The CEO of a $30 million/year retailer was struggling. Her board of directors was torn between two very different strategies - either continue at the current levels, work on containing costs, and seek safe, moderate profitability or take on debt to pursue an aggressive growth strategy. Either strategy could make sense, but the board wasn't clear on what it wanted.
Because the board was unclear, the CEO was effectively handcuffed on every significant decision. Because she was handcuffed, management was understandably cautious. Because management was cautious, staff was paralyzed. Because staff was paralyzed, none were taking any intiative and the company was stagnating, and losing ground.
The CEO had the insight to force the issue and placed both options before the board. The board continued to waffle, so the CEO resigned. "I could have implemented either strategy, but there was no direction. We had no clear goals - were we trying to expand, or just trying to sustain? What was our purpose?"
The first of Deming's 14 Principles was to "create constancy of purpose". Without this, management is ineffective. What's your purpose?
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