Despite such
activity, managers are inevitably and deeply affected by what they already
have, by their 'legacy' business and 'legacy' systems. In fact, they are so
deeply affected that they resist even unavoidable change.
Managers
are required to undertake a delicate and difficult exercise achieving the best
balance and combination of past, present and future. The past is no more all
bad than the future is likely to be all good. In fact, the organisation's
inheritance is liable to include some of its greatest, richest strengths.
Consequently,
one of the prime duties of managements is to protect the past, to sustain and
exploit the inherited assets. But it's also incumbent on them to protect the
future.
In the vast
majority of cases, companies that triumphed in the past get left behind as
newcomers usurp the future. This is rarely because the old-comers have tried
and failed in the new businesses and technologies. Mostly, they have ignored
the trends, or have responded with too little action, too late.
The present
is the only time in which anybody can live. Bring the future into the present
by forming concrete programmes in which everybody participates – in full
knowledge of the long-term goals that you want to achieve as you invent the
future.
If you
really want to face the future, rather than the past, he says, set unreasonable
targets. Any target acts as a ceiling on people's ambitions. Set one that they
think impossible, and they may surprise themselves – and you.
Second,
take a wide view of what constitutes your market. Managers will move into
extended markets with more energy and enthusiasm if they are creating, not just
a business, but a cause. This means pursuing an overall objective that your
people can understand and with which they can identify.
Be open to
new ideas. Venture capitalists make plenty of mistakes, but failing to listen
to innovative propositions is not among them. Few are chosen, but many are
called – and listened to. Give everybody a chance to have their ideas
considered.
Top
managers cannot expect others and the company to change unless they are
prepared to change themselves – and to do whatever that takes.
The
necessity for this personal transformation cannot be evaded. Top managers can
no longer manage their own executive lives as they do the business, living in
and on the past, and turning their backs on the future.
The natural
urge will always be to stick with the familiar, where the risks are known and
the upside is limited. Venture into the unfamiliar and the risks are
unquantifiable – but the potential is huge.
Veerapagupathy,
Chothavilai Beach,
Thengamputhoor,
Kanyakumari.
Call
Tel No: +91-04652-221337
Mob No: +91- 8220099080
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