Shake things up!

Really? Not usually. In small and family owned businesses, the owners/senior management are usually proud of what they have done and bring a consultant in to hear that said to them. In my experience these people (especially owners) may have a single problem that has their attention and they do not feel that they will get an objective opinion from the current staff (or they lack adequate staff) so they call me. With a few exceptions, when we agree on what I am going to do, I am almost always asked to "shake things up", "look at what you need to" for resolving this problem and while you are at it, look at the management staff and do not be their friend.

One of the things, among many, that I do well is that I am a quick study. In my last assignment, for example, they wanted a preliminary report in 30 days. They had one in 6 days. We had a plan in place in 2 weeks and were working that plan almost immediately. At the end of 30 days I called a meeting and presented a comprehensive plan that included not only solving the problem and a reorganization plan for that function as well, but also a plan for the future that would help them grow or be ready for growth. The plan was approved and we moved on to the "shake things up" part of the deal. That is where the rub came in. I received accolades, complimentary e-mails and they discussed the possibility of me coming on board as a full time employee. Things were great.

A couple of weeks later I had a meeting with the CEO, President and EVP. I had had individual meetings with each of them and had told them about organizational flaws I had discovered, procedural and policy inconsistencies that existed and little or no real honest to God Sales and Marketing effort (most of which was, ostensibly, being done by the owners kids). Now I was in trouble. I gave them a "shake things up" plan and suggested methods for developing a Strategic Plan supported by certain Strategic Initiatives. It was my opinion that they had built a good business based not on sound business principles, but by the grace of God. Although they responded well to Strategic Plan idea and hired a person to spearhead that effort, they did not like being confronted with decreasing market share, little or no sales training, at least one top manager who was so enamored by his title and power, the CEO had, over the years, taken away all departments reporting to this person except for one. Why? Because no one could work for him. He thought that he was "second in command" and acted like it. Although everyone in the company respected his title, they did not respect him.

So, they decided that I should continue the Interim Executive position until a determination could be made about the person they wanted to take the job. They had actually given him the job and then taken it away from him. I worked with the guy and determined that their criticisms of him (lack of initiative, poor leadership, too much attention to detail, family problems and ability to manage) were only partially well founded. They had provided him no training, had done what Laurence Peter called in this book "The Peter Principle", lateral arabesque by promoting him rather than deal with him. He had tremendous knowledge of their computer system, the departmental functions but had always worked for someone who made the decisions for him. I changed that, worked with the guy, gave him necessary training, made him be involved in all decisions and refocused his view from that of a Supervisor to that of a VP. I taught him to have a company view rather than only a department view. When management asked him a long term question, he answered it with details rather than a plan. Finally, I told their management that this man was capable of being the head of the function. However, they needed to set the example by having company goals and objectives based on Strategic Plan. They needed to invest in him and provide him with the opportunity to be successful not just dutiful.

So much for shaking things up. Remember the e-mail to the President from yesterdays posting? That, coupled with the "shake up" plan did me in. They enjoyed talking about what a great company they had, what hard times they had had, how well known and respected they were among their clients (the 4 largest of which had left for the competition in the last 12 months) and they were perfectly organized as is. End of contract! You know, the fact is that they did have a very good company but not a great company, they had business for the foreseeable future, but they were not built to last and they had some really good people, but many had reached their levels of incompetence (see "The Peter Principle" again). They did not want help they wanted to be stroked. I tried to do all the stroking I could, but, if my objective was a long term deal, I should not have taken the "shake things up" instruction seriously. They will still tell you today that I really helped them and they are doing the things I suggested. I received an e-mail from the President last week saying those exact same things. Amazing.

The beauty of consulting. You get paid whether or not they agree. But, it is hard not to be personally disappointed when you know what you are telling them will work and the reason they do not do what needs to be done is because of ego or just no guts!

What do you thing? Tomorrow number 3!