Are Your Systems Obsolete?

by Dave Kahle

Almost all of the policies and procedures that dictate our day-to-day efforts are vestiges of years gone by.

Recently, following a request made by a client, I compiled a list of the 25  most important lessons I’ve learned in my 30 + years of working with over 500 organizations as a B2B  sales expert  and Christian business thought leader.  In no particular order, here’s one of the 25:

            If we are going to succeed in these rapidly changing times, we need to adapt new strategies and disciplines that keep us and our organizations changing along with the pace of change around us.

           It is unfortunately true that most of the policies and procedures that dictate our activities on a day-to-day basis are vestiges of days gone by, designed to be effective in a world that no longer exists. In other words, most business systems teeter on being obsolete.

           Let me illustrate.  I am often called on to examine a company’s sales compensation plan.  Almost invariably, when I ask why they have the plan they have, the answer is , “Because it’s the plan we have.” 

           In other words, the only reason for the plan is history.     At some point in the past, someone designed the plan to accomplish something. The rationale has been lost, the situation it was designed for has long since faded away, but the plan remains. Since then, it has been easier to deal with day-to-day issues than to redesign a piece of the company’s infrastructure. 

           While that is often the situation with sales compensation plans, it is not unique to them.  That’s just one example of a situation which impacts all kinds of organizational systems.  When I look at the other fundamental infrastructure elements in a business – the policies, the procedures the that dictate daily activity, almost all of them have the same history – they were created at some time in the past by other people for a long-gone situation.  As such, they can rarely be defended as effective.  They just are.

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           And, since these are the tracks upon which much of the company’s efforts run, their effectiveness is crucial to the organization’s success.

           Test yourself.  When was the last time you questioned the design of the basic policies and procedures in your business?  Here are some of the most common:

           * the way prospects are created and qualified
           * the way new customers are created
           * the way customers are encouraged to become repeat buyers
           * the way partners are nurtured
           * the way orders are processed
           * the way invoices are created
           * the way people report to their supervisors
           * the way supervisors manage their teams
           * the way bills are paid
           * the way invoices are collected
           * the way strategy is determined
           * the way new products are developed.

           I could go on for ages, but you get the idea.  Your organizational systems are composed of processes, principles, practices and tools.  And those have most likely been created at some time in the pasts and are vestiges of days gone by.  

The Problem:

           Since much of the infrastructure was created for a different time and a different situation, and since the infrastructure dictates the behavior of the folks who work within it, much of the company’s efforts are not... READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE