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Jeff Colvin
Management Consultant & Founder of Link,
a Management Consulting Group
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Flexibility
is the key in 2003. Many of you were aware that the long-standing
mascot of Link Consulting is Gumby. Now, more than ever, Gumby is
the symbol for survival in our current economy with the need to
bend, stretch, and be more resilient to challenging times; even
if you get temporarily squashed like a lump of clay.
Nature provides us a basis for validation of the merits of being
flexible especially during inclement conditions. In the latest storms
that passed through your neighborhoods, you probably noticed a number
of trees that had blown down. These trees may have been decades
old or older and had stood with strength and expanse through many,
diverse and challenging seasons. But the harsh wind took these stolid
symbols down in a matter of a few hours or days and left only the
new saplings and pliable trees to survive.
Flexibility in business starts from the top. The senior management
of an organization sets the core values and culture of the business
and the desired behaviors. It is your role to model and establish
the willingness and ability to be lean, agile, and responsive to
challenges and opportunities in today's business environment.
Creating a flexible culture doesn't happen by simply professing
the company core values.
Flexibility can be stimulated throughout the entire organization
by providing the employees with the information, permission, and
reasons to act.
Information is a necessary element for innovation. Knowing the
internal and external business environment, the requirements and
needs of the customers, and the threat of the competition all go
into creating the basic opportunity for more flexibility. The flow
of information should not only be downward, but backward, sideways,
and end around as needed to avoid the excuses of ignorance.
Permission for flexible thinking and acting is something that has
to be promoted. In fact, doing business the same old way at every
level should be questioned and frowned upon. Requests and reinforcement
for departments, teams, and individuals to stretch their routines
and be innovative can only happen in real time by providing the
opportunity and the skill set.
The reason for innovation should be clear to all; namely survival
and growth. Those that can weather the storm through bending, and
swaying will be positioning themselves to grow taller and stronger
when the blue skies return.
Bend, Don't Break
Culture
- Agility starts from the top
- Model the values/behaviors
- Set expectations for innovation
Structure
- Establish formal/informal means for stimulating flexible thinking
- Dedicate resources accordingly
- Create the right environment
Communication
- Clarify and stimulate flexibility in response to customer requirements
- Define/develop multiple pathways of shared information
- Challenge the status quo
Competency
- Provide the necessary tools of continuous improvement, etc.
- Elevate the skill set of every employee
- Learn by doing, encourage small mistakes
Jeff Colvin (Jcolvin@linkllc.com)
founded Link, a management
consulting group in 1997 whose mission is dedicated to the Systems,
Structures, and Behaviors that make people and companies successful.
Link's bottom line focus on process improvement is achieved through
the facilitation and training of cross-functional teams to address
key strategic goals. Learn more about Jeff
Colvin & Link...
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