August 2007

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article was first published in the Eastern Daily Press' 'The Business'  on 1 August 2007</I></div> <bR> <div> <B>Pride goeth before a fall</B></div> <bR> <div> Years ago, I worked for a company whose owners failed to learn a key lesson of success in business.  It was a good sized, once prosperous organisation that, between the wars, had rivalled in every way its main competitor in terms of number of stores, product range and quality, customer profile and financial performance.  And, like its competitor, it was family owned and run.</div> <bR> <div> Even by the early 1980s there remained a vague aura of paternalism within the company, and many employees had given years of loyal service.  In some ways, the business represented the Best of British - traditional, slightly old-fashioned in a quaint, rather stylish way and dedicated to providing personalised service.  Alas, in other ways the company was woefully underperforming and being left behind by more progressive and, dare I say it, more professional competitors.</div> <bR> <div> The main problem was that the owners had never, in their attitudes towards business, developed further than a `corner shop' mindset, even though they were running a plc.  Their pre-occupation was with the takings achieved by each of the hundred or so branches.  Daily, these figures were reported to head office, recorded by hand on a form which was then photo-copied and distributed throughout the company.  Employees were never, however, presented with numbers to show, for example, how the business was faring when compared to the same period last year, or with any other analysis of key information such as control of operating costs and the resultant gross profit margins being achieved.  And, of course, no business plan or budget existed to guide people in their endeavours.  The members of the family, each occupying a senior position of responsibility, authority and reward, felt such information should remain private to them, right up until the day the nearly insolvent business was sold for a pittance to an aggressive takeover team.  The organisation was rapidly split up into the few remaining profitable bits and the rest disposed of and today, not even the name of this once proud business remains on high street fascias.</div> <bR> <div> If only the family had understood what their competitor's owners learned early on in their rivalry:  you can't do everything yourself, and the sooner you admit this and let professionals do the things you can't do well, the faster and more successfully your business will grow.  That rival is now one of the biggest, most respected retailers in the country, whilst the company that employed me for several years is but a memory.</div> <bR> <div> When I was leaving the company I've described here, I learned to my horror that the person who, in an elegant copper-plate hand, meticulously recorded the previous day's takings was none other than the chairman!  He was so entrenched in the past and had so little faith in other's abilities that he refused to let go of even this menial task, preferring to remain a corner shopkeeper until the end.       </div> <bR> <div> Don't let pride, vanity or stubbornness replace common sense when it comes to making your business decisions.  And remember Harry Truman's maxim:  `There is no limit to what you can achieve, provided you don't care who gets the credit.'</div> <bR> <div> <I>The following article was first published in the Eastern Daily Press' 'The Business'  on 29 August 2007</I></div> <bR> <div> <B>A matter of attitude</B></div> <bR> <div> Initiating change in an organisation is one of the most challenging responsibilities of leadership. Managers usually find themselves facing a plethora of barriers to establishing new ways of doing things that can benefit the business. A phrase I hear all too frequently is “we already tried something like that, but it didn't work.”  With that mind-set any chance of gaining people's commitment to finding a better way is reduced dramatically.  But whether we like it or not, change - particularly in today's fast-paced world - is inevitable.  As W Edwards Deming - the American statistician and efficiency expert who helped rebuild post-war Japan - said, “It's not necessary to change.  Survival is not mandatory”.</div> <bR> <div> Resistance to change is nothing new - it's a predictable aspect of human nature. We oppose change for many reasons. Frequently, people fear a loss of control, having only just got used to the old way of doing things.  Or they might think that they don't have the skills necessary to operate in a different way.  Sometimes it's nothing more complicated than a belief that it will mean they will have to work harder.  Whatever the reasons for resistance, successful change managers need to understand this human reaction and learn to help their people through the process.</div> <bR> <div> Some managers might regard being seen to change their minds as a sign of weakness, yet, as George Bernard Shaw said “Progress is impossible without change; and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”  I feel strongly that people who cope well with change almost always demonstrate a particular attitude:  they are the sorts that see a glass as half full, not half empty.  In this column a couple of months ago, I wrote about the zany fishmongers of the Pike Place Fish market in Seattle, Washington.  An essential aspect of what makes them special and what helps them to have fun whilst conducting their often wet, cold, tiring day to day business is that they make a conscious decision to `choose their attitude'.  They know that if they arrive with the attitude that the day might be miserable, it will almost certainly end up being just that.  But if they show up convinced that it's going to be a great day, they have a pretty good chance of making it so.</div> <bR> <div> So, in the context of managing change in a business, this positive, constructive attitude might be summed up thus:  when confronted with the spectre of change; when facing the challenge of doing something differently - don't ask “Why?”  Ask “Why not?”  If everyone in the business took a personal responsibility for seeing change as an opportunity rather than a threat, just imagine what progress could be made. Remember, it is about each individual and his or her contribution to the organisation.  Leo Tolstoy put it this way: “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”  Be prepared to change yourself, and the world will follow.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" width=180 BGCOLOR="#CC3333" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>