Social norms are shifting. Technology advances at an ever-increasing pace. Some changes we can easily anticipate (the change of the seasons, the turnover of administrations in the U.S.), others can blindside us (pandemics, natural disasters, equipment failure). Change is inevitable. Being prepared for it is not.
So how does a company fortify itself to withstand the myriad of changes that the world throws at it? It starts with the fundamental Miick tools of purpose, values, and mission. One of the primary values to be enacted is to operate on profit, and not simply cash flow.
Rudy puts it like this, ”Number one: If I live on cash flow instead of profit I can live a really great lifestyle as long as things are good. The second there’s a downturn I’m in trouble. When something downturns as radically as the pandemic did we’re out of business, literally the whole business model changes.
“Number Two: If I’m lacking sense of purpose, that is to say, if my purpose is only to make money, if I’m lacking sense of purpose, then my board or my investors or my team or me personally is simply performing on opinion, not the purpose. Consequently, we end up screaming and yelling at each other in the boardroom, and while we’re wasting time having drama trying to figure out what to do, we’re going broke at speed. Or my team is getting sick and we are not adaptable.
“Here’s what suddenly happens: those companies with a war chest they have money because fiscal well-being is a value that they’ve honored. So even in negative cash flow they have a war chest. They also have a definitive sense of purpose. So the thinking becomes: ‘If I cannot deliver my product in the typical way I figure out, at speed, how to achieve our vision based on our purpose, guided by our values. This translates into I can do delivery. I can do pick up and carry out. Now, the way I package, the way I meet you at the door, the way my product carries back to your home is as good as the finest restaurant in the world. Suddenly, instead of being one down, I’m one up. We take pandemic and turn it into opportunity.”
Another key component to being able to execute those quick changes in the face of disaster are the communication tools that Miick provides. Rudy explains, “We have this saying, Communication is the primary how. No matter what we’re doing, communication is the pivot piece, it is the actualization tool that shifts the idea to actualization.
The way we speak to each other, acknowledgment of our differences, acknowledgment of naming the elephant in the room, what we call the moose in the room, by opening the door to communication that allows me to say ‘I’m not feeling good’ or ‘I need to stay home and take care of my kid’ or ‘How do we do production with half the team?’ suddenly that’s doable – even though we’re in the middle of the radical challenge.
“Three kinds of companies have survived and thrived:
1st: Single units, those that are hierarchical and there’s one person who makes good decisions and says ‘GO’.
2nd: Those with what might be considered having “unlimited” capital.
3rd: Third is our kind of organizational structure where nimbleness shows up, quickness complexity shows up, at speed, where there’s efficiency even though everything around us is traumatic.” Clear culture and values-driven decisions stoke the decision-making fire here!
While the examples above have focused on the response to Covid-19, the same ideas apply to any kind of curveball that can come at a business.
Next Up: Embracing Change at a Fundamental Level.
