Tool Box
Issue No. 47 - June/ july
How heroes make good in bad times
by Mr Paul Berry
Why do leaders and their organisations never miss a beat regardless of what changes around them?
Never argue with the scoreboard
“If only referee Rudd didn’t make that decision the core would be different.” Or worse, “If not for the global financial meltdown our score would be just peachy keen.” Champion sporting teams don’t blame the weather; they adjust to the conditions and get on with stuff.
Examine how you think
“The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them,” Albert Einstein said. None of us sees the world as it is; we see the world how we are. Then we run around assuming everyone else sees it our way. Understand how you think. Challenge the way you think. Change the way you think. Import new, different thinking. Be curious, play more. Find new associates. Encourage ambiguity. Go off on a tangent. Explore. Learn new things. Break with and break through. Experiment.
It’s not bad weather, it’s a new climate
Playing conditions haven’t ‘deteriorated’, they have changed. The ‘bad weather’ is not going to pass. We won’t wake up tomorrow and be back to ‘normal’. We are experiencing a new pattern, a new climate, but hold a steady hand; don’t start playing a different game. Get a new plan.
What is the name of the game again? Net profit. The so called ‘not for profit’ organisation is also ‘not for loss’. It is not useful to think of times as good, bad or ugly. It is more productive to think of times as holding opportunities in new and different places. Start turning new rocks and don’t ever stop.
Drive open the wedge
Every year two things increase: the cost of doing business goes up and competition grows and comes from places you don’t expect. You are the meat in the sandwich. From below comes a slice of upward pressure on your costs from suppliers, too many of which are focussed on in...
