Sometimes It’s Best to Listen

 

Thanks to Nelli Giribaldi for bringing this article to my father’s attention, and thanks to my dad for passing it on to me.

 

I am always looking for real world examples of such philosophies at work.  It is all too easy to be academic and not so easy to live one’s own philosophy. 

Thanks to all – RudyVidal

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Among others, Wipro has recently won the prestigious ‘Risk Management Award,’ instituted by the Financial Times-The Banker magazine. What is that which makes this company so successful? ‘An obsession for excellence,’ says Azim Premji, Chairman & Managing Director, Wipro Limited.
Chairman and Managing Director of Wipro, Premji is credited with transforming Wipro, his family’s vegetable oil business, into one of the world’s foremost software company.
Although one of the richest Indians, he flies economy class and is happiest when hiking, reading or discussing the foundation he has set up to promote primary education.
 

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These are changing times. Yet in the middle of all the changes there is one thing that constantly determines success. Some call it leadership. But to my mind, it is the single-minded pursuit of excellence.
Excellence endures and sustains. It goes beyond motivation into the realms of inspiration. Excellence can be as strong a uniting force as solid vision.
Excellence does not happen in a vacuum. It needs a collective obsession as I have experienced the benefits of excellence in my own life. Excellence is a great starting point for any new organisation but also an unending journey. What is excellence? It is about going a little beyond what we expect from ourselves. Part of the need for excellence is imposed on us externally by our customers. Our competition keeps us on our toes, especially when it is global in nature.
But the other driver of excellence is internal. I have found that excellence is not so much a battle you fight with others, but a battle you fight with yourself, by constantly raising the bar and stretching yourself and your team. This is the best and the most satisfying and challenging part about excellence.
 
How does one create excellence in an organisation?
 
First, we create an obsession with excellence. We must dream of it not only because it delivers better results but because we truly believe in it and find it intrinsically satisfying to us.
We must think of excellence not only with our mind but also with our heart and soul. Let us look outside, at the global standards of excellence in quality, cost and delivery and let us not rest till we surpass them.
 
Second, we need to build a collective self-confidence. Organisations and people who pursue excellence are self-confident. This is because excellence requires tremendous faith in one’s ability to do more and in a better way. Unless, we believe we can do better, we cannot.

Third, we must understand the difference between perfection for its own sake and excellence. Time is of essence. Globalisation has made the customer only more impatient. This may seem like a paradox: should we aim for excellence or should we aim for speed?
Excellence is about doing the best we can and speed lies in doing it quickly. These two concepts are not opposed to each other; in fact, speed and timeliness are important elements of quality and excellence.
 
Fourth, we must realise that we cannot be the best in everything we do. We must define what we are or would like to be best at and what someone else can do better.
Excellence is no longer about being the best in India. It is about being the best in the world. We have to define what our own core competencies are and what we can outsource to other leaders. Headaches shared are headaches divided.
 
Fifth, we must create processes that enable excellence. Today, there are a number of global methods and processes available whether it is Six Sigma, CMM or ISO. Use them because they are based on distilled wisdom collected from the best companies in the world.
Also, we must build a strong foundation of information technology, because in this complex, dynamic world, it is imperative that we use the most modern tools to keep processes updated.
 
Sixth, we must create a culture of teaming. I have found that while great individuals are important, one cannot have pockets of excellence. Quality gives ample opportunities to build a culture of teaming. Cross-functional teams that are customer facing can cut through an amazing amount of bureaucracy, personal empire building and silos and deliver savings that one would not have imagined possible.
The other advantage of building teams focused on quality is that the teaming culture eventually spreads to the rest of the organisation and teaming becomes a way of life.
 
Seventh, invest in excellence for the future. Future always seems to be at a distance. But it comes upon you so suddenly that it catches you by surprise, if not shock. What constitutes excellence in the future will be significantly different from what it is today.
In these days of severe market pressures, there is big temptation to sacrifice the future to look good in the present. We must certainly trim our discretionary expenses, but we must ensure that our investments in strategic areas that lead to excellence in the future are protected.
 
Finally, excellence requires humility. This is especially needed when we feel we have reached the peak of excellence and there is nothing further we can do. We need an open mind to look at things in a different way and allow new inputs to come in.
Otherwise, there is a real danger of becoming complacent or even downright arrogant. I would like to end my talk with a story that illustrates this very well.
 
A brilliant young professor went to meet a famous Zen master to have a discussion with him on Zen. He found himself in front of a modest house. He rang the doorbell and waited. A while later, he heard shuffling footsteps and the door was opened by the Zen master.
He invited the professor to sit with him on the dining table. The professor was a little disappointed with the shabby appearance of the Zen master. He started quizzing him immediately on comparative philosophies and the Zen master gave some brief answers.
When the professor began to debate with him on those answers, the Zen master stopped speaking and kept smiling at him. Finally, the professor got angry. He said, ‘I have come from a long distance just to understand the relevance of Zenism. But apparently you have nothing to say. I have not learnt anything from you at all.’
At this point, the Zen master asked the professor to have some tea. When the professor held the cup, the Zen master started pouring tea into it. After some time, the tea started spilling and the professor shouted, ‘Stop! The cup can contain no more.’
The Zen Master stopped and then, once again smiling, he said, ‘A mind, full of itself can receive nothing. How can I speak to you of Zenism until you empty your mind to learn.’ The professor understood and apologized to the Zen master. He parted from him, the Zen master — a wiser man.
The author is Chairman & Managing Director, Wipro Limited.

Executives are Customers Too – A place for Personal Values

Mr. Robert’s recent comment inspires me. 

I share his passion and feeling that students, especially in Business Schools (in my mind), need to hear this message.  Very few Business Schools have curricula on theory, techniques and benefits of Customer Centricity; not for lack of material, knowledge or proven value.  As a result, most business executives place much of their focus on the acquisition of new customers with little regard for the inherent value of our current customer base.  

I often comment on what I believe are three key powers of influence and control in the world.  Government/Education, Corporations/Business and Personal Values. 

One of these three has a place in the other two, and is ultimately, the true driver of progress.
Of course it is Personal Value.

There is a place for personal values in Government.  It is through our vote that government officials are chosen and driven to act in manners congruent with our values.   However, the voice of personal values (customer values) is not so well represented in business,  where all too often we see the choice between customers, ecology, and other popular standards take a back seat to the bottom line and shareholder expectations.
Asked to choose between the best short term interest of the customer and the bottom line, the customer is almost always asked to wait.   By design, the system usually accounts for the customer only in the most drastic or catastrophic cases or after considerable evolution of mass expectation. 

I don’t pretend that we can change the fundamental business drivers of an open economy, which we all know has more benefits than flaws.  However, I believe that if we can show corporations that customer satisfaction and loyalty are of greater value than currently perceived, we can begin to make a fundamental shift.  Even if XCS enters the board room through the back door, I think it can help to enhance the corporate bottom line as well as improve people’s quality of life far and wide.

Committed to XCS ! 

The Fruit Doesnt Fall Far from the Tree

Last week I had the pleasure of speaking at Panasonic Computer Systems Company’s National Team Meeting in Tampa.  As with most sales meeting, the purpose was to educate, promote and motivate the sales force towards increased efficiency and effectiveness.

Unlike most sales meetings, nearly all of the speakers (The Chairman of Panasonic North America – Yoshi Yamada, High level dignitaries from Japan’s Parent Company Matsushita Electric, and local senior management) spent considerable stage time speaking about Customer Satisfaction, or as the corporate culture addresses it, Customer Comes First. 

Matsushita’s founder, Konosuke Matsushita (KM) was a visionary who saw the customer as the necessary focal point for a successful business before the concept was an accepted piece of common business sense.

I worked at Panasonic Corp. of America for a long time.  In fact, I would say I grew up there and cut my corporate teeth under the influence of KM’s philosophies.  It is clear to me that  who I am and what I believe about customer satisfaction is, in large part, the result of this experience.

I often tell the story of reading an article in a business magazine as I was starting my working career.  The story was about KM and his philosophies on business and social responsibility.  Immediately I knew I would do all I could to work in his organization. 

We all would like to think we are original in our thinking, but in reality we are greatly influenced by our environment and by key personages in our lives.

I have a passion for customer service and for the concept of turning the power of corporations towards social good.  My idea?  I think not. 

I’m just thankful to have had the opportunity for such exposure. 

We would all be better served to address a bit of KM at all of our Sales Meetings.

Committed to XCS !

XCS and Sales – Perfect together?

Are XCS and sustainable increases in sales mutually exclusive?
I have had this discussion too many times to count. But, it doesn’t get any easier.
I believe XCS and increased sales are very compatible. Sales is a long term enterprise, even if your boss is whipping you for quota this month.

Konusuke Matsushita, the founder of Panasonic said it best, (not verbatim )”we as industrialists have a responsibility to add value to society and to improve the quality of life of our fellow man. As such, profit is the just reward provided us by society for successfully fulfilling this responsibilty, daily”.
His philosphy held we should not worry about profit, we should just worry about adding value to society.
If we did, everything else will fall into place. Mr. Matsushita was not suggesting that we run our businesses ignoring the bottom line. But if our intentions and our efforts are focused on, and successful at adding value, the rest will probably take care of itself. To some taking this line of thinking seriously may require taking a great leap of faith. To others it may seem easily applied.For too long we have held Sales to be a “cut throat”, “at all costs” discipline.
I remember growing up my father thoroughly disliked sales people.

He thought they all wanted to get their hands in you pockets. He was not pleased when I became head of sales many years later. Is this the real essence of sales? The stereotypical used car salesman?
I think preditory behavior is almost always a short-cut to an ends, but almost never the best way to skin the cat.
An XCS-based sales person, builds relationships, honestly caring for his prospective customer’s best interest, finding a way to add value through the product or the relationship that well justifies the cost.
Sure, if you didn’t care about your customer you could probably sell more in the short term, but will you ever realize the lifetime value of that customer? NO.

My broker, always did what he thought was right for me and as a result more than once took lesser commissions. When he left Ameriprise for Merril guess what I did?

XCS and sales go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly.
Don’t you think?