| Issue 48 |

How to avoid the success trap?

Some companies have success written all over them. They are in a thriving industry, their revenues and profits are continuously on the rise and their growth rate has been in the double digits for years. Such companies unfortunately often fall into the “success trap”.

Here are several symptoms that companies suffering from the “success trap” exhibit.

• Arrogance, pretentiousness
• Exaggerated and unjustified expenses
• Mediocre service and occasionally even disregard for customers
• Short term planning and a lack of a focused strategy
• Incongruence between the various departments
• Multiple politics and internal intrigues.

Ideas for innovation in charcoal barbecues

The following ideas were developed using various thinking tools, and do not exist at present (to the best of our knowledge):

1. A slanted barbecue (with a grill that slants away from the coals - for different heat intensities).
2. A barbecue whose grill can be disassembled into skewers (turning the grill over cooks the other side of the meat).
3. A swinging barbecue (like a chair swing, when it moves it makes a breeze that fans the coals).
4. A transparent barbecue (you can see the meat cooking even when the cover is closed).
5. A barbecue with an air pump (you can fan the coals when needed, and/or blow the smoke in the desired direction).
6. A barbecue with a built-in grill lubricator / cleaner (like a windshield wiper that moves along the grill and sprays it with oil and/or cleans it).
7. A barbecue with an underneath baking compartment (the heat from the coals heats the baking compartment).
8. An “L” shaped corner barbecue (maximizes grilling space in small areas).
9. A barbecue with a “rolling” grill (makes it easier to move pieces of meat over).
10. A dairy barbecue (with a grill that is suited in size and distance for vegetables, designed for antipasti).

• Articles on Systematic Innovation 
• We will be glad to read your comments and suggestions

Making a Consensus Decision

As managers, you are occasionally required to make important and critical decisions. For example – deciding on a new strategy or a bold business move. If you make such a decision alone, the responsibility for the outcome falls on your shoulders. Even if you make such a decision using a democratic vote in a team, not everyone will agree with the majority. The dissenting minority may try to sabotage the decision from being implemented in order to prove a point. How can you nonetheless include the dissenters in a decision? In order to cause the dissenters to also take full responsibility for the decision, and get the entire staff involved in its implementation, it is recommended to use a consensus decision-making mechanism.

How do you make a consensus decision? Subsequent to a discussion of the various options, every participant votes on his preferred option. Afterwards, the leading option is presented, the one that got the most votes, and you ask: Does someone want to veto this direction? At this stage, it is important to stress, on the one hand – every participant’s legitimate right to veto the decision, and on the other hand – the participants’ responsibility to use their veto rights with caution and only when they really believe it is necessary, and when going with the general flow will lead to a disaster.

Next, every participant can veto the decision. Everyone must understand that if they over-exploit their veto right, no progress will be made. The actual fact that you have given dissenters a veto right, and in thus they have been given power and control, they will for the most part abstain from power games, and generally prefer to go with the majority and move ahead with the team. Once a decision has been made in this manner, it is easier to implement, and chances are good that all the participants will work towards moving it forward.  

 

• An article about making management decisions appears here.
• Additional Management articles appear here.