If it ain’t broke…Break it!
This week, I met with a senior management development executive of a large international telecom manufacturer to talk about their plans for the future. During the meeting, she made some refreshingly candid comments admitting the company’s mistake with a recent acquisition. I follow this company closely and was very encouraged by her frankness – admitting the mistake is going to energize the entire company. Along with this they’re completely overhauling of the entire business which began last fall when “we blew up our business model.”
With all the carnage created by the downturn in the last few months, you’d think more companies would be keen to look at what they’re doing like this one is doing. In spite of overwhelming evidence that things have changed, very few firms are really doing anything fundamental to improve their economic performance. A lot of good organizations are missing out on tremendous opportunities created by the downturn. Not only is it an opportunity to prepare our businesses by making rapid and extensive structural changes to our business model – even better, it’s an opportunity to get closer to our Customers who, for a long time now, have expected it and are now beginning to demand it.
I’ve always been interested in why some companies can make this transition more easily than others. Large or small, an organization’s reluctance/resistance to change is in large part due to the management attitudes and thinking people use to run their business. Some managers are overly concerned about keeping the status quo. They operate with the implicit “we don’t want to make too many changes too quickly.” Workers get the message and simply make do with what they’re given.
Even if managers face up to the reality of the situation, we can’t do it by ourselves. We need help, everyone inside the business, must embrace change by questioning how and why things are done. In a world where nothing is stable, this is simply the best way to do business.