people I know have been trying to move away. I cant blame them. All of the "cool" and "trendy" places that were opening when Mike was there have closed and been replaced by more of the same. The schools are rated very low, the taxes are very high, the roads are bad etc etc. I feel bad that the leadership and people of Southbridge couldn't handle the change and were so jealous and resistant to it. I hope they feel some responsibility for the sorry state of things now but my guess is when they read this they will say "not true" or "things aren't bad" or "he doesn't know what he is talking about" -My response is this - but they are, your right things are probably worse than this and I most certainly do!

Make your own Map.

I was speaking with a business owner last week and like many these days he was discouraged by the state of the economy. In the course of conversation he made a statement that baffled me " I just think gas prices need to come down so that my business can take off again" - Gas Prices? Now I admit that some business people have been harder hit by the increase in fuel than others but be assured that this gentleman's company is not in that category. Even if it were in that category the great business leader, rather than blame some intangible, finds a way to work around or even turns that into an advantage if possible.
When a President or CEO, Business Owner or Entrepreneur directs his company based on an idea that is not accurate, just a false premise or figment of his imagination where will he end up. If the road map is wrong how can anyone follow it successfully?
In the heydays of Exploration when the "new world" had been discovered - there were hundreds of maps floating around based quite often purely on someone else's imagination. Many explorers went off in search of these fictional locations, countries and riches only to perish. Others realized that they couldn't be trusted and decided to make their own maps that they could trust and felt safer relying on their instincts than on some unverifiable map. Francis Drake circled the globe successfully using this principle. Often as a business leader you are better off making your own map and relying on your instincts as well!