Have You Experienced Your Own Company Lately?

Note: This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive!

This week’s focus: experiencing your own company

How can you accelerate growth if you firewall yourself and your company off from those who want to reach you?

• Don’t you just love the voicemail systems that have just about every option in the galaxy but the one you want–to speak to another human being about a problem that isn’t on the menu? Would you like to hear our menu again? And, again?
• Just this week, I overheard a receptionist at a multi-billion company refuse to put a call through to an executive when the caller was unable to provide a specific name. I’m sure she’s just following orders but really? Is she a receptionist or in the call prevention business?
• When I asked the CEO to call his start-up company’s phone number last week, he learned that the receptionist puts his callers into a directory system wherein callers would have to enter his correct name on their keypad to match a listing in a directory to find a his voicemail box so they can leave him a message. Sounds like fun, right? People who need to reach him call him on his cell. Yet, his business card provides a company phone number that is the equivalent of a black hole. He didn’t know what dysfunction someone might encounter.
• Have you ever tried to speak to a human at Google about a problem? Good luck with that! Google doesn’t want to interact with customers or prospects. I asked a question of a sales guy who knows me and he merely gave me a URL to answer my question. And, what happens if your question isn’t covered in the Frequently Asked Questions section? What if you don’t know what the right keywords are to find assistance? It must not be that important.

The Japanese employ the concept of “gemba” which means “go to where the work is.” To me, this means understanding what happens when customers, employees, stakeholders, suppliers try to interact with your company.

Only by doing this can you be certain of what’s happening on the other side of the transaction.

Thought for the week:

“Do not waste a minute living someone else’s dream.” - Michelle Obama

What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting
http://www.gardnerandassoc.com
© 2013 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe. Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

American Airlines Social Media Rocks!

Note: This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive!

This week’s focus: social media

I had to fly from Silicon Valley to Austin this past week and decided to:

• Fly American Airlines for the first time in a few years (other airlines currently offer non-stops on this popular route that American pioneered back in the early 1980’s)
• Use American’s mobile app for check-in, boarding passes and getting through security

I was really disappointed in the Android mobile app. I needed to get paper boarding passes for 3 of the 4 flights as I could not retrieve them via the mobile app. I did manage to get through security both times using the mobile app–it could have been a disaster to be sent back to the ticket counter to get a boarding pass!

I knew this result wasn’t up to American’s standards and wanted to speak to an executive about my experience. I believed that my insights could help them improve a situation I was convinced they weren’t aware of. I won’t bore you with all the details, but, here’s an executive overview:

• I emailed customer relations who put me in touch with the web services team within one hour. Great!
• The web services team told me I needed to speak to the third-party developer of the mobile app and gave me a phone number to call. This wasn’t what I wanted and I find it impossible to believe American would want me to speak with their technology vendor. I called as instructed. When AppleCare answered the phone, we both got a quite a chuckle as I knew Apple hadn’t built the Android mobile app on my Motorola Droid 4 phone.
• I was then told to call the travel desk. I was given the main phone number for American. I tried 3 times and was never able to connect with a human being via their automated call system–hello?
• I sent a Tweet: @AmericanAir I’ve invested nearly an hour to try to reach a human today to provide feedback about your Android mobile app…no success.

The social media team reached out to me within minutes. I provided more detail and my contact information. Within an hour or so, the gentleman responsible for the Android mobile app called me and I was able to give him information about my mobile experience. He learned about issues he was completely unaware of. He was very appreciative for my insights. I am confident my input is going to help them get closure on these issues. I’ll be watching and listening. And, now I know how to follow-up with him should I have issues in the future.

There is good news here. One, I was able to accomplish my mission to help American Airlines learn about usability issues with its Android mobile app and two, American Airlines restored my faith in them via their social media team who really shined! The social media team rapidly connected me to the right person and got that person to call me the same day.

There are lots of lessons in this short piece IF American chooses to go through this blog post carefully. Perhaps the social media team will help by making sure the executive in charge of customer experience sees this. Frankly, it would have been a lot easier for me to just give up on this issue, but, that’s not what I am all about.

For my readers, I ask you to consider do you really know what it’s like to contact your company should a customer have an issue? It is easy? Or, hard? If it’s hard, it will be hard for your company to thrive.

Thought for the week:

“Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.” — Marilyn vos Savant

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What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2013 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Big Company Syndrome

Note: This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive!

This week’s focus: big company syndrome

You know your company is plagued with big company syndrome when:

1. There is little or no sense of urgency.
2. The smallest unit of time is 1 year.
3. If it can’t be done in a year, allow 2 years or maybe 3.
4. There is always next week, next quarter, next year, next decade.
5. Incrementalism is favored over actions that move the needle for the business.
6. You study, analyze, and ponder for years without solving well-known problems.
7. You invest huge amounts of capital on information technology to solve a problem that no one can articulate well.
8. You are more concerned about getting to a perfect solution than rapidly implementing a solution that might be “good enough.”
9. Decisions can only be made at the highest levels of management.
10. People have little faith that their ideas are valued when senior management consistently overturns the recommendations of people on the front lines.
11. Your people think they are part of a team with well-defined roles, responsibilities and accountabilities for each member when, in reality, they are part of a committee with poorly defined roles, responsibilities and accountabilities. [What if a professional baseball or football team played like a committee rather than a team?]
12. Smaller, more agile competitors are running circles around you but you believe they’ll ever be a threat.
13. Your leadership is internally-focused with a passion for revenues, margins, market share, stock price and continually fixing what is wrong about the business but has no real passion for the business they are in, e.g., the products, the customers, driving innovation, etc.
14. Employees and customers feel as though they are treated with indifference.
15. Employees are risk-averse and cling to the status quo.

I don’t see how a company suffering from big company syndrome can thrive. Do you?

Thought for the week:

 ”There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit at the typewriter and bleed.” – Ernest Hemingway

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What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2013 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Are You Focused On Urgent or Important Matters?

Note: This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive!

This week’s focus: business execution

How many business owners or department heads are bogged down with urgent, short-term issues while neglecting important, strategic issues? A show of hands, please.

If there is no operational framework for a business or department, leadership will be reactive to the problems and issues that arise. It makes the company people dependent rather than process dependent to not have the “this is how we do it here” all figured out.

Without an appropriate operational infrastructure, there will be ad hoc solutions for every project and with every team. That’s not the formula for great business execution.

For operational infrastructure to be valuable, it has to:

• be tailored, lean and highly responsive
• provide a clear message that “this is how we do this here”
• support the essential needs of the business without being overly burdening
• provide execution control to monitor progress and support collaboration within the team and externally with partners and customers
• be at an investment level that offers a solid return-on-investment
• add demonstrable value.

Taking action to ensure your operations infrastructure is adding value is key to thriving.

[Note: Read my entire Fast Company article here.]

Thought for the week:

“There are no right answers to wrong questions.” - Ursula K. Le Guin 

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What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2013 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

When Preparation Meets Opportunity

Note: This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive!

This week’s focus: when preparation meets opportunity

My good friend and colleague, Chad Barr, shared a video depicting the wonderful pianist/vocalist Billy Joel working with a class at Vanderbilt University. A student, Michael Pollack (after offering a brief statement about his musical “chops”) asks if he can accompany Billy Joel on one Michael’s favorite Billy Joel tunes, “New York State of Mind.” After a second or 2, Billy Joel simply responds, “Okay.” Here’s the video:

I hope you took a few minutes to watch it.

This video depicts what happens when preparation meets opportunity. You get one take. You rise to the occasion or suffer a crueler fate. Musicians do it. EMTs do it. Firefighters, doctors, Olympics athletes all do it.

When your number is called, you’re on stage and ready to go with a moments notice. You may have prepared for months or years. You are in the moment and not just playing the piano but putting on a show for an audience. One take. No “do-overs.” And, what a show that video depicts.

Yet, when you consider the auditions for a show like American Idol, thousands and thousands are whittled down to 20 in a relative heart beat. For 99.9%, preparation did not meet opportunity. And, that’s not how you thrive.

Thought for the week:

 ”Do yourself a favor and take a risk this week. You may be surprised what happens when you abandon the comfort zone and embrace the adventure.” – Hal Croasmun

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What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2013 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Business Execution Personified

The Top Secret Drum Corp video below personifies excellence in business execution. Enjoy!

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting
http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

Marrisa Mayer Earns $1.1M Bonus

Here is the news reported yesterday in nbcnews.com:

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer received a $1.1 million bonus for her first five-and-half months running the Internet company, during which time the company’s stock gained 46 percent…

The 37-year-old Mayer is eligible for an annual bonus of up to $2 million. Yahoo adjusted last year’s bonus to reflect that Mayer spent less than half the year as CEO.

I’m really happy for her.

She is taking action, challenging and changing the status quo, making tough decisions, and restoring shareholder confidence.  She is leading Yahoo out of the abyss.

This is what leaders and change agents do. I continue to wish her and her team well.

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting
http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2013 Dave Gardner

Manufactured Crises

Note: This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive!

This week’s focus: manufactured crises

When the Sequester occurred on Friday, we heard the media share all the things that would be negatively impacted in our lives. Barack Obama and his cabinet heads were particularly vocal about the “major impacts” ahead.

For example, tax returns may be processed slower, there will be fewer TSA folks at the airport, air traffic controllers will be laid off at airports without commercial flights, defense contractors will be impacted, the Blue Angels won’t be able to fly, an aircraft carrier may need to stay in port, etc. Golly.

The Sequester’s impact on Federal spending is an across the board 2% reduction totaling $85 billion. Corporations know a 2% cut will cause inconvenience but not major disruptions or dislocation of services or support. We’ve heard little from any of the industries impacted. Why? Because there isn’t a crisis ahead. This is a speed bump and a not a very big one at that. This was a manufactured crisis.

Companies face bigger crises everyday via margin leaks that erode 2% or more of their profits. These crises are the result of business execution inefficiencies that haven’t been addressed appropriately, new initiatives with unclear outcomes, customer experiences that leave customers treated with indifference, and leadership continually distracted addressing failure work instead of strategic issues to support growth.

We have to be careful about which “crises” we pay attention to so as to not be distracted from those things that are really important in our businesses. This is the key to thriving.

Thought for the week:

3 Simple Rules

• If you do not GO after what you want, you’ll never have it.
• If you do not ASK, the answer will always be NO.
• If you don’t step FORWARD, you’ll always be in the same place.

- Dave’s Words of Wisdom, UK

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What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

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Recent Blog Posts That May Interest You

• Being Homeless Is Not A Crime
• Marrisa Mayer Orders Telecommuters To The Office

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2013 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Marissa Mayer Orders Telecommuters To The Office

There’s been a huge outcry–mostly negative–about Marisa Mayer, Yahoo’s CEO, ordering telecommuters to the office by the first of June.

Most of what I read is missing the critical point that Yahoo must do this due to a failure of leadership, a failure of management to hold telecommuters accountable for adding value to the business.

I’m certain most would agree that morale at Yahoo the past 10 years has been pretty abysmal. There’s not been a lot for employees or investors to get excited about. The trend line has been down. There’s been substantial turnover in key executive leadership.

When morale is low, low productivity follows.

Many reports suggest that employees who work from home are highly productive and even more productive than employees who are in the office everyday. I can’t argue with that point. But, telecommuters have to be managed. Anecdotes I’ve read in the media about Yahoo suggest that leadership and oversight has largely been absent.

Does Yahoo’s decision portend the death of telecommuting? Absolutely not. It is simply a step necessary to get Yahoo operating together. Surely, this will be disruptive to some employees and their families. Some will leave the company because of this. And, that might be a good thing. I’m sure some accommodation will be made for some employees. And, once the company is banging on all cylinders again, telecommuting may again be granted as a privilege to some.

As Ronald Reagan taught us, “Trust but verify.” If you don’t hold people accountable, you run the potential of ending up in a very dark place.

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting
http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2013 Dave Gardner

Slow speed and poor execution are killers

Note: This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive!

This week’s focus: business execution

It is said “speed kills.” In business, lack of speed combined with poor execution is a killer.

When a company is terribly late getting to the marketplace, it better be much more than a “me, too” product.

Example: Has any tablet manufacturer even come close to approaching the demand or appeal of Apple’s iPad? No. Yet, it’s out in plain sight for all to behold and reimagine. Yet, nearly 3 years after its launch, it is by far, the preferred tablet in the marketplace.

When HP came out with its WebOS tablet, not only was it late to market, it was a brick with poor performance and lacked the ecosystem iPad owners enjoy. HP killed the product 30 days after launch further tarnishing its brand. Lack of speed combined with poor business execution makes this a case study for years to come in business schools.

I’ve often said no product is better than a bad product. If a product isn’t ready for the marketplace or won’t captivate your customers, why bother? It won’t help you or your company thrive.

Thought for the week:

“We’re drowning in information and starving for knowledge.” -Rutherford D. Rogers

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What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2012 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Turbocharging Your Business

Note: This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive!

This week’s focus: turbocharge your business

“A GREAT mentor is somebody who has an extraordinary hopefulness for you because they know how much more is possible. They want you to fulfill your destiny path, within your own life. They want to help you discover and reprogram your actions. A GREAT mentor is somebody who has a very clinical, critical, transactional and empirical understanding, and the ability to really see what YOU can be in many dimensions.” – Jay Abraham

I first met Jay at his Consultant’s Bootcamp in January 1993. There is rarely a day that goes by that I don’t think of Jay’s work and his influence on me. My clients benefit from the value Jay expresses so very well above.

Just before Thanksgiving, I began working with a new client. My expertise and its application offer the potential to double or triple my client’s revenues in the next 18-24 months, removing a limitation that has capped revenue growth in his business for some 20 years. How is this possible? By simplifying the complex for his highly-configurable products and by reframing the value he offers from a customer’s perspective.

My client’s business is going to thrive. Who wants to be next?

Thought for the week:

“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.” – Bill Cosby

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What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2013 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Closing business execution gaps

Note: This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive!

This week’s focus: business execution

There are so many things that we take for granted:

• Being able to pay with a credit card
• A light coming on when we flip the switch
• Being able to flush a toilet and have running water to wash our hands
• Traffic signals never putting vehicles on a collision course
• Aircraft not colliding in the skies

Yet there are many things that don’t happen as we had expected in our businesses:

• Delivering a fantastic customer experience across all touch points in your business
• Getting new products into the marketplace on time that “wow” customers
• Deploying new IT systems on time and within budget that are widely and rapidly adopted by those who rely on those systems to get their work done
• Aligning resources with demand (people, inventory, supplies, etc.)
• Meeting financial goals for revenues and/or profitability
• Ensuring that people do what is expected of them–even when we aren’t watching

The first grouping’s success occurs as a result of superb business execution. The second grouping’s success is far less predictable.

What actions do you and your business need to take to ensure your business execution is as superb for the second grouping as the first?

Thought for the week:

“Live dangerously; takes things as they come; dread naught, all will be well.” – Sir Winston Churchill 1932

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What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2012 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Assessing The Current State of Business Execution & Collaboration

Note: This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive!

This week’s focus: business execution

As a business owner or department head, you undoubtedly think you know about everything going on. And, for the most part, you probably have a pretty good handle on the important matters. But, do you know everything that you need to know? Probably not.

The best practice is to have an independent, third-party conduct an assessment to help you better understand where things stand.

• Your team members will say things to an independent third-party that they would be reluctant or hesitant to say to you.
• You’ll get confirmation on things you may suspect are issues and you’ll likely learn some new things.

Whether your business has suffered a downturn and reduced headcount or you’ve grown in recent months or years, it’s critical that you take some time to figure out where you stand.

Your team will really appreciate the opportunity to provide feedback. This is a great, first step in turbocharging your business execution as it helps identify the logical and critical next-steps. This will help you and your company thrive.

Thought for the week:

“Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

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What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2012 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

3 Key Business Execution Military Lessons

Note: This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive!

This week’s focus: business execution

Speaking at Dreamforce 2012 in San Francisco, Jeff Immelt, Chairman and CEO of GE, offered 3 key things he’s learned from military:

• be purposeful
• always work on what’s important
• adaptability

These 3 things will help you and your company thrive.

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I’m delighted to introduce our new Business Execution Turbocharge. Read about it here.

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Thought for the week:

“Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.” - Steve Jobs

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What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2012 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

A business is more than what it does

Note: This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” which is offered to help companies thrive!

This week’s focus: business execution

In the business world, “growing pains” describes inefficiencies that creep into a business over time until such a point when the cumulative effects are quite debilitating.

During the past 4 years, many businesses have downsized and, due to revenue declines and limited budgets, needed action to optimize their systems and processes around new, lower revenue levels and lower staffing levels has been deferred.

These companies are doing more with fewer resources with great pain, pretty much driving those who remain at the company nuts. The employees are chronically overtaxed, highly stressed and waiting to flee the company in search of a new opportunity just as soon as they can.

A business is more than what it does. For a business to be “in business,” it must have systems and processes that eliminate people dependencies and allow new people to join the organization and make a positive impact in short order. This allows for greater agility and speed. It allows for growth or contraction.

Does a business have to be brought to its knees from a business execution standpoint before action can be taken? Absolutely not. My best clients proactively engage with me to look at these issues.

[Note: Read the entire blog post here.]

Thought for the week:

“Consumers choose when, where, how and if they engage with brands.” – Karen Quintos, Dell CMO

What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2012 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Is Your Business Suffering Growing Pains?

A Canadian colleague, Rich Martin, used the expression “growing pains” during a conversation we had recently. I had not heard that expression in a number of years. In the business world, “growing pains” usually describes inefficiencies that creep into a business over time until such a point when the cumulative effects are quite debilitating.

For example, let’s look at the Boeing commercial aircraft division back in the 1990′s. Boeing’s processes hit the wall when annual unit volume hit 600 commercial aircraft. During a 90-day period, Boeing had to stop production and carefully audit the completion status of each plane as it was no longer clear what manufacturing processes had been completed and which remained. It was a huge embarrassment for the company, caused late delivery of aircraft and a revenue disruption which impacted Boeing stock price. This set-back came just as Airbus was beginning to take market share from Boeing. It was a very costly and humbling stumble for Boeing.

Growing pains are almost expected to occur at different revenue plateaus in a business’s evolution. High-tech companies have traditionally considered those plateaus being a “natural occurrence” at the $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $200 and $500 million dollar revenue levels and again at the $1 billion dollar revenue level. Companies that enjoyed levels of success relatively rapidly never operationally planned for their success making “hitting the wall” all the more predictable and harsh when it occurs. Consider the Boeing example above.

During the past 4 years, many businesses have downsized and, due to revenue declines and limited budgets, needed action to optimize their systems and processes around new, lower revenue levels and lower staffing levels has been deferred. These companies are doing more with fewer resources with great pain, pretty much driving those who remain at the company nuts. The employees are chronically overtaxed, highly stressed and waiting to flee the company in search of a new opportunity just as soon as they can.

A lot of smaller businesses, however, never took the time to figure out what they needed from a process standpoint to efficiently run today’s business as well as tomorrow’s business. The owner took the lead and created jobs for himself/herself and others but left a business largely dependent on him or her. This imposes severe limitations if there is an opportunity to rapidly expand the business. When it comes to time to sell those businesses, there’s not much in place that is attractive to a potential buyer in terms of residual value and business upside undermining years of hard work and goodwill built over the years.

A business is more than what it does. For a business to be “in business,” it must have systems and processes that eliminate people dependencies and allow new people to join the organization and make a positive impact in short order. This allows for greater agility and speed. It allows for growth or contraction. And, it’s what makes a business far more valuable should the owner decide to retire or sell.

Does a business have to be brought to its knees from a business execution standpoint before action can be taken? Absolutely not. My best clients proactively engage with me to look at these issues.

Dave Gardner Gardner & Associates Consulting http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2012 Dave Gardner

Four Seasons leadership rocks!

Note: This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” which is offered to help companies thrive!

This week’s focus: business execution

I love it when I’m invited to an event at any Four Seasons.  In Silicon Valley, we’ve had our own Four Seasons in East Palo Alto since 2006.

This past week, I  reached out to the head of HR at the Four Seasons to understand how they are able to deploy such a remarkable team and provide such an incredible customer experience time and time again.  [Note: As I didn't tell the head of HR that I was interviewing her for an article (because I wasn't), I'm not going to share the details of my conversation. ]

However, I do want to share what happened as, it too, illustrates how the Four Seasons is able to create such a remarkable customer experience.

• I called the hotel and simply asked to speak with the head of HR.  I was informed of her name and immediately transferred.
• When a woman answered the phone, I simply told her my name, that I was a management consultant, and informed her who I wanted to speak with. Her response was something like, “One moment please,” and I was immediately transferred. I wasn’t interrogated about why I was calling. No blocking, no tackling, no running interference. I didn’t have to leave my phone number for a call back later. My request was fulfilled on the spot.
• The woman I was transferred to answered her phone and we had an absolutely delightful, no-holds-barred conversation. I didn’t get her voice mail and the ensuing opportunity to leave a message–I got right through.

How often does this happen in today’s business world?  Almost never. It is so refreshing that I feel compelled to write about it.

I want to compliment the Four Seasons for superb execution on something this simple. It could have taken days to accomplish what transpired in seconds. But, it didn’t. And, the Four Seasons has created another “Wow” for me.

Are you and your company this easy to do business with?  If you are, rest assured you’ll be a stand out in your marketplace. And, if you’re not, you’ll stand out for all the wrong reasons.

Thought for the week:

“The poor, the unsuccessful, the unhappy, the unhealthy are the ones who use the word tomorrow the most.” – Robert Kiyosaki

What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

___

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2012 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Is your business people dependent or process and system dependent?

Keeping track of projects, meetings, tasks and conversations without appropriate tools and technologies can be a nightmare. You can either stand tall or spend your life endlessly chasing details, missing appointments, suffer poor business execution and lose information buried in emails that everyone on the team can benefit from.

The challenges collaborating with others within your company and even people outside your company can ultimately undermine your effectiveness and efficiencies.

Quite simply, you are either process and system dependent or people dependent. If you’re process and system dependent, please stop reading now. If you are people dependent, read on.

You may be getting business done today but lack process coherency, communication and efficiencies that you can gain by having processes and systems that align well with your individualized needs. And, as your business grows and evolves, will your processes be robust enough to support your business?

Here are some important questions:

• What if there was a way to implement a technology platform that reflects the way you and your team actually need to work rather than adapting the way you work to a tool that only partially addresses your team’s needs?
• What if these tools and processes not only worked well within your company but allowed you to invite people external to your organization to participate and collaborate with you?
• What if these tools and processes could be customized or personalized for individual teams or work groups without having to go to I.T. for assistance?
• What if this tool cut down on email interactions yet allowed for group interaction easily and transparently?
• What if this tool could allow you to link specific documents to tasks, work groups, deliverables, etc., using a myriad of different document repositories?
• What if these tools and processes allowed you and your team to execute with much greater precision?
• What if these tools and processes ensured you could determine the status of issues that are pertinent to you or your team in just seconds?
• What if these tools and processes could be implemented within a few days, not weeks, months or years?
• What if these tools and processes required a minimal technology investment?

At this point, I hope I have your attention. A typical project follows this sequence:

1. Identification of business process needs and priorities.
2. Define work spaces and specialized applications to support the teams that will be using the work spaces.
3. We sit with your team, get an understanding of your current processes, identify process breakdowns and areas for improvement.
4. We look at your processes, simplify where possible, and examine how the processes fit together.
5. We create the work spaces and processes to align with your individualized process needs.
6. Invite team members to join the work spaces.
7. Configure the work spaces and applications to meet team needs. Team members participate in this process.
8. Training and orientation—business transformation begins—just days after you started!
9. Support change implementation and process improvements.

Without appropriate tools and processes, you do not have the insights you need to manage your business effectively and efficiently. If you can’t monitor your work-in-process, you can’t manage your work-in-process. If you can’t manage your work-in-process, you can’t manage your business.

We can help you close your business execution gaps quickly and efficiently and leave you to use these tools without being reliant on us.

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting
http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2012 Dave Gardner

India infrastructure is key to economic growth

Note: This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” which is offered to help companies thrive!

This week’s focus: business execution

India is a powerhouse, emerging economy with a population of about 1.2 billion comprising 17% of the earth’s population of 7 billion people.

Last week, India power outages impacted 700 million people in the northern portion of the country. As my father so aptly pointed out during dinner last week, 1/10th of the earth’s population was without power.

Researching further, I came to understand that, on a daily basis, the region impacted by the power outages is only able to obtain about 92% of its power needs. Every day, people in the northern half of India wake knowing there is a power shortage.

Infrastructure of all types is key to sustaining economic growth in India. Without constant infrastructure development, this region in India cannot thrive.

What infrastructure vulnerabilities does our nation have that are known yet little urgency exists to correct the problem? The I-35 bridge collapse in Minnesota in 2007 was actually identified as a risk back in 1990. Now, there is a multi-billion effort to repair Minnesota bridges that is 50% complete. What threats are there to our economic security?

Thought for the week:

“It used to be that in school we learn and then take the test. Now in life I get the test and then start to learn.” - Keith Ferrazzi

What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

___

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2012 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Business Execution: What We Learn From Olympic Athletes

Note: This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” which is offered to help companies thrive!

This week’s focus: business execution

There is no better metaphor for business execution than the Olympics. The athletes work for years and years for a chance to, in a few brief moments, win a medal. Those who execute best win–assuming of course the judges don’t get in the way!

Imagine the thrill of being able to walk in the opening ceremony. That, by itself, is a tremendous victory. For many, the opening ceremony may be their greatest victory–only a tiny percentage of those who compete win medals.

And, so it is in business. Out of all the companies in the world, only a few make it into the Global 1000. Some move into the Global 1000 each year as others fall out. Great strategy and superb execution ensure that a company gets in and stays in.

Just like the athletes, the great companies never stop looking for ways to evolve their strategy and improve their execution. Superb execution can help you and your company thrive.

Thought for the week:

“You don’t learn to play the horn when it is in the case.”  - Rocco DiStasio, Dave Gardner’s trumpet teacher when Dave was 11 years old

What do you think? I welcome your blog comments!

___

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2012 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.