You have to walk the right path for you. The path you take has to be chosen on the basis of where you are standing right now.

For the sake of clarity, we’ll limit the conversation to two fundamental starting points.

One path will be right for companies who function effectively on a day-to-day basis, but face an occasional crisis.

The other path, a very different one, will be right for companies who find themselves frequently, even chronically, dealing with crises.

For those of you who have laid the foundations for rigorous problem solving throughout the company, the occasional crisis becomes a learning opportunity.

Diagnosing the cause of the crisis, rallying the team to plug a hole that hadn’t been noticed in a process, and spreading the news to all who need to know, will lead to an important improvement in overall capability.

For companies already using disciplined business practices as their starting point, a simple diagnostic process can be used to work through a crisis in a way that solves the problem while adding to the knowledge of the company as a whole.

The other fundamental starting point lies at the other end of the spectrum.

If your company is buffeted by frequent crises and constant fire fighting is a managerial necessity, you may have found that instituting a simple process is insufficient to reverse the crisis trend.

There are several reasons for this:

• A big picture perspective isn’t shared across the team.

• Addressing symptoms rather than digging to recognize and attack root causes has become habitual.

• Shooting from the hip is the customary approach---not doing the necessary problem solving pre-work of diagnosing, analyzing and researching---but launching into action hoping to make adjustments on the fly.

• Not sticking with a disciplined approach to decision making.

• Possibly, a personal need among members of the leadership team to be at the center of the action.

A common cause behind a company operating as a crisis prone organization is a leader who doesn’t draw others into creating solutions, or even allow others to be involved in decision making in general.

If this is the case, diagnosing what’s wrong includes recognizing that you aren’t using all of your company’s resources, whether by conscious decision or default.

You are the kind of leader who supports and sustains a crisis prone business style, regardless of your stated intentions.

If some or all of these factors describe your organization, you’ll never find a magic bullet that will automatically elevate your operations to a higher level of effectiveness.

However, there is a path you can take to transform your crisis prone organization into one that uses disciplined business practices.

You’ll have to learn to walk before you can run. You’ll have to reach the desired goal of operational excellence through a series of successive approximations.

You’ll have to walk the path a step at a time, without taking shortcuts. Or, you can continue your search for the magic bullet.

For Those Plagued By Chronic Crises:

Being in this position doesn’t mean that you’ve built a bad company.

Indeed, many growing companies find themselves in this predicament.

It is often the result of having grown from a smaller, simpler company, in which thinking on your feet and dealing with things as they come was sufficient, into a larger, more complex organization in which this approach is no longer effective.

As companies grow and their business becomes more complex, leaders may find that they haven’t built the muscles required to operate smoothly at a higher level.

Too often, good companies become overwhelmed with, and distracted by, fire fighting.

They spend so much time with their few best people running from crisis to crisis that normal efficiencies become disrupted, and having time for sharing lessons or coaching people seems an unaffordable luxury.

It’s an understandable instinct to operate in this mode when the fire is raging all around you, but if fire fighting is your only option for problem or crisis resolution, burnout and inefficiency are the natural consequences.

While there is no easy fix, at some point you have to end the madness, or continue to suffer the consequences.

There is an old Chinese proverb that applies here. “No matter how far you have traveled down the wrong road, stop.”

Stop and get organized to address the fundamental reasons why fire fighting has become business-as-usual in your company, or in some parts of your company.

In order to truly stop bouncing from crisis to crisis and transform your organization into one that uses effective practices, you’ll need to work your way through this learning system with your team.

Start with creating a common focus around the business idea.

Study the section on leadership (section 5) closely.

Institute an AAR process, like the one discussed on the next page.

Start putting the building blocks into place for creating a much sounder foundation for your business.

Looking For Help:

As always, it is important to be able to make sound cost/benefit decisions regarding when it makes the most sense to seek outside help versus trying to do it all yourself.

Sometimes, it’s not simply a matter of whether you have the brainpower to be able to revamp how your company does business, but rather, do you have the objectivity it takes to develop and maintain the proper perspectives?

Can you see through your own blind spots? Do you have the time to devote to making it all happen as you continue to run your business?

Can you transform yourself into an effective leader and facilitator quickly enough to save your business and stop your customers from deserting you?

To whom do you turn for coaching help when facing the difficult task of building new tools, techniques and practices rapidly?

There are some for whom following the guidance and practices in this learning system will be sufficient.

Just be sure that you’re accurately calculating what it’s costing you to move slowly from where you’re at to where you need to be, in order to deliver extraordinary execution.

If your cost/benefit analysis results in a decision to seek outside help, to look for that fresh set of eyes and an effective coach, there are several things to keep in mind in finding and selecting a consultant.

You can’t work with just anyone who considers him or herself to be a consultant.

You need someone who can function as your thought partner, who is dedicated to and capable of stretching your thinking and building your capabilities, rather than making you dependent upon theirs.

Beware of consultants who tell you they have all the answers for you; you need to learn how to find the answers for yourself, or you will always be dependent on outside help.

It will help you to have clear goals and expectations about what a consultant can and can’t do for you; see contract for purpose.

Whatever the results of your cost/benefit decision here, make the decision to Do It Right now; the sooner you start down the path, the sooner you will reach the goal of having a company that is capable of extraordinary execution.