Traveling on business

For my one follower:

I will be out of the country on business this week; publication will be suspended until I return. Thank you for your understanding.

-j

Is the customer always right?

I suppose the case could be made in retail sales that the most profitable mode of doing business is to always allow your customer to be right. But what about in consulting? I'm going to argue that a consultant should never take the customer's answers as "right", just because they came from the customer.

As a consultant, we are being paid to be critical of everything. It is our job to "ferret" out the right course of action for our clients. We have to listen carefully to what they are telling us they want so we can figure out what they really want. Often times they are not one and the same.

The consultant should bring with him a very broad toolset with which to address the clients' issues. Our experience gives us a different perspective from the client, but even more importantly, our abstraction from the political organization allows us to perceive all internal situations more objectively than the client themselves. This is our value proposition. We are actually getting paid to have a different perspective and tell the client where they are wrong and/or validate when they are right.

So, if your consultant ever says "...you're the customer...", it's time to find a new consultant.

Take it while you can.

Opportunity that is. When you run a small business, I think one of the most critical aspects is to be able to see and act on an opportunity when it presents itself. This isn't easy. You find yourself in a situation, sometimes, where you are so busy that you can't even see straight. But, taking the opportunity now, and working your butt off to get it done will pay dividends later.

I know... short post today. They can't all be diamonds, but they will be there for the record. ;-)

The problem with pragmatism in the workplace

Truth!

According to pragmatic philosophy, truth is mutable. Truth is a product of our own perception combined with the "unknowable" reality of the situation.

I say HOG WASH !!! Truth is knowable. One of the issues facing our world today is the influence of pragmatic philosophy. The relativism with which we are facing the world and our problems is, in fact, the problem. There is a knowable right and wrong way to do things, and not striving to do them right is inappropriate.

We have built, within our companies, organizations of diffused accountability based on pragmatic approaches to business. We have simple precepts, which when followed, lead us to the right way of doing things. Yet, we complicate these with acronym-laden processes as if choosing the right credentialed people and implementing the right (flavor-of-the-day) process will make everything OK. It won't.

We need to return to more simple management techniques. We need to begin holding each step in the value chain accountable. Someone asked a question the other day about management by objective. It took me a little by surprise, because I think it is the only way of managing. But, it made me realize how many don't. They manage the process in between in a constant state of micro-management. This is an ineffective way of managing humans, in my humble opinion. It kills innovation and improvement, and at the end, everyone is responsible for following the process, but no one is accountable for the result.

TURN IT AROUND. Give your employees the rules, and the objective, and let them figure out the best way to achieve the result. Reward them highly for improvement and innovation, and if they don't reach the objective, well, tough love should be the route. Find someone who can hit the objective.

This is a huge subject, right? But, I'm starting to talk about it now, and I'm focused on making this better in each organization I touch. Thanks for reading my ramblings this morning.

Make it a little better each day

I don't know about you, but I'm a big results guy. I love walking into a situation, doing a quick assessment and finding some low hanging fruit that changes my client's world. But what if the easy stuff isn't there? What if issues are deeply entrenched within the organization, their core processes, or philosophy?

In these cases, I like to approach the problem differently. I'm not even going to attempt to find the low hanging fruit. Fixing the easy stuff sometimes leads to the perception that the "problem" is fixed. In these instances, I want to sit down and really dig deep into the company's behavior, and that of its operators. I want to find that core thing which they do well, and re-define it for them. Then, we can start working on peeling away the chaff to get to the wheat.

Once we have defined that thing they do well, it is time to "...make it a little better each day..." In this instance, things aren't going to get better overnight. In fact, there will be lots of days where things get worse. My job is to help the business leaders, first see, and then move toward a better way of operating. They are not going to want to change; even though they have hired me to institute one. They are going to put undue power into the hands of the very people they don't see as the future of the company, simply because in the day-to-day operations, the leaders of the company have lost touch with their vision and are afraid to "interrupt" what is going on.

This is where the outside consultant can provide the most value. We have the ability to stand on the floor with the operators and remind them and the leaders where we are going, and how we need to behave in order to get there. And, that is how we make it "... a little better each day..."

Task Prioritization

As I moved through last week, I uncovered many new thoughts. I try to stay focused on a single objective, but all of these flashy new things pop up.

So, I have been told on two separate occasions that this is not the "best" blogging platform. I'm not really part of the "blogosphere" here and that I need to move to a better platform. So, I've taken it into consideration and, when the priority is as important as others, will move to a new platform. But this brought up some other things as well.

We each do things based on our own perceived value from those actions. For me, this blog is an exercise both in psycho-analysis (of myself) and discipline. It is more about the commitment to publishing and practice in communication than any traditional "blog" type activities. Would I like it to eventually turn into a method of self-promotion? Sure! But, that isn't the primary goal. Will I take others' consideration that this isn't the best platform seriously? Yes, definitely, but all in its own time.

So, when we approach issues, advice and tasks, it is critically important that we put them in their appropriate prioritized order and perspective. I have client issues to work on now, and they must come first. For right now, this blog is satisfying my personal needs, and as I need it to grow, move or progress, I will adjust accordingly.

So, the business lesson here is the same: As we move into more difficult times, it is very "easy" to find shiny-object type distractions to move us from our intended goal, rather than toward it. Make sure you take the time to understand your objectives. Stay the course...everything in it's own priority.

Gratitude and Reflection

As we bring this week to a close, I'm feeling particularly gracious. I've had a great week. In fact, this last month has been one of the best of my life. I'm reminded to think upon and be thankful for the things, both good and bad, which brought me here.

When I was pretty young my dad told me that there wasn't anyone whom I couldn't learn something from. That impressed me a great deal, and in every situation I keep this in mind. To this day, I try to put myself in unique situations with unique people to gather more knowledge. I have had more than my share of fun because of this as well.

So, how does this affect us professionally? How can we be gracious with our business? I think it is a matter of being earnest with your clients, and always making sure they are receiving value from our product or service. Sometimes, it is "giving back" or "paying it forward" to the community, but I think gratitude should be aimed; and the benefactors should be those who make your life good (or better). So, sometimes, just a simple "thank you for your business" note is enough. Sometimes, it feels good enough to simply reflect upon how thankful you are to be doing what you love and be getting paid for it. That reflection will show in your interaction with them.

Have a great weekend.
-j

Better late than never

I didn't get to blog in the early morning today. But, I made a commitment; I intend to stick to it.

When you are dealing with clients, this is a very important matter. I haven't dealt with a company or an individual yet who delivers 100%. We all have our moments. The most important thing is how we deal with them.

Personal accountability is the answer. If you make a commitment, but you are unable to fulfill on time or at all, the first thing you should do is notify the other party. Don't spend your time "hoping" something will happen to change the situation. No one has time for that. Everyone expects some level of disappointment in life. It's just part of the game. But, the earlier we can deal with the situation, the more likely we can find a just solution. So, when you are going to let someone down, the ideal way to communicate it is BEFORE you let them down. Be honest, explain the situation and let them know you intend to rectify the situation. Step two: follow-through. Make sure that whatever you commit to for remediation is absolutely achievable within the parameters described. If you let someone down once, and you are forthcoming, they will likely give you a second chance. Let them down twice and, in most cases, you are done.

This is true in both your business and personal relationships.

Until tomorrow... -j

The heart of the problem is the core of the plan

The most critical part to any plan is the objective. Every plan has to have an clear, consise and explicit objective, or the end is never reached. This objective needs to be measurable. So, "increase revenues in Q1" is not an appropriate objective. It isn't very difficult to make it measurable, though. "Increase revenues 10% in Q1" is an appropriate objective. Not all goals are that simple, though. In the creation of a new piece of software, or migration of multiple datacenters into one, the objective needs to be more fully defined, so that should be your first step.

The definition of the objective is often called a requirements document and should be the first step in planning. It should include the following elements:

1. Background: What is the current situation / landscape
2. What is the overarching goal or objective
3. Explicit sub-requirements for reaching that objective
4. A picture of the future - what will be different from current situation / landscape

Many methodologies have intricate templates for publishing these documents. As long as they contain and capture the above, choose your flavor.

The creation of this document should include a critical analysis of the objective, the sub-requirements and the outcome against the intended goal. If these are all consistent, then the next test is to make sure we are still on the right track. WHAT WILL IT COST? This is a critical component and not one to take lightly. The measurement of the cost is always a bit fuzzy, but it should be estimated up front and measured against gain from the intended goal. If we expect positive return on investment (we are going to derive "value" from the product now or in the future), then we proceed with the plan. If not, now is the time to kill it!

The next step is to break down the big pieces into smaller tasks (work breakdown structure) and assign out those tasks. There are multiple tools one can use to record, track and measure the WBS (work breakdown structure). Again, whatever your choice of methodology, just keep the big picture in mind. It all comes down to holding people accountable for doing what they said they would do. I have known project managers who are supremely effective at running complex projects within an excel spreadsheet; and others who couldn't manage a project with MEGA tools provided by MEGA software companies.

Once you have a plan, it's all about communication. Everyone should understand the big goal, their part in it, and why they will benefit from it. It seems like that wouldn't be a huge deal, but you would be surprised at how many times a project will stall because its resources lose sight of "the ball".

MANAGE RISK: The biggest risk to the objective is not managing and communicating risk. I would consider this the project managers primary role. Creating a work breakdown structure and checking the boxes as things are finished is actually pretty simple. A GREAT project manager will constantly be acquiring, absorbing and analyzing information from resources, external issues, budget, etc. and build a risk profile and communicate that to stakeholders.

Well, I've oversimplified I'm sure. As with anything else, there are thousands of intricacies in the execution, but I hope I've hit some of the more critical elements involved in successful planning. People have written entire libraries on the subject, so I can't do it justice here...except to offer what's important from my perspective.

Planning and Doing

How do you get started?

Some things need to be planned well in advance. Other things you can endeavor in a moment. What is the difference? Let's talk first about those things which you can do on the fly.

I think the difference is expertise, expectation and necessity.

Expertise: When you are really good at something; you do it regularly, sometimes these activities need no planning. Even when you take on new activities within the arena, results are often good because of your existing tangential knowledge and capability. Here, you may see a shoe repair shop begin working on saddles, or a bicycle mechanic be comfortable working on lawnmowers because, while the power source is different, the power train is very similar.

Expectation: If no one has any expectation of success, or specific result, it is easy to wing it and still win. I believe many inventions are created in this environment, and at the opposite end, specific planning in the area of "new widget" innovation is likely throttling at best. I think we can all agree that, no one expected the iPod.

Necessity: This is the biggest one...and I will quote one of my favorite fictional characters, John McClain, in saying "...no one else was doing it..." You see, in order to innovate or move forward, one must put themselves in uncomfortable situations. Sometimes things go awry; that's when necessity takes over and you "have" to do something. This is when you grab two items and combine them, McGuyver-like, and create something new.

When is planning necessary? Well, in my experience, planing is critical anytime your outcome depends on more than the individuals in your "pocket". If you require input from outside suppliers, or if you require a group of employees to perform tasks on a timely basis then you need to plan. You can get away with "winging-it" in a very small business where you are the "dictator" of all/most situations. Your leadership will carry the others through. But, as soon as it grows beyond that handful of trusted resources. You need a plan.

Tomorrow's entry will be about how to formulate a plan, and what to do with it.

Negative Behaviors

How easy is it to fall into a series of bad "habits", or behaviors leading to our demise? In our personal as well as our professional lives, there are certain, let's call them, habitual behaviors which can be very detrimental to outcomes. And the biggest problem with them is that they don't just affect our immediate situation, but have reverberations which cause further affect down the line.

I think when we feel smaller and less powerful than we are is when we are most susceptible to our old habits. This is particularly true in the face of change. Within our psyches, we have a natural reluctance to change, and when faced with a sweeping change, tend to actually rebel. What can we do to modify these behaviors?

First, it's critically important not to dwell on the "harmful" behaviors. If you find yourself moving backward, into old habits, don't beat yourself up. Recognize the issue and look for positive steps to help persuade yourself not to repeat this again. Focus on the positive outcomes of positive behaviors. Dwelling on the negativity doesn't seem to help. Try to immerse yourself in the goal of the change and stay the course. In an organization, this means you need to evangelize the goal, and help others understand the steps toward the change.

Ultimately, the path to positive change is a continual management of the behaviors and steps required to effect that change. The goal has to be the right one, and sold correctly, but that doesn't guarantee results. Results are the outcome of diligence, positive enforcement, and guidance through the process.

And, I digress...

While I want to stay focused on business issues in this blog, it will often come up that inputs to business behavior are far beyond day-to-day retail, wholesale or distribution processes. Utimately, the whole thing revolves around human behavior and that is what makes it really interesting.

So, on with the fun.

Last night was "back to school night" for my eighth grade son. My normal cynicism aside, I have to say that I was VERY impressed. Typically, I consider the public school system to be far more an indoctrination than education. However, the group of individuals who will be instructing my son this year are an amazing bunch, and I couldn't be more pleased. I feel very fortunate to be living in this area and have the opportunity to send my son to this particular school. Having been with this school from its inception, I credit its differentiation to its founding principal and her educational philosophy.

Some notable observations:

• His math teacher for Honors Algebra is nothing short of absolutely engaging. She is bright eyed, energetic, obviously loves what she is doing and shows it.
• His Social Studies instructor is hilarious. It was more like watching a stand-up than a typical eighth grade U.S. History instructor. My boy has indicated a great deal of respect for his teaching ability, and humor, and I couldn't agree more.
• English is being taught as a holistic curriculum with an eye toward the importance of vocabulary, grammar and structure as a means to more effectively communicate within our species. ;-)
• Every teacher, including his P.E. teacher stressed the importance of personal (pet peeve: they called it responsibility when they actually meant accountability) responsibility. They reminded the parents that all required information was posted on web-sites, boards within the class, etc. and that if a child was absent, that child was accountable for the class/home work completion and to seek the teacher out for any make-up tests or quizzes.

Overall, I couldn't have been more impressed, nor happier about eighth grade for my son. In spite of himself, he is enjoying school and learning. And, as for me, I've become just a little less cynical regarding our public edudoctrination system.

Pressure is on.

When one commits to do something, it is very important to stay the course and complete the task. Yesterday, I notified many colleagues and friends that I intended to blog every (week)day. Overwhelmingly, the largest response was a wowing that I was committed just to the act of doing this daily. I think, perhaps, the reason I told everyone was to have them hold me accountable.

In business, and your life, this is a valid behavior.

Accountability and responsibility are two sides of the same coin. Often people confuse the two, but ultimately responsibility assigns accountability, but doesn't always require it. Accountability, on the other hand, requires responsibility, or invokes it. Accountability requires results.

So, which is more important? In business, I believe accountability is the more important of the two. For example, I am now responsible for a (week)daily post on this blog. Had I only thought in my mind, "...I will try to do this on a frequent basis...", that would leave me accountable to no one. By setting and publishing a goal (metric), I have made myself accountable for a (week)daily post. Expectations are set, the goal is clear, measurement is simple.

If we could re-impose this type of accountability in the corporate environment, projects and products would be much better. At some point, in the recent past, we departed from traditional accountability for results in favor of simply assigning responsibility. I have walked into businesses where simple projects have been dragging on for months, even years, and no one is getting fired. Responsible parties (for the project) are still sharing in corporate bonus programs. This isn't ok. Employees, contractors, managers, and executives should all be held accountable for results. We should no longer hire credentialed experts to fill chairs. We need to hire folks who can and will produce results, and are willing to put themselves at risk; be accountable for results; not responsible for actions.

I leave you with a motivational mantra. I can't remember the authors last name, but her first name is Lynn, and she is a business coach in Santa Barbara, CA:

Show Up
Know Your Message
Put Yourself At Risk Every Day

Ability to move, adapt, and progress.

Funny thing about blogging...

I never thought I'd really get into it. I've never kept a journal; and I'm beginning to wonder why. Throughout my life, in each of my endeavors, I've been asked to write technical manuals, specifications, etc... and writing in a journal always seemed to be a continuation of work. However, as I have been (somewhat religiously) blogging, I am beginning to recognize the benefit of a consistent outlet for my thoughts.

So, on the advice of another (successful) blogger, I have committed to writing an entry every weekday, regardless of my mood or content. It is forcing me to come up with new topics each day. Some days I can't muster the regulated cynicism you (future readers) have come to expect, and so they will be more practical articles. There will be those days when I'm burning particularly bright and will call the emperor's clothes for what they are. My hope is that in all this drivel, at least one or two nuggets stand out as particularly relevant and help someone who needs it.

That's all for this morning. Tomorrow, I promise a good one.

Why consultants work

Because they don't have a dog in the fight....

When a company begins to contemplate a change in business process or systems, there is a tendency to have internal battles, a lot of spin, and a difficult time making decisions. This comes from a couple of issues; namely, the problem is outside the day-to-day core competency of the organization, and each individual will look at the problem myopically, with a focus on "..what's in it for me?..."

Solution: Well versed outside personage. (i.e. consultant).

In many circles, of course, consultant is a bad word. This is especially true if you do have some internal IT staff, who may be very capable IT implementers. However, that does not make them appropriate resources to help you through a system or business process change. Why? Because they DO have a dog in the fight. Even if they have the right solution in mind, know how to implement, and can execute flawlessly, they are in for a huge fight. In these circumstances, it becomes a "...what's in it for YOU?.." battle, where the stakeholders are quite certain that the IT department has chosen or recommended based on their limited knowledge of "other" solutions. Meanwhile, the IT department is quite certain that the only reason the stakeholders want something different is because "...their brother in-law told them that they would be stupid to use X product, when Y product is really where it is at..."

Bringing an objective third party in is like arbitration, only better, because everyone wins. The first thing a good consultant is going to do is ask questions. He/she will document findings from the questions in an analytical format to understand the true needs/desires/wants of the organization as a whole. Next, they will use any of a number of processes to prioritize the needs and wants. Finally, they will present the findings to the whole of the stakeholders and build consensus on the requirements, not on the solution. Now, we understand the real problem, time to match a solution.

With the whole problem documented, finding a solution becomes a matter of matching requirements to features, assessing budget, and managing risk. Simple.

So, as a final note, when you are considering surgery, you don't try to find your own anesthesiologist and scalpels, you bring in a surgeon. When you are operating on your business, you should take the same care to find an expert as when on your body.

Cheers...

-j

Change Management

Moving through change is a difficult proposition, especially for organizations. Each individual within the organization has to come to his own realization and acceptance of the change on his own schedule. We attempt to improve process, but we sometimes don't give creedence to the understanding, and adoption of the change by the individuals involved in the "day-to-day".

The best way to make change happen and stick is to work top down. That is, if you already have and publish/subscribe to a business philosophy, then the change can be more simple. Leveraging your already existing communication and understanding with employees regarding your philosophy, you can more simply communicate the REASONS for your policy, process, or functional change. If your employees understand the purpose of the change, they can more rapidly answer the all important question "...what's in it for me?" And, that is the fulcrum of making change stick. Once the people involved in the process have the yardstick by which to measure the value provided or taken from them, they can make a rational decision whether or not to commit to the change.

So, it's all down hill now, right? Wrong, unfortunately, because of habit. Even though the individuals involved in the change have come to the realization that it is better for them, overall, they will still look for ANY excuse to fault the new process, and/or return to old process. This, obviously, doesn't apply to all individuals, nor does it to explicitly defined and highly technical processes. But, for the majority of systems and people it sure does. So, you must coach, ensure, and (to some extent) evangelize the new process. Help your employees see the light by continually ensuring them that current path leads to the goal they already accepted.

Business Philosophy !!!!!!

You need all the pieces to put it together. You need someone who understands the big picture to keep it all on track. In today's organizations, it is very easy to focus on the tasks; we hear managers all the time parading the phrase "stay the course". Well, if your job is to fiddle, is it ok to fiddle while Rome burns? Maybe you can't put out the fire, but you could at least stop fiddling long enough to call 911, right?

The key to successful business enterprise is to keep everyone marching in the same direction, and being able to change course for everyone quickly and accurately. The key to all of this is a clearly defined and published business philosophy. Each person in your organization should know where the business is going, why it is going there, and what the intended result will be. If you haven't published this to your employees, then you are behind. If you haven't written it down for yourself; if you can't immediately, as a business owner, define and articulate your philosophy, mission, goals, well then -- you could use some help.

Keep in mind, businesses have survived for years without these simple precepts. I have worked in many who no longer even know how they produce revenues, let alone profits. Once a wheel is in motion, it is difficult to stop. Increase the mass of the wheel, even more so. However, eventually it will run out of momentum, and stop rolling. The same is true for your business.

The road back to the basics is difficult, but each proprietor, CXO, president, etc... owes it to him/herself and to shareholders (where applicable) to challenge status quo and look to re-define (not necessarily modify, but clarify) their business strategy and start focusing on the path to reach that/those goal(s).