Operating a successful business is much like driving an obstacle course that includes many unexpected twists and turns. The lesson is to always be prepared to change gears, sometimes only to prevent from spinning your wheels.
Park, neutral, drive, reverse. Just about everybody older than 16 knows that these four designations enable them to accomplish the objective of driving a car from point A to point B.
The first automobiles could only go forward — just as limiting some businesses still today think going forward is the exclusive way to reach a destination. However, for those early autos and these companies, the ability to move in a single direction was and is restrictive and hazardous.
Running any business takes great dexterity, maneuverability and flexibility not only to survive, but also to succeed. Too many companies, however, operate as if they were driving one of the first cars ever made and attack every issue as if the only direction was forward. In an ideal world that would be wonderful but, the truth is, few undertakings follow a straight line.
Go back to go forward
Anyone who has ever been stuck in the snow, mud or sand has learned, frequently the hard way, that sometimes the only method to move forward is to first go back by “rocking” the car and shifting from drive to reverse until the car is freed.
Well-run organizations eventually figure out that in order to have flexibility, there must always be plans A and B, and sometimes even C and D, as well. When plan A doesn’t work. the business must be “rocked” back and forth to move ahead.
Good companies also embrace the philosophy that it’s perfectly acceptable to take a timeout and move to neutral in order to regain their perspective on what they’re trying to achieve. Likewise, sometimes it’s best to simply shift into park and take an extended hiatus when the pieces are not falling into place. The best of the best organizations, through trial and error, recognize when they must go backward, or reverse direction when appropriate, to eventually regain traction and move ahead.
There is nothing wrong with, and much good can be achieved by, altering a trajectory.
Shifting to neutral
A classic example illustrating just that comes from 3M. A scientist, who was developing a permanent adhesive, left some of the chemicals on his workbench overnight and the potion accidentally spilled onto a random piece of paper. This gave birth to the famous Post-it Notes that we all use today.
Before proceeding with the new discovery 3M shifted gears first moving to “neutral” to keep the idea warm after which it “parked” the concept for a time to deal with other priorities. Finally 3M shifted into “drive” to move ahead at full speed with this simple, yet revolutionary product. By judiciously changing gears a few times, the company made a gazillion dollars just by being maneuverable and taking advantage of an alternative
Michael Feuer co-founded OfficeMax in 1988, with $20,000. During a 16-year span as CEO, he grew the company to 1,000 stores worldwide with sales of $5 billion.
