Are You Stuck!?

Thriving in the New Economy - WOMEN PRESIDENTS' ORGANIZATION - Annual Conference

KEYNOTE ADDRESS – PROFESSOR REBECCA HENDERSON, Senator John Heinz Professor of Environmental Management, Harvard Business School

SPONSORED BY: Foley & Lardner, LLP

Professor Henderson finds that most companies do not achieve their strategic plans because they just have too many of them. We tend to have a hard time saying no. What does your pipeline REALLY look like? Are you trying to do too many things at once? Goals that are beyond the resources of your company? Are you "being too busy"? Most companies run at ~300% overload

These are the dynamics of overload

-The dangers of firefighting

-Why we tend to stay stuck

-How to break the cycle -what can be done

What are the realities of overload?

-Most everyone knows that the bottom projects will never get done

So kill those projects

Stop burning up your people

Over commitment reduces productivity

When you are constantly moving from project to project there is no time to reflect

Attention to projects actually declines

Focus shifts to short term versus long term

-Why does overload persist?

Overload is not about the person failing, it is a structural dynamic

people get blamed instead of the systems

Imposes pressure

Switch into firefighter mode, providing insights, fixing things instead of developing strategy, setting priorities and systems, and killing the project

Want to get unstuck?

-Manage your capacity - look at your projects like your product production pipeline

Don't take a bottoms up estimate approach

Most often tasks established are unreliable

it NEVER goes as planned

Always easy to make space for 1 more

keep good records of actual times required to complete past projects

Compare past projects to the new one - understand how really feasible the new one is

-Learn to like killing projects

Have a clear strategy and live by it -even if it is a "good" project - say NO!

Run a funnel not a tunnel

Clearly articulate the priorities

Let staff know what can "fall of the table"

Learn to face worse before better

Accept short term pain for long term benefits

fix problems - don't punish

-Change your habits around dealing with problems

respond to them as opportunities

-Build trust within the organization

Think about your relationships - don't just CYA

CFO Survey Says Dining Out Makes Good Business Sense

Today I read a tweet that sited “Meals Matter” By Jill Jusko of Industry Week. She writes – “Breaking bread with a client may be a key to business success. According to a study developed by Robert Half Management Resources, 36% of CFOs surveyed said their most successful meetings outside of the office were conducted over a meal. The next-most-popular location was a trade show or conference.” http://bit.ly/bJ8uaB

 

In my travels I really find this to be true, especially so in foreign locals. Yes, we all have to have business meetings with agendas, priorities, take away action plans. But I find the real opportunity to get to really know those that sit across the table from you in that business meeting is when you get them across the dining table. Breaking bread together is as ancient a custom as you can get. You learn a lot about someone when you share a meal with them. Some people loosen up, drop the business persona, and have a good time. They enjoy their meal, share personal stories and let you learn about them from a more social perspective. Others stay more distant and maintain a professional mode the whole dinning affair. Business meetings provide content, but the meal provides context. I usually know after one meal whether I not I want to do business with someone.

 

So if our paths cross and we get together for a meal what will it be – a glass of wine and a few good stories or just a continuation of the business meeting from earlier in the day?