The title of this article might seem confusing, but it can be viewed in two ways: as either destructive or inspiring. If you’re reading this now, you likely see it as the latter. Understanding what can destroy your business is a crucial part of the decision-making process toward success. When your business faces challenges like decreased profits, losses, or low productivity, it’s clear you have a problem. However, it’s not uncommon for companies to notice the effects of a problem without identifying its root cause. People often believe they are doing what’s best for their business, only to be surprised when the results don’t meet their expectations.
Regularly monitoring company results, whether monthly or quarterly, is essential for early problem detection. The sooner you notice an issue, the better, as addressing it promptly can prevent the problem from growing and becoming more costly or even irreversible.
In stressful moments, leaders might struggle to generate immediate ideas for improvement. Implementing significant changes can take time, but certain tools can help guide the company back on track during the transition period. One such tool is reverse brainstorming. While many are familiar with traditional brainstorming, reverse brainstorming is often overlooked despite its potential to produce immediate results.
Reverse brainstorming is a method of self-assessment where participants identify various ways to cause a problem. These negative ideas are then used to inspire solutions. For instance, if a company is experiencing a drop in sales, a leader might gather the team to brainstorm actions that could worsen the situation, such as lowering product quality, offering poor after-sales service, delaying deliveries, delivering incorrect orders, ignoring sales agreements, increasing prices, reducing the sales team, or stopping collaboration between production and sales.
The next step is to compare these negative actions with what the company is currently doing. The team might discover they are indeed delaying deliveries, short-staffed, or not monitoring the competition. This tool helps reverse the wrong actions or strengthen previously effective areas, leading to immediate improvements in overall performance.
In conclusion, identifying how you could potentially destroy your business is a key step in building resilience against current and future challenges, preventing internal problems from escalating and threatening your business’s survival.
Dr. Youssef Lamaa
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