DASHBOARD GROUP

Archive for September, 2011|Monthly archive page

Drilling for Oil?

In About on September 27, 2011 at 4:06 pm

People have told me that I have a knack for making analogies.

In a recent interview with WashingtonExec, I used the following analogy:

Every startup goes through two distinct phases. The “drill for oil” phase involves months, and sometimes years of exploration and trial-and-error. This can involve chasing any deal that will pay the bills, even if it is out of your sweet spot. Eventually, however, the organization must mature and get focused. This is the “real enterprise” phase. This begins with identifying your One Thing, pruning the activities that don’t fit, and aligning every part of the organization to deliver it. Failure to make this transition is a root cause of plateaued growth.

I grew up in Philadelphia, and have never even been to an oil field. In fact, I learned everything I know about drilling for oil from The Beverly Hillbillies! However, I still think the analogy works. In fact, I think it’s a gusher!

To read the rest of the interview, click the link below:

http://www.washingtonexec.com/2011/09/qa-with-the-dashboard-group-founder-dave-ramos-from-drill-for-oil-to-real-enterprise/

PS: Thanks to Jennifer Edgerly from SpeakerBox Communications (www.speakerboxpr.com) for making this great story possible.

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 Word

In Alignment on September 26, 2011 at 7:56 am

At Dashboard, we believe that the root cause of virtually every organizational performance problem can be summarized in One Word: alignment.

We see this issue over and over.

The organization’s words don’t align with their actions. Their policies don’t align with their values. Their people aren’t aligned with the strategy. The executive team isn’t aligned with each other. The sales team isn’t aligned with the marketing team. The pricing model isn’t aligned with the customer’s buying preference.

So, if you had to summarize Dashboard in One Word, it would be alignment. It is our goal to “own” that word.

The question for you is, “if you had to summarize your organization in One Word, what would it be?”

Is there One Word that you can own? One Word that you can burn into your brand promise? One Word that you can use as your guiding north star?

According to Webster, there are about a million words in the English vocabulary. Surely you can find One Word that you can uniquely own.

Just don’t choose alignment. That one is taken!

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.

The Winning Formula

In Strategy on September 19, 2011 at 7:56 am

Verizon is running a series of ads with the following headline:

“The business with the best technology rules.”

Catchy. But, is it universally true?

Is an organization’s technology really the thing that gives them a sustainable competitive advantage? Or is it their products? Or their service? Or their cost infrastructure? Or their brand? Or their supply chain?

The Dashboard Group starts with the premise that an organization must identify their “One Thing.” The basic idea is that you have to be good at lots of things, but that you must become differentiatingly great at One Thing.

To become differentiatingly great at something, you must invest a disproportionate share of the organization’s resources (money, people, and time) in it. Which means that you must invest less in other areas.

For some organizations, technological superiority may be their One Thing.

For most, however, they will identify something other than technology. Thus, they will have to prune their technology investment to “good enough” levels in order to be great at their One Thing.

Sorry Verizon. The organization who rules is the one who is differentiatingly great at their 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.

The Seat of Your Pants

In Leadership on September 12, 2011 at 7:37 am

Recently, I was in Napa Valley and fulfilled a lifelong goal – to fly a glider.

Floating along like a bird at 5,000 feet above the beautiful California countryside sure puts things in perspective.

And I could not help but make the connection between my flying experience and what we see in organizations.

The phrase, “flying by the seat of your pants” traces back to the 1930s and was first widely used in reports of Douglas Corrigan’s flight from Brooklyn to Ireland in 1938.

That flight was reported in many newspapers, including a story entitled, “Corrigan Flies By The Seat Of His Pants,” in The Edwardsville Intelligencer, which ran on July 19th, 1938.

But the real story was that although Corrigan flew to Ireland, he had actually submitted a flight plan to fly to California. He was thereafter known as “Wrong Way Corrigan” and starred as himself in the 1938 movie, The Flying Irishman.

And just like Wrong Way Corrigan, flying by the seat of your pants is a great way for organizations to end up in the wrong place as well.

Maybe it is time to check your organization’s compass and make sure you (and everyone else) know where you are going.

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.

Second Person

In Alignment, Leadership, Teamwork on September 6, 2011 at 8:12 am

We received a great response to our last blog post from Brad Hill, CEO of Site Organic. Here’s what he wrote:

“Equally important, I think, is to listen for first person language. “Here’s what I decided” communicates something very different from “Here’s what we can all do.” Followers are more likely to respect and rally around a leader who considers himself part of the team, not an aloof order-giver.

  • First person = ego
  • Second person = invested in the team
  • Third person = disengaged, CYA mentality”

I think Brad is exactly right.

You can’t finish in first place if everyone talks in the third person. But, you won’t build consensus if leaders operate in the first person.

So, maybe we all should have paid better attention in grammar class.

PS: If you are looking for a new web site, check out www.siteorganic.com. Brad and his team have built thousands of web sites for organizations that want to “produce fruit” online. They have done a great job for The Dashboard Group, and I am sure they will do a great job for you.

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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