Million Dollar Considerations (5)
Examining the global workplace in two interesting sessions, my team of
management students and I came to some conclusions that might be worth
sharing:
* Having to start from scratch when a plan or project fails is not
necessarily bad. It might provide you with a better chance at developing new
methods and fresh insights leading to radical evolutions than when you try
to elaborate on old, established patterns. This awareness can be best
illustrated if we review the way West Germany and Japan managed to revive
their economies after a total ruin in World war II, while the U.S.,
unharmed, continued to do things the old way. Result: while Japan and
Germany were developing new quality and management systems, the U.S. raced
toward an unbelievable but true collapse of an outdated mediocre production
system in the seventies and early eighties. Fortunately, things have
improved since then.
* You can be challenged by a crisis, or by a dream. Being challenged by a
crisis reflects a reactive approach: It usually just leads to problem
solving. But being challenged by a dream reflects a proactive spirit, which
will most likely lead to the creation of the impossible, and result in a
comparative as well as a competitive advantage in your area of interest.
* Perfection is a moving target. There is no environment where this applies
more than business: just when you think you have achieved the highest level
of perfection, an alternative emerges, and your perfect product, service, or
process becomes obsolete. Therefore, one should always strive for improved
quality, but even more for the attainment of a uniqueness that will keep
customers intrigued.
* Old responses donĘt work for new problems: Situations change, challenges
change, the environment evolves, and customers with it. If you want to be a
good manager, you should realize that one of the most important tools to
success is to learn and adapt: not just once, but continuously.
* Workplaces where the environment is kept as relaxed and open as possible
will be more successful than the ones where the stress can be cut with a
knife. Workers will feel encouraged to suggest improvements based on their
practical experience and their contact with customers, and managers will be
more receptive toward these suggestions. Result: dignity, satisfaction,
motivation, andąproduction!
* Elaborating on the previous note: The work environment that allows workers
to be creative will reap higher benefits than its competitors that nurture
fear and inhibition among their employees. It is imperative to apply the
paradigm shift in which mistakes are no longer perceived as time wasters,
but rather as opportunities to improve.
Customers have more choices today: they donĘt even have to enter a store to
know what it sells. Customer loyalty is therefore hard to achieve, and easy
to lose. Companies should realize that, and anticipate by changing. Not
slowly and sporadically, but quickly and frequently!
Joan Marques, Burbank, January 30, 2004
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About the Author:
Joan Marques, holds an MBA, is a doctoral candidate in Organizational
Leadership, and a university instructor in Business and Management in
Burbank, California. You may visit her web site at www.joanmarques.com
Joan's manual "Feel Good About Yourself," a six part series to get you over
the bumps in life and onto success, can be purchased and downloaded at:
http://www.non-books.com/FeelGoodSeries.html-----------------------------------------------------
It is better to live in serene poverty than in hectic abundance. Everything
has a price. The price for nurturing your soul is turning away from
excessive stress, destruction of self-respect, and the constant strive in
lifestyle with the Joneses. But itĘs worth it.
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