Describe your company culture? Can you do it in 5-8 adjectives? Good! Now, ask your leadership team to do the same? Your customers? Do you all use the same adjectives? If you said yes, stop reading and pop the champagne. You are in a small group. If not, read on.

 First, what is culture? It is the organization’s values, beliefs and behaviors and usually represents the unwritten rules through which everyone’s actions and interpreted, individually and in groups. Cultures can be positive or negative.

 So what? Here is why it matters. There are two main reasons. A company has to operate in a manner consistent with its culture or values or it can’t be successful. You can’t ask an organization specializing in the blame game to succeed in being accountable. If there is no trust how can an organization really be motivated by the next big project—they are sure it will never be funded anyway. Or in some family owned businesses, it doesn’t matter how hard you work, if you aren’t family, you will never get past a manager title. The second reason is a bit more conceptual but I have a strong belief that culture will replace process as the variable which will most determine success. Now we value process, repeatable and predictable ways to introduce product, define customer service and other key operations. They are all documented in a book, taught in the company university and ingrained in performance reviews. In the future, giving our evolving educational systems and generational differences, culture will define how people act more than rules. What is right will matter more than what is practiced. Right by what standards? Clearly different people have different vales and respond to different cultures. Some want stable and steady. Some want rock and fire! Those people will work differently, may both be successful but not in the same culture. If you said you wanted a culture where there is a sense of urgency, high performance excellence and innovative you would have a very different company than one that is Collaborative, Concerned for People and Empowered and values Customers Service. Imp not saying one is better—they are different. Each can be successful in it own way but it needs to define itself in the context of “what they stand for”.

 A while back Bruce Temkin wrote a blog about Amazon’s acquisition of Zappos and wondering if it will kill Zippos culture. Their 10 core values are:

1. Deliver Wow Through Service
2. Embrace and Drive Change
3. Create Fun and a Little Weirdness
4. BE adventurous, creative and open minded
5. Pursuer growth and learning
6. Build open and honest relationships with communication
7. Build a positive team and family spirit
8. Do more with less
9. Be passionate and determined
10.  Be Humble

 Zappos invests in culture as a corporate asset. Amazon paid $1 billion for $40 million in annual earnings. If they require faster growth, more profit, and rapid expansion across categories, how will this impact the Zappo’s culture?

 So, first define your culture, walk the talk, and be its guardian—be careful of small changes or big changes that jeopardize it Unless that is you intention.

 By margaret reynolds www.reynolds-consulting.com

1. Strategy is a set of choices regarding what you want your business to become. It can’t be everything so some things have to come off the table. Yet few businesses can actually articulate what they WON’T do. What customers are not right for you? Either you don’t make money on them or they require too much of your time or they require you to customize your business model too much, etc.  What products won’t you make? They either don’t fit with your brand, your core or your profitability model or appeal to your target audience. What markets won’t you serve? There are no economies of scale or synergies with your current business. You get the drill. A clear strategy is as well defined by what you won’t do as what you will do. And what you don’t do allows you to do what you DO do even better!
2. Tactically, you can’t do everything even if you want to, unless you won the lottery and have unlimited resources. But especially in tough times, a company has to make choices.  I sat with a client yesterday as they identified seven new initiatives essential to their success but it will cost an incremental $1.5 million to fund. Where will it come from? Some will come from re-allocation but almost no business is capable of moving enough money out of core or established budgets to fund new initiatives. So they did a “stop doing” list. And they came up with over 1/3 of the total required. The ideas were from the mundane (use less paper) to the innovative (share some of the cost savings of eliminated jobs to people picking up the slack). They intend to repeat this exercise of every 6 months, identifying more ideas and the more they do it, the better and more innovative they will get, identifying potentially even bigger opportunities.

 If you haven’t asked the question lately, “What should we stop doing that will not negatively impact our customers?” You need to. And keep asking it. In addition to having insights about outdated sacred cows in your industry, challenge yourself to see what other industries are doing in this area and determine how it might apply to yours. Would enjoy hearing your results! Stay in touch at mreynolds@reynolds-consulting.com.

First, let’s hope that part of the reason growth is happening at such at a rapid rate is that the company was built for scalability. If not, there are continually resource and system issues. A client of mine had a tremendous reputation in their industry and was attracting all kinds of business but on the promise of customizing the solution. After a while, they began to drop too many balls as they strove to create a new system for each and every customer. They had to take a step back to create a model that allowed for scalability before they lost their newly found success.

Another concern might be talent. As the size of your business grows so does the need for talent with experience at a higher level. If you aspire to double in size in two years and it is not just wishful thinking, hire talent that works at that level now so they can help prepare you for reaching tyour goal.

When you are the neighborhood vendor a brand may not matter much–you may personally be the brand. But if you are expanding quickly, and reaching a broader audience, it will be important for the company to be known consistently whether you are personally there to shake everyone’s hand or not. You must be sure to have defined your brand, it’s attributes and operationalized it into all that you do.

If you are growing at a rapid pace it is likely you are ready to extend distribution by adding channels or geography or both. These may require new resources, new relationships, new systems, and new alliances.  Requirements like that need to be anticipated and capitalized.

Finally, systems themselves must support growth, connect functions, and serve the customer, all in an accurate and timely way. Too often systems are designed for the size we are today. How many times have you seen a new school built and the next year there are four trailers in the parking lot because the school is not large enough for the enrollment? Don;t let that happen to you.

Some might say those with this kind of growth rate (the 500th company on Inc.’s list is Spinnaker at 528.5%) don’t need to do any planning. But in fact, the opposite is true. A company dealing with rapid growth needs to stay ahead of the game and put systems, talent, resources, and plans in place to support their growth and enable it to continue. Achieving growth is a challenge. Sustaining it even more so.

Businesses can be run either way as well.  Some have THE idea, take big risks and swing for the fences. They either hit it out of the park or take a slow walk back and hope for more the next time.  This can work but you really have to have done your homework. Do you study the market (pitcher) and know just what will be thrown for you to swing at? Do you know your own strengths (can’t hit an inside fast ball) so you know when to hold back instead of swing? And finally do you have the muscle to hit the ball that far (the resources you need, enough competitive advantage, etc)?  If so, swing away. You will likely clear the fences at least one out of every three times.

Or you can be a contact hitter. Not near as sensational. But this business is usually comfortable with singles and doubles. They have a great swing, good eye for opportunity and make sure to get on base. This kind of business gains ground with almost every “at bat” –most new products do ok or better, most customers are satisfied if not estatic and most operations perform at or better than peers. That is a track record many would be proud of. It may increase the longetivity of the batter/business and more likely to produce a higher batting average.

There isn’t a “right way”. There is room for both. But you need to know what your particular expectations, risk tolerance and capabilities are to decide which is the best way to manage your company.

Unfortunately, me-too-ness can be far more crippling as most companies don’t even know they have the disease.

Here are the symptoms: Your lead competitor offers a new product, changes a price or features a new service. So you do too! Can’t let them have a market advanatage after all! So, then it’s your turn and you do something they don’t and they match you back or maybe even up the ante. Pretty soon your businesses are near identical, you have escalated cost by adding things to your business model and forced your customer to choose on price, not differences. Sound familiar?

So what is the cure? Be different in some relevant way to the target customer that you select based on your companies strengths and capabilities. Growth is best found at the intersection of customer need and company capability. There must be something you can do better or differently.  And if there isn’t, either be prepared for a long illness or take time to figure it out and then act on it!

By margaretreynolds www.reynolds-consulting.com

Unfortunately, me-too-ness can be far more crippling as most companies don’t even know they have the disease.

Here are the symptoms: Your lead competitor offers a new product, changes a price or features a new service. So you do too! Can’t let them have a market advanatage after all! So, then it’s your turn and you do something they don’t and they match you back or maybe even up the ante. Pretty soon your businesses are near identical, you have escalated cost by adding things to your business model and forced your customer to choose on price, not differences. Sound familiar?

So what is the cure? Be different in some relevant way to the target customer that you select based on your companies strengths and capabilities. Growth is best found at the intersection of customer need and company capability. There must be something you can do better or differently. And if there isn’t, either be prepared for a long illness or take time to figure it out and then act on it!

By margaretreynolds www.reynolds-consulting.com

Why does it matter? Business decisions at most large companies are the result of complicated analytical business modeling. Business decisions at smaller companies are the results of months of hashing around every possible option.

The point that is commonly missed is this: whether you use sophisticated models or a team consensus, you are trying to make a decision about a future result–and you are guessing. Models or discussions can only include assumptions –there are no facts yet about the future.  Many of your assumptions are going to be right but unlikely all of them.

And that is why passion matters. If your initiative is big enough, and it requires change, I can guarantee you that some things you assumed to be true will not be. You will run into unexpected bumps or obstacles, and when you do, how hard will you work to overcome them? Those things that you choose to do that you are passionate about, you will work to overcome obstacles, see alternative ways to meet your objectives and keep examining the opportunity until you find a way to make it work. But if you pursued the opportunity because it ranked highest based on your analysts assumptions, how committed will you be when it gets hard to accomplish?

Factor passion into decision making. It will increase your success significantly!

By MargaretReynolds www.reynolds-consulting.com

Why does it matter? Business decisions at most large companies are the result of complicated analytical business modeling. Business decisions at smaller companies are the results of months of hashing around every possible option.

The point that is commonly missed is this: whether you use sophisticated models or a team consensus, you are trying to make a decision about a future result–and you are guessing. Models or discussions can only include assumptions –there are no facts yet about the future. Many of your assumptions are going to be right but unlikely all of them.

And that is why passion matters. If your initiative is big enough, and it requires change, I can guarantee you that some things you assumed to be true will not be. You will run into unexpected bumps or obstacles, and when you do, how hard will you work to overcome them? Those things that you choose to do that you are passionate about, you will work to overcome obstacles, see alternative ways to meet your objectives and keep examining the opportunity until you find a way to make it work. But if you pursued the opportunity because it ranked highest based on your analysts assumptions, how committed will you be when it gets hard to accomplish?

Factor passion into decision making. It will increase your success significantly!

By MargaretReynolds www.reynolds-consulting.com

Many think that the brand is just a logo. Not so. A brand is what gives an organization it’s meaning, value and recognition.

Nike isn’t just the swoosh. It’s also the association with excellence performance, and design. They communicate  those attributes in the messages they send consumers in traditional and digital media, the athletes they choose to feature in their ads, the design of their stores and the policies they have about replacement of equipment. 

McDonalds is another example of a brand that is highly recognizable with its golden arches but also focuses on consistency around the globe, serving families, and cleanliness in their restaurants and bathrooms. 

Don’t be satisfied with a logo and a slogan and say you have a brand. Start with what your brand stands for –define key attributes–and then design your business to deliver those attributes to customers consistently. The brand is delivered by everybody in the organization–not just by those who interact with customers but in your handling of operations behind the scenes as well.

By margaret reynolds www.reynolds-consulting.com

Many think that the brand is just a logo. Not so. A brand is what gives an organization it’s meaning, value and recognition.

Nike isn’t just the swoosh. It’s also the association with excellence performance, and design. They communicate those attributes in the messages they send consumers in traditional and digital media, the athletes they choose to feature in their ads, the design of their stores and the policies they have about replacement of equipment.

McDonalds is another example of a brand that is highly recognizable with its golden arches but also focuses on consistency around the globe, serving families, and cleanliness in their restaurants and bathrooms.

Don’t be satisfied with a logo and a slogan and say you have a brand. Start with what your brand stands for –define key attributes–and then design your business to deliver those attributes to customers consistently. The brand is delivered by everybody in the organization–not just by those who interact with customers but in your handling of operations behind the scenes as well.

By margaret reynolds www.reynolds-consulting.com