If there was ever a time for focus, it's now.

5 min read

Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York has called this a "snow globe" moment. Someone shook up the entire world, and we are now beginning to look at China and other Eastern economies to determine how America might recover. Whatever settles to the bottom of our collective snow globe will be different than what was there before -- for investors, consumers, brands, and retailers.

From my conversations, many companies have re-forecasted 2020 over 3 times in just the last month.  Seriously, 3 times???  There is a better use of your employees' time.

In the words of Jeff Bezos, it's Day One again. Here are a few tidbits to help you take a fresh look at your business.

1. Why are we headed in this direction? 

The writer Lewis Carroll once said, "If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there."

Most people, when faced with new circumstances, shake it off and then get back to what they were doing before. Inertia is especially strong in big companies with a long history.

This time it's different -- you know it, and I know it. Most importantly, your employees know, too.  Before everyone gets back to their day job, use this as a galvanizing moment.  Open up to your employees.  

Admit what's changed.  Ask your employees for their help and thoughts. Once you stop pretending you know everything, you are often surprised at what you learn.

I urge you to take the time to revisit your origins, but not from your point of view -- from your customer's point of view.

2. How do you make important investment decisions?

Anyone can generate a list of ideas to start doing or stop doing. What's much more difficult is framing those ideas in a way that makes decision-making easier. Provide clear guidance for how your executive team should decide where to invest and where to pull back. 

I have my own thoughts on this below, and a gift for you.

 What's more relevant to you: Staying true to what you know how to do or driving a more significant impact to the business with a new initiative?  What does the consumer have to say about it? 

Which parts of the business do you need to own?  The customer?  Your supply chain?  Your sourcing?  These are critical questions that will help you frame your new place in the world.  

3. Are you asking the right questions?

It's easy to think that every question is a good one; however, many questions can be self-limiting for your business.

"Haven't we tried this already?" is one such question.

The wrong questions can obscure what's important or make it more challenging to develop new capabilities.

Here are a few examples of the proper questions to pose to your team:

• What are our most important segments?

• What are the major forces driving changes in consumer behavior?

• How would we rebuild this if we were starting today?

• Do we need to look at our mission in a new way to survive in the future?

• Let's assume this could work. What would need to be true for that to be so?

• How do we show progress and stay patient with new initiatives we might launch?

If you're struggling with getting great answers from your employees, spend some more time ensuring that your leadership is working from the same set of facts.

4. Can you let go of old ideas? 

There are things you should be doing right now that will add immediate value to your customer base.

Sooo.... what are you waiting for?

Often, it's because you're doing too many of the wrong things right now.  Companies hold on to initiatives because "that's the way we've always done it" without asking a tough question like "Should we still be doing this?"

Is it solving a real customer problem anymore? What is remarkable about our service?  If the market has passed you by and it's become a commodity, why are you devoting your critical staff to something that you could partner for and deliver better service at the same time?

4. Are the right people on the bus?  

Now is an excellent time to encourage your leaders to reflect on their talent and make sure the right people are in the right roles and executing.

Your job as the CEO is to push people to think about their teams, talent, and make your customers happy.  These are uncomfortable conversations even in good times.  In tough times, bottom performers are usually your headaches and exacerbate morale issues for everyone.

If you can't attract the right people in-house, are you being honest with yourself as to why?  Often, these uncomfortable answers usually lead back to culture.

I remember a mentor of mine once told me that culture exists between what you expect from your employees and what you tolerate. Did you give up on consistently excellent performance somewhere down the line?

5. Beware of the HIPPOs. 

Your entire process will get derailed due to the hippos - that stands for Highest Paid Person's Opinion with the loudest voice.  This may be you. 

The most dangerous situation is an overzealous leader who sucks all the air and good ideas out of the room. Employees then stop contributing because they feel it won't matter, or it could be politically risky.  

"Well, I asked them what they wanted" is the refrain of a leader who isn't genuinely working on the organization's culture. Often, people have to see new ideas implemented and encouraged before they feel comfortable sticking their neck out.  For proper change management, you must have employee involvement. 

How can you remove the fear of failure and reprisal in your organization?  Do you celebrate your losses as just the next step of learning?

What's Next

I'll be honest -- I don't envy any leader right now.  What I do know is fear can bring out the worst in people and cause them to move into ostrich-mode; avoiding the tough calls and decisions.

You have an opportunity to come out of this with a much stronger value proposition to your customers. 

Once you accept that as a fact, it will take much soul-searching to get back to the real DNA of your company and why you started the business in the first place. Please don't shy away from it.

To help out, I've developed an investment framework you can use to help guide your process.  No signup, just click and get it. 

Download My Investment Framework

Because there is always a silver lining....

April 22nd is Earth Day, and tech companies like Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft have all outlined their plans to become carbon neutral.  

Global changes like shelter-in-place and shutdowns have put carbon emissions on display.  China's emissions dropped 25% in 6 weeks.

The big question, will we go back to the way it was, or does this spark any change in accelerating carbon-neutral initiatives?

Next time,

Rick