Turnaround Management

The Critical Obstacle to Innovation

Wrede, KW Corporate Culture, Innovation, Intellectual property, Organizational Culture, Turnaround Management

Everyone agrees that innovation is the magical key to the future, a strategic activity that cannot be ignored.

A major topic of CEOs and MBA programs world-wide.

The biggest obstacle to innovation in any organization has absolutely nothing to do with innovation.

The biggest obstacle is that very few organizations create the strategic group culture needed to nurture innovation.

You may find a Senior VP for other “strategic” areas (think finance, marketing, operations, and even human resources), but you rarely have a SVP for innovation (or for that matter, leadership).
If the CEO does not take a personal hand in proactively promoting an environment for innovation, it just becomes an annoying buzz word that will be addressed “sometime in the future.”

(Thanks to Rajesh Singh, Vice President – L&H Products Strategy & Ops at Swiss Re5d, for posing an interesting question.)

Speed Bump to Urgency, Dealing with Deniers

Wrede, KW Business, Crisis Management, Leadership, Leadership Development, Recommendation, Turnaround Management ,

During a crisis, time is of the essence.Hand sign 'Stop' (1a)

Momentum is essential and you need everyone working toward resolution, whatever direction it may take.

Your company is facing deterioration, sales are flattening.  A crisis is looming like a boulder balancing on the edge of steep slope, you are running out of cash.  You have six months or bankruptcy.

Change is a source of uncertainty.  Leadership is a necessity to navigate a through periods of uncertainty.  A sense of urgency gives purpose to people during a transition, everyone must feel the urgency and that determination must be transferred to action.  Any distraction that slows the momentum could affect the success of the change strategy.

How do you deal with the person who is disrupting change, the one individual who is slowing everyone and everything down? Continue reading →

Turnaround Tools – Cash Flow and Prioritizing Payables

Wrede, KW Crisis Management, Resource Management, Turnaround Management, Uncategorized , , , ,

The term “turnaround management” may bring to mind the corporate white knight who rides in to save the day and get a business back on track.  An element of truth gives it a certain romantic appeal.

But the term more accurately refers to that point after a company has filed for bankruptcy and has entered receivership.  In other words… creek… no paddle.

Cash flow and prioritizing payables
Cash is King (thank you Luis Pereiro).  You can have an unprofitable company, so long as you are able to meet your cash obligations.  You can have the best company in the world with high profits, but if you cannot meet your payments the company will fail. Continue reading →

For Want of a Nail…

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The Nail (2)It isn’t always the “Big Ideas” that are the most satisfying, but the simple ideas with the big impact.

Idea Aikido so to speak.

One of my favorite examples was with a startup company in Barcelona Spain.

For Want of a Nail
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
– anonymous proverb

Continue reading →