If you invest enough time in systematically thinking about your business, the problems you need to overcome will become clear to you. Over time, you will begin to distinguish symptoms from causes and start addressing root causes instead of merely treating symptoms.
One of the key roles an owner must never delegate is ensuring that the final outcome and destination of the business are crystal clear — as well as the starting point from which the business currently operates.
In addition to having a “map” with clearly defined steps and instructions on how to reach the final destination, you also need a clear vision of all the obstacles that lie between point “A” and point “B.”
Based on this information, the owner must build a “machine” that will take them as safely as possible to the final destination, using the map and overcoming all obstacles along the way.
But be careful — a great idea that cannot be implemented is simply a bad idea.
To simplify: the “machine” the owner must build has to be good enough to change the current situation and improve it. It must overcome obstacles along the way and bring us closer to the goal. This “machine” may require a new strategy to be implemented, a change in the existing business model, a change in distribution, marketing message, or the media used. It may also require expanding the business from a local to a regional market.
Regardless of the change, company leadership led by the owner must change priorities if the new “machine” is to be effective.
A change in priorities always leads to a change in resource allocation — the most common cause of failure is management’s indecisiveness in shifting focus, human resources, and financial resources. In other words, the owner’s unwillingness to allocate and assign the necessary resources that are essential for change.
“Machines” require people to operate and manage them. If you place average people in charge of a world-class machine, it is only a matter of time before the first problems arise.
It is a major mistake to “dream” about a machine while neglecting the people, execution, and key resources needed to build and maintain it.
Even the most optimistic plans fail without quality execution. Consistency in execution requires standards, measurability, performance indicators, key activities that drive the “machine,” progress tracking, rewards, and continuous training of the people who operate the “machine.”
What we measure, we can manage. What we manage can grow exponentially.
