Resolve to thrive in the coming year

As we bid farewell to 2009, a year of challenges and uncertainty, we face decisions about how to take control of our destiny in the new economy. What can we do in 2010 to make a fresh start and increase our control of outcomes, while accepting that many things are still up in the air?

I have three solid resolutions for your consideration. Stated simply they are: redefine growth, redefine innovation, and define sustainability.

First, how will growth happen in 2010? How will our resource-constrained businesses thrive and create a positive future?

What is your definition of innovation? Can innovation be done without spending additional money? Have you looked realistically at your organization to determine how the changes in 2009 affected processes, resources and capacity? How can innovation improve your ability to respond to disruptive change?

Finally, how will your business thrive going forward in uncertain times? How will you keep up competitively? How will you bear the weight and keep going? How will you maintain, encourage and confirm your value to customers? These questions come from dictionary definitions of “sustainability.” It is a word that is being overused; however, it is very important in an uncertain world.

Redefine growth

If you are resolved to improve your results in 2010, redefine growth. We have traditionally defined growth as expansion. Growth was about more customers, revenue, products, and market share. Perhaps in the new world we should consider a new view of growth.

Instead of expanding, let’s consider growth a maturation process, growth in the organic sense. This means we could enhance relationships with existing customers, update and improve existing products and services, and improve service to customers.

Think of growth as a process of enrichment that positively impacts staff and customers. Cross-training has always been a distant goal, and leveraging the full capabilities of existing technology is always an opportunity. Look at growth as a way to sink the roots of your success deeper by expanding knowledge and expertise.

Redefine innovation

If you accept that working longer and harder is no longer an option, redefine your view of innovation. What does this mean? Make innovation a form of continuous improvement. Review what you do, how you do it, and in the process you will define the right work.

This analysis will help you reclaim capacity that is being used in areas that no longer contribute to desired outcomes. Seeking out both waste and opportunities for greater efficiency is a process that will renew, inspire and renovate your business. Those who innovate in this way will deepen their expertise and have a clearer understanding of operations.

Understand sustainability

If you are committed to thriving in 2010, make a resolution to understand what sustainability means to you. How will you insulate your business from the uncertainties of the current economy?

I would suggest that you begin to plan from the present with the future in mind. This means that you begin to see success as a process that you manage. In the past we have had the luxury of being able to rely on an ever-growing economy. That is not a given today.

In order to make your business plan sustainable you need to develop scenarios of possible future outcomes. There could be multiple levels of success: A scenario that maintains current customers and staff could be one. Another could be modest growth of revenues while maintaining current staff, and, finally, controlled growth that increases revenues and might create jobs.

How will you develop these scenarios? You will need to align your planning process to one that is based upon realism and truth. Realism means that everyone must tell the truth about how things are today. The organization’s responsibility to realism requires creating an organizational climate that encourages the truth to surface.

There is a need to collect data about “recent” results in service delivery, revenue, costs and customer service quality. With data to track results and reality-based decision-making in place, the planning process can successfully forecast trends and future possibilities.

With the sustainable plan in place, your organization will be more agile as conditions shift and change. You can predict costs, retain staff, and in the event of significant growth, be prepared to staff up. You create the opportunity to leap-frog the competition.

These three resolutions are a formula for a positive response to reality. It means slowing down, doing the right work, and continuously improving.

As I worked with a variety of clients in 2009, these actions produced viable results operationally, and strategically, the plan prepares the business for a more predictable future.

These resolutions allow you to be prepared, stay real, and maintain a course in any economic weather.

Shirley Esterly is a master facilitator and systems thinker who works with clients to build sustainable business practices. She can be reached at [email protected].