Frustrated by Slow Progress in Your Business? | The Melting Pot Newsletter | Issue #85
HOW TO GET COMPLETE CLARITY OVER EXECUTION
Ever feel like things aren’t running well in your business? Can’t put your finger on why? Maybe there’s no easy way to feel as though you’re making continuous improvement. Something is hampering your growth. It’s like having your tyres out of balance on your car but not knowing that’s the reason for its underperformance.
When I meet clients for the first time, they tell me their issues and frustrations. But often they’re looking at the wrong things. They know they can drive faster but they’re fixated on the fuel sensor. They’ve no idea there’s a problem with the wheels. Once I feel there’s a good strategy in place, we start looking at execution. I introduce them to a couple of fantastic diagnostic tools that transform their understanding. Suddenly they have an insight into the operation of the business that they’d never had before. It works like a dream!
So what are these tools? How do you get complete clarity over execution?
COVID-19 – THE GREAT BUSINESS ACCELERATOR
Are you bored of hearing about the negatives of a recession? Well, if you listened to last week’s episode with Jack Stack, you’ll have heard him share how he’s on his fifth Black Swan and how after each one his business doubled. Why are we mentioning this again? Because a recession doesn’t necessarily always spell doom and gloom.
Today’s guest, Dr Kaihan Krippendorff, strategy, growth and transformation expert, keynote speaker, author and consultant is using the time to pivot his business. Kaihan hosted a conference last week with guest speakers including Rita McGrath and Amy Webb, and he’s holding another on 6th May, with guest speakers including Amy Edmondson and Scott Anthony.
These conferences have given him the seeds of a new business model. They’ve allowed him and his team to focus on something else right now, they’ve created new relationships, and they’ve allowed him to build their audience as well as their brand.
So if you’re wondering what you can do to fill your days, why not use this time wisely to think about your business strategy, and perhaps take advantage of coronavirus accelerating trends that were already in place? In today’s podcast, Kaihan and Dom discuss the tools Kaihan uses with his (mainly) Fortune 500 business clients, and how these tools could also be used by mid-market firms. He also discusses the online conference he ran last week and his top takeaways from it.
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Unlike other business podcasts. No filler and no fluff. HTE is a show for people looking to take charge of their lives and build a successful online business. People who are looking for their next business idea, getting started online, and how to start a business. We understand that starting a business and doing work that matters is not always easy, but it is worth it.
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DO YOUR EMPLOYEES KNOW WHAT MATTERS MOST TO YOUR CUSTOMERS?
In a customer-centric company, employees know what customers care about. Unfortunately, at most companies, customers’ concerns are ignored.
A recent Gallup study in Europe and the U.S. shows that the majority of employees do not regularly receive information about what’s important to their customers and less than one-third strongly agree their company actively involves customers in improving products. And roughly a quarter of European workers believe “comments and suggestions from customers always lead to concrete improvements in our company.”
THE MOST IMPORTANT METRICS YOU’RE NOT TRACKING (YET)
Most leaders say they’re customer-centric, but if everything they measure is company-centric, how could that be true? Revenue, growth, and similar Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) measure how customers are performing for the company. But organizations that wish to be customer-centric (and maximize growth) must also measure how the company is performing for its customers.
TO TELL SOMEONE THEY’RE WRONG, FIRST TELL THEM THEY’RE RIGHT
The 17th century philosopher Blaise Pascal is perhaps best known for Pascal’s Wager which, in the first formal use of decision theory, argued that believing in God is the most pragmatic decision. But it seems the French thinker also had a knack for psychology. As Brain Pickings points out, Pascal set out the most effective way to get someone to change their mind, centuries before experimental psychologists began to formally study persuasion:
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SCALING YOUR TECH BUSINESS BY DOMINIC MONKHOUSE
Calling all CEOs, Founders and Managing Partners! Learn valuable scale-up strategies in a brand new book by the UK’s top tech industry business coach, Dominic Monkhouse. Dom has a track record of scaling-up award-winning technology businesses, including two UK based companies from zero revenue to £30 million within five years. Now he is sharing the secrets behind his success in a new book, FREE to all Melting Pot subscribers. The download will be available very soon. Watch out for your copy!
EXCELLENCE WINS BY HORST SCHULZE
CEOs. Leaders without titles. Startups. Corporations. For-profits. Nonprofits. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do – you want to become the best. You want to win, every time. Horst Schulze knows how to win. In this book, Schulze, in his absolute no-nonsense approach, shares the visionary and disruptive principles that have produced immense global successes over the course of his still-prolific fifty-year career. As the co-founder and former president of Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co., Schulze fearlessly led the company to unprecedented multi-billion dollar growth, setting the business vision and people-focused standards that made the Ritz-Carlton brand globally elite.
MEANINGFUL ACTION FOR MONDAY
Tough times call for a transparent approach. Involve your staff in big decisions. Some of my clients are nervous about doing this, preferring to share output afterwards. But I feel people are more likely to accept an outcome if they’ve been involved and consulted. One CEO client called me last week to say he needed to take drastic action as a result of the pandemic. One of the decisions he needed to make was whether to cut salaries by 25% across the board or lay off 25% of the workforce. At the moment, his staff are furloughed. He was mulling over whether he should have this debate more widely. I suggested he started with his executive team. And they unanimously supported a pay cut. He then had the confidence to involve his whole staff in making this decision. He wants to try and retain them. It may not be possible to save them all, but he reckons in three months’ time, the situation will have improved. All the evidence of the last few recessions shows that companies who cut back the least, bounce back the strongest.