MANAGEMENT MOJO

since when is thinking not productive?

dnasmith — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 14:56:42 +0000

So there I was rocking back in my chair (as you do) contemplating possible solutions over a problem when my boss wanders over and says “that’s hardly productive is it?”

I replied, “I’m thinking…”

He said (and I couldn’t make this up), “we don’t have time for that, get back to work!”

Now, being in a consulting environment one would guess that thinking about problems, current solutions and the marriage of the two are pretty important, but it would seem to my narrow-minded manager that unless I am on the phone, at a client’s office, in a meeting (and don’t get me started on productivity issues there) or typing furiously at my computer I’m not being productive.

Surely more time should be spent contemplating the correct course of action rather than running in, guns blazing, and then being forced to retreat because we hadn’t thought it through.

Sometimes I think we all need to just slow down and think about things. Or maybe its just me…

the desperation of the specialist

dnasmith — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 16:18:09 +0000

I suppose that if you are only equipped with a hammer than eventually you see everything as a nail.

I have spent so much time with “experts” in the past few days. The only things they really have in common is that their expertise is so specialised that everything in life is viewed through their narrow range of vision. Every situation presented to them is given an answer related to their areas of competence.

Surely we need to realise that our areas of competence ends at some point? We can’t have an opinion on everything, or can we?

What ever happened to the old school generalist in life? The one who could offer a pretty decent view on things because he / she had a broad range of knowledge that provided a great deal of insight into many different challenges. These days its seems that no one is able to comment except on very narrow areas and as a result tend to ignore other problems or opportunities as a result.

The cynic in me thinks it’s a ploy by professional service firms to argue that they need to bring as many people in as possible in order to complete a job, therefore bumping up their corporate fees. Unfortunately it’s not that simple and while I know many professionals who would quite willingly offer some general advice, their regulatory bodies, driven by lawyers and politicians prohibit them from doing so.

This inability to provide general advice creates a conflict of interests as specialists try to convince clients that the solution needed is one that their specialism provides, if you follow me. By being unable to provide general advice we are cutting off a revenue source and therefore impartial advice at the same time.

Think about it. Message to politicians: stop interfering with all your regulations…

obsession with growth

dnasmith — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 10:38:20 +0000

What is the obsession with growth? I can’t figure it out.

We are obsessed a country with growth, obsessed as businesses with growth, and obsessed as individuals with growth. I hasten to add this largely refers to financial aspects, not our waist lines.

Yet when I ask business owners and leaders why they are keen to grow the revenue by 10, 20 or 30%, they provide me with very little in the way of insight. They can’t seem to clearly articulate the reasons. If there was an objective (need for exceptional profit for reinvestment in capital equipment, etc) I could understand it, but often it just seems “because”.

That’s quite sad really. If you don’t know where your business is headed then why add all the extra stress on yourself and employees by pursuing growth for the sake of it. I have seen far too many people become downright miserable as their businesses “grow”, and see no real happiness in society as we pursue higher GDP growth.

For goodness sake – have a purpose, have a vision, have a mission – know where you are going and what you need to do to get there. Growth may not be needed. In fact a smaller business may be more effective, and dare I say, profitable.

milking the clients

dnasmith — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 08:54:19 +0000

I know things have been tough lately. we’re all feeling a bit more pressure as more time passes between deals and work, but please let’s not take it out on the client!

Sitting in a management (I use the term loosely here) meeting the other day, one of our “partners” was outlining the need to hit the quarterly target and as such came up with the grand plan of increasing the fee on all engagements by 5% with immediate effect. Let’s just park the ethics of this to one side for we all know the answer to that.

Firstly, would you like this to happen to you? Secondly, since when did we start treating our clients with such disdain? They are not ATM machines that just spew out cash when we need it.

The only way we can justify higher fees is by providing more value.

I am continually amazed by firms that, when times are tough, reckon the best way out is to increase fees as if that will get customers flooding through the doors. Like the local wildlife park that noticed attendance was down – they increased park entrance fees by 10% and starting charging for parking, believing they would increase revenue to fulfill the gap left by the fall in spending. Seems rather counter intuitive to me.

Is it working? I drove by on Saturday, the sun was shining and the car park was barely half full. Seems you can only get so much milk out of your clients / customers after all.

business is business

dnasmith — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:09:49 +0000

I have to admit I get tired of the cliche that “my business is different”. Well yes, it is, if you are referring to what you make or do, even how you do it. But, if we are talking about fundamental management issues and business rules, no it is not.

Certain rules just can’t be broken. For example, if you want people to behave like adults, treat them like adults. If you want to be around a long time, think long-term in all your decisions. If you want to provide excellent service, then think from the client’s perspective.

It’s really not that difficult. Use your common sense and put in some hard work! The benefits will be there. I am just sick of listening to clients use whatever excuse they can find so they don’t have to change. Why ask for help if you don’t want to hear it?

My opinion? Maybe if you were open to change you wouldn’t have to be speaking to me in the first place!

stop pushing!

dnasmith — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 07:17:04 +0000

I have just returned from a company-wide conference. Nothing to exciting really. The key message was that we need to grow revenue…surprise, surprise!

Anyway, the message was conveyed to all the “sales” people, that the responsibility lies directly on their shoulders and there will be accountable for not achieving their individual targets. I have two issues with this: firstly, very little authority has been given to the sales people to help them achieve their objectives. In other words, should they need to pursue any business developments initiatives, they need to be signed off from HQ, and then get budgetary approval. Of course budgets are being frozen and even reduced in many areas – a bit of a dichotomy some would say!

Secondly, none of the “leaders” of the business are getting out there bringing in business themselves. Merely passing on the buck, so that if overall company targets are not achieved, they can fall back on the fact that they “told us” it was our responsibility. Talk about abdication…

If you want results out of your people, get in front and lead. You get no respect pushing from the rear!

how is this a sale?

dnasmith — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:36:34 +0000

I was listening to the radio this morning and a national hardware chain is promoting a sale to take place on the weekend.

“10% off everything” the ad screams at you. It all sounds good, especially considering I need some new garden items and know they carry good quality stuff.

Then at the end of the radio ad, in a different, slightly softer voice: “terms and conditions apply, not available at all stores, some in-store goods may be excluded”. WHAT?!?

This form of advertising is cheap, misleading and manipulative. You are undermining your integrity and ethics – I don’t care if it is legally permissible.

Why do we stand for this? This management team should be shot. If you are going to promote something, carry it through. You lose all credibility when you promote “10% off everything” and the reality is then different, hidden behind all the legal nonsense.

I bet they have honesty and integrity as one of their corporate values though!!! Disgusting really.

attitude or technical skills?

dnasmith — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 11:05:25 +0000

A client asked me this morning which potential employee to consider. I am not a talent expert, hence my preferenceto work alone, but couldn’t help but pass comment! I do work with others when needed and if I have to move away from my “regular supporters” to a newbie, there is one thing that wins hands down with me every time – ATTITUDE – it always helps me determine who I would rather work with.

This client had three short-listed candidates. One – great attitude, but little experience; two – all the experience, but attitude needs adjusting (or so it would seem); three – a reasonable candidate on both counts.

As my client’s company is well established, I encouraged her to go for the attitude, believing that you can always teach the skills needed for any job, but it’s always harder to find a good attitude and almost impossible to fix a bad attitude.

However, like most clients she was looking for someone who ” can hit the ground running”. My advice? Take some short term pain for the long-term gain – I really do believe in having the right attitude on board that much.

As the saying goes: “Get the right people on the bus!”

listen to those who know

dnasmith — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 07:10:39 +0000

Where is our common sense going? Watching the debacle that occurs when the government continues to interfere (control) with our education is laughable would it not be such a seriously misguided endeavour.

Having created the “tick-box” society that we live in and the ongoing measuring of our children, they have decided that there are a number of schools around the country that need to either close or sort themselves out. Given that no one else, myself included, has come up with any better measurement system to gauge the quality of various schools (apart from letting market forces, i.e. parents, decide – now there’s a novel idea!), I guess we need to start somewhere.

However, where I have a serious issue is that any school not deemed up to scratch will be knocked down and a new one rebuilt, possibly combining it with another one in close proximity. Now I am no expert, but I fail to see how a new building will solve the education problems. The problems are deeper than that and bureaucrats need to stop their laziness and make the hard decisions to make things better in the long run.

Will they? Heavens no…that might make them look bad, and then they’ll be out of a job.

focus is critical

dnasmith — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:57:49 +0000

The older I get the more I value the benefit of a focused mind.

Any company trying to be all things to all people will only end up destroying itself. Only when we learn to focus our energies on the intended target will we hit it.

A recent client in the financial services sector is desperately trying to cover all the bases for fear of saying no to any potential client. As a result, they do a lot of things good, but nothing spectacularly. As a result, they are not unique and their message is unclear to clients. No one really knows what they stand for.

The reality is, no one individual or company can do everything. You may risk losing some potential clients if you narrow your focus, but the clients you do get will pay a premium for your excellence – that is what we all need to strive for.

This company managed to remind of this need to focus our energies. I would encourage all companies and their people to increase their energy levels by focusing on a more narrow outcome.