Our Next President

Will the next president be a “problem solver”? I hope not.

Years of interviewing candidates for leadership positions have taught me

one thing: Never hire someone who describes their strength as problem solving. People who spend their time solving problems never seem to run out of problems to solve. Nor has solving a problem ever added value. At best things are just returned to where they should have been to start with.

Problems constantly confront leaders, but the best leaders devote most of their energy to pursuing opportunities. Those leaders don’t ignored problems, but they have come to understand that most problems are the symptoms of neglected opportunities. Pursue the right opportunities and many problems tend to take care of themselves.

What is needed in a President, or any leader, is the talent for doing the right things and building the right team. Great leaders focus on opportunities not problems.

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

What Do The Exceptional Do Differently?

One question keeps coming up. People want to know what the successful among us do differently.

Anyone can be accidently successful for some period of time—you can have your fifteen minutes of fame. Leave success to chance, however, and you are more likely to never reach your goals.

Purposeful long-term success is never an accident.  The people and organizations that achieve long-term durable success do things differently. Specifically, they do five things:

1. They engage in the planning process.
2. They set goals and objectives.
3. They develop plans for achieving those goals.
4. They prepare for opportunities and contingencies.
5. They measure progress and hold people accountable. 

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to the TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores. For an audio edition of The Claret Murders go to http://amzn.com/B00IV5ZJEI. Ebook editions are also available through Apple iTunes’ iBooks Store and Smashwords.com.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

Structured Planning

Structured Planning:While planning is a continuous and dynamic process, that doesn’t mean it lacks structure.  It has to have a starting point; and then it is dynamically adjusted and communicated as conditions change, assumptions are adjusted, and temporary targets are replaced with new ones, etc.  The Structured Planning icon above conveys that one cannot develop operational plans or budgets without having a strategic view that those operational plans and budgets support.  Structure is a critical part of the planning process, and the one I have followed over the years involves nine main areas to be addressed—and continuously readdressed—by the planning team in the order listed.

Nature of your enterprise (business, division, group, etc.):  What it is and how it operates today:
History of the business (outline of important events); Organization, key management, committees; Billing methods and collection methods; Products, services, expense recovery method; Description of the market; Recruitment; Marketing, networking, referral practices, sales methods; Client intake methods and standards; Competition and market share; Quality control and client satisfaction.

Historical performance: Five-year financials which benchmark comparisons of key performance indicators such as days of inventory, days to collect bills, margin percentage, customer satisfaction—the key success drivers for your particular business, department or activity.

Environment in which you operate:
Economic conditions; Labor force; Technology; Governmental issues; Nature of market and competition.

Opportunities/Capabilities (SWOT):
Our strengths; Our weaknesses; Threats; Our best opportunities such as: new products to existing clients-same products to new markets-new products to new markets-performance improvements.

Assumptions:
Economic; Labor force; Technology; Governmental impacts;Nature of market.

Objectives—Mission/Strategic Thrust:
Mission, goal and/or objective; Main things required to achieve objective; The main opportunities and the risks and/or weaknesses that require action; Strategies for achieving those main things; Tactics or programs to implement or support strategies.

Policies/Procedures (changes or new ones needed):
Existing policies requiring change, New policies needed.
Strategies/Programs Summary:
Main things for success of each strategy; Tactics (programs) to implement strategies; Key indicators (measurements) of achievements.

Priorities and Schedules:
Programs; New processes; New assets or resources; Measurement capability.

Organization and Delegation: Organization Chart; Who is responsible for what? Job or position descriptions.

Once the overall strategic plan is developed, each major department or group should go through the same planning process, and that planning process becomes input into the firm-wide plan.  Which comes first the chicken or the egg--the strategic plan or the operational plan, the enterprise-wide plan or the segment plans, etc.?  The answer is each is shaped by the other over time.  Since planning occurs continually, it is impossible to tell.
 
Planning is a discovery process.  Sometimes it is a discovery of the obvious and sometimes it breaks new ground.  The one thing you can count on is that we are far more likely to get there if we know where we are going and how we are supposed to get there.  I refer to that as I65 North.  I65 North is a reminder that the business is a journey and that leadership’s job is to get all of the firm’s people traveling in the same direction.  Planning gets the team playing from the same playbook.  It prepares the team for the future, equipping it to capitalize on its opportunities. 

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Mysteries by Tom Collins include Mark Rollins’ New Career, Mark Rollins and the Rainmaker, Mark Rollins and the Puppeteer and the newest, The Claret Murders.   For signed copies go to http://store.markrollinsadventures.com. Print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other online bookstores. The ebook edition for the iPad is available through Apple iTunes' iBookstore.

Luck Favors the Prepared



 



Change (especially uncertain change) is the stuff of opportunities—provided you have developed a way of thinking that prepares the firm to take advantage of whatever the future brings.  The French scientist Louis Pasteur said it in one short sentence: “Chance favors only the prepared mind.”  If Pasteur had been English, the quote would have been, “Luck favors the prepared mind.”
 
When consulting with a midsize law firm a few years ago, I suggested that the partners adopt the practice of meeting monthly for a half-day session where they did nothing but think about things that could happen and then thinking about how they could happen differently.  The mission would be to identify strategies that would allow the firm to benefit rather than suffer from these events.
 
Suppose, for example, that a member of the law firm is arrested for unsavory activities unrelated to the law firm.  What steps should the firm take?  Suppose a major local corporation with significant legal needs loses its general counsel unexpectedly.  How could the law firm respond in a way to take advantage of the situation?  Suppose a single-payer health system is adopted by the U.S. government.  What problems and opportunities occur if Mexico nationalizes American businesses? How would the firm respond to another Enron?  What happens if outside investors are allowed to own U.S. law firms?  Suppose a major client of the law firm contemplates moving its headquarters to a state where your firm doesn’t currently practice?  How should your firm respond to a news release that a major U.S. corporation is relocating its headquarters to your area? What if events similar to those that destroyed Arthur Anderson occur with respect to a U.S. mega law firm?
 
Could the firm have anticipated the events involving Big Tobacco, the rise of the overnight letter business, the advent of Amazon.com, or the wave of refinancing sparked by falling interest rates?  Could the firm have been better positioned to take advantage of Sarbanes-Oxley?  Is the firm prepared for the next Katrina? Does the fact that 3.6 million Americans will turn 65 in 2012 open opportunities for your firm?  Can the firm take advantage of a major changing of the guard in corporate America?
 
If the firm follows my suggestion, that “thinking outside of the box” exercise is likely to become the firm’s vehicle for rapid response to real-life events which will position the firm to capitalize rather than suffer from uncertain future events.  Chance, Luck, Opportunities—whatever you call it—it can best benefit those who are prepared.  Practice prepares a business team to take advantage of events that surprise others. 

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Mysteries by Tom Collins include Mark Rollins’ New Career, Mark Rollins and the Rainmaker, Mark Rollins and the Puppeteer and the newest, The Claret Murders.   For signed copies go to http://store.markrollinsadventures.com. Print and ebook editions are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other online bookstores. The ebook edition for the iPad is available through Apple iTunes' iBookstore.

Profiting from Uncertainty and Change

I was looking over my bookshelf.  Yes, I still have printed books that I read; not everything has gone digital.  One of the books on the self is Profiting from Uncertainty: Strategies for Succeeding No Matter What the Future Brings by Paul J.H. Schoemaker.

Few of us have the concentration needed to apply Schoemaker's approach to scenario planning and dynamic monitoring.  Nevertheless, Schoemaker has it right.  Change (especially uncertain change) is the stuff opportunities are made of—provided you have developed a way of thinking that prepares you and your business to take advantage of whatever the future brings.  The French scientist Louis Pasteur said it in one short sentence: "Chance favors only the prepared mind."

This morning my wife was reading about the problems resulting from changes in apartment and home design—open floor plans, hardwood floors, hard surfaces like granite and the disappearance of window curtains.  Surprise—privacy has been eliminated and the hard surfaces have created a sound problem.  As a result, there is now demand for mechanical screens to close off open spaces when privacy is needed and sound absorbing panels to dampen the reverberating noise.

The point is change increases opportunities.  The key is to be prepared for it so that you can move quickly to get there with products or services to meet new needs.  You have to anticipate possible future events in order to have a basic plan in place to move faster and with more resources than the other guy.  Have a weekly lunch or a monthly evening session devoted to nothing but thinking about things that could happen and then thinking about how they could happen differently.  The mission would be to identify strategies that would allow you to benefit rather than suffer from these events.

Have fun thinking "out of the box" and strategically thinking about how you could capitalize rather than suffer from uncertain future events.  That "thinking out of the box" exercise is likely to become your vehicle for rapid response to real-life events.  Chance, Luck, Opportunity—whatever you call it, it benefits best those who are prepared.  Practice prepares you to take advantage of events that surprise others.