Saving Your Way To Prosperity

Catchy title, eh?? Saving Your Way To Prosperity...

The bummer fact, of course, is it can't be done, so stop trying.

"We have to accept what we all know to be elemental -- that taking a defensive position can, at best, only limit losses. And we need gains." (emphasis added)
-- Peter Drucker, HBR 1961

Written in 1961 -- almost FIFTY years ago -- by one of the most brilliant management minds of our time.

Ok, we've had some economy missteps; I get it. Financial markets continue to be unstable, at best; I get it. Uncertainty seems to be the order of the day for many; I get that too...

But you know what? There's not squat you can do about the economy, or the financial markets as a whole, or about the uncertainty that others face. Not a damn thing.

I recently facilitated the strategic planning process for a client company. When we begin to drill down from top-level strategies, we agreed that "the economy" was not to be included as a limiter. Why? Because it's not actionable.

The things we should be focusing on today are those things we can control in some fashion -- things, tasks, decisions and directions that are actionable.

If the company, firm, or organization you are leading today is really-no kidding-sucking-serious-wind, then ok: retrench, cut back, hope for better times. But if like many of us, you're running the business, just feeling a bit uncomfortable about the future, then make sure that the future is within your control.

And much of it is. Just focus on the things you can do, stop fretting over the things you cannot control. Think, decide, act. It's time.

But that's just me...

KB

Kevin Berchelmann
http://www.triangleperformance.com/

Memo to Harvard: Physician, Heal Thyself.

OK, I'll admit it. I didn't graduate from an ivy league institution. Probably closer to coastal bermuda league, but that's beside the point.

Harvard University has just announced severe cost reduction moves as its endowment loses another 30%.

Cue violins... no, wait, kill the fiddles, guys.

Lest we fall into alligator tears here, realize that this endowment is now worth a paltry $25B (yes, Billion) dollars. I used to work for a man, Jerome Robinson, who would say "well, isn't that just a nice, round number??" He was talking about single-digit millions, of course, but the concept holds true.

Harvard's draconian cost cutting measures are taking them back to 2005 spending levels. Oh the horrors of it all -- 2005 levels of spending??? So, you ask, why did spending increase so much in the four years since 2005??

Did enrollment increase? No, there's been no significant increase in enrollment.

Did fixed costs increase? Not likely, excluding the 5-month spike in gasoline price we all endured.

What happened, then? Well, far be it from me to second-guess some of the best strategic minds in this country, but it seems to me it was simply mis-managed. They, like many in the financial world, found themselves with windfall increases in money, and... they spent it.

Now, of course, they aren't cutting faculty, since faculty didn't grow all that much (remember, enrollment didn't substantially increase). No, they are using the time-honored tradition of cutting "overhead." You know, clerks, professionals, administration, etc.

Unbelievable. Do those guys even read the books they put out? Does anyone there subscribe to that Harvard Business review? I can loan them some books of mine, since they seem to be short on dinero...

Save the company on the backs of secretaries and clerks. Wow, no one's thought of that cool idea before.

But that's just me...

KB

Kevin Berchelmann
http://www.triangleperformance.com/

Because I Don't Have To

I'm a Verizon customer. Have been since I got my first cell phone in 1992. They were GTE when I first signed on, I think.

Loyal? Hell no, just practical. They have the network that seems to support me best in my locale and travels. I'd dump 'em in a second if someone -- ANYONE -- came along with just a modicum of customer service or concern. I'm searching for the proverbial "iota" here...

I won't give a litany of examples of my thoughts and opinions on Verizon's poor customer service; after all, this is a blog, not a whine. I'll just use the most recent...

My daughter's cell phone flips on the horizontal to access a keyboard. It has, then, two screens; a small one when closed, and a larger one when flipped open, so you can use the keyboard. That bigger screen stopped working. Well, not exactly stopped working, just that my daughter has to smack it her hand two or three times to make it work for short periods. Though most of these devices aren't user-friendly, I feel certain that "bludgeon phone" is not in the tutorial.

Anyway...

Her phone is maroon, where most of this model are black. The Verizon rep at the store (FM 2920 and Kuykendal in Spring, Tx) told me she could replace the phone, but all they had was black. GREAT!, I thought. Then, the stupid news... "We can replace it with a black phone, but she'll still have to keep her old maroon battery."

Where in heaven's name do they come up with such nonsense??

I said, no, we won't do that. Either replace the phone as is (maroon), or -- my preference -- with a black phone, but it must actually be all black. Not some junkyard looking piece-together version.

You guessed it. Instead of simply giving me what I wanted, and making me happy, she spent the better part of 20 minutes searching high and low for a maroon phone she could give me, since I wasn't OK with the idiotic suggestion she made about a multi-hued phone. she found one, and it's being overnighted to my house.

Why? Because she didn't have to do anything else. Cost of battery? $29.95. Cost of FedEx shipment? $19.50. Plus 20 minutes of her time and a ticked off customer.

She did the worst thing we can ever do... Pay money to frustrate a customer or employee.

Don't do that -- we can generally tick 'em off for free.

Thanks for nothing, Verizon.

Are we guilty of that? Do we spend money to irritate employees or customers? Are our processes or procedures designed only for system convenience, not for end user value?

I wonder...

But that's just me.

KB

Kevin Berchelmann
http://www.triangleperformance.com/