There is a man who comes to the gym where I work out who is at least 50 pounds overweight. He started coming about a year ago and he looks exactly the same size as he did then. If his goal was to lose some weight, then he better re-evaluate what he is doing, because it isn’t working.

In all aspects of life and business I think it is important to ask ourselves, “How is that working for me / us / the company?” Sometimes, you may even want to enlist the advice of a friend, associate, or consultant and ask them how they feel about what you are doing. Asking the question is the easy part; listening to the answer and then doing something about it is where it gets tough.

Years ago, Rubbermaid set out to invent a new product every day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year. Fortune magazine once wrote that Rubbermaid was more innovative than 3M, Intel, and Apple; now that is impressive. Then Rubbermaid started choking on over 1,000 new products in less than 36 months. Innovation became more important than filling orders on time, overhead expenses, or cost controls. They ended up closing 9 plants and laid off over 1,100 employees before Newell Corporation came in to buy (rescue) the company.

I had a mentor who once told me, “Rob, I don’t care how hard you work … I care how smart you work. Results are what counts.”

Rubbermaid was working hard, putting in time, money, and effort while at the same time destroying their company. How was that working for them? The REALITY of the SITUATION … it was not working for them. Innovation for the sake of innovation doesn’t ensure success. Hard work, effort, and activity don’t ensure success. Those are all great things to have as long as they help you/me/us/ the company reach our goals.

Instill in yourself and your employees that if you aren’t getting better every day … you will lose. Markets move, power shifts, new inventions and technology change dominance, so always feel vulnerable and then OVER-PREPARE. To stay ahead of your competition, you need to start thinking - If you were competing against yourself, how would you beat you … and then fix it.

Look for the weak P’s
Look for weak POINTS, weak PEOPLE,
weak PROCEDURES, weak POLICIES,
and either fix them or get rid of them.

Change is to business as what oxygen is to life. In life – you can either breathe or die. In business - you can either keep changing or die. Change is the constant in all aspects of life. So, how is what you are doing working for you?