It was a calm, clear, but dark night.
Visibility was reasonable, but the lookout didn't have binoculars (for some unknown reason, someone had locked them in a store, and no-one had the key). That meant the lookout only had minutes to react to danger.
Because it was calm, and because they were so focused on arriving on time to protect their reputation, they were travelling near their top speed of 22 km/h
In fact, they were so focused on keeping to their schedule, the radio operator ignored warning messages from other ships. All the operator wanted to do was speak to Newfoundland, and even told another ship’s operator (who'd messaged to warn of danger ahead) to " Keep out; shut up".
If you haven't guessed by now, that’s the story of the Titanic.
But it could as easily be the story of many small and medium sized businesses.
Each of those mistakes was avoidable. Each could have been easily remedied. Fixing just one of them would have probably averted the disaster.
Many businesses make similar mistakes: They set out, in seemingly benign conditions, full speed ahead, focused on one objective (revenue growth, usually) and hit an avoidable "iceberg", which cause catastrophic damage to their business.
Typical business "icebergs" include excessive discounting, slow debtor payments, increasing cost per leads generate, higher fulfillment or production costs, late delivery (or wrong deliveries). I could go on, but hopefully you've got my drift.
From what I can see there are 3 causes:
- The business has no early warning system to tell them if there are "icebergs" looming
- Their data and reporting are so cumbersome no-one can interpret it (or they don't believe it)
- The "team" are not reviewing, analysing or acting on the indicators early enough of frequently enough
Thankfully, this is easily fixed (though like most things in life worth having, it takes time, dedication, and focus).
If this sounds like your business (or you want to know what best practice looks like) grab a copy of my book "The Business Exit Blueprint"
The Incisive Insights section walks you through, step-by-step, how to create your early warning system. And the Traction Flywheel section shows you how to hard-bake accountability into your business, so you never hit an avoidable "iceberg". Grab your copy HERE.
Or don't and play dodge the "iceberg", blindfolded.
Warmly,
Richard
PS: The book comes with my personal, unconditional, cast-iron, no-wiggle-room, works-or-it's-free, life-time guarantee (or double your money back). So, you've nothing to lose and everything to gain. Get your copy of "The Business Exit Blueprint" HERE