Workplace Calisthenics: False sense of security puts older firms at risk

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Because your organization is venerable, it is still vulnerable.|ret||ret||tab|

Have you noticed? There is a false sense of security in this economy. Many assume that the "cascading effect" of a robust gross national product and minuscule unemployment will roll right onto every spreadsheet. The bottom line of all companies, we reason, has to bloom in this deluge of green Miracle Grow.|ret||ret||tab|

Not so.|ret||ret||tab|

The normal business failure rate continues in the 70 percent to 80 percent bracket. Mergers and acquisitions continue to wash up hordes of new names on the downsizing shores. And, the entrepreneurs who are inventing musical toilet lids and spray-on hair (I'm still looking for the one that does not make my head look like I was following an asphalt truck too closely) still have failure rates in the double digits.|ret||ret||tab|

Those are not the businesses that concern me in this economy. It is the venerable, the Woolworth's, the Burroughs, the Tenneco Energy, that keep me up at night. If you haven't noticed, none of these companies are still doing business. They are the chattels of competition.|ret||ret||tab|

Evans and Wurster in their insightful work, "Blown to Bits," make a strong case that every organization, regardless of the thickness of its corporate photo album or number of zeros on its past deposit slips is a nominee for "most-likely-to-be-forgotten" in American business. In a just-in-byte world, that is something to chew on. |ret||ret||tab|

Specifically, there are three questions every commercial organization should probably ask itself while management is being chauffeured to the next Raise the Bar Party. |ret||ret||tab|

First, "What is our balance between richness and reach?" It is a good question, but largely ignored. |ret||ret||tab|

Richness is the depth of interrelation your company has with your customers. Sure, there has always been the golf schmoozing, cocktail slobbering and Christmas card sending for the "heavy hitters" and "frequent buyers." But the rules have changed with technology.|ret||ret||tab|

This is where "reach" comes in. Try this. How many Web sites were up and running when President Clinton took the oath of office just eight years ago? No, that's far too many. Actually, it was just eight sites.|ret||ret||tab|

How many Web sites do you think exist today? Too low. Try again. Not even close. Today you and I have the potential to spend the rest of our unnatural lives cruising through more than 500 million Web locations. Those sites have been created in just eight years.|ret||ret||tab|

So, the question about balance is still valid. Are you going to spend the rest of your professional life shuttling a few very rich people to the first tee, or will you spend your time and energies pitching your products in cyber space to millions? |ret||ret||tab|

Well, there actually has to be a balance between the two. America Online found that out four years ago when their reach destroyed their richness. Charles Schwab decided, all the way back in 1975, that reach did not have to dilute richness. Historic brokerage houses mocked his methods until they saw his money. |ret||ret||tab|

The second question, in light of the first, has to be, "What is so sacred around here that we would be willing to crash and burn for it?"|ret||ret||tab|

In order for organizations to "reinvent" themselves, they first have to "deconstruct" themselves. This means nothing less than tearing down what may get in the way of growing the business.|ret||ret||tab|

Deconstruction may mean dumping product lines, vendors, processes, value chains, and even reputation. All of us are proud of our reputations, right? Well, some of you have a "rep" in your business community of being risk-aversive, male-dominated, customer unfriendly, take-forever-to-get-a-response and not-a-new-idea-since-World-War-II. Are you proud of that?|ret||ret||tab|

When Gil Ameilo became chief executive officer of IBM in the early 90s after the company had almost gone belly-up, he unequivocally stated, "The old IBM is gone forever." That wasn't a choice; it was an economic necessity.|ret||ret||tab|

Finally, you clustered corporate cretins should probably ask, "Where is our market going?" and then get there before it arrives.|ret||ret||tab|

It is my humble and uninformed opinion that cloth diaper laundry services, VHS rental stores and Plymouth dealerships may not be the wave of the future. |ret||ret||tab|

If you don't ask these questions of yourself be prepared. One of your competitors is already asking them for you.|ret||ret||tab|

|bold_on|(Dr. Cal LeMon solves organizational problems with customized training and consulting. His company, The Executive Edge, can be contacted via the Business Journal at sbj@sbj.net.)[[In-content Ad]]