MARCH 2003
Greetings & Salutations:
Have you ever just sat and tried to remember what it was like,
when you were a kid, believing in Santa Claus?
A silly question, I admit - but - think about it a minute.
What if you were to meet a man over 30 years of age who still,
honestly and truly, believes in Santa Claus. Each Christmas
Eve he stays awake trying to catch the jolly old elf. His
greatest ambition is to mount an expedition to the North Pole
to locate Santa's workshop. -- No matter how hard you try to
convince him that Santa Claus is not a real person but, rather,
a character representing the giving spirit of Christmas, he still
believes.
Using the illustration of Santa Claus is a little bit farfetched,
but it serves, by exaggeration, to give you a point of reference
for my ramblings this month.
Although I'm not so sure there aren't a lot of 30-year-olds
out there who still believe in Santa Claus (and the Tooth Fairy,
too), I am pretty sure that most of us DID, at one time or another
in our childhoods, believe in such fairy tale characters.
But ...
We Grew Up!
In the process of growing-up, we went through a number of
maturing stages.
Let's take "reading" as an easy example.
At first, we had books (with lots of pictures and very few
words) read to us. We even got to the point where we could
recite the words that went with the pictures in our favorite
books. We, also, learned to recite short rhymes, sing the
alphabet, and even say our numbers up to ten.
With time, we learned to recognize the individual letters
of the alphabet, give each of them their name, and make the sound
of each letter. Then, we learned to combine those letters
and sounds into short words; those short words into short sentences;
and, finally, we were reading.
But ... reading words and sentences without understanding
the meaning of what is being said is as bad as not being able
to read at all. So, we progressed to the study of our language
and the use of words and sentences to express complete ideas,
both impart and obtain information, and give directions. -- In
so doing, we grew-up.
As all children must grow-up, so ...
Businesses Must Grow-Up, Too!
It doesn't matter whether a business starts with $42 (as mine
did) or $42 Million -- each business must, and does, start as
an infant, learn to crawl, then walk; learn to read, then understand;
believe in business fairy tales (Santa Claus), then dismiss those
beliefs and accept reality.
Just as it is with children, some businesses are slow learners.
They take years to learn the rudiments. And, like show
learning children, they either plod along until their persistence
and patience is rewarded, or they throw up their hands and drop
out (usually blaming the "system" rather than their
own lack of persistence and patience for their failure).
Other businesses, of course, are like gifted children.
They learn rapidly and easily surpass the endeavors of others
in their industry. But, like some gifted children, they
may diversify too rapidly and lose their competitive edge
... or create new and unique methods that may threaten or frighten
some government or other bureaucratic establishment, causing
the business to be labeled as a rebel or an outlaw ... or become
bored with a game they find too easy and drop out; opting for
a more simple existence, which doesn't last very long because
they soon find some other endeavor which captures their interest.
(Hey ... I'm speaking from experience here - and - I have the
scars to prove it!)
Most businesses, however, are just like average children.
They grow from their infancy to full maturity by learning, understanding,
and accepting reality. Like average children, they learn
and progress at their own speed. (Not all average children
of the same age read with the same understanding - but - they
are neither slow enough to be labeled slow learners, nor fast
enough to be labeled as gifted; just average.) And, as
each reaches a level of competency in their chosen field of endeavor,
they continue the learning and understanding process ... growing
and expanding as they become more proficient. -- That sentence
gives you another insight into the learning (maturing) curve
of businesses.
Every Business Has Two Areas of Required Education
The best way I can think of to explain what I mean is to relate
a comment made by a friend of mine who owns a major catalog-printing
company.
In his words, "Almost every pressman wants to own and
operate his own print shop - but - they don't know the difference
between a pressman and a printer."
After making that comment, he explained that any good "pressman"
can make a printing plate, put that plate on a printing press,
and run the number of copies the customer wants. But, it
takes a "printer" to bid the job, buy the paper, schedule
the job, deliver the printed materials to the customer, collect
the money, pay the bills, and keep a margin of profit.
Therefore, each business must learn and understand the methods
and operations which are necessary to satisfy the needs of the
business' customers. -- Like a pressman must know how to produce
the very best quality printed materials; which relates to his
specific ability to run the printing press.
Beyond that, each business must learn and understand the methods
and operations necessary to run the business itself. -- Like
a printer must know how to price the printing jobs at a price
the customer will accept, with a profit margin when the job is
done.
These two learning curves in a business are taking place at
the same time but may be at different levels between infancy
and maturity. -- It is not uncommon to find a business that is
near full maturity on the "production" side, yet still
just out of its infancy on the "management" side; or
vice versa.
And ... believe it or don't ... there are a lot of otherwise
mature businesses who still believe in "Santa Claus."
Well, not really Santa Clause, but what I refer to as ...
Business Fairy Tales!
Owing to the fact that anybody (and I do mean ANYBODY) can
write about business and doing business, there are literally
thousands of "business fairy tales" which are accepted
and believed by even the most educated, sophisticated and professional
business people.
These "business fairy tales" are usually initiated
by otherwise well-meaning writers who have only read about a
method of doing business and try to relate that information to
their readers.
Not being "in" business, these research writers,
of course, base what they write upon their own "consumer
assumptions" of how the method, or technique, of business
is applied in the business community. Thus, through their
lack of pragmatic understanding of business applications,
another "business fairy tale" is created ... a "business
fairy tale" that far outlives its original author to become
the foundation upon which a host of additional "business
fairy tales" are initiated by future generations of research
writers.
Unfortunately, it makes little difference whether you are
the owner/operator of a "Ma & Pa Retail Shop,"
the manager of a company-owned store, the Chief Executive Officer
of a "Fortune 500" company, or somewhere between or
betwixt, all business people hold dear some of the "business
fairy tales" they have often heard repeated, or ... worse
yet ... learned in some 'theoretical' business class they attended
(all too often part of the required curriculum for a college
degree in business).
Without an experienced, pragmatic point of reference, even
the most highly educated, sophisticated and professional business
people accept those "business fairy tales" as fact
and, until someone tells them different (and shows them a picture
of daddy putting on a white beard), they believe it.
The great "Santa Claus of business fairy tales"
(the most pernicious by far) is ...
"People Have Changed"
In my opinion, there should be a law (providing for the death
penalty) against any writer who writes, or speaker who says ...
"Today, your customers are different, they are __________."
Fill in that blank with ... more discerning/less discerning
... more/less educated ... more/less affluent ... more/less sophisticated
... or some other such nonsense.
Societal mores may change ... laws may change ... technology
may change - but - People Never Change! The very same stimuli
that motivated people in the book of Genesis are still motivating
people today. (There's still a whole lot of begetting going
on.)
If you hold this most vicious of "business fairy tales"
dear, try (as I have) reading books about advertising and marketing
published in the 19th century and comparing them with similar
books that are published today.
Whether the book was written in the 19th century, or last
month, it almost invariably starts with (or, at least encompasses)
the comment that, "Today, your customers are different _______"
- but - after that statement is made, the content is much the
same, generation after generation.
The destructive power in this "Santa Claus of business
fairy tales" is that, once accepted and believe, it leads
otherwise stable businesses into changing their products, services,
methods of operation, advertising and marketing in
order to meet the assumed changes in people. Rather than
selling to the individual needs of individual people, they try
to sell to the collective needs of 'the' people. As an
example, just remember, even now the humble checkerboard and
checkers still outsells (by volume) the most up-to-date, state-of-the-art
games each year.
When a business attempts to cater to society as a whole, instead
of 'people' as individuals, or forgets 'people' in favor of technology,
it is doomed to failure or ... worse yet ... sustained
mediocrity.
Now that I have pulled the beard from the "Santa Claus
of business fairy tales," the better prepared you will be
to grow your business into the new millennium.
-- Just remember ...
Societal mores may change ... laws may change ...
technology may change - but - People Never Change!
Companies that suffer from the "Santa Claus of business
fairy tales" are forever increasing, expanding and enhancing
their product line but their revenue and market-share never seem
to show any improvement. -- In an effort to respond to the ways
'people have changed,' they have forgotten that, "If it
works, it don't need fixing."
Think about it!
Copyright - 2003, J.F. (Jim) Straw. All rights reserved.