Staying in the Game

 By Jim Patrick

At times of turbulence we tend to pull out all of the old maxims to garner the inspiration to manage the times.   Remember ‘It’s not all about winning; it’s about how you play the game’?  In today’s’ business game this one might not go far enough as it applies to businesses making tactical maneuvers to navigate the seas of turbulence.    A miscalculation today could mean a company may not be in the game for the second decade of the century!  

Except for those living on Mars or in a cave; everyone knows that we are in the midst of very turbulent times.  This ‘situation’ we find ourselves in is not an exclusive club for American companies.  It reaches far beyond our purples mountains majesties and engulfs business around the world.   OK you say, as if I wasn’t scared enough, now you’ve added a global bogie man to the mix.   Stop panicking and looking in the closet for your own version of the bogie man; instead, businesses need to go to their electronic data warehouses for the information to make accurate decisions.

He’s everywhere, he’s everywhere!

That global bogie  man might also be affecting your own supply chain; your suppliers; those you share a fox hole in order to survive.  What do you really know about the health of your suppliers, their credit line or even the health and credit lines of their suppliers?

Business intelligence and lots of it is the most important item in the survival arsenal.  Today’s, management needs to put in place business intelligence dashboards to quickly understand what is happening to take the steps to go forward!

Circle the Wagons!

The tools to defend a company’s boarders are there right now.   They can be put in place quickly.  So what is the call to action?

CEOs will need to gather their leadership teams together and quickly determine what information is currently housed in the existing data warehouses. Bringing in the right external resources to help design the systems to get to the data is the key.  No, I am not suggesting high dollar and high platitude consultants.  Instead, find true partners who understand how to quickly architect a solution that can be put in place within weeks. 

This partner should not just be a quick swat team that swoops in and then leaves, but instead needs to be looked at as a long term strategic partner who will continue to evolve the decision support and business intelligence vault.  Look to a sturdy and long term player who will be there until the solution is fully functional and beyond.

‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going!’  

Toughness might not be enough to get thru this crisis.  Smart and tough is the answer.  Toughness to insist that managers determine what data points are needed to make the right decisions.   Smartness to share with suppliers and key customers the intelligence gathered and to ask for access to their data as well.  ‘Survival Cartels’ of companies working collaboratively to tune their forecasts and fuel their ERP systems will determine who is in the game in the next decade and who is not.  The game plan is to quickly build the data bridges that can make the data flow now.

Do something…either lead, follow or get the heck out of the way!

Well, someday we’ll look at that, but right now we are managing the crises; is a guarantee there will not be that proverbial someday in a company’s future.  

Events that effect business happen daily, even hourly!   Determining what the most expedient move using the right intelligence could steer a company out of harms way.  Not having access to the said data or waiting could spell certain disaster.

Continuing to do the samo-samo business tactics doesn’t show sound leadership.   ‘The times are a changing’ for business and change is the order of the day.   Leadership can only make intelligent changes with access to sound data and the means to measure the changes or abandon them quickly and collaboratively with their supply chains.

Now is the time for all good persons to come to the aid of their country!

We are all in this mess together…every man, woman, child, dog or cat…everyone.  True patriotism is oft times measured in terms of political ideals.   In this case, true patriotism is measured in keeping people employed, consuming and enjoying life as it should be.   Not using all the tools available to serve the stockholders, the employees and the GNP is more than ignorance; it is truly not coming to the aid of your country!

Just one ole fat man’s opinion….