Instead of taking for granted what is possible with minimal effort, and setting the outcomes based on it…recalibrate expectations, says Mario Pretorius. Find out what will stun the enterprise, and the competition. Then make the blood rise, stiffen the sinews…and do it!
What are the parameters of acceptable measured outcomes? Why?
What would STUN if dramatically improved? Debtor’s days at 16? Turnaround time at 48 hours?
To challenge the helmsmen of your vessel is a two-sided sword. We all respond to incentives, and adversely to criticism. We also take for granted what is possible with minimal effort and often set the outcomes based thereon.
Suddenly a 12-year old sells 18 107 boxes of Girl Scout cookies and there is a sheepish look on the faces of your ever-so-professional sales staff.
It is always time to recalibrate expectations. What would be stunning and extremely beneficial if reached consistently?
Debtors at 16 days? In an industry with a 65 day average, TeleMasters maintains 12 debtor days. We set this knockout goal and figured the how – bank debit order and 1 month’s prepaid usage. Strangely, no-one in the industry followed us – we were branded ‘lucky’.
Turnaround time less than 6 weeks for fixed line installations? We got it down to 24 hours. We found a way to converge mobile bandwidth with fixed line services.
Your enterprise may also have these traditional settings in place. This was before your time, with strategies and ideas from the days of yore. Now is the time to make the blood rise and to stiffen the sinews for the jump – what will stun the enterprise and your competitors?
The confidence of your cadres will be much improved if you can pull this off. Note that this is not an exhortation of extra effort, but a clever and cunning way to rethink the possible and find a way around it.
This tip is an extract from the manuscript of “The Unconventional CEO: Common sense outside of conventional Management thinking” (by Mario Pretorius).
