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Generating Publicity: Will The Media Be Interested In My Product/Business?
When it comes to launching a new business or product, some marketing consultants might say that EVERY product is appropriate for a publicity or media exposure campaign. That is true to a degree, but as a PR/publicity professional and former media...
Six Disciplines for Excellence
Too often, the majority of business improvement books are long on theory and short on practicality. The ideas are good (or great), but most business leaders do little to incorporate the ideas in their businesses long enough for positive change to...
Strategies to Time Management
Strategy is a planning ahead to achieve a specific goal. Some of
us plan a time management scheme for one or two years, while
others plan five or ten years. In college, we were taught to
manage our time according to long-term and short-term...
What could Macedonia Learn from a Tiger? The Asian Tigers and the Phenomenon of Uninterrupted Economic Growth
The first reaction of economies in transition is a sharp decline in their production, mainly in industrial production. In the countries which attained independence with the demise of the British Empire (where the sun never set) - industrial...
What To Consider Before Approaching Lenders
Dealing with a bank doesn't have to be like walking through a maze in the dark. Keeping the following points in mind when you approach a bank should help you through the process. Lenders are looking to satisfy themselves of the following: 1. That...
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Change Management Can Lead to Rigidity and Resistance to Change
"Today's successful business leaders will be those who are most
flexible of mind. An ability to embrace new ideas, routinely
challenge old ones, and live with paradox will be the effective
leader's premier trait. . . Leaders will have to guide the ship
while simultaneously putting everything up for grabs, which is
itself a fundamental paradox." -- Tom Peters, Thriving on Chaos:
Handbook for a Management Revolution
Beware of formal organization improvement or "change management"
(an oxymoron) plans. Like strategic plans, organization
improvement or change management plans can reduce an
organization's effectiveness. They can lead to rigidity,
bureaucracy, and resistance to change.
This sounds like an argument against planning. It's not. We have
found that constant and ongoing personal, team, and organization
improvement planning is vital. But too many "change management"
and improvement plans are built on the same faulty premise as
strategic planning -- that there is a right path, which can be
determined in advance and then implemented. We often hear
managers declare that they have the right strategic or
improvement plan, but the reason things aren't going according
to plan is because of "execution problems." This is a deadly
assumption.
While there are many reasons for execution problems, one of the
key problems is a top-down improvement plan or "change
management" program. Because of their need for order and
control, many rigid managers try to use "change management" or
improvement planning to regulate and direct the random and
chaotic events swirling around them. They aren't comfortable
with letting
their improvement plan and path to higher
performance unfold and evolve toward their vision, values,
purpose, goals and priorities. In other words, they think they
can start with the answers. They're not comfortable with
learning.
Other organizations and consultants may have been down a similar
road to the one we're on. We have much to learn from their
experiences. But we can't follow their path. If we have never
been here before, we don't really know what the best paths and
approaches are. Our improvement path evolves as we get to each
fork in the road and get those people closest to the action to
help make the most appropriate choices.
We need an unwavering strategic focus on where we're going. We
need to set priorities, allocate resources, and put
implementation schedules in place. But exactly how we get there
can only be roughly sketched. Details get filled in as we go.
Most of the problems and opportunities can't be anticipated and
planned for in advance. We have to take advantage of the
unforeseeable opportunities that will quietly present themselves
as our journey unfolds. This is the paradox of strategic
opportunism. It is the path of learning and constant
improvement.
About the author:
Jim Clemmer is a bestselling author and internationally
acclaimed keynote speaker. During the last 25 years he has
delivered over two thousand customized keynote presentations,
workshops, and retreats. Jim's five international bestselling
books include The VIP Strategy, Firing on All Cylinders,
Pathways to Performance, Growing the Distance, and The Leader's
Digest. His web site is www.clemmer.net/articles.
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