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Ted’s Blog: Discussing critical industry issuesThe Garrison Report #2003-7
Are You Ready for the 21st Century?
This month’s report asks everyone a fundamental question: “Are you ready for the 21st century? What do I mean? Are you taking the right steps to ensure maximum employee morale, productivity and profits? It doesn’t matter whether you are the CEO of a large company, the sole proprietor of a small company, a project manager or a service mechanic. We all need to be asking ourselves, “Am I ready for the 21st century?”
Michael Gerber in his book The E-Myth raised an interesting concept. While most of us believe that someone who starts his or her own business is an entrepreneur, this isn’t really true. Instead he claims that most are technicians experiencing an entrepreneurial seizure. What he means is that we learn a skill then start a business using that skill. For example, a plumber would start a plumbing business, a carpenter a contracting business and so on. In the construction industry, this is often the case. Since we all enjoy building things, we spend our time building things instead of focusing on the business. For example, you see the presidents of large construction companies out on the job, helping the project to run smoother. Or at least the president thinks so!
As Gerber said, We must learn to work ‘on’ the business and not just work ‘in’ the business.” It doesn’t matter whether you are the CEO or the project manager. In essence, even a project is a small company, and the project manager must work on the project, not just in it. The problem occurs when our technician part takes over and we think the project is the construction of the building or whatever the construction project is. Unfortunately this is a shortsighted perspective because the project is much more than that.
I recognize that the CEOs of small companies and project managers might have to work in the business at times, but there certainly must be an aspect of her business life where she works on the business. The challenge lies in fact that in the fast-paced world we operate in, we are often trapped by the urgency of the moment of getting the construction work done. But in the rush, we lose something more important: the customer’s concerns and/or interests.
One of my favorite questions to ask seminar attendees is “What kind of customer do you want?” Usually some unsuspecting person falls into my trap and answers, “A satisfied customer.”
I laugh and respond, “You must be kidding. That is the last thing you want.”
After a pause where I get some strange looks, I add, “The reason I say this is because 86 percent of satisfied customers will go to your competitor on the next job, so who wants a satisfied customer?” This occurs because satisfied means you did OK, but you certainly didn’t wow the customer, which is what’s needed to create repeat business. So how do you stop being your own worst enemy?
An open mind is a powerful weapon
It has been said that creativity and learning occur when a person eliminates from his mind all those things that he is absolutely sure are correct. So an open mind requires the mind to be purged because many of the old ideas are holding you back. To accomplish that we must focus on three important skills: avoid classifying ideas or actions into right or wrong, have an open mind and better listening.
When you classify ideas or decisions into an immediate right-or-wrong, good-or-bad format, you bring all your past prejudices to bear. The problem is these opinions might be wrong. They might have started out right, but over time the conditions have changed and the beliefs have not been adjusted to reflect the new environment. Instead, you should recognize that there are more ways than one to look at things, and as scary as it may sound, they might be even better than your approach.
Don’t try defending your position with, “I’ve built a successful business, so I know what I’m doing.” Sometimes the lack of experience is a blessing. All established experts in the phone industry said MCI’s concept wouldn’t work, but Bill McGowan, founder of MCI, said they just did it. “We were successful because we didn’t know any better.”
The other problem is when an idea is either right or wrong, all you need is to find some small defect to justify throwing it out. In reality, would your current approach withstand the same scrutiny? No idea or concept is perfect. So accept the fact that most ideas or approaches fall into gray areas. The answer is obtaining all the information before deciding or at least waiting until you are forced to make a decision.
We have all heard that we should think outside the box, but an open mind is about getting truly crazy. Remove all constraints while you generate ideas. There will be plenty of time to deal with the practical aspects of the implementation later. But when you remove all constraints, it’s amazing how many different ideas you can uncover. One of which might just provide a fresh approach to solving the problem.
For example, many people believe they must bid work. This isn’t true and once they accept it, they can begin to find ways to obtain work without bidding. But as long as you are anchored by the belief that you must bid work and that customers care about only price, you are trapped. When one of my seminar attendees complained that her clients wanted to know only price, I suggested she try some of the things we talked about. She did and two months later, she proclaimed, “I can’t believe it, but we are making more money.”
The final skill is listening. Don’t make judgments before you receive all the facts. As Dr. Stephen Covey said, “First, listen to understand.” Listen to everyone, including the obnoxious. When you obtain information from all perspectives, you will be able to think independently about the issue. When someone approaches you with a concept that you don’t agree with, try this approach. Ask yourself, “What would this person have to say to convince me her idea is the best approach?” Then try to get that information out of the person. This tactic will change the way you listen and might provide you with some interesting thoughts. In the end you might still disagree with the person, but at least you will have thoroughly analyzed it and possibly extracted some useful portions of the person’s idea. Remember that usually no idea is totally right or wrong.
If you use these skills, you will be better able to work on your company, whether that is defined as a “real company” or some “department” within a larger company. Good luck and happy Fourth of July! Go USA!
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