The company has always done well, has good visibility on the market, and is recognized by customers.
Yet, despite the thousand efforts and daily sacrifices, something does not add up.
The numbers tell us that something has changed for the worse.
Our instincts and cultural heritage lead us to be cautious about making a decision leading to a change, often seen more as a source of threats than opportunities.
You prefer to stay in your comfort zone, where you feel comfortable and safe: the same office every day, your office.
Greet the colleagues you know well and with whom the hierarchical relationships are clear.
Well, not a bad thing. But it becomes so when it prevents us from regaining control of a situation that has become critical.
It is fundamental to understand when the problem can be soon insurmountable and when the fear of failure, instead of an opportunity for improvement, can become an irreparable defeat.
To do this, we need people who collaborate, cooperate, propose and go beyond self-centeredness for a common goal.
A company can grow and prosper when it does not ignore new ideas because “we have always done it this way”: they are an opportunity, not a threat.
Similarly, the true leader is not the one who thinks to know everything, but the one who knows how to listen to others and identify the choices, the solutions, the winning people, including those helping analyze the situation appropriately.
A precise analysis of the situation and the data is essential. But that may not be enough. Let’s think for instance about the Price of our products.
A conventional approach would lead to defining the sale price as the sum of our costs plus the Profit we want to obtain:
Price = Costs + Profit
The reality is that in most cases (specific sectors apart), the Price is imposed by the market, by the competition.
At the same time, our Profit inexorably depends on our Costs and, therefore, on our ability to make efficiency (and value that the customer is willing to recognize us for our service).
Profit = Price + Costs
It is essential, but it still may not be enough.
We cannot compress our costs beyond a specific limit, and we cannot increase efficiency beyond the boundaries of the plants themselves. In this case, we must define a different strategy.
If you want to learn more, do not hesitate to contact us.