BISH BASH BOSH!

Funny how companies that look really good can often fail to produce the stellar results they promise. Does that sound familiar? Management consultant and lecturer Robert Craven has some advice.

Jerry runs a lovely professional service firm. To be specific, a web design agency. In the past his problem, which he openly admitted, was that he never got that much done. He was Mr Nice Guy who was a bit of a busy fool – too forgiving, too patient and altogether too nice. His staff, clients and suppliers walked all over him and he didn’t even realise it. He was too busy trying to be on the right side of everyone.

A good dose of economic reality has changed all this; suffering a rather large bad debt due to a client going pop and losing two major clients in the space of one week focused his mind wonderfully.

To pre-empt yet another meeting that would result in yet another ‘To Do’ list that he would fail to complete, we worked together to create what became known as Operation Bish Bash Bosh.

The list in no particular order, goes like this:

• Decide and communicate your one single, most compelling over-arching goal for the next 12 months - make sure that everyone knows what it is and everything is measured in relation to how it contributes to the goal
• Define what makes the business different from the rest in a maximum of eight words – make sure everyone knows these eight words
• Be unreasonable – most people are reasonable and that’s why they only do moderately well
• One key important task to complete each day – do nothing till it is complete
• Don’t accept low quality/standards - you get known for what you put up with
• Don’t encourage artificial harmony – let the team argue then they can regroup and commit
• Refuse to work with energy-sappers – only work with people who energise you
• Don’t turn up just on time… work in Lombardi Time** – insist that you and your team always turns up for meetings at least 10 minutes early, having done all the right preparation; people who don’t turn up early can’t attend!
• Don’t attend any meeting that has no clear agenda and timing
• Never answer calls from unrecognised callers – get the PA to filter/re-direct all calls
• Never email before 10:00hrs or after 16:00hrs - emails scramble your brain and dilute your focus.

These simple rules enabled Jerry to take control of his own time and hence the business. He hadn’t realised that playing it safe, playing within the boundaries, was actually the riskiest of strategies for the business.

Fed up with his former mediocrity he set about transforming the firm. He became a changed man, doing what he was meant to do, designing then growing a remarkable, professional service firm.

The ‘new’ firm was going to measure itself, on a monthly basis, on its ability to do all of the following Tom Peters-esque activities:

• Work on high-value projects
• Work with challenging/pioneer clients
• Deliver ‘wow’/remarkable work, work worth paying for
• Employ hot talent
• Have a proprietary point of view, an ‘ology’
• Have a list of gushing testimonials and endorsements to die for.

Just six weeks later, our gentle man had become an action man, running a team that showed visible improvements in morale, attitude and results.

And now Jerry can see a time when he works less and has more fun. There will be some casualties on the way and they are in the “high maintenance/low profit” category of staff. A small price to pay. After all, he is now going to be running a business to be proud of.

** Lombardi Time is named after the legendary American football coach Vince Lombardi, who insisted his players arrive for training 10 minutes early. If they didn't, they were late.

About the author

©2008 Robert Craven

publication details

First published in Business First Magazine, Q1 2009