The Other Side of Success

Success breeds complacency.  Complacency breeds failure. – Andy Grove.

In my experience, when things are going great, eventually, there comes a time when they won’t.  Like the changing seasons, everything ebbs and flows, including business cycles.  Successful companies understand this.

Smart business leaders anticipate the unexpected and challenge the status quo to stay ahead. They look for ways to improve their business by honestly assessing their internal processes, products, and services and keeping their customer promises.

The 12 Percent Club

McKinsey & Co. found that 12 percent of companies actually carry through with their implementation plans.  The ones that do see significantly better results in profitability.  Do you want to be one of the 88 percent that don’t achieve the results you planned for?

I recently helped a firm transform its culture from a lack of accountability and distrust to high trust, growth, and innovation. The leadership team looked honestly at the company’s strengths and weaknesses and the external landscape and brainstormed solutions to having a unified vision and purpose.  They also examined their unique value proposition, identifying internal strengths and assessing soft spots in the delivery and execution of the firm’s promise to its customers.

Timing – When to Start

When is a good time to review your long-term strategies or vision? If you don’t have one or it’s been more than three to five years since you last looked, now is a good time. If business is good, it’s a good time. If times are tough, it’s a good time.  In short, it’s always a good time to look under the hood.

Crafting a vision is not the final step. It's just the beginning.

It’s the launchpad for where your organization will be headed.  To get there, you need to identify bold initiatives to move your company forward, followed by detailed game plans designed to make the vision a reality.  How many bold initiatives?  Three to five are optimal.

For your vision and bold initiatives to succeed, the leadership team must be committed to staying the course during the inevitable highs and lows.

Execution and Implementation are The Last 95%.

The S-Curve

With any new project, there are three phases: (1) the start-up phase, (2) the implementation phase, and (3) the sustaining phase.  As you track progress throughout the project, there will be an initial ramp-up, results will come in, and you will be able to assess progress.

While tracking progress, your results over time will look like an S-Curve.  At some point, your company may experience slight improvements or a leveling-off of results.  This is a time to reassess or correct the course to achieve your planned results.

There will be ups and downs, and you and your leadership team may be frustrated with subpar results or lose patience or the energy to complete the initiatives.

How to Ensure Success

1.     Leadership must make the initiatives important and commit fully to success.

2.     Commit to a rigorous process of implementation and sustaining actions.  I call these game plans.

3.     Put your money where your mouth is. Invest time and resources to achieve your bold initiatives, including getting the right people on the team.

4.     Don’t throw in the towel at the first sign that things aren’t going as planned.  They never do.

5.     If you’re finding it difficult to get your leadership team together to coalesce on a strategic initiative or plan, or it’s difficult to maintain momentum, I recommend that you hire a facilitator to manage the process.

Final Thoughts

The volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity affecting your business will not abate or slow down. Decisions about growth, exceeding customer expectations, and leading a thriving and sustainable business require that you and your leadership team make honest assessments of how your firm is performing.

Make it a priority to revisit your strategic plans and initiatives. Now is a good time if it's been over three years since your last strategic plan.

When considering where to invest resources, I recommend investing in systems to grow your organizational leadership talent among your employees, including giving your employees training and challenging them with growth opportunities.

When times are good, it's natural to be a bit complacent. Challenge yourself not to let complacency become a habit.

Until next time!