|
After spending time with a valued client this week and reviewing what can only be described as a stellar performance by his business , I was struck by his eagerness to play down his considerable successes and him reminding me that “ all boats rise with the tide ”. Despite his successes my client was undoubtedly still wary of what lies ahead with factors such as Brexit , global political and economic uncertainty looming large . His comments made me reflect and consider strategies for surviving in turbulent times . I was left wondering how many leaders today really know how to adapt quickly when faced with more “ turbulent ” times . At Chalkhill Blue our team all leverage their considerable experience of working against similar challenges on a daily basis . We share a belief that businesses need to adopt no less than 4 key strategies for surviving turbulent times , namely ;
• ABANDONMENT ,
• CONTINUOUS PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENT
• EXPLOITATION OF SUCCESSES
• INNOVATION
|
ABANDONMENT is centred on the belief that only by abandoning the obsolete and unproductive activities in an organisation can that organisation survive . In essence , only by abandoning unproductive and sidetracking activities , can entrepreneurs and business owners increase their effectiveness by having more time to concentrate on key result areas . Put another way – “ LESS IS DEFINITELY MORE ”!!
It ’ s therefore critical that successful leaders follow a systematic process of asking themselves – what should we abandon , how and by when ?
CONTINUOUS PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENTS are very much aligned with the Japanese Kaizen methodology . At Chalkhill Blue Drucker we are a firm believer in the fact that leadership in turbulent times is about systematic continuous improvement of products and services , production processes , marketing , service , technology , training , and development of people and the like .
Underpinned by robust benchmarking and measurement the success gets sustained by cultivating the right efforts and by getting everyone in the organisation to do things a little better day in day out .
|
EXPLOITATION OF SUCCESS is also critically important . In essence by the time your organisation has doubled in size , the way you perceive and service your market is likely to have become somewhat outdated . In other words , the ways in which you define and segment the market no longer reflects reality as it simply reflects history .
Exploiting success therefore requires leaders to build an opportunity- focused organisation as opposed to one focused on solving problems .
In doing so there comes a point when the small steps of exploitation result in a fundamental change i . e . in something that is generally new and very different .
INNOVATION strategies are also a crucial final piece of the plan . Innovative companies and leaders realise that they cannot simultaneously create the new and take care of what they already have . The maintenance of the present business is far too big a task for the people in it to have much time for creating the new , different business of tomorrow .
Consequently specific , dedicated resources need to be applied to fuel true innovation and these resources need to be organised outside of the ongoing
|
managerial business to have chance of succeeding .
Returning to my client ’ s comments and by way of conclusion , I think it ’ s easy to see how today ’ s leaders that are intent on creating sustainable , competitive advantage need to be applying these very same principles each and every day , be it in good times or bad .
If you ’ d like to find out how we help ambitious companies like yours “ unlock their true potential ” please don ’ t hesitate to get in touch .
# Love the results
01793 239542 chris @ chalkhillblue . org
|
34 THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2018 |