Be Different or be dead

December 1, 2014

Why business plans are given high priority but they’re really not very important

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Why business plans are given high priority but they’re really not very important.

Your business case has been approved. Yes!  All your hard work has paid off.

Your business plan is approved! The hours of research and analysis. The days of lobbying spent gaining for support for your proposal throughout the organization.

Make no mistake about it though.

All you have done is make the ‘paper case’ that your proposal will succeed and deliver the benefits you have postulated. The paper case is merely a theoretical construct that shows a result given a number of assumptions. There is absolutely no guarantee that the results you expect will materialize.

The most egregious example of this that I have seen is acquisition proposals. The accretive benefits of acquiring a company look great on paper but are rarely realized because the plan wasn’t implemented that way it was intended.

The critical work happens after your business plan has been approved

Execution brings your case to life. If execution is flawed, results miss the mark regardless how pristine and theoretically pure the paper case is.

Whatever the number of hours invested in developing your business case, invest 3 times more effort in creating and fulfilling a detailed execution plan.

Your execution plan should contain these elements:

▪️The specific steps that must be taken - The WHAT

▪️The individuals who are accountable for each step - The WHO

▪️The expected completion date for each step - The WHEN

▪️A schedule of meetings to review progress. Which steps have been accomplished; which are behind. And what is the action needed to get back on track.

▪️Contingencies for when things go off track (and they will). Plan B work is extremely critical to success yet it is rarely done.
For some reason people think that the business case will actually come off as originally planned. That the assumptions will all prove to be correct. I have never seen this happen. Be good at anticipating; be great at responding when things go wrong.

▪️A post-implementation review 12 months after investments were made to see if the business case benefits were realized. Did results = expectations? If not, what actions (with WHO and WHEN) need to be taken to remedy the situation?

Your business plan has given you the right to commit resources to a given course. Don’t assume that it will deliver the results you expect.

Success comes only from post approval discipline and hard labor.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 12.1.14 at 04:42 am by Roy Osing
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November 17, 2014

Why customer policies should always be made with saying yes! in mind

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Why customer policies should always be made with saying yes! in mind.

‘Dumb rules’ have an extremely negative impact on your customers and your brand; they make you say NO!

Dumb rules are rules and policies that are internally focused, serve an internal purpose and make no sense to customers.

They infuriate people and can make them leave, screaming to their friends about the terrible customer service they have experienced.

Rules, policies and procedures are necessary in any organization. The question is for what purpose? Most rule systems in organizations today, however, exist for management control purposes.

The need to ensure consistent behavior. The need to satisfy Internal Audit that costs are being controlled. The need to ensure that the internal standards are being observed.

The problem is, people don’t really care about the rules. They just want to be served in an effective manner to get their wants satisfied. The rules are the organization’s problem.

What if we created YES! rules for customers?

▪️Rules that are built to allow customers to get what they want in the manner they want.

▪️Rules that empower frontline employees to Say Yes! to whatever reasonable request the customer makes.

▪️Rules that allow frontline employees to create a dazzling service experiences for their customers.

▪️Rules that recognize that every person is different and unique in some special way.

▪️Rules that recognize that your brand is ultimately controlled by customers and the conversation they have about an organization.

Sure, rules to control are necessary to ensure the business is run effectively. Financial reporting and cost management require a degree of oversight to meet specific external requirements.

But these control rules are so prevalent in organizations today that they can drown the customer experience and leave customers angry and frustrated.

The rules evolve to take precedence over the customer.

The rules suck the humanity out of many organizations. The internal rule dominates.

Why not engage the customer in designing The rule? Ask them if your approach would dazzle them or annoy them. Ask for their input.

Open your organization to them. Expose your humanity.

Get to YES!. Your customers will return the favour.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 11.17.14 at 04:57 am by Roy Osing
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November 10, 2014

Why having pain is important to have a winning business plan

Why having pain is important to have a winning business plan.

Simply stated: a brilliant business plan on paper will be a dud unless it is surrounded by flawless execution.

What does flawless execution look like?

◾️It is messy and inelegant;

◾️It suffers a multitude of roadblocks along the way; 

◾️It rarely works out the way you planned; alternative approaches are employed on the run;

◾️It burns people out; tons of energy is expended to move an inch forward;

◾️“I told you it wouldn’t work” is a persistent din in your face from some people;

◾️You rarely hear a thanks! for your efforts. You need to be able to work in a thankless world;

◾️Your family forgets your name because you are rarely home.

One word describes a successful execution track. PAIN. You have to endure it if forward progress is to be achieved.

If a successful business plan without execution is worthless. And successful execution without pain is impossible. It follows, then, that a successful business plan without pain is impossible.

I can’t think of a more relevant business planning concept.

Do you recruit people that have a high pain tolerance?

Demonstrated ability to move forward in the face of it? A psychological profile that actually thrives on it?

The ability to teach others how to work effectively with it in their face?

PAIN LOVERS

They will make you successful. Hire them. Worship them. Hold them up in regard to others who hopefully will emulate them.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 11.10.14 at 04:30 am by Roy Osing
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November 3, 2014

Why great leaders are amazing because they don’t actually lead people

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Why great leaders are amazing because they don’t actually lead people.

How do great leaders lead?

They don’t.

Great leaders serve.

▪️They ask “How can I help?”

▪️They measure their effectiveness by how many barriers they bash for frontline folks; they honour the frontline.

▪️Their calendar has hours and hours of walkabout time on it.

▪️They remember people’s names.

▪️They look for opportunities to ‘attaboy’ people even in a virtual work-from-home world.

▪️They never break a promise.

▪️They see themselves at the bottom of the organization chart.

▪️They eat their own dog food.

▪️They encourage imperfection.

▪️They define progress by the number of tries and mistakes made.

▪️They place the priority on doing stuff rather than on analyzing stuff to death.

Leaders create followers by earning them through the actions they take every day.

Leaders place the heart over the mind….

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 11.3.14 at 05:18 am by Roy Osing
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