Accepting Responsibility: The Foundation of Success

"Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do."

Johann von Goethe
18th Century German Author

This is one part of the importance of being responsible.

von Goethe is telling us that after all is said and done the only measure of success is having accomplished something. Wanting to do so, having reasons for not having succeeded are not enough.

The other part is being willing to acknowledge when failure is our responsibility; an almost impossible task for many.

I've tried to focus discussion regarding my team failures on the reasons rather than the personalities so we could change the circumstances that led to our collective failure. It helped to a point but for many there was a need to deflect all association with failure no matter how obvious their connection.

What is your experience?

Sales Forecasting: The Great Unknown

"What we anticipate seldom occurs, what we least expected generally happens."

Benjamin Disraeli
19th Century British Prime Minister

I was just talking about this with someone the other day telling them how I rarely get the projects I am all but certain will happen but do get many I assume will not.

Accurate sales forecasts are the underpinning of a company's business plan and yet as most sales managers will tell you, accurate forecasts is almost an oxymoron.

When it comes to sales your product may be straight line, commodity, predictable like that depicted in the above graph but I will bet most aren't that way particularly in today's economy.

Still, companies need to have a pretty good idea what their revenue line will look like. What do you do to develop as accurate a revenue picture as possible?

Goals: What Might Have Been

"For all sad words of tongue and pen, The saddest are these, "It might have been."

John Greenleaf Whittier
19th Century Quaker Poet

"Might have been" could mean something tried and failed or as I suspect Mr. Greenleaf was suggesting, something never attempted. Something someone wanted but for whatever reason never enough so to go after it.

This applies to our personal and business lives and we can be equally remiss in both when it comes to going after what we want.

What do you want?

Planning: The Business Roadmap

"Developing the plan is actually laying out the sequence of events that have to occur for you to achieve your goal."

George L. Morrisey
Author

There it is.

A plan is nothing more than what you need to do to accomplish whatever it is you've defined as your "goals". You have defined goals haven't you?? If you haven't does that mean you don't care where you are headed?

Kind of like walking out the front door one day, no destination in mind. With that the case any direction using any means of transportation will get you there. But if you want to go to a specific location you need a plan.

Does your company have clearly defined and measurable goals? Is there a detailed and specific strategic, tactical and operational plan in place to achieve them?

Confidence: How Sure Do We Need To Be?

"Doubt whom you will, but never yourself."

Christian N. Bovee
19th Century Author

This is one of those quotes that initially strikes me as good but after further reflection I begin to have doubts. The positive part is trust in yourself, set your path then walk it, etc., but what if you're wrong? (Bovee probably wouldn't even tolerate the doubt associated with asking that question.)

Maybe the quote overly simplifies what he really had in mind. Maybe he would tell us to do as Davy Crockett allegedly suggested ("Be sure you're right, then go ahead"), but even that seems difficult to do. There have been many instances in my career where there was no way to "be sure" regarding what I planned to do.

What role does certainty and/or self-confidence play in decision making?