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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Some part of your business isn’t working

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Some part of your business isn’t working.  The hard part is identifying where the problem lies.

You may know that your products may need to be refreshed, or that you need to invest in new software to support critical functions.

Sometimes the problem is more elusive.  You can see the symptoms but can’t determine the cause.

It can help to evaluate what I consider the seven essential functions common to all businesses:

  • Leadership
  • Revenue Generation
  • Production
  • IT
  • Finance
  • Human Resources
  • Business Preparedness

Critically, honestly, and holistically evaluate how well your business performs those seven functions and determine if your weaknesses lie in just one area.  Once you identify the issue and its root cause, you may be able to make improvements.

If not, you may need to go deeper.  You may have an organizational problem executing one layer of the OPG Operations Hierarchy.

All seven business functions have their own operational processes that can be broken into three layers:

  • Strategy
  • Structure
  • Process

If you struggle with one of the Ops layers, you will see problems in all functional areas.  For instance, if you have great plans and goals but never reach them, perhaps your team struggles in the Process layer; you aren’t able to create effective and efficient ways of doing things.  But, you could have a Structure problem – you aren’t good at implementing and driving accountability for those processes and you see that across the board.

Identifying and correcting your ability to execute all layers of the operations hierarchy are more challenging.  You must step back and really get to the root cause of the issues.

But, once you know the problem, you can address it.  What part of your business isn’t working?  If you need assistance finding out, you can CONTACT US here or find us on LinkedIn.

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A Kayaker’s View of Strategy and Tactics

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I was not moving, stuck against a rock and fighting the current.  It took all the effort I had to make progress.  My choices were to figure out a new approach to moving my kayak or getting out and admitting defeat.  I finally leveraged my way into open water.  In that moment, a river, some rapids, and a kayak reinforced the difference between strategy and tactics.

Kayakers know the joy from hitting a set of rapids just right with your boat flowing perfectly through the water and rocks, enjoying the ride, and coming out with your kayak positioned to take on the next challenge.  You also know it takes a lot of work and things don’t always go as planned.

Sometimes you get a little off course.  You underestimated the power of the current.  You didn’t act early enough to put the kayak in position to navigate the rocks or shallow water.

When that happens, you react.  You paddle harder to change direction.  You temporarily get stuck by the current, and it takes strength and willpower to get free.  You may have to get out of the boat and reset.  You may need help from your companions along for the journey.

When you first approach the rapids, you look downstream and assess the path you should take and where you want to end up.  That’s your strategy.  As you begin navigating downstream, you respond to obstacles and successes, moving closer toward your destination.  Those are your tactics.

Business is no different.  You have a path you believe will take you to destination successfully.  As you work toward your goal, wins and obstacles come at you randomly and unexpectedly along the way.  You change your tactics and adjust, keeping your eye on the future. You create a strategy and implement tactics to take you to your goal.  And sometimes you may need to reassess your situation, change your direction, and maybe ask for help.

If you are stuck against the rocks and fighting the current in your business, take a moment and reassess the situation.  How do your tactics need to change?  Would you benefit from help or a new perspective?

Contact OPG if you need help with your strategy and tactics.  http://linkedin.com/in/cmatt

https://opalpg.com/contact-us/

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