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March 8, 2012 ISSN# 1545-2646
The Playground
As children, we all looked forward to recess. That time each morning when we could head out to the playground and release some energy. The playground had some real cool toys to entertain us. There was the slide, the swings, the teeter-tauter, and that contraption so fondly remembered as the vomit comet or merry-go-round.
The merry-go-round was always so controversial. At least once each week, some poor kid would get put on the thing and the rest of the kids would start pushing it round and round. The kid really did not want to be on it and was begging for them to stop. The problem was, their complaining made them push all the faster. They would not let it slow down to allow for the potential escape of the merry-go-round prisoner.
You might look back on your childhood and either be laughing or crying right now depending on if you were the rider or one of the pushers. I can say that right or wrong I had spent time in both roles in my youth.
I bring this picture into focus today because many business leaders have merry-go-rounds in their business. Not necessarily by design but by the way they conduct their business affairs. Their employees ride round and round wondering when the business will stop spinning long enough to take a positive direction.
The leadership starts the process by initiating a change in business practice or direction. Some times it is well thought out and other times it is the direction of the day. Unfortunately before the first revolution of the plan has taken place they push the merry-go-round again with another and another change. These successive changes get the employees spinning faster and faster.
Some initially get all excited and are invigorated by the new speed of the organization. They may even from time to time put their own feet on the ground and push to make it go even faster. Others immediately start to get sick and begin seeking a way to stop the motion or jump off the spinning top.
For those reading this weekly article, we all appreciate that if your business is standing still it is moving backward. Your competition will gradually pass you by much like the tortoise beat the hare last week.
What you do need to do is to have key strategies that you and your team deploy in a game plan which has defined measurements and tactics. Your plan needs ownership at the level that execute the daily activities and not just senior management.
This week, look at your business plans for 2012. Are you putting your people on the merry-go-round one more time? Maybe you put them on the teeter-tauter and bounce them up and down? Stop and engage your team into some meaningful dialogue so that your business can be a productive playground to high profits.
Is your playground lacking excitement and energy? Give JKL Associates a call (313) 527-7945.
Questions or comments – email us at partners@jklassociates.com or call our Office at (313) 527-7945
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