The Business External Assessment - What's Out There?
When my two oldest boys were small, one of their favorite games was What's Down There? One of them would crawl into my bed first thing in the morning, and ask: "Dad, what's down there?". I would look at the floor over the edge of the bed and nonchalantly say something like "Oh nothing, except for the hundreds of black widow spiders (or alligators, or writhing snakes...), then I would slowly push the kid toward the edge of the bed. I could always gauge the enthusiasm of his response by the gruesomeness of the particular horror dwelling on the floor. My younger son (who still has a vivid imagination) would fight with considerable vigor, often producing uproarious laughter from the other family members who happened to be watching. His response was directly related to his knowledge of what was down there.
The same principle holds true for business. If you want your business plans to really be effective, you have to have a good knowledge of "what's out there". That means taking the time to evaluate important external factors, things like current economic climate, the global competition, other local competitors, and what customers are buying. Doing a good job at this assessment will produce considerably more precision in the goals for your own business. Indeed, good investigation will frequently add the quality of speed to your goals - knowing which things should be accomplished now and which can wait until later in the year.
To move into world class using your external analysis, however, you have to communicate the importance of those externally focused goals. When your staff know which goals are really significant, and see regular reports on progress toward those significant goals, a sense of vibrancy will arise in your business, and you will see all sorts of good activity that was never there before. It's worth the effort - give it a try!
When my two oldest boys were small, one of their favorite games was What's Down There? One of them would crawl into my bed first thing in the morning, and ask: "Dad, what's down there?". I would look at the floor over the edge of the bed and nonchalantly say something like "Oh nothing, except for the hundreds of black widow spiders (or alligators, or writhing snakes...), then I would slowly push the kid toward the edge of the bed. I could always gauge the enthusiasm of his response by the gruesomeness of the particular horror dwelling on the floor. My younger son (who still has a vivid imagination) would fight with considerable vigor, often producing uproarious laughter from the other family members who happened to be watching. His response was directly related to his knowledge of what was down there.
The same principle holds true for business. If you want your business plans to really be effective, you have to have a good knowledge of "what's out there". That means taking the time to evaluate important external factors, things like current economic climate, the global competition, other local competitors, and what customers are buying. Doing a good job at this assessment will produce considerably more precision in the goals for your own business. Indeed, good investigation will frequently add the quality of speed to your goals - knowing which things should be accomplished now and which can wait until later in the year.
To move into world class using your external analysis, however, you have to communicate the importance of those externally focused goals. When your staff know which goals are really significant, and see regular reports on progress toward those significant goals, a sense of vibrancy will arise in your business, and you will see all sorts of good activity that was never there before. It's worth the effort - give it a try!
Tim Connor is co-founder and president of Rodeo! Performance
Group based out of Ocala, Florida. Rodeo clients have developed
action-based strategies, reduced interpersonal conflict to zero, enjoyed
an ROI of up to 20 times, built highly effective business plans, and
developed new habits and attitudes - as well as skills - into their
leadership. Our company will only work with clients if we feel we can
show a return of at least three times what we will charge. Rodeo works
with all sizes and types of business, with special expertise with
medical practices and healthcare related businesses. You can check us
out or sign up for our free newsletter, the Wrangler, at http://www.rodeopg.com
