Having Clear Objectives
This a topic I have been thinking a lot lately and read this which kinda sums it it much better than I could.
From Up The Organization by Robert Townsend:
Objectives
One of the important functions of a leader is to make the organization concentrate on its objectives. In the case of Avis, it took us six months to define one objective – which turned out to be: “We want to become the fastest growing company with the highest profit margin in the business of renting and leasing vehicles without drivers”
(Ryan Note: I am sure folks can come up with a simple focused objective much quicker than six months…)
That objective was simple enough so that we didn’t have to write it down. We could put it in every speech and talk about it wherever we went. And it had some social significance, because up to that time Hertz had a crushingly large share of the market and was thinking and acting like General Motors.
It also included a definition of our business: “renting and leasing vehicles without drivers”. This let us put the blinders on ourselves and stop considering the acquisition of related businesses like motels, hotels, airlines and travel agencies. It also showed that we had to get rid of some limo and sightseeing companies the we already owned.
Once those objectives have been agreed on the leader must me merciless on himself and his people. If an idea that pops into his head or out of their mouths is outside of the objective of the company, he kills it without a trial.
Peter Drucker was never more right when he wrote: “Concentration is the key to economic results…no other principle of effectiveness is violated as constantly as the principal of concentration…Our motto seems to be let’s do a little bit of everything.”
It isn’t easy to concentrate. I used to keep a sign opposite to my desk where I couldn’t miss it if I were on the phone (about to make an appointment) or in a meeting in my office: “Is what I’m doing or about to do getting us closer to our objective?” That sign saved me from a lot of useless trips, lunch dates, conferences, junkets and meetings.
Most of all, work on simplifying and distilling your statement of objectives. Cato boiled his down to three words “Delenda est Carthago”- and by saying them over and over eventually wiped out the competition
