A Little Education Can Be A Painful Expereince

I completed a Price To Win class presented by Shipley Associates last week. It was definitely a good class that provided useful information. The instructor, David Murphy, presented the information is a clear and concise manner. Unfortunately I couldn't help thinking some of the folks in the room were being set up to experience a whole boatload of pain and aggravation.

It's the same old story. Most will go pack to their respective companies with this new found knowledge and they'll want to apply it. Too bad they didn't hear the part about gaining senior management support, begin the process well ahead of the proposal and continue supporting the process between proposals.

The problem isn't Price To Win and it isn't Shipley. I am a vocal advocate for the Shipley Proposal Process, all ninety six steps. The problem rests on the desk of the very senior manager that we're looking to for support. It manifests itself as finite resources chasing infinite opportunities and internal organizations allowed to focus on themselves rather than on the company. You can try to institute the 96 Steps, Price To Win, Inventory Control or the latest best accounting practices but no process will reach it's full potential or return the greatest value until it becomes part of a totally integrated organization.

To play a broken record and pound a familiar drum; the greatest return on investment can only come with a return to the very basic foundation taught in every business school:

• Define the company goal and assign responsibility for their achievement to the lowest possible level.
• Ignore opportunities that are out of line with the company's vision and mission or pursue them only after much discussion and only with a detailed plan.
• Enforce cooperation between business units by making it an integral part of their performance reviews.
• Hire people that embrace continual improvement and fire those that don't.

Without an integrated approach those you educate will continue to face a frustrating work-life and you will never find the real weak link.