In the next four years, the Marines will reduce their headcount by 20,000. This week, Col. Tosick made it clear that Marines who are not ranked highly in their jobs, who are overweight or have gotten into trouble will have little chance of being allowed to re-enlist.

If you are a business owner, do you measure your employees by the results they produce or by how much you like them personally? If you are an employee, do you do everything you can to do a great job that produces results?

The choice is yours — those who do not produce should be gone, while those who do produce can help your businesses thrive.

A number of years ago, Mercedes’ top management and design team met to look at a problem. Lexus was building a top-of-the-line car that was better than Mercedes–and cost $20,000 less. During the meeting, one of the engineers said, “Lexus may be making a good car, but it can’t go 160 miles per hour on the Autobahn like our car.” The whole room went quiet as they all realized there was no need to be able to drive at that speed. From then on, Mercedes stopped looking to design a “Perfect Car,” but one that gave the customers what they wanted. They now sell a car equal to the Lexus for the same price. Successful not perfect.

Where is the pursuit of perfection getting your organization off-course from being successful?

One example of his stepping-way-out-of-the box strategy was the implementation of a program suggested by one of Ford’s executives. The program focused on monitoring all of Ford’s suppliers to not only see which ones they needed, but also see who was in good financial shape and who delivered the best product.

The program is a complete success. Mulally stepped even further out of the box when he extended an invitation to competitors. He told GM and Chrysler about the program, how successful it was, and asked them to join Ford in the venture. GM and Chrysler declined. A short time later Honda and Toyota asked about joining the Program and Mulally accepted. Next, Nissan joined the group. Imagine, four companies that are fierce competitors joining together for a good outcome for each company and the industry.

It took an industry outsider to see the box and how to step “outside the box” to change the results.

This story is retold from a new book that became available this month called American Icon: Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company. The author is Bryce G. Hoffman. It is one of the most thought-provoking books. It may inspire you to see new opportunities and step outside the box.

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.