Business

Diagnosing an Avalanche

By |2017-05-18T12:01:18+00:00May 18th, 2017|Categories: Business|

In business, how can you tell when you've hit the Avalanche transition point? You'll have huge revenue, while margins are lower than expected and falling. This is the number-one indicator a company has hit the deceleration transition. In the back office, you've got too many people doing too many things manually, over and over again. Cleaned-up, scalable automation processes have not been applied. Productivity is a big problem. High growth pushes operations very hard. When [...]

Inside The Process: How We Work

By |2017-05-11T16:22:24+00:00May 11th, 2017|Categories: Business|

I’m often asked how we do what we do. How do we consult with a company, battered by its trip through the Business Storm Cycle, to help put its people, processes, and technology back together? First, we sit down with all the departments – R&D, operations, production, and the back office – in one big room, to go through every single process they are using in each and every department. We talk about what works and [...]

Getting Back On Track

By |2017-04-11T06:08:23+00:00April 11th, 2017|Categories: Business, Business Storm Cycle, Information Technology | IT|

If you have a company that’s had two massive transition points—first a Tornado and then an Avalanche—you have two options. First, you may have to sell. Even worse, of course, you could simply go under, with nothing to show for all of your hard work. Your best alternative, though, is to follow the path of Devon Energy. In a previous blog, I told the story of Devon Energy: Having survived their Avalanche, merged with a [...]

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Bouncing Back

By |2017-03-30T13:42:25+00:00March 30th, 2017|Categories: Business, Business Storm Cycle, Deceleration Avalanche, Hypergrowth Tornado, Information Technology | IT|

Business owner, do these complaints sound familiar to you? Why is productivity down? Why are margins falling when revenue is soaring? My back office just can't keep up or give me good data It seems like my technology team is always fighting fires If so, it’s likely that you are going through one of the transitional phases of the Business Storm Cycle. Whether that’s the rapid growth phase of the Tornado, where sales are suddenly [...]

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Define the Job, Not the Worker

By |2017-02-09T08:00:52+00:00February 9th, 2017|Categories: Business|

Your long-time executive assistant just came into your office with some good news/bad news; for her, the good news is she’s retiring to a beach house in Cabo. For you, the bad news is that you’ve got to replace her – and she’s been a terrific employee. So – how do you write up the job description to find her replacement? “Wanted: Middle-aged lady named Dorothy. Must have black hair, a sense of humor, and [...]

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Don’t Forget Your People!

By |2017-02-03T02:54:42+00:00February 3rd, 2017|Categories: Business|

So often during the consolidation that follows the precipitous drop of the Avalanche phase of the business storm cycle, companies throw a lot of money at technology and forget about the people and the processes. That’s a big mistake – and a missed opportunity. This is your chance to bring your people and your process together so you can use the technology you have, or replace it with what you need to get your margins [...]

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ARE YOU LOYAL TO A FAULT?

By |2017-01-12T08:00:40+00:00January 12th, 2017|Categories: Business|

“But Dave – I don’t want to lay Bob off. He’s been with me since the beginning!” Loyalty is a wonderful thing, but don’t be loyal to a fault. If you have staff members or a team that helped you get where you are, that doesn’t mean you can afford to overlook their inadequacies. Remember, as you revamp processes, you’ll also be creating new roles, and once the initial fear is over, most people love [...]

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HOW TO WIN A THREE-LEGGED RACE

By |2017-01-05T08:00:28+00:00January 5th, 2017|Categories: Business|

Why do so many businesses run into trouble during the start-up phase of the business storm cycle? Often, it’s because the start-up tries to run before it can walk. It needs to take the time to make the people-processes-IT triangle equilateral so that it can scale to the Business Storm Cycle as it turns around. It’s like competing in a three-legged race; if any one leg is out of kilter, it throws the whole balance [...]

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Is It Really Urgent, or Just Important?

By |2016-12-22T08:00:47+00:00December 22nd, 2016|Categories: Business|

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 [...]

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THE POWER OF MODERATION

By |2016-12-09T14:56:48+00:00December 9th, 2016|Categories: Business|

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 [...]

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This Is A Custom Widget

This Sliding Bar can be switched on or off in theme options, and can take any widget you throw at it or even fill it with your custom HTML Code. Its perfect for grabbing the attention of your viewers. Choose between 1, 2, 3 or 4 columns, set the background color, widget divider color, activate transparency, a top border or fully disable it on desktop and mobile.
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