Friday, March 21, 2008

See the wood from the trees


What differentiates great military leaders from inferior ones.

Is it the ability to inspire?

Is it the ability to train others?

Is it education?

Is is bravery?

Well these may contribute but the primary difference between great military leaders and inferior ones is their ability to see the whole battlefield.

To have that overview - the so called helicopter view.

In business you need to "see the wood from the trees", to blow away the fog of confusion and see the entire view.

When planning a victory military leaders look at the big picture and within that big picture are smaller battles, within those smaller battles are smaller skirmishes, to get to the smaller skirmishes are deployments.

If you start with directionless deployment and don't see the big picture will you win the war? - well you might but more by luck than by design.

When you start with directionless deployment the possible future outcomes are endless and victory is just one of those possible outcomes. If however you start with the big picture, see the end point and then plan back from that to the point at which you are now, then all you have to do is reverse the plan and execute it to get to your desired end point and victory.

This is abslutely true in business. You need to have your eye on the big picture all the time.

Remember the military strategy of reverse planning. Once you see the big picture use it!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

"We read to know we're not alone"


I very much liked the film Shadowlands, with Anthony Hopkins. The film details a period in C. S. Lewis's life (Lewis wrote the the Chronicles of Narnia amongst other things). Lewis is introduced to us in the film as a man who feels that all pain should be suffered with patience. But he discovers that the simple rules by which he lives no longer apply when his own wife, Joy Gresham is afflicted by cancer and ultimately dies.

During the course of the film, C S Lewis (Hopkins) says "we read to know we are not alone". It seems to be a matter of debate as to whether Lewis ever actually uttered these words but it is a great line and all budding entrepreneurs should take it on board.

As entrepreneur, you don't have to be alone. Guess what no matter how bad things may seem for you right now , someone else out there has probably made all the same mistakes as you - only ten times worse. So learn from others. Alterately, business may be going well, but guess what I bet it can go better - a lot better!

There are lots of great books out there and with the rise of blogging and the internet, the support rescource of reading is even more accessible. The weight of shared emotional experience cannot be underestimated, so put some time aside and read!

I am currently reading "The E myth revisited" by Michael E. Gerber. It's a great book for small business owners and it divides our characters into three portions "The Entrepreneur", "The Manager" and "The Technician". Unfortunately these are not equal divisions! From that unequal division many of our business diffculties emenate.

If you are a small business owner (successfull or not) have a look at this book, I guarantee you'll see a lot of yourself in there!

There are a number of blogs out there recommending various publications and blogs for entrepreneurs:Diane K. Danielsons Top Shelf Reading Picks - book abd blog reviews for savvy entrpreneurs. Bootstrappers the 100 daily must reads for entrepreneurs

Ps. When nobody's looking I still reach into the backs of wardrobes and give a little push - I haven't found the door to Narnia yet but I still believe!

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Show me the numbers! I'll show you the money!

Show me the numbers, they contain the answers and I'll show you the money.

How do you carry out this supercritical analysis of your business?

Simple you put in place systems to monitor the numbers (so called key performance indicators - KPI's) and then guess what you do - you look at those numbers on a regular basis and make informed decisions. Otherwise there you are up to your eyeballs, trying to manage every aspect of your business, you come up with a brilliant plan. You put the brilliant plan into action and then your distracted by another brilliant plan, crisis, disaster, success whatever. 8 months later you look at the figures and all your successes have been wiped out by the poor performing "brilliant plan" that has been steadily losing you money in the background! Worse you discover that one of your less brilliant ideas was actually quite successful and was making money and with a little adjustment could have made lots of money! Ouch!

You wish you'ld looked at those numbers earlier.

Find out what works and do more of that.

Find out what doesnt and do less or preferably no more of that.

Churchill said "success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm" - an entrepreneurs motto perhaps?

An admirable quality but Churchill also boasted decisiveness, self-discipline and attention to detail. Need it be said that these qualities, too, are to an entrepreneur's advantage? Perhaps the entrepreneurs motto should be "success is going fom failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm but when you find success act upon it, act decisively, pour your time, energy and money into it, capitalise on it, make it grow and make it great!"