Posts Tagged ‘execution’
The Fierce Urgency of Now
Posted by Jane Adamson on February 1st, 2011
“We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
This quote about fierce urgency and procrastination should resonate when we all realize how quickly January 2011 has flown by. Now there are only 11 months left to reach your 2011 goals. Q2 is around the corner, and if you’re off track in Q1, the rest of the year may be in jeopardy. Don’t allow one more year of missed opportunity. In that short amount of time, your company could easily end up “standing bare, naked, and dejected” when the competition cleanly passes you by.
It’s not as if companies don’t want to meet their goals. They try to meet them. But there’s a hard truth here: if they aren’t meeting goals on a regular basis, something needs to change. Let’s discuss what gets in the way of achieving results: obstacles, aka problems.
What are your odds?
Posted by Jane Adamson on January 4th, 2011
It’s easy to be confident that you’ll meet your 2011 goals – after all, you have 12 new months ahead of you. But in his book 8th Habit, Stephen Covey provides a sobering analogy: 37% of employees have a clear understanding of what their organization is trying to achieve and why, and only 1 in 5 employees has a clear “line of sight” between individual tasks and the team’s goals.
Now comes the sobering part: what if a soccer team had those stats? Only 4 of 11 players on the field would know which goal is theirs, and only 2 of 11 would know what position they play and what they’re supposed to do.
The Cost of Chaos – Part III
Posted by Jane Adamson on November 2nd, 2010
Imagine that you have a huge digital billboard in your office. It’s something like the national debt clock, and it’s tracking something that is just as critical to your company’s future. It’s the money your organization wastes while trying to generate revenue: the cost of failed products, excess sales salaries, sales support, ads, promotions, campaigns, [...]
The Opportunity Cost of that Special Deal
Posted by Rick McPartlin on August 3rd, 2010
Based on the conversations I’ve been having recently, I know you’ll recognize this scenario. Your star sales rep has uncovered an interesting revenue opportunity, but it’s off strategy for your company. It might require more customization than you typically provide. Perhaps it’s a new industry for you, or you’ll need to hire new people with different skill sets in order to fulfill it. It may also be a test program with promises of future business if the stars are aligned.
Whatever the case, during difficult times, a CEO is more likely to say yes to these kinds of deals — typically called “bluebirds” because they’re beautiful but very troublesome. After all, it’s revenue, right? Absolutely, and revenue is precious right now. Perhaps this bluebird is really a symbol of a real market trend, so you have to pay attention.
