Ever try to fix something, and discovered it still didn't work?

A few weeks ago, our new doorbell quit working; it was a battery operated wireless bell. I removed it from the doorframe, changed the battery, and - it still didn't work, so I tried another battery and it didn't work either. "Ok," I said, "time to look at this more carefully."

After much probing and trying, I finally noticed that the battery looked kind of loose; the metal clamp was not making full contact with the battery. This was probably due to the fact that the clamp's metal was rather thin and the weight of the battery pushed it away.

Long story made short, I cut a plastic wedge from an old credit card, stuck it underneath the clamp so that it would keep contact with the battery and, guess what, it worked - and still does.

Lesson Learned

If you don't find the real problem, you'll never find the right solution. There is no right solution for the wrong problem. That is why Quick Fixes based on knee-jerk problem diagnosis often don't work.

Finding that a lot of traditional solutions don't seem to solve your problems? Do the problems keep coming back? Want to put a stop to them? Why not bring in someone who is experienced and innovative to find new solutions for repeating problems? Contact me at (630) 420 2605, or mykwyn@aol.com

Life and business are about learning. We observe patterns and find solutions. The more problems we face, the more solutions we develop. In time, we build our own Experience Inventory of solutions drawn from problems that have similar patterns. It makes life easier - or does it?

Your Experience Inventory of Solutions

The solutions in our Experience Inventory tend to be Quick Fixes. We see the problem, classify its pattern, and apply the appropriate solution or, at least, what we think is the right solution. Then, one day, it suddenly doesn't work, and we are in trouble.

Why? Problems, like history, repeat themselves, but never the same way. Today, more than ever before, the advent of technology is changing the world fundamentally and faster. The majority of the problems we face may look like the old ones - but aren't.

If we apply yesterday's solutions to today's problems they won't work because today's problems are not the same as yesterday's.

"In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists." Eric Hoffer

Examples of Yesterday's Solutions Applied to Today's Problems

• Your competitor lowers his price, so you lower yours. What if your competitor is a giant company with almost inexhaustible resources and you are not? Your competitor can tolerate more losses than you can, and won't go bust as soon as you will.
• General Motors, the Wizard of Wrong Solutions, is planning to increase its 2010 production way higher than this year's. Logical, you might say because next year's sales are bound to be better than this year's. Yes, that is likely, but not to the extent that GM is planning its production. Does this sound familiar? Build the inventory, and push the sales? Then, in August of 2010 when the new models are due out, panic sets in, GM drops prices drastically to get rid of previous model year inventories, and has another unprofitable year. Conclusion: same old solution to a different problem.
• Banks are cutting back on lending. They did that during the Great Depression, and it didn't work then either.
• Businesses have been cutting jobs as a means to reducing their costs and to become more competitive in tough times.
• First of all, they shouldn't have created that many jobs to begin with. They should have been concentrating on making things easier to accomplish with fewer, more productive employees.
• Secondly, many of the jobs eliminated were staffed by people who were good workers; why weren't they retained, and the low production workers let go?
• Thirdly, by attempting to solve a problem through downsizing, companies have created serious morale and motivation problems that will affect profitability.
• Fourth, downsizing makes it harder for companies to hire new, high quality employees thereby creating a much bigger competitiveness problem down the road.
• Outplacement firms are promising to help people find jobs, except that changes in the business world and in technology are eliminating the need for those jobs.
• It used to be that people who didn't get enough education would look for easy, repetitive, manufacturing jobs.

• During the Rust Belt Crisis, 1980 to 1989, manufacturing lost 1.4 million jobs. The reaction? Oh, it was just a temporary business cycle drop; the jobs will come back. They didn't.
• Between 2000 and October, 2009, manufacturing lost 5.6 million jobs! They are not coming back either. Why? Because the newer, hi-tech manufacturing requires more brains than brawn! The result: as industry technology becomes more sophisticated, there will be fewer jobs available and fewer people who are qualified to fill them.

10 Thoughts to Help You in Your Business

1. Pay more attention to defining problems correctly before implementing solutions.
2. Keep developing new solutions until you find one that works.
3. Identify the jobs that technology will change and/or eliminate, and start training employees for them. The best way to lead is by lifting others.
4. Make innovation an essential part of every job.
5. Make productivity and profitability every one's responsibility.
6. Remember that the purpose of a business is to create and satisfy customers, not run a plant.
7. Don't base marketing strategies on keeping plants running.
8. Become market-driven rather than product-driven.
9. Compete on value rather than price.
10. Focus on creating a durable competitive advantage.

If You Can't Repair Your Brakes, Making Your Horn Louder Won't Work

Poorly defined problems are the source of much failure. Over-reliance on your Experience Inventory can lead to repeated failure. Howard Schultz, founder of Starbucks says, "Whatever you do, don't play it safe. Don't do things the way they have always been done."

If everything seems to be going well, you obviously have overlooked something. It's what you don't see that will bring you down. A moving world does not tolerate stationary objects. Don't let your business become stationary. In fact, don't even let it slow down, because just treading water doesn't work in a flash flood like today's fast moving business world.

Your business may be in greater danger than you think. Let me help you identify the real dangers, and develop innovative solutions that work. Contact me at (630) 420 2605, or mykwyn@aol.com.