Are You Driving Your Business Like a Stuntman or a Reckless Driver?

Article Presented by:
Christophe Poizat, All Rights Reserved

Ideally, you should drive your business like a wise stuntman and not a reckless driver. Prior to executing any daring stunt, a stuntman always studies and evaluates all the different parameters involved and all the possible scenarios with their associated levels of risk.

Depending on whether the probabilities of success appear to be high or low, the stunt will be marked as feasible or not feasible -- nobody wants to risk loosing their life stupidly after all...

Once the stunt has been retained as feasible, the execution will be rehearsed many times. First on paper, then mentally. Over and over, the stuntman will go through the whole event and when he or she feels ready, he or she will execute the stunt in front of an audience of astonished people. What appeared to be very daring or was even deemed impossible to do is suddenly executed perfectly in front of a crowd of astonished people.

On Thursday May 20, 1999 Robbie Knievel completed such a stunt: a 231 ft leap over a section of the Grand Canyon. It was certainly one of the most daring stunt. All parameters must have been studied and evaluated with the highest precision: location, speed, angle, wind, etc... Success was no coincidence.

Let's not forget such a daring stunt was the result of several weeks, if not months of careful evaluations, precise simulations, and a meticulous preparation based on accurate observations and wise decisions -- somebody's life is on the line after all. What a good example of successful risk-management that is!

It is pretty much the same if you want to run your business successfully: you need to do some business intelligence and plan thoroughly, you need to evaluate carefully and make fact-based decisions and not only emotion-based decisions.

Weeks or months of preparation would likely be needed in order to make the wisest decisions but the problem is: the market won't wait that long, your competitors are going to cut the deal before you do if you don't move fast!

How is your driving, business-wise? Do you step on the gas pedal as soon as you hear about a possible business deal without evaluating and planning thoroughly? How well do you know your vehicle and all the different options? How well do you know the terrain? How precisely have you studied all the different parameters? How well do you know the competition and what they are doing? Do you have the right people in place? What is the level of readiness of those people? Are they making noise of are they playing some beautiful music?

How well and accurately you can answer these questions will of course determine your level of success. There are many more questions you should ask yourself before firing up the engine and putting your hands on the steering wheel.

So everything has been checked and double-checked you say and you are on a full tank and absolutely confident you will be able to drive your company to ever-lasting success.

So, you think you are ready, finally, it is reality-check time on the battlefield! But before long, it turns out the road is bumpier than you thought, you see other competitors passing you by and leaving you in the dust. Their vehicles is way more powerful and these guys know how to drive way better than you do. They drive effectively, efficiently, based on their experience of the road and the many challenges they already have overcome many times. They know how to play the game better than you do... Your vehicle is puffing, comes to a stop. Out of gas. Out of ammunitions, that is. You are stranded in the middle of nowhere. It was supposed to be the ride of your life and you are busted.

You think of the term "learning curve" and say: "Ok, what I need to learn I will learn by doing, so the more I drive, the better I will be..." Only true if you are on an unlimited budget, but who is?

So you're gonna have to take some driving lessons and presto! Don't even think of getting back on the road before improving your driving or you will be toasted pulp for good next time and will probably end up in front of the court as another chapter 11...

Have your vehicle checked by experts for any missing parts and do learn how to drive that thing! Only there are many instructors that have absolutely no clues whatsoever on how to drive a business successfully and yet that's another challenge!

If you are tired of visiting smash-repair shops and instead want to learn how to drive your business precisely and efficiently to produce results that you never thought possible, why not listen to a respected instructors in the field?

If you are willing to listen, I am willing to show you how to improve your driving and help you jump over the last remaining difficulties like Robbie Knievel over the Grand Canyon!

In any case, whatever you do, don't forget to ask yourself the following questions:

1. Where are we now as a company? as a team?

2. Where do we want to be as a company? as a team?

3. How are we going to get there as a team?

4. How do we measure success? How do we know we have attained our objectives?

then use the Deming approach: Plan-Do-Check-Act, and repeat relentlessly!

To your success,

Christophe


About the Author:
Christophe Poizat is a professional dreamer, a social entrepreneur, guerrilla marketer, mentor, business coach, speaker, author with 20+ years of international consulting experience who has lived on four continents; for more details, visit: http://christophepoizat.com

Christophe is also the founder and administrator of the International Network of Social Entrepreneurs, a global Web 2.0 community for Social Entrepreneurs to connect, share, collaborate and promote social entrepreneurship worldwide. For more details, visit: http://inse.collectivex.com