Lessons From the Doom Loop

>> You have time to learn or time to FAIL

One of the features of life in the Doom Loop is a false sense of hurry. With the sky falling, everyone acts as if there is no time to do tasks that don't appear to contribute to results. Of course, this belief runs counter to what we all know from real life. Improved results come from better decisions and more effective follow-up, learning, and practice, and not from obsessive focus on the outcome. You simply do not get better without practice, and the practice required of most of us in the Doom Loop is to engage in ruthlessly honest reflection on what's happening in our business. How often do we stop for an hour to ask those involved in key initiatives, "Why are these results happening or not happening?" Some of the most important insights we gained came from asking why we lost to certain competitors or why specific projects went over budget. When we were able to turn those insights into better ways of working and improved decisions, we made progress in reversing the company's course.

>> Compromise on people decisions at your peril

Getting the best people in the right places became my obsession. After assuming my new leadership role, I began by interviewing each of the 50-plus people on my staff. I asked them four simple questions: What's your background? What do you love about working here? What bugs you? What ideas do you have to improve our business for customers and/or employees? Then I simply observed what was happening. Within three months, I knew that I had several people out of position. I then spent the next quarter expanding the leadership roles of some, removing others, and putting a few on a mental probation list.

People changes inevitably cost money and time--the two commodities that people are loath to spend in the Doom Loop. Layoffs are costly, and there's no guarantee you'll find better replacements. Yet I wish I had taken more and faster action here, freeing up more budget to make first-rate hires, even though I took what appeared to be rather radical staff actions.

>> You do have enough time and money for what's important

One of the statements you often hear in the Doom Loop is, "We just don't have enough time, money, or energy to do things right." What we're effectively saying is that we have enough time, money, and energy to do things poorly. In fact, we failed to focus our resources adequately. We were excellent at spotting and chasing potential "opportunities of a lifetime." But many of these initiatives stalled because they were starved for scarce resources. Any one of them could have been a winner. But in combination, we created a massive loser. Worst of all, the pattern of starting and abandoning initiatives demoralized our best people. As one of my departing friends put it, "I feel like I'm being sent out to battle with a wooden sword."

No one was worse than me. I was involved in more "important initiatives" than I could count. Only after I identified the top five most important ones--and focused--did I start to feel like I had traction again. I kicked myself for not applying Peter Drucker's maxim sooner: First things first, second things not at all.

If you're in the Doom Loop now, the lessons of our experience may help you turn things around (my former company has made strides in improving its fortunes). Having to learn them was lousy, but knowing them is sweet. nFC

Ted Harro (Ted_Harro@ameritech.net) is the founder of Noonday Ventures, a performance consultancy.