How to Handle A Crisis. (Don't Do What Imus Did.)

From time to time we face crises and need to know how to live through it successfully. Don Imus, a popular talk radio host in the U.S. is currently embroiled in a crisis situation of his own making and he doesn’t seem to be handling it very well.

In his April 4^th, 2007 radio broadcast Imus used a disparaging term (the meaning of which I am pleased to say I only partially understand) to describe the Rutger's University women’s basketball team, causing an uproar.

Imus hasn’t handled the repercussions very well, choosing to make an obsequious apology on, of all places Al Sharpton's show. Despite the apology, Sharpton and other opportunists continue to call on the networks to fire Imus and on advertisers to boycott his show. CBS suspended him for two weeks and MSNBC dropped him altogether. Advertisers scampered.

There is a difference between a crisis and an emergency, writes Alan Weiss in his book “The Unofficial Guide to Power Managing.” When a fire rages or a colleague bends over with a heart attack you act immediately. Those are emergencies. Crises, however, actually afford more time for thinking. To handle a crisis successfully, we must utilize the initial moments for clear, rational thought rather than rushing to respond.

Instead of apologizing and retaining his dignity by not allowing his pejorative slip of the tongue to be blown out of proportion, Imus seems to have panicked and subjected himself to the agenda of Al Sharpton & Co. Sharpton and his cronies do not care for principle. They are simply delighted with any opportunity to frolic in the spotlight.

With more time to think about what he was trying to accomplish in the aftermath of his slip of the tongue, the articulate Imus might have apologized and then launched a swift counter attack. If Sharpton cares so much for black women, why is he silent about radio shows playing rap songs whose lyrics make Imus sound like a lily-white toddler.

I don’t listen to the Imus show and from the little I know of him, I doubt society would be worse off if he is taken off the air. But there are lessons here about dealing with crises:

Slow down long enough to get a proper understanding of the situation. Don’t panic. Do get the facts. Don’t rush to act before you know clearly what outcome you are after. Don’t be distracted by loud, irrational voices.

In short, don’t do what Imus did.

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Caught in a crises? The Gordon Group can help. When facing a crisis your thinking must be crystal clear. Don’t go it alone. Let us work with you to contain the damage, identify your real objectives, plan the steps and work with you as you execute.

Resources for executives, managers and business leaders:

1. Dov Gordon's audio book, “If You Are Implementing Your Strategy – You Don’t Have One: How to Control and Grow Your Business.” Got to www.Superior-Strategy.com and listen to the first 25 minutes on me.

Read what others say about this audio book:

"The greatest compliment I can give a book or audio program is, 'It caused me to take action.' The second best is, 'It made me think.' Dov's audio and workbook program, 'If You Are 'Implementing' Your Strategy—You Don't Have One,' accomplishes both—and I do strategy consulting!"

-- Bruce Johnson, President, Make it Remarkable, LLC. (In a past life, Bruce founded and led his church from two to two thousand members.) www.BruceDJohnson.com

“Dov, your audio book on strategic thinking presents a philosophy and process that is clearer, more sensible and more actionable than any other approach I’ve seen. Additionally, I enjoyed the numerous real life examples you used to illustrate your points, especially the story of the Curta. - Skip Weisman, President, Weisman Success Resources, Inc. www.WeismanSuccessResources.com

2. "The Unofficial Guide to Power Managing" by Alan Weiss has a very useful section on managing in times of crises.

3. Michelle Malkin’s article listing rap lyrics that don’t seem to bother Reverend Sharpton. http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YmM3ZGEwOWE2NWRlYWM2N2ZkY2Q3MWNlNmU1MTlhN2M=

Dov Gordon’s coaching and consulting helps business leaders in organizations of any size, around the world, to sharpen their focus, open their eyes to blind spots and take greater control over their businesses. To find out how you could benefit contact Dov. dov@gordongroupec.com

What Gets Us Into Trouble - Or, Why Ask Why?

“What gets us into trouble," Yogi Berra once observed “is not what we don’t know, but what we know for sure that just ain’t so!”

What gets us into trouble is when we know for sure what to do – but in fact we don’t have a clue.

I sat in on a meeting with a coaching client and one of his employees. The employee’s job is to study a market they intend to enter and help prepare the company for entry.

“The first thing we need to do, and I am sure of it, is get our website up,” the employee told me.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because we need to set up a website, get it optimized in Google and see how the first few sales will go so I can better understand how the sales process should work,” he said.

“Wait. You’re telling me that you need to better understand how the sales process will work, and you’ve decided that a website is the best way to get there?” I asked.

“Yes, because any customer will ask to see our website before anything else.”

“That sounds like an awful expensive and drawn out way to determine how the sales process will work. How will you know when your understanding is sufficient? What is missing? What do you need to understand that isn’t clear now?”

“That’s a very good question,” he said and thought for a bit before rattling off a number of things: “I need to know how we will close with clients, what kind of agreements we will use, how we will invoice, how we will accept payment, how we will receive their files, process them, return them and generate back end sales… So I guess a web site really is just a small part of that…” he admitted. “We really need to work through the steps in the sales and fulfillment process so that I have a better understanding of how it will work.”

By simply asking “Why?” and listening to the answer I saved my client months of his employee’s time – and much of his own; time that would have been wasted on building the perfect chisel instead of sculpting a remarkable statue.

People often become attached to a specific tactic, idea, tool or path – forgetting to ask “Wait, tell me again WHY are we doing this?”

Dov Gordon’s CEO Thought-Provoker Questions:

1. How much time and expense is wasted on “knowing for sure when it just ain’t so” by people quickly choosing a tool (website, database, training program, compensation structure, marketing message, strategy, etc.) without really understanding what they are ultimately trying to accomplish?
   

2. Ask “WHY?” When someone says “First we have to do THIS,” recognize that “this” is a means to an end. What is the OUTCOME we want to achieve and what other roads can take us there? Have we really studied and compared the various alternatives? How will “this” alternative help us reach our goals?

3. Suggestion: Few people ask the right questions. In less than an hour and a half my audio book will teach you a few simple tools that will make you one of the clearest thinkers in your organization. The first third of program is free and available for immediate download at www.Superior-Strategy.com The program is called “If You Are Implementing Your Strategy – You Don’t Have One!” The full program includes a printable workbook to help you master the lessons. Why not check it out now?

READ WHAT THESE FOLKS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS AUDIO BOOK PROGRAM:

"The greatest compliment I can give a book or audio program is, 'It caused me to take action.' The second best is, 'It made me think.' Dov's audio and workbook program, 'If You Are 'Implementing' Your Strategy—You Don't Have One,' accomplishes both—and I do strategy consulting!"

-- Bruce Johnson, President, Make it Remarkable, LLC. (In a past life, Bruce founded and led his church from two to two thousand members.) www.BruceDJohnson.com

“Dov, your audio book on strategic thinking presents a philosophy and process that is clearer, more sensible and more actionable than any other approach I’ve seen. Additionally, I enjoyed the numerous real life examples you used to illustrate your points, especially the story of the Curta. - Skip Weisman, President, Weisman Success Resources, Inc. www.WeismanSuccessResources.com

To Go Beyond Your Core Business - Or Not?

Should you pursue a new direction or stick with your core business? How do you decide?

The November 13, 2006 issue of BusinessWeek featured a cover story about Amazon.com’s new web services. These services exhilarated thousands of potential customers even while Wall Street analysts gave it a thumbs down.

Amazon is now leveraging 12 years and billions of dollars of investment in building one of the most sophisticated Internet platforms by making parts of it available for others to use for their own businesses.

The new services are very popular with large (Microsoft) and small (numerous start-ups) customers alike. Says BusinessWeek: “Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, says he wants Amazon to run your business, at least the messy technical and logistical parts of it, using those same technologies and operations that power his $10 billion online store.”

One executive expects his startup to save $500,000 a year with these new tools and, not surprisingly, VC’s are urging their portfolio companies to take advantage wherever they can.

But Wall Street analysts complain that competition is increasing in online retailing, Amazon’s core business, and they fear these new tangents will simply distract management.

To me, the “core business” argument is nebulous. Sticking to one’s core business should never stand as so central a consideration.

These are the key questions a company must initially ask itself before deciding to go beyond its core competency:

1. Do we love this business? Does it fit with our passion? (Passion.)

2. Who cares and will they pay enough to make it profitable? (Strategy.)

3. Can we do this better than anyone else? Do we have the people, skills, talent and infrastructure to make this work? (Competency and Execution.)

From Jeff Bezos on down, Amazon.com is passionate about continually improving their online software platform – which is certainly one of the best in the world. They’ve been doing this for years in a variety of ways. In fact, one of the company’s directors argues that Amazon’s core business is in fact managing complexity, more so than online retailing. “Core business” or not, internet technology is certainly Amazon’s driving force.

There certainly seems to be a market for Amazon’s web services based on the enthusiastic response. If a small startup will save half a million dollars a year, that’s a service worth paying for.

The final question comes down to one of execution. Can they maintain the dual focus on growing their retail business while growing their new services?

This question is harder to answer from such a distance and therefore I won’t try to. Yet their record is good and many successful companies have various product lines serving different markets. Their track record seems to indicate they can do it. Until we see evidence to the contrary, this looks like a good move.

How to Quickly Spot What’s Really Going On.

“Why don’t our sales teams cooperate the way we need them to?!” “We consistently miss our targets and we don’t know what to do about it.” “No matter what our company does, the market reacts negatively. They’ve come to hate us.” What is really going on in these situations?

The best management consultants are quick to zero in on what is really going on. They can hear about a situation and almost instantly know where to look and what questions to ask.

The secret is simple: assimilate scores or even hundreds of mental models. This allows you to (1) quickly identify the type of situation you are observing and then (2) quickly determine where the fulcrum is.

The better you understand patterns and models, the easier it is to realize that “We have a problem. The market hates us.” may not be a problem at all but a situation calling for some tough decisions. Problem solving and decision making are two distinct processes and if you mix them up things get worse.

When your two teams of sales people don’t cooperate as you’d like them to the cause is obvious: they don’t perceive it to be in their self-interest to do so. Exhorting, threatening and cajoling may cause temporary compliance, but don’t you really want commitment?


Charlie Munger: The Wealthiest Management Consultant

Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s partner and “the brains behind the brains at Berkshire Hathaway” is probably the wealthiest management consultant ever to have lived.

When Munger joined Berkshire Hathaway he had no particular training in investment. Nevertheless Buffett said that Munger “instinctively understood investment about as well as anybody I’d ever met.”

But it wasn’t instinct so much as self-training. Munger had spent decades studying all sorts of models from a variety of disciplines including mathematics, biology, psychology, economics, physics and others, always working to understand their essence and how they apply to other situations.

These models form a mental filter through which he pours any problem, opportunity or hypothesis looking for any rules, laws, relationships or violations. This is the skill that led Buffett to claim that “Charlie’s got the best 30-second mind in the world.”

The CEO Thought-Provoker™ Bottom Line: It isn’t sufficient to be a content expert. You need to understand the processes that form the web between the content. The ability to look at a difficult situation and accurately identify key causes, forces and incongruities will put you well above your competitors and make you a superior leader. The way to do this is to study patterns, models and processes.

The CEO Thought-Provoker™ Questions:

i. Does your organization have clear processes based on sound research for solving problems, making decisions and planning? If you think about it, over 90% of a manager’s time is spent on these three activities. It pays to have clear mental filters.

ii. Pop quiz: When people disagree, they are disagreeing about only one of two things. What are those two things? Post your answers to in the comments section below. (For the answer send me an email, or wait till next issue.)

iii. Possessing a range of mental models increases the odds of you accurately defining the problem. Accurately defining the problem is more than 80% of the solution. What is a problem you’ve been struggling with? How have you defined the problem? Generate one or two alternative ways to define the problem and notice the new ideas and opportunities that suddenly appear.

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USEFUL RESOURCES:

“The Real Warren Buffett” by James O’Loughlin. http://tinyurl.com/y4tuo8 An excellent book about Buffett that also does a great job outlining how Charlie Munger’s “latticework of mental models” influenced Buffett and has played a pivotal role in Berkshire Hathaway’s success.


Transcripts of a speech by Charlie Munger: “The Psychology of Human Misjudgment.” Contains many valuable insights.
http://tinyurl.com/4sfdv

An overview of some of Charlie Munger’s Mental Models: http://tinyurl.com/w8x9f

The Gordon Group works with organizations just like yours, helping them look at their current problems and opportunities through the appropriate mental filters. Together we quickly spot what is really going on, locate the true fulcrum and lift.

How to Avoid the Biggest People Mistake.

The biggest and most unnecessary people mistake in business stems from our tendency to evaluate a candidate’s ability to handle a new job based on his or her performance at a previous one.

This practice is the very antecedent of what we lovingly call The Peter Principle. And so, we continue to promote people until they no longer perform.

We forget that past performance is not indicative of future success. Nevertheless, past performance is the primary criteria we consider when hiring or promoting.

The right approach is to begin the other way around. What are the non-negotiable qualities a person must posses in order to excel at this job?

The criteria will always be a combination of both skills (knowledge plus experience) and behaviors. For example, it isn’t enough to know HOW to give a subordinate painful feedback – the skill – if you fail to do it. Doing it is the behavioral factor, the element that is often ignored.


Dov Gordon’s CEO Thought-Provoker™ Questions:

1. Do you or your HR people arbitrarily define job requirements based on input rather than the based on the business results you want the candidate to achieve? For example: “Must have at least seven years experience in marketing” when it should be “Can lead a marketing team and bring the best out of each team member.”

2. Take out the written job descriptions for three key people in your organization. Have you defined the three or four non-negotiable criteria for each position?

3. Think back to a time when you hired someone to a position that turned out to be over their head. Did you a) define the non-negotiable criteria for the job and b) investigate his behavioral tendencies as well as his skills?

Survey Sloth: How Market Research Can Imperil Your Marketing

One thing is for sure: a fat marketing budget doesn’t make you smart.

I got a call last week from a young man who asked me to participate in a market research survey. I said “Sure.”

“The survey is about cheese,” the young man said. “Cream cheese and cottage cheese.”

“Ok,” I said. “I’ll do my best.”

“Sir, which of these cheeses do you buy: Tnuva, Tara, Strauss or Ski?”

“Actually, I’m not sure. Should I get my wife? She does the shopping and I just eat what’s in the fridge.”

“No. Don’t worry. Just answer according to your feelings,” he said.

“Ok. I know we buy Tnuva. I’m not sure about Tara and Strauss and I’ve never heard of Ski,” I said.

“Next question: On a scale of 1 – 10, how would you rate the texture of each company’s cheeses?”

“Do you mean the cream cheese or the cottage cheese?” I asked.

“Both,” he said.

“Well, I like the texture of Tnuva’s cottage cheese. I’d give it an 8. But I’m not so crazy about their cream cheese. I’d give that a 4. So how do I answer your question?”

“Just give me one number that kind of averages how you feel about Tnuva’s cream and cottage cheeses,” he said.

“Look, I don’t know who is paying for this survey, but how in the world could blending this information help anyone?”

“Sir, I really don’t know. That’s a good question. My job though is to ask the questions and collect the information. So please just give me your general feeling about the texture of the cheeses.”

“OK, Tnuva gets a six – but that is really a meaningless number which will mislead the survey sponsor.”

“Thank you, sir. Now how would you rate the textures of Tara, Strauss and Ski?”

“As I’ve already told you, I don’t know if I’ve ever eaten Tara and Strauss. I think we sometimes get Strauss, but it may be Tnuva and I’ve never even heard of Ski, so how can I rate the texture?!”

The young man was very patient with my lack of understanding. “Sir, please just tell me how you would rate them according to how you think they would taste. You can base it on how the name sounds if you want.”

So I made up numbers and gave them to him. At least I was honest and he was happy.

“Thank you, sir. Next question. How would you rate your feelings of nostalgia for each company’s cheeses?”

“Feelings of NOSTALGIA?! That would be a zero. I have no feelings of nostalgia for anyone’s cheese.”

“Sir, on a scale of 1 to 10 please. The lowest number is one.”

“Well, if it can’t be zero then my answer is one. For all of them.”

And this is how the survey continued for nearly ten minutes. Some of the questions were sensible. The majority were not.

As I hung up the phone I realized that somewhere in the posh offices of Tnuva, Strauss, Tara or Ski – whoever they are – purportedly astute MBA’d executives were going to make important strategic decisions based on the information from this critically flawed survey.

But maybe I was wrong. I decided to call my friend Michael Lieberman, an internationally respected expert in the field of multivariate testing.

“That survey was seriously flawed,” Michael said. "Why would I want to know what someone thinks about my cheese if he never heard of it?”

Makes sense to me.


How to Avoid Getting Cowed by Your Survey Firm

Here are a few tips to help you make sure your survey firm brings home solid information and not high-fat Swiss cheese.

1. When conducting a survey, the first thing you must clarify is your objective. What information and understanding do you hope to glean? The best surveys are tight and focused with a single clear objective. For example: Our objective is to understand what factors influence a consumer’s choice of cottage cheese.

2. Run your survey through the common sense test. Read the questions your survey firm plans to ask together with the choice of answers. Look for the following:

a. Does the survey accommodate more than one path? I.e., if I’ve never heard of your cheese, I should not be allowed to sour the results by opining about its texture or taste.

b. Questions should be limited to those that will help you reach your objective. Companies are often tempted to ask way too many questions once they’ve got your attention. There are at least two problems with this. Firstly, many questions don’t contribute to your objective and serve only to flatter the ego of the survey designer
(“What a creative question I dreamed up! Nostalgia about cottage cheese – who would have thought of it?”) and obfuscate the results. Secondly, long surveys discourage participation in part or in full.

3. Not everything can be learned via survey. The most effective market research takes advantage of a full range of tools including surveys, focus groups, one-on-one interviews and shadowing or trailing consumers as they use your products and services. Each has its strengths and weaknesses and it is a mistake to expect one to do all the work.

“Stop! How Does What You Just Did Resemble My Advice?!”

Several years ago a close friend handed me a book on investing. “Here, Dov. You can keep this lousy book. I followed this guy’s advice and it doesn’t work.”

I had read that book already. I was also very familiar with my friend’s investment choices. This is for sure: Had the author been peering over my friend’s shoulder as he made his stock market decisions, the author would have been appalled. “Stop! What are you doing?! How does what you just did resemble my advice?” he would have yelled.


Executives will often say things like “We want to implement Good to Great in our organization.” Or, “We are developing a Blue Ocean Strategy.” Or some other worthy management ideas. We’ve all been there. Think back to the last time you wanted to implement an idea of significance in your organization? If only it were so easy!

When the time comes to act on someone’s advice there is a roadblock to avoid: the half-baked measure. It is tempting at times to jump into action before we really understand. It is tempting to skip the most important step of all: clear thinking and ruthless planning.

If Jim Collins (author of “Good to Great”) or Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne (authors of “Blue Ocean Strategy”) were looking over your shoulder, would they agree that you followed their advice? Would they consider you a true student – or just another pupil who killed some time in their hardcover classroom?


Dov Gordon’s CEO Thought-Provoker™ Questions:

1. When working to implement a new program:
   
   Are you in danger of doing a superficial job?
   
   Do you slow down long enough to identify what you really want to accomplish? Most good ideas are a means to an end. If your destination isn’t clear -- any management fad will take you there.
   
2. Do you have employees who come to work hot-to-trot with some new idea they’ve picked up somewhere? Challenge them on it. Respectfully of course and with the sole intention being to see how well they have thought it through. Challenge how their idea fits with what you are trying to create.
   
3. Chew on this for a few minutes: “Too often, people would rather do something than think about the purpose of the doing. For them, action is the same as progress.” Robert F. Mager in “Goal Analysis” a very insightful and funny book. A classic.
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What our clients say about a strategy retreat we facilitated:

“…Prior to hiring Dov we thought that as businessmen with successful businesses we should be able to do this ourselves. When we concluded the strategy retreat and looked back we agreed that had we met alone, we would have accomplished but a fraction of what Dov helped us achieve...

"I believe that what we did with Dov on those two days was probably the most important and valuable step we took at Datamercial all year." -- Ari Ginsberg, President, Datamercial Inc.