Lessons from sports

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We learn a lot as kids that we forget or ignore when it comes to our jobs and businesses. Watching a youth baseball game this weekend, I saw a team of nine year old kids model how we can be better at work.  What lessons from sports can we apply to running a business?

I watched a team of talented boys in their first summer tournament. The kids were all good players, but it was their first game and they were over-matched by the opposing team. The other team looked like they have been together for a while and played many games together. They had built up skills and trust through experience and coaching.

The team I rooted for got behind early, but they never got down. They fought hard. I saw:
– The boys congratulating each other for good plays.
– Coaches giving instruction throughout the game.
– The players taking the coaching and immediately trying to apply what they had been told.
– Players shaking off mistakes and getting on with the game.
– Parents and friends encouraging the players from the bleachers.

The score didn’t show it, but those boys won on Saturday. In a small way, they learned lessons and skills that will serve them well their entire lives.

It was a simple baseball game but it sure does mirror what a successful business looks like. They were keeping score (P&L), tracking runs, hits, strikes, balls, outs (KPIs), making adjustments (adapting strategy and tactics), supporting each other (recognition and teamwork), taking coaching (feedback and accountability), and trying to win (meet a common goal).

Maybe business leaders and team members should approach work like a bunch of nine year olds playing baseball.  We can take a few lessons from sports.

Contact us at CONTACT US or on our LinkedIn page at https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmatt/  if you need help setting your team up for success.

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Good growth

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Growth is good – until it isn’t.  If you grow too fast, you can damage your brand, compromise your product, and burn out your team.  Good growth is managed and planned.

Let’s look again at a lesson from recent history. Toyota has long been recognized for their quality. That reputation took a hit in the first decade of this century.

In the early 2000s, Toyota was on a roll. They were expanding and manufacturing all over the globe.

It all started with a single episode of unintended acceleration in a Lexus ES 350 in California. The car accelerated out of control, collided with another car, and went down an embankment. Four people lost their lives.

Ultimately, there were many other complaints about unintended consequences. Floor mats, accelerator pedals, software, electronics – everything was suspect.

It became a PR problem and their reputation suffered.

In a hearing with the US House of Representatives, Toyota said they grew too fast. They outgrew their engineering resources. Their products became more complex.

They made changes to prevent this issue but more importantly they made changes to how they responded to problems as an organization.

The point here is that even large, well-funded companies can grow too fast and outstrip their capacity.

In this case, growing too fast meant lower quality that had real impact on their customers.

Growth is good, but you must manage it. Media often praises and reward fast growth, but there is real danger to a company’s future if it grow so quickly that it forgets its customers and damages its reputation.

Plan for good growth that you can sustain without your product, employees, and customers suffering because you grew too fast.

Contact us at https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmatt/ or use the CONTACT US page.

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Management and culture make a difference

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If you don’t believe that management and culture make a difference in your company’s success, you are wrong.  Let me give you an example from Toyota that I learned about from a recent podcast.

When Toyota was making their first moves to manufacturing in the US, they teamed up with GM. They formed NUMMI and needed a manufacturing facility. The choose the old GM Freemont plant, considered the worst workforce in the US automobile industry.

Before NUMMI, GM’s Freemont facility was in disarray. Quality was terrible, there were serious personnel problems, and chaos reigned. Workers even intentionally sabotaged the vehicles they worked on. The factory was ultimately shut down.

NUMMI re-hired most of the Freemont workers but made changes – BIG changes.

Seniority rules changed.

They focused on teamwork – the same uniforms for everyone and cafeterias served all levels of employees.

Emphasis on quantity changed to quality, and stopping the assembly line to correct an error became the right action.

Training, continual improvement, and consensus decision making became the norm.

In two years, Freemont’s production was as efficient at Toyota’s Japanese plants, and quality as measured by the number of defects was similar to Japan’s as well. All that was done with with what was once the worse workforce in the industry.

The lesson here? Culture and valuing the right things matter. How management leads the company is important. Leaders make a difference.  Good leadership turned an entire manufacturing plant around by changing the style of management and culture.

If you have trouble with your team, have you thought about how the company’s management team may be contributing to the problem?  We can help you.  Contact us at https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmatt/ or use the CONTACT US page.

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Cash in the bank

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Having cash in the bank doesn’t mean your business is making money.

I’ve worked with many business owners who closely manage their cash flow and bank account balances. That’s great. I do the same thing both for my personal and business accounts.

Unfortunately, some stop there. That’s a mistake.

I’ve met business owners who have never looked at their P&L or balance sheet. Focusing on whether you can pay the bills or if you have money in your account does not tell you the whole financial picture.

For example, can you answer these questions:

  • Are your COGS too high?
  • How much did you invest in that last project?
  • Which of your products, services, or divisions are making money and which ones aren’t?
  • Are you incurring expenses that you can reduce or eliminate and use that money better to grow the business?
  • How much are you putting toward the bottom line?
  • How long can you fund operations if your business took a major hit?


As a fractional COO, I value the insights and know the importance of understanding the financial side of your business (and the KPIs that go hand-in-hand). Not every visionary or business founder likes looking at reports and numbers, but there are things we have to do even if we don’t enjoy them.

I’ve convinced clients that numbers matter, and once they see it, they get it, and they wonder why they didn’t look at them before.

If you aren’t sure where to start, we can help.  Contact us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmatt/ or https://www.linkedin.com/company/opal-partners-group/or use our contact form. CONTACT US

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Culture Matters

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I recently received an email from a new vendor telling me they were going to miss an appointment. I couldn’t have been happier.

Not the usual response, is it? The vendor was making a schedule change for all clients due to weather conditions. They informed me of the action they were going to take so we could be on the same page for a common goal.

I terminated their predecessor because they didn’t communicate, weren’t proactive, and didn’t do a good job. As I onboarded the new vendor, we discussed my expectations and asked how they provide their services. We had a mutual understanding from the beginning.

This got me thinking of company culture. There are many articles and blogs currently about culture in light of work from home (WFH). People worry that culture won’t be maintained.

I disagree with that view. Vision and values are the first components of culture. Those should be firmly entrenched in the minds of the team and the company DNA.

Just as important are the expectations of how you work together, desired results, and processes. These should be known throughout the organization too.

The real change with WFH then is how you communicate and interact using technology rather than in person. You can’t just drop in at a co-worker’s office or go to lunch together. Maybe new expectations need to be set and identified or done differently. (Virtual lunch on Zoom or Teams?) Managers and teams can work on this together as new behaviors are learned and tested.

I challenge leaders to make sure their vision, values, and expectations are clearly known. Ensure your strategy is still relevant. Make adjustments so your tools and processes maximize your efficiency and output. These steps will go a long way toward maintaining your culture in the midst of change.

Make sure your culture drives decisions and behavior regardless of how your team works.  If you need help, you can CONTACT US  or find us at LinkedIn.

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Owning versus Mastering Your Tools

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There is a huge difference between possessing and being able to use tools effectively.

One of my friends bought a new set of golf clubs. This is nothing new – he does that every couple of years. It prompted a mutual friend to sarcastically comment, “you have the best golf game money can buy.”

The point he was making is that having the latest and greatest equipment is just one part of the road to success.

I understand the attraction. I like to fish. Some basic equipment is required to start and having a selection of lures or rods can legitimately make a difference in the final outcome. But at some point using them correctly is more important than having more options. The new shiny object or technique reels us in – pardon the pun. The promise is alluring.

Having the right tools can make all the difference in the world. They can save time and produce much better results than not. But just having the tools does not guarantee success. This is where patience and wisdom come into play.

Learning how to wield a tool, be it a golf club or a circle hook, is vital. You must be patient, learn how and when to use it, and give it time for it to become effective for you. If you don’t, you are wasting your money and possibly getting worse results than you would otherwise.

Our businesses are the same. There is a constant flow of new management theories, fads, software programs, and other shiny new objects that promise to save time, generate revenue, or simplify business. But you have to master the basics, understand when and how to use these new tools, and employ the right ones for your specific situation. Just like in golf or fishing, you may need to hire a coach or a guide to help you get the best results.

If your business is struggling to select and use tools effectively or you need help in general, CONTACT US here or find us on LinkedIn.

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Fractional COOs and Swiss Army Knives

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Fractional COOs are the Swiss Army knives of the fractional executive world.

“Operations” means different things to everyone and each industry. Because every client has different needs, we must have lots of tools at our disposal. We also have to be flexible in scope and deliverables.

Some business owners need to delegate tasks they don’t like or others can do better.   Others need help bringing more order or taming chaos.  Some need to update their org chart and make sure they have the right people in the right seats.

All those situations require different skill sets and different tools – and knowing how and when to use them.

That’s the beauty of fractional COO work – taking tools, systems, and learning from a variety of companies and industries and applying them in new situations. It’s about making work and life better for the business owners we serve.

A day in the life of a fractional COO is never boring. It’s nothing to go from a staff meeting where I am responsible for driving accountability to helping improve a customer process, then researching back office software solutions before leading a project meeting. Throw in a strategic planning session, reviewing and editing policies or agreements, running point on administrative tasks, reviewing KPIs and financials, and top it off with a coaching session for a manager or new operations leader.

And the next day or week will look completely different!

The bottom line is that a fractional COO’s job is to make things better, simplify the complex, improve results, and ultimately give business owners more time or peace of mind.

If you’re a business owner and want to free up your time so you can do what you do best and grow your business, connect with us at LinkedIn or CONTACT US here.  Maybe we have a “Swiss Army knife” set of tools that can help you.

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Autonomy and Accountability

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As a kid I learned about balance.  I once made Kool-Aid without putting any sugar in it. Add the mix to water and stir. The results were not good.  The reason is the ingredients weren’t in the proper proportion or were missing altogether.  Companies without balance between autonomy and accountability have the same problem: bad results.

So what do we do?  First, let’s define the terms.  Accountability means being held responsible for results and actions while autonomy is having self-directing freedom or being self-governed. Leaders and managers want the former and employees the latter.  Below, you will see a high-functioning team requires both.

The Results
  • Disengagement – Employees with little control over how they do their job and a lack of clarity on the expected outcome won’t be highly engaged.
  • Chaos – Giving employees complete freedom with no guidelines or expectations results in results and processes that are all over the board.
  • Micromanagement – Employees feel they are being micromanaged when there are strict results expected but they have little say on how to do their job including making decisions and suggesting improvements.
  • High-performance – Employees who have reasonable discretion on reaching meaningful, realistic goals create the sweet spot for producing high-performing team.

As you can see, it is crucial that companies balance autonomy and accountability.  First, you must create accountability for people to know the desired outcome and how they will be measured.  And you can only give autonomy to employees who demonstrate they can handle it; this makes hiring the right people important.

Start your journey to high performing teams by first determining what success looks like for the company.  Next, do the same for individual departments and team members.  Then build on that by giving feedback on slowly giving people more freedom in their roles.

If you need help with accountability and autonomy, you can CONTACT US.  Also, you can connect with us on https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmatt/.

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Act now

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The hill was more than I bargained for.  It was a struggle and I should have realized earlier that is was time to act now.

I had all kinds of excuses: the weather was bad.  I didn’t have time.  It could wait another day.  I had other plans.

No, I wasn’t hiking up a steep section of trail or riding my mountain bike up a hill.  I was mowing my yard. If you have ever used a manual reel mower in a bermudagrass lawn, you know what I am talking about.

You can’t put off cutting the grass or the work required to cut it goes up exponentially.  The grass grows taller and thicker every day.  It is much easier to stay on top of it before it gets out of control.

The issues we face in business or life are the same.  Avoid, ignoring, or putting off the issue rarely makes it easier to deal or go away.  Usually it just makes it harder to deal with later.

For example, an employee who isn’t a good fit isn’t going to just change.  They will create friction with others on the team or not produce the results you want.  You either must intervene through giving feedback, or you have to remove them from the team or the company.

And while you wait to take action, the damage they cause continues to mount.  Bad attitudes become contagious.  People leave to find

Decisions and actions about upgrading your infrastructure, replacing your software, adding or removing products and services you offer are no different.  And you aren’t going to magically get in better shape physically or strengthen relationships with inaction.

If you need to make a change or address a problem, act now.  Don’t let it become a bigger challenge than it has to be.

OPG can help you assess your situation and walk with you as you take action. You can reach out to us here CONTACT US or connect with us on https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmatt/

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Facing change

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Sometimes you initiate change, and sometimes it is forced on you.  Regardless of how you got there, you must deal with it.  Facing change isn’t always easy or wanted.

Key employees leave.  New technology disrupts the market.  Your exit strategy or timeline changes.  Maybe your business has grown beyond your capacity to manage it all effectively.

As a business grows, business owners eventually come to a point where they need a leadership team to share the load.  Depending on the where the company is, hiring full-time executives may not be needed or even financially realistic.  The decision to expand the leadership time is a change you initiate.

The sudden loss of a key leader is but one change that is forced on you.  You must decide how to re-organize the workload and responsibilities or to find and replace that leader.

In all these situations, a fractional COO can step in.  They can be a part-time resource to bridge the gap until you are ready and need a full-time executive.  They can also help define the COO role so you can find the right candidate.  Whether you need someone for a few hours per week or several days per week, you can keep the business moving forward.

Opal Partners offers COO Bridge as a way to help businesses bridge the gap when they need to add to their leadership team but aren’t ready for a full-time resource.

If your business is facing change and a fractional COO can help you, CONTACT US  or find us at https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmatt/.

 

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