Vision is a little like the horizon, it’s constantly shifting.
A shifting view needs to be refocused and reset.
That can be an exciting journey.
It depends on how you view change.
Most plans start with Vision.
That gets followed by misson.
Perhaps there is another way?
Perhaps ‘Attitude’ is the starting point.
Followed by ‘Purpose’
Then, ‘Values’
Now ‘Vision’
Then ‘Culture’
The rest will execute all of the above.
The crowd were already edgy with excitement.
The Bookies were busy and bets were flying.
It was a two horse race
But, it was also a long long race.
They were perfectly groomed as they entered the parade ring.
The owners had two demeanors.
One was loud and brash and courted bling bling and Press.
The other was understated, quiet but with a potent track record.
They went to the start, it was a two horse race.
They lined up anxiously, they started equally.
To the Left was Mr. Cutalot.
To the Right was Mr. Quietlybuild.
Cutalot took off at a rocket fuelled speed.
He was cutting here, cutting there, cutting everywhere.
Before long he was way ahead.
Quietlybuild was behind but running solidly and gaining pace.
He worked hard to add detail, polish, invest and remember his audience.
Cutalot, a fan of bling bling, was getting cocky.
Quietlybuild just kept working away.
Cutalot could see the home straight.
Quietlybuild was closing but still far behind.
Cutalot was out of his saddle. The rider began his victory wave,. The crowd went crazy.
Quietlybuild was getting faster.
The bookies odds had changed.
The crowd were changing their mind.
Quietlybuild was closing the gap.
Cutalot was beginning to slow.
The last furlong.
Cutalot cut even more.
Quietlybuild invested more.
The crowd were shifting.
Bling Bling was being swapped for invest more.
Half a furlong.
Cutalot was running out of things to cut – and energy.
Quietlybuild took the lead.
The home straight.
Bling Bling was sad sad and Cutalot was a failed plan.
Quietlybuild won the day and the game.
One would thrive, the other would die.
As the saying goes,
“The race is not always to the swift but to those who keep on running.”
You can only be miserable for so long.
You can only hibernate for so long.
You can only cut for so long.
You can only save for so long.
Eventually we need to emerge.
Eventually we need to breathe.
More importantly we need to live.
A recession will end just as a boom will bust.
The trick of good business is to ride those waves.
Take the rough with the smooth, peaks with troughs.
Bad leaders will continue to cut with their new few cents.
Good leaders will instantly invest.
Like a spring shoot, it’s a delicate nurturing to full health.
Already the cutters are cutting too deep.
Investors are spending slowly.
Remember, it’s not your money, it’s theirs.
Keep cutting at your peril.
The market will spot the cheap little tricks and say goodbye.
They will smile at the investment and notice it too.
More importantly, they will say hello to you and your business.
A business plan is just like a parachute jump.
Strange but true!
Every freefall jump starts with an idea.
Every jump has the easy initial excitement. Nice idea, daring but no risk.
The idea becomes more real.
The aircraft takes off, the butterflies twitch.
12,000 high and the risks are obvious. It’s no longer just an idea.
The defining moment comes along. A test that will try your nerves.
The jump begins and everything seems blurred, distant and far off.
Worse still, the destination looks tiny, unobtainable and a long way away.
The wind howls and gusts do their best to throw you off course.
The scenery tempts but will consume your focus.
More winds fight with a big open chute.
The tiny destination seems impossible from a sky so high.
The goal is survival and the mission is simply to hit that landing spot.
Anything else is a crash and with crashes comes injury and broken limbs.
Flying again will be a dream alone.
Total focus, no distractions, a few big battles and the spot looms large.
Success is a dead centre landing on a once far off dream.
Next time you decide to take a risk (or jump from 12,000 feet).
Make sure you know your destination.
Make sure nothing blows you off course.
Simple is good.
Often less is more.
The more we complicate the simple the more we lose our audience.
At a recent Workshop we were defining the difference between ‘vision’ and ‘mission’.
This is what popped out.
Take it – it works.
“Vision describes the place you want to get to. Mission describes the journey necessary to get there.”
Next time, avoid making simple things complex.
Sitting high on some dusty shelf lies your long lost Vision and Strategy paper.
Hidden deeper is your Mission Statement.
Worth looking at today to see if it’s still relevant.
The problem with strategy and missions is that we rely on humans to deliver them.
Most people really don’t know the strategy let alone assist in its delivery.
Let’s be even more basic.
Do your people know, really know, your standards?
If they do, great.
If not, don’t you think they are worth refreshing?
A brand must (at the very least) offer a continual promise of consistency.
That can only occur if there is consistent delivery of either a service or a product.
Recently I got a bill, a very big bill.
It said lots about ‘standards’
It said even more about a complete out-of-control approach.
The bill was for “advice given”
Thing is, I received none.
The bill (and the point above) were challenged.
Then, the goalposts changed.
Desperation had taken it’s icy firm grip.
“You see Mr. Kenny, the advice you were given was by my predecessor, not me. I would have given you the opposite advice.”
Scary reply. It should worry the MD, The Board, The Stakeholders, The Public and all The Governing Bodies.
Oh, customers too if they get that far!
Somehow, it seems there is more than one standard at play.
Sometime those opposites will clash.
When there is a clash there is fallout.
Where there is fallout there is debris.
Debris can create deep wounds and wounds leave scars.
Isn’t it worth asking 2 simple questions?
How many standards does your organization have in delivering your product or service?
Do your people know your standard or standards?
After all, they are your brand.
Is their version matching your vision?
In Ireland lots of hotels were built in very strange locations.
The decisions were strange and the owners motivation perhaps stranger again.
The builders tread on real hoteliers and destroyed a profession.
Ego got in the way of common sense and there were too many willing supporters of a flawed strategy.
There are ill hotels and many are dying.
No, it’s not the market, that’s part of it.
No, it’s not the Government, that’s another day’s Blog.
No, it’s not the guest, they still exist.
No, it’s not about discount, that’s too simple.
No, it’s not ‘somebody else’s fault’, it’s their own.
Why?
As a good friend said – “You don’t build a lighthouse in a bog.”
The All Seeing eye had a hit record with the above title. My friend on the Triiibes website is no stranger to Rock n’ Roll and a musical world. More than that, he writes great Blogs and provocative posts.
This is a recent favourite and you can read much more for yourself on www.surfforms.co.uk
The lions in the Ngoragora Crater are endangered because of in-breeding and a shortage of food. Yet not too far away, outside of the crater, there are wide plains with plenty of food where they could survive. So why don’t the lions leave the crater? Is it lack of imagination, fear, indifference, stupidity, preferring what is known or a dislike of change? Not being able to talk to animals zoologists can only make well-informed guesses.
However humans behave in the same way, organisations are reluctant to change, and if some indefatigable person makes the effort an army of nay sayers appears from nowhere. Anyone who has doubted creativity in the work place will soon find that the reasons not to change come thick and fast :
The problem is that usually everything changes yet everything stays the same. So if change is the price that has to be paid to leave the crater, for most people the price is usually too high, even if long term survival depends on it.
26.2 miles is a long run. I know, I have 8 under my belt (or is it my feet?). Never forget the .2 I did once, my first marathon, I came to Mile 26 and no Finish Line. .2 is long when you have already run 26. But, it’s the Finish Line that draws you, seduces you and keeps you going.
A marathon is just like a business. Ups and downs, highs and lows. Sometimes, mid run, it’s euphoric. Suddenly, unannounced, around a turn, you can be utterly deflated.
Marathon runners expect that. They know the highs and lows are coming. They keep their head up, ride the storm and know it will pass. All the time, they visualize The Finish. It’s The Mission and The Goal. It’s the reason – the only reason – for beginning the race.
A friend, a very good friend, once dropped out at 24 miles. No medal, no certificate, no t-shirt, no result. He never competed according to the record books. He was devastated. In hindsight and this is what he said;
“The thing is, I could have kept going, it was hard but I could have. I wish I had not given u. I regret it so much.”
A Marathon is hard because it lures you, mesmerizes you, seduces you and plays with you. It’s a battle and a mind game and it lasts for hours. That’s why so few will ever run one let alone finish one.
Always remember that famous running quote when you are in a low;
“The race is not always to the swift but to those who keep on running.”
Lots of talk about light at the end of the tunnel.
Great, but beware….
People who have that persistent marathon spirit visualise the finish line.
In other words, light at the end of the tunnel.
It keeps them going.
On the other hand, really smart people don’t waste time “seeing the light” where there is none.
Or, worse still, where there never can be any!