1) They replaced employees who were not contributing to company results with more productive people.
2) They made sure that every position had a finely tuned job description.
3) They placed the highest priority on looking for new customers for their products or services.
4) They searched for new industries that would use their products or services as another key priority.

Now that an economic recovery has begun, they are thriving. These companies maintained or grew their sales and profit. No matter where your business stands right now, you can take a clear look at how these types of changes can get your business thriving!

May It Be a Year of Dreams Come True

Dump The Annual Review

As this appears, the U.S. just missed defaulting on its debts and a downgrading of its credit. How do affairs arrive at such dire junctures? It may just be because we have politicians, but not statesmen; celebrities, but not exemplars; athletes, but not sportsmen and women; lawyers, but not jurists; pop idols, but not talent; executives, but not leaders. Compromise, collaboration, and consensus require (ironically) strength and empathy, not weakness and antipathy; the selfless, not the selfish. We need to be willing and able to stand out in a crowd and say, This way!’ without demanding it be only our way.  
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   – Alan Weiss

By William Creech, Gen. Ret. USAF, 1927-2003

Step #5: BASE THE STRUCTURAL BUILDING BLOCKS ON SMALL TEAMS NOT ON BIG FUNCTIONS

• Organize by teams for involvement, agility, and an ownership focus.
• Keep each team at a reasonable size.
• Provide each its own identity.
• Every team has a product.
• Identify it. Dignify it. Celebrate it.
• Form teams of teams.
• Clearly identify the interfaces between teams.
• Provide each team ample authority over its part of the product.

Are your current teams structured for effectiveness? Not all teams are the same. Analyze your team structure. How does each team operate internally to achieve its purpose? How does each team interact with and support other teams and the overall organization? Great organizations are built by great teams.

Step #4: ORGANIZATION IS THE CENTRAL PILLAR /

                   IT INFLUENCES EVERYTHING ELSE:

• Create widespread ownership.
• Decentralize the authority throughout.
• Combine authority with accountability.
• Make that unambiguous to all.
• Eliminate unnecessary layers.
• Tear down all of the functional walls.
• Recast the rules.
• Streamline the paper work.
• Shorten the cycle times.
• Maintain coherence and control with incentive, not authoritarianism.

How are your organizational structures influencing your outcomes? Examine each part of your organization individually and how it relates to the organization overall. What is working? What needs to be changed? Regularly reviewing how your organization is structured and operates helps increase its greatness.

By William Creech, Gen. Ret. USAF, 1927-2003

Step #3: USE A DECENTRALIZED. INTERACTIVE SYSTEM THAT INTEGRATES ALL LEVELS

• Organize for the new realities.
• Centralism is a bankrupt approach.
• Ensure they are wholly understood and widely practiced…by all.
• Give them vigor through insistence, persistence, and consistency.
• Build a decentralized structure on the teams-outputs-product model.
• Replace the “I and my” mindset usually found with that of “we and our.”
• Foster belief in the rich rewards of teamwork and professionalism.
• Build strong commitment by all to highest quality and productivity.

Using a decentralized system that is interactive and integrates the various levels empowers your organization to produce widespread high quality results. Consider how your organization is structured. What structural changes do you need to make to your organization to establish a foundation of greatness?

By William Creech, Gen. Ret. USAF, 1927-2003

Step #2: FIRMLY ESTABLISH THE CHARTER AND CULTURE OF YOUR ORGANIZATION:

• Develop the overarching principles.
• Key them towards the human spirit.
• Ensure they are wholly understood and widely practiced…by all.
• Give them vigor through insistence, persistence, and consistency.
• Stress ETHICAL conduct, integrity, and courtesy in all endeavors.

The principles flow top down, but their power must flow bottom up.

Do you have a charter that establishes and reinforces the culture within your organization? Be certain that you do – and that it follows the above guidelines. Having a principle-driven charter that is consistently practiced provides endless power within great organizations.