Many people cannot resist chocolates. Put chocolates anywhere near them, and the candy disappears like morning dew on a hot day. As a result, these people weigh a great deal more than they would like.
What solution do most pursue? They keep chocolate out of their offices, homes, and cars. They also avoid walking near any parts of stores where chocolates are offered.
Opportunities are...
Read annual reports after a company has a bad year, and you will usually see a report from the CEO that describes a company that worked correctly and hard but was victimized by "temporary conditions." The CEO will then indicate optimism that those conditions will soon leave and performance will improve.
When you read the next year's annual report, it may repeat the same mantra. Come back...
Perhaps one of the most persistent forms of defensiveness is the sense that the enterprise is going in the right direction, but is just not executing that direction well enough. Beware the popular answer: Let's take the most direct route from here to there, and keep it simple.
Here's why that route is dangerous: In the nineteenth century, wagon trains headed to California often...
Minimizing the importance of any related problems or to trying to cover them up are the two most common defensive postures for dealing with irresistible forces. You can always find someone to convince you that there really is no problem even when there is one.
And since the bearers of bad news often fear blame or punishment, they prefer to keep quiet about problems. Either way, you end up...
New circumstances are most often first perceived as a threat when budgeted profit or cash flow objectives are not met. Since such potential shortfalls are happening somewhere almost all the time in enterprises, the organization's first reaction is to look for relatively painless ways to cut costs to overcome the shortfall.
This tendency is reinforced by the likelihood that all the senior...
"The best defense is a good offense." --Various
When circumstances turn hostile for the current direction, most organizations will focus on defending themselves from the effects of the changed environment rather than on reaching out to adapt to the new situation, which creates a diversion from progress and growth. The discussion of defensive postures and how to overcome them presented in...
Your biggest customer calls to say that the firm is going into bankruptcy and won't be able to pay the six month's worth of outstanding invoices. You wish him well and hold your head in pain.
An hour later, you discover that your plant is in violation of OSHA (Occupational Health and Safety Administration) standards. You have to pay a large fine and buy millions in new equipment before you...
Irresistible forces can leave you feeling helpless. When that occurs, you are often vulnerable because inaction is often worse than a poor action.
How can you find a helpful path? Answering the following questions is intended to help you see alternatives where you might otherwise feel helpless in the face of irresistible forces.
How can this setback become the best thing that ever...
A number of years ago I was asked to help a struggling business overcome setbacks created by increased global competition, adverse cost trends, unfavorable currency rates, and weak leadership. Looking closely at the operations, I saw that within the weak operation was a kernel of strength: Huge profits could be gained by cutting back the product line by 95 percent, and great amounts of cash...
There may be no stronger source of unhappy surprise than having the customers' and community's perceptions of your products and services suddenly turn from positive to negative with no warning. Perhaps a television program runs an expose about the safety of your product, testing it in ways that you have never considered or are inappropriate. Or suddenly the government imposes a new standard,...
