“Ann understood our situation and challenges very quickly. We had five critical issues and she helped us address all five in less time than we thought would be needed for one. She cut to the core, leading us to several important decisions and new ways of working together to be more effective and more strategic. She is fast, refreshingly different, and someone I can recommend highly.” Tim Van Epps, President, The Sandri Companies
“Ann is really different from other consultants. For one thing, she is 100% driven by the problems, people, and the organization in front of her, not by a particular model or process to which she wants others to adapt. She relates well to a wide range of people from Board Chair to employee. She sees the whole, creates clear goals that work for all levels, and then designs a process to achieve those goals effectively and quickly. She unobtrusively prevents old baggage, emotional issues, or other distractions from derailing progress. She listens well and gets everyone else listening to each other. “I’m delighted to have been on the Board of Directors that hired Ann. Thanks to her, we reached an informed consensus that was level-headed, reality-based, and an accurate reflection of where we were and where we needed to go, and did so in very little time. I would definitely recommend her. I believe Ann could walk into any number of situations and get you where you need to go much faster and better than you could accomplish alone or with any other consultant.” Jim Frutkin, Vice President of Clinical Services, Service Net, Inc.
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” John Quincy Adams
She was on top of the world. New job. Big raise. Exciting challenges. The kind of woman who lets nothing get in her way. Next thing she knew, she was doubting her capabilities. The staff was so lean, everyone worked endless hours. When she made a suggestion for improvements, she was given instant responsibility for making it happen. Resources were scarce and demands were huge. Progress was disappointing. She started to question whether her colleagues and boss were on her side. It just didn’t seem she could win. She blamed the culture. She blamed her boss. She felt inadequate. She started to duck her head. So what happened? Was the culture the problem? Was her boss undermining her confidence? Was she unprepared for the position?
After spending 10 years and $10 million dollars, a British company hired the company where I was once employed to build what they had failed to finish. They lost more than 10 years and $10 million. What else might they have accomplished during those 10 years had they hired us much sooner? What’s the full cost of this mistake? Work-in-progress sucks up resources. It doesn’t matter whether we are talking about manufacturing, product development, or a management initiative. To exist is to consume money, space, and time. How much per day? Improvement-work-that-should-be-in-progress sucks up resources too. Anything that takes twice as long as it should – wandering meetings, slow decisions, and employees operating at half the speed of their peers are just a few examples. Can you tally the cost of those? Speed matters. Resources are finite. Life is short. Time is passing. Ka-ching! Want to move faster? Clarity is the secret. Give me call at 800-527-0087.
“Our session with Ann accomplished a great deal. We made many important decisions, the most important of which had been tabled for far too long and had become pretty divisive. Ann kept our noses to the grindstone, but in a nice way, and we never got bogged down. The entire day was extremely well crafted. It was very impressive. In the end, the Board felt renewed, energetic, and more committed than ever. Ann’s relentless focus on outcomes leads to getting far more done than I’ve ever seen with other consultants.” Andy Pollock, President, Hampshire Regional YMCA
“I would highly recommend Ann. She quickly understands the issues, gets down to business, keeps a group on task. She was very effective in leading our group to consensus on many important decisions. We got just what we needed.” William D. Grinnell CPCU, CIC, President, Webber and Grinnell Insurance Agency
When I answered the door, the FedEx driver was hanging back, hoping I would appear. She had already put my package between the two doors. I opened the storm door to thank her. “I noticed that UPS left a package by the garage.” I thanked her and let her know I really appreciate her taking the time to bring packages to the door. “I’d hate to see them get wet or blow away,” she said, looking up at our gutters. I thanked her again. By then I was holding the package she brought in my hand. “Look at that! By your thumb! It says we promised a Wednesday delivery. Today is only Tuesday. I’m early! Pretty good, eh?” Hard not to smile. What a great ambassador for FedEx. In a few friendly, casual words she pointed out everything great about FedEx while helping me notice and overcome UPS’ short-comings. For that, I give The Clarity Award to FedEx. This woman knows that her deliveries and behavior are important. She knows that relationships matter. Last, but not least, she knows UPS is the competition to beat. I wish I had asked her name because she is still making me smile! Wish your priorities were this clear to your employees? Give me a call at 800-527-0087.
Part of my work with clients involves helping them see the things they do that don’t make sense. There are lots of reasons we do things we should change – legacy systems, old work-arounds, changing cultural norms, old mistakes, former employees, fear, bad decisions, face-saving, poor information, poor management, no sense of ownership or avenue to change for those aware of the problem – and it is hard to see them when they are totally ingrained in our daily work. The New York Daily News provides a great example. The notion that all hotel rooms must be vacated at the same time makes no sense. The idea that someone lucky enough to find their room ready early can stay for almost 24 hours but someone who arrives at midnight must be out in less than half that time makes no sense. Choosing 10:00 vs. 11:00 vs. noon and imposing that arbitrary decision on your guests makes no sense. Rushing guests out when rooms will sit empty for hours, if no the coming night, makes no sense. Beefing up your cleaning staff so they can clean all rooms in one 4 – 5 hour period makes no sense. I’ve had cleaning staff knock on my door as early as 8 AM, three hours early because they are so eager to make some progress for the checkout onslaught. What are you doing that makes no sense? What old habits or assumptions are hampering the value you provide or your ability to deliver that value predictably, reliably, and profitably? When you hear those words, “that’s just the way we do it,” the red flags should fly. Don’t do anything just because you always have!
“I’ll answer your question at 1:35.” With that he walked away. The woman ahead of me, who had been waiting far too patiently while this man attended to stuff and not to her, was incredulous. This, my friends, is a perfect example of either strategic stupidity or a lack of strategic clarity. If this is the way Delta wants customers treated, it is strategic stupidity. If it is not the way they want customers treated, it is a lack of strategic clarity. Employees make decisions all day long that either help or hinder the company’s strategy. They aren’t robots and you can’t train for every decision (not that you couldn’t train for this one!). You can, however, communicate priorities and intentions. If you want employees making smart decisions that support your priorities, they, and their managers who are responsible for their training, must understand your strategic priorities. They must understand that people at the counter are paying customers with needs that deserve attention, not to mention friendly, helpful attitudes. This isn’t rocket science. There is no excuse for either strategic stupidity or a lack of strategic clarity. Need some help with either? Give me a call at 800-527-0087.