Comments on: If It’s Broke, Fix It!

By: Most Overused Business Analogies...EVER! | The Curbside Marketer

Most Overused Business Analogies...EVER! | The Curbside Marketer — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:13:22 +0000

[...] off the bat, I’m guilty as charged for golf analogies. I think part of this has to do with golf being such a big part of conducting business, but there [...]

By: Elisa Doucette

Elisa Doucette — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 04:44:04 +0000

I'll start by saying the only course I really kick ass on involves a windmill and a clown. Seriously, you should see me kill the links there. Otherwise, during corporate scrambles and whatnot…well…my team does really well if they'll give us a hefty handicap and I can buy mulligans.

However I'm compelled by your post to take the whole thing a step further. Sometimes something ISN'T broke. The money is coming in enough to give you a comfortable life, the sales and expenses are reasonable, existence is pretty good. Do you accept that you've finally brought your handicap down to single digits (is that even possible?!) or do you continue trying to improve various things about your game to bring it even one step further?

After Tiger Woods won, someone asked him what he was going to do next. His response “I'm going to try a new swing.” Seriously?! You are Tiger frickin' Woods and you are going to change your multi-tournament winning game?! Yeah, that's what distinguishes the successful from the complacent.

By: Elisa Doucette

Elisa Doucette — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:44:04 +0000

By: Elisa Doucette

Elisa Doucette — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:44:04 +0000

By: Jackie Adkins

Jackie Adkins — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:11:06 +0000

Agreed. But I know a few people who don't want to hear that their swing sucks and would argue with you about it if you told them. I guess they'll realize it when they crash and burn though.

By: Stuart Foster

Stuart Foster — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:03:58 +0000

The easiest thing to do? Ask someone if your swing sucks.

By: jackieadkins3

jackieadkins3 — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:01:00 +0000

I definitely think sometimes you just have to realize the game isn't for you and know when you're playing the wrong game altogether. On your second point, want to write a chapter for my golf ebook?

Also, good luck finding your balls.

By: ryanstephens

ryanstephens — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:49:05 +0000

I think you both have some valid points, and I'll steer it a different direction based the analysis of my own golf game. I could spend an inordinate amount of time and money trying to catch up and become an adequate golfer or I could realize that I'm in an over saturated market and try to find another sport (or niche) that I can be more competitive at, ahead of the curve.

And even though I'm the worst golfer ever, I always leave with more balls than I came because I'm so frugal that when I wonder in the woods looking for my balls (hehe) I spend enough time that I usually find others people have given up on. I think sometimes, even if an over saturated market you can find areas to exploit if you look hard enough in the right space.

How's THAT for an analogy?

By: jackieadkins3

jackieadkins3 — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:27:11 +0000

Since Jake got the discussion going, I'll give a couple of my thoughts as promised.

One easy way to tell if your swing is broke is by looking at your competitors. If they're growing like crazy, but your business is pretty stagnant, something's up and you need to take action.

One good way I can think of to "fix your swing" is to hire an external party to evaluate your situation and hopefully help fix it. This can be either a consultant or just a new hire, anyone with a fresh point of view. This way, someone who hasn't been quite as emotionally attached can come in and tell you like it is. The key is that you have to be prepared to handle the criticism that will help you turn your company around. You can't let your emotional attachment to an idea hold you back from making changes.

What's everyone else think?

By: jackieadkins3

jackieadkins3 — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:19:57 +0000

Thanks for your comment, Jake! I'm definitely with you on the topic of culture and I've been fascinated with the topic ever since we talked about it in an organizational behavior class in school. As you said, the business's success/failure greatly affects the culture, but I think the culture has just as great of an effect on all aspects of the business. If you have a culture that's sort of lazy and happy go lucky, that's going to show in your final product.

The thing with culture is that it is REALLY hard to change outside of bringing in entirely new management. Thanks for your insights!