22:46
Faizan
After 30 years in water treatment I can't tell you how many times I've heard the phrase, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I use to let it run off my back, but then I found this quote by former Secretary of State and four-star general Colin Powell. He says "it's the slogan of the complacent, the arrogant or the scared." It's just an excuse for inaction and a call to non-arms." I realize we're not talking about politics or combat here, but I do believe it applies to business as well.
Complacency represents the greatest threat to business today. It's more dangerous than the competition, customer demand or globalization. It's potentially the front line enemy inside every organization.
Small or successful companies can quickly lose sight of customer service, quality and production efficiency. At first, these companies do everything possible to grow, but along the way employees become too comfortable for their own good. Eventually every department falls into a state of self-righteousness lacking any sense of urgency to address operational or organizational issues that need improvement or growth.
I see this attitude in many or our private and public operations and actually had a gentleman tell me one day to slow down, "the man who works the hardest makes the least". I would rather believe there are still a majority of people with the opposite attitude, "the harder you work, the more you make", but there-in lies the basic, age- old difference between people.
Complacency exposes the entire operation to unnecessary business risk. It's like blind spots in a car or truck. You know that if you don't move to look around them you'll eventually cause and accident. The same applies to guarding and protecting critical assets like boilers, cooling towers and closed loops where severe damage could also result from looking the other way.
Complacency also affects the bottom line performance of a company. If you're not willing to explore new products or services or at least approach current vendors for industry updates in trends or technology, the missed opportunities will affect the potential for revenue growth.
Complacency represents the greatest threat to business today. It's more dangerous than the competition, customer demand or globalization. It's potentially the front line enemy inside every organization.
Small or successful companies can quickly lose sight of customer service, quality and production efficiency. At first, these companies do everything possible to grow, but along the way employees become too comfortable for their own good. Eventually every department falls into a state of self-righteousness lacking any sense of urgency to address operational or organizational issues that need improvement or growth.
I see this attitude in many or our private and public operations and actually had a gentleman tell me one day to slow down, "the man who works the hardest makes the least". I would rather believe there are still a majority of people with the opposite attitude, "the harder you work, the more you make", but there-in lies the basic, age- old difference between people.
Complacency exposes the entire operation to unnecessary business risk. It's like blind spots in a car or truck. You know that if you don't move to look around them you'll eventually cause and accident. The same applies to guarding and protecting critical assets like boilers, cooling towers and closed loops where severe damage could also result from looking the other way.
Complacency also affects the bottom line performance of a company. If you're not willing to explore new products or services or at least approach current vendors for industry updates in trends or technology, the missed opportunities will affect the potential for revenue growth.
Posted in: business
