When it comes to going through business cycles, there’s always some good news that goes along with every phase, even the ones that seem the bleakest when you’re in them. Consider the caterpillar: If someone was to tell it, “Hey, buddy, time to stop crawling around eating leaves! You have to climb inside this tiny little sack for the next few months,” that’s going to sound like pretty bad news to the caterpillar. The good [...]
In the business world—and in life in general—we have important things to do, and we have urgent things to do. What’s the different between the two? Well, something that is important will have a real and profound impact on the company; it’s important because it’s strategic. It will be critical to attaining your long-term business goals. Meanwhile, urgent means that if you’re going to get this thing done at all, you’re going to have to [...]
When you’re coming out of that dizzying hypergrowth business phase we call the Tornado, it’s time to get things back in order. That means salvaging as much as you can that you chucked out the window, and then getting it all organized once again. Professionalization of IT often has to be re-implemented after a heavy-growth phase. It needs policies and procedures to follow and standard operating procedures. While professionalizing your team, you want to focus [...]
When your business is sucked up into the hypergrowth phase I call the Tornado, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is, no phase lasts forever. That’s also the bad news! The faster you shoot up the acceleration curve of the business cycle, the faster you’re likely to drop on the other side. The faster your production outruns your back office, the faster your Tornado will turn into an Avalanche. The rule here [...]
People resist change – it’s our nature. Whether it’s trying to introduce a regular workout schedule into your weekly routine, giving up a bad habit, or even just adjusting your internal clock to Daylight Savings Time, it’s always a challenge to make a change in how we do things, no matter how good our intentions. If you doubt it, just look at the number of next-to-new treadmills that pop up for sale in the weeks [...]
Your big upward rush has stalled, and somehow, despite all those sales and all the new people you’ve brought on, your margins are rapidly shrinking. How could that be? And who will shoulder the responsibility? This is when the finger pointing and frustration typically begin in the part of the business cycle I call the Avalanche. Administration—the back office—has been throwing a lot of people and a lot of money at all these symptoms. Executive [...]
Have you ever seen a tornado up close and in person? I promise you, it’s not something you can ignore or overlook. The sky goes black; the wind starts to blow, and suddenly the trees are bent over sideways. If you’ve been listening to the weather reports, you’ve probably already prepared for its impact as well as you can; grabbing your flashlight, taking supplies down into your storm cellar if you have one, or getting [...]
Change is challenging for everyone, and when you’re changing up a familiar IT system for something new, a lot of your people are apt to feel lost, and may even be resistant. In order to get everyone on the same page, you need to make them part of the process so that they can see from a holistic perspective the problem you’re trying to solve. How do you help them understand why change is necessary, [...]
Smart leadership is crucial to any business going through the series of peaks and valleys I call the Business Storm Cycle; the Tornado of rapid growth and expansion, followed by the Avalanche period of fast deceleration, which is followed by the consolidation phase. Without a steady hand at the helm, even the best employees can become burned out and dispirited – and the company may flounder, or even fail. Jim Crane is a good example [...]
Once you have your processes and people where they need to be, your next step should be to define what technology you have and what you need. Just remember there are no magic bullets that will do all the work for you. IT is the backbone—but people and processes are the muscles and bloodstream. Each aspect of IT will need to go through an assessment. This lets you see where you have gaps and where [...]