It’s good enough, flying right below the radar of the CXO… the program, or team, or individual is doing - OK. It’s not doing well, and it certainly isn’t that bad enough to draw unnecessary attention.

If It Ain’t Broke…

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” the saying goes.

Well, rubbish.

Let me tell you friends, ‘good enough’ is a dangerous place to be, and if you are asking yourself “Why?”, then you should really read this.

In a past post, Culture is King, I spelled out human behavior in a nutshell:

People by their very nature are experiential. This is to say that they must generally experience a great deal of pain or pleasure to enable the catalysts for change to take root. It is my submission that change only occurs in any form of permanence with the former as it takes an increasing amount of pleasure to perpetuate lasting change (see economics 101: the law of diminishing returns).

Just good enough can lull you into a false sense of security, thinking that everything is alright. You should be constantly running through SWOT analysis on a regular basis. If not, it’s like figuring out your tape backup routine wasn’t working so well after the fire, or realizing you should have had a security system when the burglar is standing in your living room.

Simple truth… look at Pearl Harbor and 9-11, both very shocking and close-to-home events that shocked America into action. While the very truth of these actions are not pretty to behold, and the world we faced after these events seemed much more dangerous than before - at least now we know what we face. At least we have opened our eyes and seen our enemy standing before us.

The [Brutal] Truth Shall Set You Free…

How else are you going to know how to deal with your fears, your weaknesses, those evil things in the world wishing you harm unless you get brutally honest with yourself?

Jim Collins, in his book Good to Great, coined that phrase, “brutally honest”. What is it that we fear about the truth, about facing what is real and many times ugly?

Folks, get real with yourself and be honest. Don’t get down on yourself or beat yourself up - just be honest.

In so doing, you will find that you have the resolve to deal with issues, or know what you are not able to accomplish and bring other resources to bear in achieving your goal.

Apathy IS the Real Enemy…

Apathy is one of the worst things a leader can deal with. In a previous post, Apathy, The Culture-Killer, I said:

Much like darkness is the absence of light and cold is the absence of heat, apathy is the absence of concern. … It shows a total disregard for you as a person and for the ideas you are attempting to convey if you encounter this in one of your presentations. Worse, it can mean poison to your company culture if it is allowed to fester and spread.

If you think terrorists are evil, apathetic employees are worse. At least terrorists believe in something, whereas the apathetic simply glaze the day away - going through the motions - warming a seat.

The only way to deal with apathy is to cut it out, like cancer - and make sure you are giving your people something to believe in… People need a cause to fight for. That’s what Pearl Harbor and 9-11 have in common - they created a sharp spear to be pointed at our attackers.

Are you sharpening your spear, or are you lazily watching the trees roll by?

Image courtesy of Fir0002 & Wikimedia Commons

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. Ken is also the Director of Technology at Kearns Business Solutions.

Today we discuss the blurring of technology lines. In a recent article in ImageSource titled Top 10 Industry Trends, authored by John Mancini, the President of AIIM, outlines what he believes to be the top 10 drivers within the DMS space… Let’s continue our discussion with the number 8 influencer in the DMS space this year:

8. The blurring of technology lines.  What does your business need? Copiers? Scanners? Records management? Content management?  Document management? Business process management?  E-mail management?  Most likely, all of the above in some configuration. And the solution providers who can help end users figure out the appropriate configuration – they won’t all be the same – will find end users racing to their door.

John strikes a cord with this article. It resonates a simple truth, “Add value to your customers’ business and make them clients for life.” More than ever, companies are looking for answers. They hire analysts and accounts to give them a clue about what’s going on in this rat race. They hire consultants to spin a web and show them a future where they are rich and wise. They hire marketing and public relations firms to package all of this up and put a nice bow on top…

What happened to common sense?

To some extent, people are a little scared about all of this technology being thrown at them. In reality, it’s a lot of F.U.D. Combine this with the intent of some opportunistic individuals who are looking to capitalize on a little ‘man behind the curtain’ (so to speak). So what’s this common sense nonsense all about, anyway?

 For those of you who haven’t read Jim Collins’ Good to Great, get it, read it, and sleep with it! I can’t tell you one book that a business should live by… It’s not a bible by any means, but it has some good ole fashion common sense advise. Collins goes on to say that you have to have the right people in the right seats on the bus and get the wrong people off.

With all of this waving of fists and frothing of mouths going on about the ‘document industry’ people keep missing the one truth that a business is not four walls and a roof, it is a group of like minded and passionate individuals working as a team. File that!

I have been in the technology industry for around 11 years now, beginning in the United States Marine Corps. This was one of the most trying times of my young life, both personally, with a newly wed wife living 3000 miles away from home for the first time, and professionally - and a challenge was what I signed up for. One of the sayings of the Corps was, “Shared adversity builds team.” Boy, did the Marine Corps take advantage of this, and I will tell you that I worked with some of the best and brightest people I have ever had the privilege to serve with.

One of my regrets is that I was not mature enough at the time to appreciate what the value of a team offered as opposed to standing on your own against the odds. Sure, I got the idea of a fire team or squad, but I never truly understood what the Staff Non-Commissioned Officers (NCO’s) would always say, “The Marine Corps doesn’t take care of Marines, Marines take care of other Marines.” It is something that I am only starting to truly understand how profound a statement that was. I truly worked with one of the best teams known on this planet.

To say that, is to say that when I joined my current company almost 5 years ago, I have come to understand there are so many layers to building a true team. Through finishing a degree and attending various management seminars to building my own team, perhaps the most fundamental thing I have come to know is that people help other people; it takes the right people supporting each other in pursuit of a common vision that truly takes a team from good into the realm of greatness.

I am a big fan of Jim Collins book Good to Great. One of my favor parts is where he talks about getting the right people on the bus, in the right seats on the bus, and getting the wrong people off. We started along a path of building a great company many years ago, and it started with the founder, lived on with the new owners, and has not only been seeded in each of us at this company but has really taken root. It is not a fanciful wish or a begging question, but a resolute and humble knowledge that the passion of doing the very best job for those individuals that stand beside you makes you great!

While this post may sound a little cultish, almost as if I had ‘drank the Kool-Aid’, the team that I have had the privilege of working with and even building has turned out to be a greater honor than accolade. I have been humbled by the many trials I have been through and think of this current position as infinitely more complex and challenging than ever was the Marine Corps, but exceedingly more rewarding. It is the people that I hold up that in turn support me so that we may work towards a shared vision… and I have learned a valuable lesson that we stand stronger together than alone - a lesson both business and society-at-large can learn from.

Regards,
Ken