With the old year winding down and the New Year ramping up, there is likelihood that we've spent time comparing how far we've come, with how far we have to go. It's acceptable for us to take time to celebrate achievements, but it's important to understand that we are doing this by intent and not neglect.
The most successful companies get excellent results year after year-not just for a string of years under one stellar CEO. At these companies, the leaders expect change and manage it well.
It has been said that creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties. One thing I do know is that creativity is not reserved for those who engage in artistic pursuits. Being creative means acknowledging that there are many possibilities aside from the obvious.
When the challenges we face seem to be getting more daunting, it likely means that we're making real progress. As we set challenging goals, the difficulty to succeed usually takes more effort.
Not long ago, I wrote about how important it is to take care of your customer-even when an event occurs that is beyond your control. I was recently talking to someone who commented that she “didn’t understand the relation to quality.” Because my comments really centered on ethics, to me the question was, “What do ethics have to do with quality?”
When we make a mistake, it is acceptable to perform an autopsy and think about what happened--but, then, you must quickly get over it. Understand what happened, learn from it, gain wisdom from it and become even more effective than before.
The ability to achieve and succeed is part of our very nature. If we are vague about what we intend to do, the results we are likely to get will be of minimal value.
