Why Company Efforts to Maximize their Potential Reflect the Myth of Sisyphus
Executives must discover the right balance between hope for the future and the exploration of reality. As these executives grapple with the effects of the pandemic, creating value and finding pockets of growth are possible. Addressing these challenges has become the modern day ‘Myth of Sisyphus’ for many companies. Leadership pushes the boulder up the hill, but never quite pushes it over the crest of the mountain. There is a desire for change, but most, like Sisyphus fall back to ‘what we always have done.’ Ironically, the management team finds excuses of why we could not make changes necessary to maximize the potential of their companies.
Executives must discover the right balance between hope for the future and the exploration of reality. As these executives grapple with the effects of the pandemic, creating value and finding pockets of growth are possible. However, leaders should not conflate aspirations with a prescience about the future. Executives cannot navigate the myriad of challenges posed by the complexity of today’s economy on their own. One key to success is to find a Peer Advisory Group to discuss strategies to emerge stronger than your competitors. https://cueconsult.com/tiger-team-peer-advisors.
The unknown portion of the crisis may be beyond anything we’ve seen in our professional lives. Executives are incredibly busy, fighting fires in cash management and other areas. Managers need to do their best to find out what these issues are, and then work with their staff to ensure that the organization can navigate them. The challenge is to create a collaborative culture, identify what is working (and what is not). Be agile and build a decision-making process that is built for speed.
Beware of a gulf between executives and your staff. Top managers are easily adapting to working from home and to flexible, ill-defined processes and ways of working, and they see it as being very effective and the wave of the future. The key is building metrics for performance and building personal relationships with your rank and file.
Mid- to long-term implications and scenarios vary considerably. It’s important to differentiate between industries and regions. Some industries may never come back to pre-COVID-19 levels.
What went wrong? Boards and executives, but also academics, need to debate the question. Where should we have been focusing? Take three examples. Why did companies ignore the issue of inadequate resilience in their supply chain? The risks of single sourcing were well known and transparent. Also, why did we move headlong toward greater specialization in the workforce, when we knew that no single skill was permanently valuable? Finally, why did we refuse to evolve our business models, although we knew that technology and shifts in societal preferences were forcing us down a treadmill of ever decreasing value-creation potential?
There are six critical components to address these challenges.
Executives must discover the right balance between hope for the future and the exploration of reality. As these executives grapple with the effects of the pandemic, creating value and finding pockets of growth are possible. However, leaders should not conflate aspirations with a prescience about the future. Executives cannot navigate the myriad of challenges posed by the complexity of today’s economy on their own. One key to success is to find a Peer Advisory Group to discuss strategies to emerge stronger than your competitors. Become a member a CUE Consulting TIger Team. https://cueconsult.com/tiger-team-peer-advisors.
Be a marketing-driven company by adopting a target mass marketing strategy
Implement an insight selling approach – using portfolio management to manage the sales effort
Measure activity versus measuring results in every department
“No one is as smart as all of us” – Leverage the knowledge of your employees, customers, and the marketplace
Content is everything in the digital age – build content to educate your market
Companies face multiple challenges, all of which come down to four basic questions. How can the company address the challenge of growth in a marketplace defined by rapid technology challenges and a shifting cultural landscape? How does the company remain relevant and continue to bring value to your customers and the marketplace? How can one build and manage effective, accountable sales and marketing organizations that drive dynamic revenue growth? How does one develop a collaborative culture of success? We help you address these challenges.
Learn more about maximizing the valuation of your company. I encourage you to go to our website at DSB & Associates (www.dsbconsult.net) and our sister company Cue Consulting (www.cueconsult.com). Check out our video. May I suggest that we set up a meeting to discuss how we can help your organization maximize revenues and reach its potential? Please contact me at dboim@dsbconsult.com.
