For those of you who do not who Eli Goldratt is - Eli is the founder of a theory called Theory of Constraints (TOC). Eli basically changed the manufacturing industry in the 80s. Then he moved into other fields such as distribution, project management, strategy, HR, holistic solutions and more (Google Goldratt for yourself to get more info). I was very fortunate to have him as a mentor and a close friend for many years.
One of the things he used to shove me in the head is that most of the times we are used to fight many fires, we get so busy doing so, and we think this is the normal way of doing business. Instead, Eli suggested to find the key issues that block the business and concentrate only on them one while subordinating the ENTIRE organization for the tasks at hand.
Why is this relevant to us?
Typically, in a start-up there are many challenges ahead, you need to make a product, you need to finance it, recruit people, mange them, market your product, find business partners, etc. I think you will all agree that the list is long and just grows. However, if you stop for a second and think of what really blocks you, you are likely to see that only very few items in the list are blocking you now. So, focus on these items and forget the rest. This will stop the crazy multi-tasking, prevent headaches of non relevant issues for the present, keeps everyone in sync on a clear and meaningful target.
I know you think – this is a triviality. Is it?
Make a list of what you are currently doing, I bet I am right in most of the cases. You can try checking these question to start with:
- Are your sales not picking up but you still continue to focus on your R&D?
- Are you going to be late again on your next product milestone, but you still have zillion of features which are not really necessary?
- How many projects are you running in parallel while not even trying to understand what bottom line value they carry for your business?
No comments:
Post a Comment