Business people have too often felt the pain, both personal and financial, of a business disaster. The reasons for failures are many and varied, and require a careful analysis to assure the don't recur. The problem then often moves from business analysis to decision paralysis. It can be very difficult to turn the page.

Moving on from disaster can be very problematic for many organizations. Often, the owner or CEO become defensive and decide and prefer to avoid risk. The failure to place the problem in the past, and look to the future, can often be a worse decision than the original crisis. It is important to remember that choosing to retrench, and even to do nothing, is a decision in and of itself. By keeping that fact in mind, moving forward can become an easier transition.

The effects on an organization, following a major disaster, are not always obvious at first glance. Very often, they are subtle and deadly. An examination of some of the effects of a mistake can help a company recover and return to success. Following the assessment of the damage and its causes, the next step is to chart a course for the future. This is not the right time to get scared of making any decisions.



One result of a mistake is a round of finger pointing and blame placement. This is not the correct approach to the problem. Instead of placing blame on a scapegoated employee, there needs to be a renewed emphasis on team building and internal company cooperation.

Sometimes, good decisions just go bad due to to timing, competition, or the industry health in general. Firing or demoting an employee for risk taking sends the wrong message to the rest of the staff. Creating a culture of covering up, keeping heads down, and risk avoidance is a recipe for business failure in the long run. Be sure to let your employees understand that risks are rewarded, and are seen as a step to future profits.

Another costly result is an exodus of good staff people. The round of resume circulations is often seen as result of the disaster. Instead, the employee turnover is a consequence of the blame game. No one wants to remain in an organization where any mistakes result in a one way trip to the company's Siberia. Risk takers should be praised for their creativity, and a series of pilot programs, periodic checkpoints, and research plans be developed to prevent future monetary drains.



A third result is often a concentration of decision making into the hands of the owner, CEO, or senior management. The company becomes more centralized with a deepening sense of two way mistrust and micromanagement. Instead of helping the company move forward, this approach is focussed on the past. A fear of mistakes paralyzes the entire company into inactivity. A steady erosion of market share is the all too frequent next step.

When a disaster strikes a business, it is important to turn the page. If employees understand that risk and mistakes are part of the overall success of the company, they will continue to develop new financial, marketing, production, and distribution plans. Creativity should be encouraged, and tightening the decision making screws won't get the job done.

If a disaster happens, turn the page and write a new chapter of company success instead.

Tags: decision making, business management, creative thinking, overcoming disasters.

READ MORE - Business disasters: Turning the page

Management decision making is crucial to the success of an organization. While that statement may appear moot, the decision making process is often taken for granted in many companies. In a few businesses, the process is even short circuited to gain support for some very questionable policy choices.

Instead of helping the company move forward, the options provided are often self serving at best, or damaging to the business at worst. The choices presented to the manager are very often placed in the form of two false choices. The manager, CEO, or board are expected to select either Option A or Option B. While that dual selection process may appear reasonable on the surface, it can miss other better alternatives. In any situation, there are always more than two possible courses of action. The alternative choices just may not appear so obvious at first glance.



The scenario usually unfolds with the manager being told to select between two possible courses of action. Surprisingly, the manager very often accepts those two choices as the entire universe of options. Agonizing over the pair of bad choices, the legendary lesser of two evils is chosen with reluctance and great trepidation. When the alleged lesser bad is selected, the organization suffers as a result. Instead of narrowing the universe down to what amounts to a rock and a hard place, other better courses of action should be sought for the good of the organization.

It is often surprising how many people will accept, without further evidence or questioning, that only two possible solutions exist for any problem. The reasons for that phenomenon are many and varied, and are deeply seated in society. For example, news programs show what they consider "both sides" of an issue. In reality, far more than two points of view exist, and are often far removed from the ones presented on the ubiquitous split screen. The same multiple decision thinking holds true for other aspects of life and business as well.



In many cases, the false choices offered are part of a personal agenda on the part of a decision maker. That personal ambition can manifest itself at any level from the CEO and the boardroom to the custodial closet. In many companies, personal agendas outweigh the good of the company and its customers. My manipulating the decision making process into dual false choices, the personal agenda takes precedence over the company.

In other business situations, the two bad choices may result from faulty data, poor record keeping, or a failure to embrace creative thinking. Incomplete data and flawed accounts paint a false picture of the company. Using that incorrect information to make policy choices can lead to disaster. In these troubled situations, the decision makers will seek the proverbial magic bullet. All too often, because the decision makers failed to look more deeply into the real company problems, the supposed cure only has two options. Very bad things are the usual result.



Don't let your thinking be limited to only two options. Your management team must look further, and seek other more viable alternatives. Include the entire staff, or a team selected from a representative overview of the company personnel, as your creative task force. The selection of people will vary with the size of the business. Smaller companies can brainstorm with the entire staff. Larger organizations will have to select and rotate individuals from every department. Let ideas and thinking run free. Don't limit thinking or suggestions. Usually, the very best ideas are the ones that appear most outrageous at first blush.

With total company involvement in the decision making process, the false dichotomy of two choices, will become a thing of the past. Look beyond narrowing your scope to only a pair of lukewarm or even bad choices. Seek the ideas from every department in your company. The right answers already exist for the problem. It is only a matter of letting your people help you to discover them.

You will no longer be faced with the pain of deciding upon the lesser of two evils again.

Tags: decision making, management, business choices, staff involvement.

READ MORE - Decision making: Avoiding two false choices

Recession is one of the major themes, in the mainstream media, when discussing the economy. With the fall out from subprime mortgages, increasing numbers of housing foreclosures, and balance sheet write downs among the financial corporations, many business people are becoming worried about the future of the economy. Instead of tearing out your hair, it is always best to take the initiative and a proactive approach with your company.

Making your company recession proof, or at least able to survive an economic downturn, requires some planning and creative decision making. It is all too easy to simply say cut back on expenses and lay off staff. In fact, these rather simplistic steps may be counterproductive and do more harm than good. Along with the short term benefits, the longer term picture must be considered carefully. It is of little value to an organization to leave a recession unable to capitalize on the return of better times.



A recession proof company is a creative company. One of the hallmarks of a creative company is a willingness to listen to everyone within the organization and pay close attention to their ideas and suggestions. Front line employees in customer service, delivery, purchasing, operations, and sales often have powerful money saving ideas at their fingertips. There is no better time to employ cost cutting measures that do not harm the company's revenue than during an economic slowdown. Note that the cuts must be ones that do not impact revenue in a negative way. Think of them as eliminating unnecessary waste instead.

A recession proof company listens to its customers. That statement is often used by business, but is sadly often ignored as well. In recessionary times, many of your customers will be feeling the pinch. They may suggest different sizes of shipments, and even new product formats. Don't take their suggestions lightly. They may be offering you an entirely new and profitable product and service line. Simply changing your offer size, or something similar, can pay huge dividends. A recession is no time for take it or leave it marketing practices.



A recession proof business values its employees. Other companies will follow the traditional approach of laying off staff. It is time to go against the tide, and perhaps consider adding employees. Some very talented people will be let go by your competitors. There is no better time to add their skills and experience to your organization. They may bring some much needed fresh thinking and ideas to your company. At the same time, your current staff morale will remain high as they won't feel threatened by impending layoffs. Leave those concerns to your competitors.

A recession proof company understands its costs of providing its products and services. Knowing your cost of production, and cost of goods sold, helps to keep profits flowing in the face of possible price reductions. Be sure to understand all of the costs, including staff time, that go into providing your goods and services. This cost knowledge is especially important for service based companies where some services provided may be much more profitable than others. Let your competitors have the low profit margin business, while you take the highly profitable projects for yourself.



A recession proof company lowers its debt levels. A recession is no time to have high overhead costs associated with servicing high debt loads. This is even more true if the debt incurred was for non-productive purposes. Those company limos, new designer furniture, and extravagant gala parties won't provide much long term value. Their repayment may cause some severe cash flow headaches though. Keep only productive debt on the books, and if you must expand, try do so organically from company cash flow. Being paid off means lasting through tough times.

A recession proof company is flexible and seeks opportunities where other companies see only doom and gloom. An economic downturn brings with it new product and service demands. Be sure to be ready to seize the day and your business will be safe from any threats a recession might bring.

Tags: recession management, creative thinking, tags, debt.

READ MORE - Recession proof your business