DASHBOARD GROUP

Archive for February, 2011|Monthly archive page

Develop the #One Team – The One Percenters

In Leadership on February 28, 2011 at 7:44 am

Every organization recruits, develops, deploys, and rewards people. But, in our experience, only one in a hundred organizations does this right.  

We call them, “The One Percenters.”

Given the importance of having the right team, why is this so rare?

First, some organizations simply don’t care about people.  They might say the right words, but their actions don’t back them up.  They see people as an expense, not an investment.  They treat people like a commodity, not a rarity.  They focus on what they can get from people, not what they can give.

Second, some organizations care, but don’t have a system to develop a high-performance team.  They pursue a haphazard mix of tactics, but never really put all the pieces together.

But The One Percenters make people development their number one priority.  They invest time, money, and energy to get the people side of their business right.  The CEO is actively involved in the process, and holds everyone accountable for their part. 

The Dashboard Group’s Develop the #One Team process provides leaders with a clear, systematic, and efficient approach.  It builds on the other components of the Dashboard Way, and will help you become a One Percenter.

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust.

Shift Your Thinking … Accelerate Your Results.

One Direction

In Alignment on February 21, 2011 at 7:04 am

Left to their own devices, organizations become fragmented and misaligned. 

It happens slowly, almost imperceptively, but it happens.  In fact, we have yet to work with an organization that was not misaligned.  Sometimes, the executives are not on the same page.  Other times, the compensation plan is not aligned with the strategy.  Or the divisions are not aligned with corporate.  Or sales is not aligned with marketing.  Most of the time, it is all of the above!

Consider the following example:  an organization with 100 employees making an average of $100,000 / year running at 80% alignment is losing $2 million / year in productivity.  And that does not even count the losses from misaligned processes.

To address this problem, we developed the Drive One Direction process. 

The process starts with helping the organization define their One Thing, which provides clarity about what to align around.  Then, we use our 100 Points of Alignment toolset to systematically bring everything into alignment with the One Thing. 

So, is every person and every process in your organization 100% aligned?  If not, perhaps it is time for a check-up.

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust.  

Shift Your Thinking … Accelerate Your Results.

One Strategy

In Strategy on February 14, 2011 at 6:14 am

Every organization has a strategy.  But only a small percentage of them are any good.

High-performance organizations apply the Discipline of Focus to develop strategy.  They would rather dominate one market than dabble in a dozen of them. 

Let me say that again:  high-performance organizations would rather dominate one market than dabble in a dozen of them.

Wal-Mart and Kmart started at about the same time.  Wal-Mart stayed intensely focused on the discount retail segment, systematically reducing costs and passing the savings along to customers.  Kmart dabbled with sporting goods stores (acquiring The Sports Authority), bookstores (acquiring Borders), office products (acquiring OfficeMax), and more. 

It is clear which company had the winning strategy. 

Developing a winning strategy requires strategic thinking, strategic predictions, and big strategic decisions.  Ultimately, you must choose which markets to compete in, which products and services to sell, and which geographies to explore.

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust. 

Shift Your Thinking … Accelerate Your Results.

One Thing

In Strategy on February 7, 2011 at 8:15 am

Last night’s Super Bowl was a huge disappointment.

Not because I wanted the Steelers to win, but because the ads were so bad.  In fact, just a few short hours after the game, I’m having trouble remembering them.  Why?  Because most of them were bland and undifferentiating.

The starting point in building a high-performance organization is to develop your defining differentiation.

This is hard to do, which is why it is so rare.  Most organizations settle for a blasé compromise of blah-blah-blah developed by a committee with no backbone.

In contrast, a real defining differentiation is One Thing … representing your One Big Idea.

The Dashboard Decide One Thing process forces leaders to do the really hard thinking required to develop a truly defining point of differentiation.  Often, they will try to weasel out, asking, “Can our One Thing be three things?”

The answer is, “Yes, if you want to blend into the sea of sameness, your One Thing can be three things, or twelve things.”

But if you want to stand out … maybe even in a great Super Bowl ad someday … you need to Decide One Thing.

The Shift Points blog is designed for Fast Lane leaders who want to leave their competitors in the dust.

Shift Your Thinking … Accelerate Your Results.

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