- High maturity businesses are usually successful
- 4 elements of maturity
- Be balanced in your analysis of challenges
The 'Instant Gratification' Thing
How good are they on this “instant gratification” thing? How much of management’s attention is focused on the short-term benefits at the expense of long-term benefits? Is employee training a priority? Are there meaningful personnel-development plans in place? Is there succession planning that is real and practiced? Does your company have a long-term-planning process for personnel development? Are the operations and financial questions they have for you focused on the long term, or are you overwrought with inquiries as to why the monthly and quarterly targets are not met … even if that means there is a long term benefit to be gained. Are they always asking questions about the cost and not too interested in the benefits? Do they have a long-term vision that is posted? Do they preach, teach and “live” the long-term vision?
My questions for you are threefold:
- Do you know what to expect from your company?
- Is it mature by all four measures, or does it fall short in some aspects?
If the answers to questions 1 and 2 are all positive, count your blessings. You have found a great place, presuming the work feeds your calling and your passion. However, if you find a bunch of inadequacies in the maturity of your company, then there is work to do.
For any given question or issue stated in the previous paragraphs, there is a ready-made solution. Whether it is creating a balanced scoreboard, giving proper attention to your customers, coming up with long-range personnel planning, implementing systems planning or even more esoteric issues such as goal deployment or teaching Theory X vs. Theory Y management, there is a known solution.
When we do not solve these problems, it is not because we lack the information or proven solutions. In nearly all cases, for whatever issue we wish to discuss, we typically lack:
- the will to recognize the issue and/or
- the will to accept the issue and/or
- the will to supply the hard work required to resolve the issue.
If these problems exist and persist, it is more a matter of WILL than a matter of SKILL.
So, my third and final question is:
3. What are you prepared to do?
