A prospect recently asked me the grandaddy of all challenges: “How can you help us if you don’t know our business?” It’s a reasonable and frequent question and I answered it as I always do: I don’t presume to understand your business better than you do, but I have helped many companies struggling with similar… Continue reading Popping the Question
Makarios Consulting Blog
Category: Makarios
Meetings Stink!
Ah…the dreaded Monday morning leadership team meeting looms each week as something most people hate. No one can blame them. Most of these meetings consist of discussions of the same problems that have limited progress for many months or even years. But it’s generally not the problems themselves that limit growth, but the meetings. Our… Continue reading Meetings Stink!
Keeping Strategy Off Culture’s Menu
I recently finished reading Paul Ingrassia’s Crash Course: The American Automobile Industry’s Road from Glory to Disaster and was struck by this passage: In late January [2006], [CEO] Bill Ford announced a corporate overhaul called “The Way Forward,” under which Ford would close factories and shed tens of thousands of employees, both salaried and hourly.… Continue reading Keeping Strategy Off Culture’s Menu
Simplify and Clarify to Improve your Execution
“I’m running so fast in my business that I am exhausted…but I don’t feel I am really making much progress.” That’s a pretty common complaint from the business owners we work with every week. Virtually all of them have a tough time keeping pace with their customers’ needs, changes in their markets, competitive threats, and… Continue reading Simplify and Clarify to Improve your Execution