Cross-Fitness for the Organization

Contrary to conventional wisdom, proficiency isn’t always the best way to achieve a goal. Sometimes, proficiency can lead to deficiency.

Take running, for example. I’ve heard many a runners’ mantra that the way to improve running performance is to run exclusively. They run over and over, but eventually hit a plateau. Initially, the runner’s caloric output is high because the body uses more energy than normal to get used to the new patterns. As the body becomes more efficient it uses less energy to burn the same amount of calories, so the runner has to work harder to get equal output as before.

This same holds true for individuals as people fall comfortably into a pattern of behavior. Someone may get used to a specific approach, mindset or process that achieves results. The individual repeats the behavior in multiple areas. After all, why change something if it’s not broken?

There is a blindside, however, in repetition and mastery. When an individual masters something, he becomes less dependent on external resources to master the process and more dependent on his efficient mastery of the problem itself. Similar to the runner who runs exclusively, the individual who repeats the pattern requires less energy over time because the behavior has been mastered. All of the sudden, it becomes easier to develop a strategy because she’s done it before. It becomes easier to enter a new market because he relies on past experience to get him there. But in the meantime, the individual is subtly separated from the fresh insights afforded by a changing external reality.

Thus, individuals – and by extension, organizations – absently self-sustain instead of externally replenish with resources, individuals or other ways of doing things to achieve results. Processes cement around doing things the way they’ve always been done, hiring the same people or entering markets in the same way and the organization hits a plateau.

So what’s an organization to do? Well, what’s a runner to do?

Cross-fitness.

It’s counterintuitive, but if a runner wants to improve his run, he’s got to do more than just run. Moderate swimming, for example, increases a runner’s lung capacity and strength, resulting in improved speed, endurance and performance. By doing something outside of running, the individual actually becomes a better runner.

Within an organization, an individual who seeks external discovery in the unexpected advances farther than the internally oriented individual. The individual is exposed to ways of thinking, relating, approaching and executing that were not there before. All of the sudden, the avant-garde becomes the new normal, and you leave the laggards in the dust.

Filed under: Challenge, learning, Strategy, Vision

The Race to the Bottom

This week, Tiger Wood’s apology was all over the news. From Entertainment Tonight to CNN and New York Times to USA Today, his face was on the television and Internet wherever you looked.
It’s an interesting dilemma for the media. On the one hand, this story is like a train wreck – it’s horrible yet you can’t look away; you want to know what’s going to happen. On the other hand, the information is not exactly substantial journalism.

The problem is that once each media outlet ran the story, they were committed. Whether or not this fit with their mission of providing information to the world, they were a part of the downward spiral. Most outlets ran the story based on what type of information the masses would flock towards. If one company didn’t publicize the story, they risked losing readers to the competition. On the other hand, if they did report the story, they ran the risk of alienating the customers who thought there should be more substance in the content.

Consider what happens to businesses that start the price bidding game. One tire company lowers their price for tires from $50.00 per tire to $49.25 to lure in an additional number of customers. In response, the competitor across the street lowers their tires to $46.00. Let’s say Tire Company #1 lured 15% of Company #2’s customers solely based on the price change. They’re going to lose the new customers unless they either match or lower price again. On and on the price game goes until it drives both into the ground, or until one of the companies provides a better value offer to customers (say, $55.00 tires with a 6 month warranty).

Overall, it’s a vicious downward spiral that will not be broken until someone steps forward to break it with quality information, a quality product or something else.

It’s easy to get caught up in the hype, the short-term activity that will vary your market position daily. Whether it’s the media sensation, whether you’re competing on price, swaying your ethics to make a decision for today, or changing your corporate values to satisfy a customer request, it’s a race to the bottom. If you do not have a firm understanding of your purpose for being in business, a long term vision for where you want to go, and a clear vision on what steps and behaviors you need to take in order to get you where you want to go, you can easily get caught up in the frenzy of doing what everyone else does, just to stay ahead.

Be careful, because hasty decisions towards perceived incremental positive gain can result in significant, unwanted changes for the future.

Filed under: Competition, Steadfastness, Vision