Tag Archives: management

August 1, 2016 · 11:03 am

The Wisdom Of The Crowd

We’ve all been there. A group gathers to discuss an idea or to brainstorm. Inevitably, the session drags on as we all try to gather people’s divergent views into a coherent whole. It’s the old expression about a camel being a horse designed by committee. What often emerges from this group-think is a solution that makes everyone equally unhappy but often doesn’t represent the best solution to a question.

If you’ve spent any time here on the screed you know that I think it’s critically important to gather as many facts and opposing points of view as possible when facing any question. What I might not have explained clearly enough, however, is the role I often played when working with my team on questions. I was, as I used to tell them, the benevolent dictator, or as President Bush once said, “I’m the decider.” Every group needs one.

It’s hard for groups of people to make decisions. There is wisdom in crowds but there aren’t always enough informed members in that crowd to make what they predict or present of real value. While in theory the inherent biases in the group will cancel each other out, I find that those of the biggest mouths or most senior people in the room tend to dominate, even if they’re way off base or underinformed.

I used to try to solve this by never gathering a group without telling them in advance what topics were to be discussed and to ask them to research the topics and come prepared with informed opinions. You would be shocked how quickly consensus was reached in many sessions because everyone managed to find out the same facts and the solutions became obvious. While you always want the group to maintain an open mind, each member simultaneously needs to have an informed opinion which they can contribute. That’s when the wisdom of the crowd becomes valuable.

People know when they’re being lead to a “group decision” that’s really just one person imposing their will, usually the boss. That breeds apathy or resentment, especially when they know the boss is wrong. Making a decision as a boss – being the decider – once the group has legitimately surfaced a number of potential solutions is inclusive and empowering. Which direction would you choose?

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July 22, 2016 · 11:45 am

The Importance Of Eating It

This Foodie Friday we turn to a business lesson surfaced by hospital food. My mom recently had a short stay and her sole complaint (after heart surgery!) about the experience was the food. As it turns out, she is far from alone in this. This article from an Ottawa newspaper (via First We feast) tells the story of a how a hospital changed the nature of its food service. It’s the reason why that’s instructive to the rest of us.

One of the administrators actually ate some of the hospital food. What happened next was that he got some other managers to do the same.  For a week. As the article said:

He and other managers didn’t particularly like what they tasted and saw. After food managers choked down three meals a day for a week, there was a consensus that things had to change.

Nothing like eating your own dog food, right? But that’s a critical part of serving our customers well and each of us needs to do that on a regular basis. When was the last time you tried to go through checkout on your own online store? How was the experience? How about trying to return what you purchased or put in a call to your customer service department? My guess is that none of your top managers have done any of those things in a while.

Several years ago I wrote a post on eating your own dogfood. That had to do with believing in what it is that you sold. I’d like to extend that concept to not just believing in it but actually experiencing it so that your belief is grounded in reality and not through rose-colored glasses. The hospital administrator answered a complaint about the food thusly:

 “Our management team has recently eaten hospital food for a week and agrees with your observation that we need to improve the presentation and taste.”

That answer is one I’d believe as a consumer because it’s grounded in some first-hand experience with their food. When was the last time you tasted yours?

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July 19, 2016 · 11:31 am

Playing It Backward

I spend a fair amount of time working with startup companies. By definition, these businesses have a lot of planning and building to do. What problem are we solving? How will we make a product or service that accomplishes that solution? What will that cost and what’s the financial plan? How do we gain enough traction to scale? It often seems overwhelming, even to someone with my years of experience. When I can see that there is a fair amount of frustration on my clients’ faces, I’ll usually ask if they know how great golfers think about how to attack a hole.

Stay with me here – this isn’t yet another excuse to talk about golf here on the screed. Great golfers will play a hole backward. They start by thinking about where the pin is on the green (front, middle, back, left, center, or right) using the pin sheet every caddie and player carries. That sheet gives them the location – how many feet on from the front, how many feet from one edge. That allows them to figure out the best angle for the approach shot, which then dictates where they want to land the tee shot. Backward.

I think great business people often play their businesses backward. Some might call it starting with the end in mind but I think it’s more than that. For example, I think it’s a better and more accurate method if you begin with what number of customers get you to sustained profitability and go backward to find out how you’ll scale to that number (I generally use 10x growth per year) than to begin with where you think you might be now and guess at growth rates. The former gives you targets that will get you where you want to go and an ability to formulate marketing and other budgets to support that growth. The latter is reacting to where you might find yourself without a clear path or guidance for budgeting.

I try to play most decisions backward. Where is the pin (my goal)? Where is the best place from which to attack it and how do I get to that place? Execution then becomes simpler – I’m only focused on the next shot – the next task – because I know I have a plan. Do you?

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