In business, one of the things that we look at the most is metrics. One day while going through the weekly reports for the store and individual metrics, I realized that I was looking at the past. All of these metrics already happened.
In metrics, an increase in any of them should translate into increased dollars. In the most simple terms to help someone struggling with metrics you might suggest an add-on like socks, belt or a sweater with a shirt to increase the metric. I also realized how much time I spent pondering the metrics. They can become addictive and distract you from the bigger picture.
I realized what we need was a change in our focus. I gathered my team together and asked them what we can do to make a dynamic change. We looked at what we could do to significantly increase our sales on a larger scale. I suggested that we stop chasing metrics and do something to increase sales throughout our store and make it sustainable.
To make dynamic changes we needed to be innovative, forward thinking, and use that wonderful tool from our childhood imagination. If we can dream it we can take our vision and create action and change As a team, we created a new vision and story for our store. We engaged in possibility thinking and engagement without boundaries. We wrote a new story for our store. We reached out to the many people that could move the pieces that would make this change. Everyone had an important role as each piece was essential to the success of our vision.
The result was amazing and beyond anything we imagined. It shows that a small team engaged and focused can bring about dynamic change and make a big difference.
POINT OF VIEW:
When we engage in true listening and communication the results can be amazing. The fact that we built strong relationships and credibility over the years paved the way for the right people to come together to embrace our vision and give us 100% support.
In the end, we had a choice to sell more socks or dream big and make a very successful and dynamic impact on the success of our team. Dream big and realize that a small group of engaged people can make a big difference.
If you have enthusiasm, you have a very dynamic, effective companion to travel with you on the road to somewhere.
~Loretta Young
Good points. I find today its crucial to help paint a visual big picture that helps us all see how each of us fit in. Once we have that, nothing can stop us.
Thank you Chris. I agree we all need to know where we fit so we can execute according to our abilities.
For innovation, The TRIZ Journal is an interesting read.
https://triz-journal.com
Thank you. I will check it out
Great article, Larry! I appreciate your viewpoint and ability to translate it through story! So many poignant points in just a few words.
Thank you Dayna. I like to keep it simple
I like your approach, Larry. Effective communication is key to the success of all meaningful, long lasting relationships and especially important to high performance teams. As the team leader, you obviously listen to your people and that is why you are successful. I wish you continued success in your business and you deserve it!
Thank you for your kind words Sandy. I came from front porch storytelling and learn to listen at early age.
Good for you, Larry! It is probably the most important communication skill and not that many people realize its importance, nor are they very good at it! I teach it as the cornerstone for leadership development, teamwork, customer service, managerial training, and sales strategies.
I think the biggest disservice for change management is calling it change management. I think calling it strategic productivity management is a more suited term.
I am on board with that. Thank you again Chris for your insights
Metrics today are being turned in visualizations — aka pictures that help people interpret, analyze, and compare metrics. These pictures can give guide you to better and more innovative options, assuming the people designing the picture have business acumen.
And there lies the challenge. Many see something successful, so they copy the approach without understanding why the approach works. Success is not that easy.
Well said Chris
Do you remember Windows 3.1?
In university, I lived on campus so I could get access to the computers over there. Available to me were a Sun Sparc, Mac, and PC.
When Sun created their windows, they understood what Xerox, the people that pioneered graphical user interfaces were attempting to do. The same with Apple and their Mac OS. Windows, with their Windows 3.1 just copied the graphical user interface idea and threw it on top as a candy coating.
Everyone avoided the Windows 3.1 because Sparc and Mac OS did it so right.