We have heard much in recent months about the need for anti-cyclical investment. Although I fully agree with that statement, is it incomprehensible to hear so little about “how to prepare yourself to not only survive this crisis but to become stronger then before”. Or the opportunity that exists during the crisis to gain market share and be ready to maintain that market share or even further increasing it once the economy picks up. The answer to both questions is to examine everything you do or plan to decide from the point of view of the impact on scalability.
First something about scalability. Scalable organizations are:
- End-to-end aligned: Streamline your value chain by having coherent bundled responsibilities. Written processes are kept to a minimum to keep the organisation adaptable and agile. This will help to make individual contributions to the goal clear to everyone. The increased involvement and insights will enable people to be creative and to contribute to the result in the most effective way. Doing the right things instead of doing things right. The best bundled responsibilities are those allowing you to quickly find new people on the job market because you take available combined competencies into consideration.
- Dynamic organizations: Endorsing a culture of facing the brutal facts, where people and not the processes are central. Ensuring that people focus on their contribution and not on their career (plan). Learning from and celebrating successes but also learning from mistakes being made. Being convinced that uncertainty is the only certainty in life.
- Thought leaders in their field: They strive to be different not better. They educate the market based on their differentiation so that prospects seek their leadership. Lead nurturing based on valuable content for the prospect is their way of promotion. Improving the value proposition for each of their served segments is what drives product development.
- Customer focused: The customer and the market are central in everything they say and do. The front-line organisation is based on buying readiness of individual involved people in the decision making process rather then an automated nexst step sales approach.
- above all Vision and DNA based: All of above is impossible to execute in case of DNA dilution. Don’t keep people on your staff whom are not DNA compliant not even if you consider their contribution or importance indispensable for the organization. This is where the blindness to future problems commence. Managment will end up managing people instead of their business.
The biggest advantage of ‘design for scalability” is that it works both in periods of growth and during recessions. Scalable organizations can more quickly adapt to their environment in both good and bad days. Every crisis forcing you to reduce headcount or reorganize the company is a unique moment of choice to increase your scalability. This means also having the courage to leave trodden paths. This implies not to:
- reduce your headcount by letting go of people with the cheapest severance package;
- cancel the simplest costs and investments such as training and educating people, change processes necessary for the long term, sales and marketing spending etc…
- put your best people on the biggest problem rather than on the largest opportunity;
- deviate from the long-term strategy thereby losing focus. Losing clarity throughout the entire organisation will be a consequence. Thus increasing the uncertainty resulting in paralysis;
- acquire companies when the market is on its top and everyone is bidding as if the sky is the limit.
but on the contrary:
- Cut inefficiencies grown over time;
- Continuously adapt to the changing circumstances without undermining the long term vision. Being vision focused;
- Transparent and timely communication;
- Putting DNA, people and competencies central in your organisation to avoid bureaucracy and maximize involvement.
Leaders and managers will no longer have an excuse to take resolute decisions improving the scalability of their organization once the economy is picking up.
This is the only way to maximize your potential!
