The Labor of Fools: Why business managers fail.

Its amazing how much people expect the God of Commerce to shower His good fortunes on their work when clearly nothing much is being done on their part. I am truly tired of the talk of luck especially when used within the context of mysterious galactic wealth transfer. Luck is simply the result of opportunity and preparation meeting to create an advantage. I am sick and tired of the seeming superstititous expectations. How can you expect to receive value when you have not inputed value?

 

 

The microwave syndrome has crept into every nook and cranny of our lives. We want it and we want it very fast.  People no longer want to pay the price anymore. These days, young people don’t want to hear anything about hardwork. No wonder the success rate in exams are few and far between. Have you seen the rate of divorces lately? Things have fallen apart (Chinua Achebe). The flagrant abuse of the rules and principles of success has certianly fetched us unbridled mediocrity across endeavours.

If the failure of students in final exams and the downward trend in general scholar performance is pardonable, Its rather appalling to realise that this trend is thriving in many business oganisations. I am talking about million dollar firms messing up big time when it comes to getting things done. Please forgive my choice of word but many institutions are simply derelicts and junkies. I do have the tendency to be an alarmist but I simply cannot stomach the fact that many organisations are simply failing to do things right. America should know better by now that stimulus is not the answer to apparent slow growth. There is a risk that the economy has gone comatose (Richard Rummelt). If a method doesn't ameliorate the challenges, wisdom demands that something else be done; an alternative course of action is the least. Only a mad man keeps doing the same thing and expect a different result (Albert Einstein)

The nature of man is such that we forget easily. Strategic amnesia is the very order of the day. We have this tendency to even loose ourselves in the hurry of the moment.Today, the failure rate of strategy is increasingly alarming. Many companies do not have anything close to a strategy (initiatives) and for those that have, execution is usually a major missing link. I believe that identity crisis is the greatest crisis. Abuse of role is second to this.

Business Case: Lagos to Offa

December 23^rd, 2010. After covering kilometers away from Lagos and few kilometers more to Offa, the car I was driving suddenly came to an abrupt halt.  The engine simply shut down. My hope of driving to Offa in my Uncle’s Luxury Toyota Crown was shattered. And I had three other passengers in the car. You bet my anguish was to the bones. How can the car do this to me? Why on earth did this have to happen?. I had so much of questions in my head and the taste of this seeming failure was hard to bare.

My Uncle (a master mentor) who was driving ahead of me had gone very far until he realized I was no longer in sight. He had to turn around to come to my rescue. The mechanic arrived and ran a diagnosis. Guess what? My gasket had been damaged. How come? I had refused to observe the rules of engagement as a driver and I failed to pay attention to the early warning signs.

Earlier that faithful morning

We set out on the journey as early as 10am. Everybody was in high spirit. This is short of saying there was a great euphoria in the air (Christmas holiday in Offa is just a perfect way to end the year). For the very first tiime I saw my Uncle; a vert strict man in a vulnurable mood. Metaphorically, one could have riden a horse in his stomach. The Toyota Crown had just been brought from the mechanic by my Uncle’s driver who wouldn’t be travelling with us. My Uncle had given him a break to enjoy the Xmas with his family. If you didn’t believe my tale about my Uncles's overt niceness on this day, now you have a pointer. We set out on the journey with high spirit. The roadmap was also very clear; I was to drive behind my Uncle. Our vision was 2020 on point.

Few meters into Ibadan, the car’s Air Conditioner (AC) stopped supplying cool air. Everyone in the car actually asserted this (they had began to sweat). I was also feeling the heat but my interpretation was that probably the very hot weather was responsible. This was a tenable reason because it was truly hot this day. It was very hot. It kept getting hot until we resolved to fresh air. It got better for the time being until the bubble burst on us few meters out of Iwo when the engine shut down and the show came to an end.  It took us  six hours to make a jouney that shouldn’t have taken us four hours.We later got to Offa by 6pm.

Retrospectively, this was an avoidable incident full of I wish I had phrases.

Management Lessons:

1.   In turnaround scenarios and new engagements, current situation analysis is key. Do all the pre-engagement checks. Reduce the possibility of surprises. You must be on top of everything.

From The Story

Before the commencement of the Journey to Offa, I should have checked my engine; the water level (caburator & reserve), the oil levels, the tires e.t.c. It is the responsibility of the driver to ensure that all is set.

 

2.   Pay attention to the warning signs. Don’t just assume.

From The Story

The Air conditioner stopped working at optimal level and my conclusion was that the element (heat from the sun) was responsible. That sounded plausible but it wasn’t exactly that. The water in the caburator had been exhausted. The engine was overheating.

 

3.   Don’t be distracted even by the illusuions of vision. Focus is the recipe for success.

From The Story

I was seriously consumed by my ambition to paint the town red in Offa. Even though I had a mentor (my Uncle) who I was driving behind, I still messed up anyways. The warning signs were there for me to see. The dashboard of the car had enough indicators for me which I summarily neglected. Distractions are in varying forms.

The lack of vision is not the only reason why people fail. Failure to pay attention to early warning signs is as bad and even worse than lack of vision. Business leaders today should pay closer attention to the performance dashboard. It is the responsibility of the executive management to understand the early warning signs and evolve stategies to deal with them. Temporary measure(s) as in the case of rolling down the mirrors to alleviate the "sufferings" of the passengers wont stop the engine from over heating. It is at best a palliative.

Be weary of fads and facades. They dont quite last.