Understanding the Basics of Success

It seems to happen far too often. While conducting the "autopsy" of a business problem we discover that the problem's root causes weren't very complex. We may even be shocked by how obvious the issues should have been: lack of market analysis? poorly managed supply-chain risks? Yet somehow, these basic things are missed.

Have ever you found yourself discussing an issue in your company and thinking or saying out loud “Why don’t we just do what we are supposed to do and..(insert basic business function)..??”

For some readers that question may ring true more often than it should. Those readers also wouldn't be surprised that some surveys inform us that many employees feel under-trained to perform their jobs. But, there is a way to improve or prevent this problem. It starts with understanding one of the many valuable slogans I learned from an old boss, General Jim Mattis:

“No strategy, no matter how good, will succeed unless we are brilliant in the basics”

I heard this the first time while preparing for combat years ago. General Mattis constantly reminded us about the importance of “brilliance in the basics”. The relevance of his philosophy for those of us in business today is worth considering.

The General's belief is not based only on his own experiences, but also on his extensive studies of leadership. He cited the following examples during a 2018 speech to make the point: “And out of World War I, where the first advance we made -- the first offensive we made went horribly wrong, because troops couldn't get to the front lines in the right order, there was a traffic jam, the attack went badly. It's a reminder, we've got to be brilliant in the basics of blocking and tackling, because from Bataan Peninsula (WWII) to Kasserine Pass (WWII) to Task Force Smith (Korea), we know too well the cost of not being ready.”

The General is implying that although our war planners may write effective plans that match our strengths against an opponent’s weakness- for example, our air power against their armor- none of it will work if we are performing poorly in the basic tasks. In this case, if our logisticians and mechanics can’t keep the aircraft operational. It’s all useless if our soldier can’t properly guide aircraft to the targets.

I saw the reality of this during our street-fighting in An-Najaf, Iraq. Untrained militia fighters used improperly stored munitions against us. The result was frequent failure. I recall one very tired Marine showing me his ripped trousers and some blood from an open wound. Then he explained, in a state of disbelief, that his leg was actually hit by a mortar round which did not explode. He was very lucky to live to tell the tale, and he knew it.

In business, the "street battles” are happening everyday. The relevant question raised by General Mattis' point is whether business leaders are sufficiently vigilant about their team’s skills and readiness to do the job at hand. Does the marketing team properly map the customer journey? Has a recent customer segmentation analysis been done and did it impact sales KPI’s? In one start-up, I watched poor skills with a subscription software service create bad data which resulted in inventory reports that were both useless and expensive because of the resulting poor decisions. 

A recent Harvard Business Review article by economist James Besson from Boston University School of Law discussed research showing a healthy 54% of employees surveyed say they don’t know everything necessary to do their current job. The breakdown of needs is in the graph below:

If the lack of skills proficiency is so prevalent among employees, as reported by themselves, what exactly are companies doing wrong?

The problem starts at the top. Not surprisingly, during our work with clients we find that companies often establish good core values regarding important issues such as customer service and product quality. However, we have yet to find a company whose leadership articulates the expectation of professional competence as a core value. Not even as it relates to the other values (i.e. ensure excellent customer service through sustained training in needed skills, behavior etc..). This is also true among companies which consistently conduct training for their employees. You may wonder why we think it is important to make this part of an organization's core values? Because senior leaders who make the effort to formalize this expectation- just as General Mattis did with us - enable it to cascade down into the daily language and culture of junior leaders supervising their teams. Just like it did for us. It informs internal process reviews that inspire frank discussions and may result in the allocation of needed resources. People will talk more openly about it when everyone knows the expectation. By role-modelling the importance of professional competence through language, training and behavior (See another Mattis example), leaders create an environment which motivates team members to meet those expectations. They will also generate demand signals for training so that they can meet the expectations. Employees will eagerly seek to be part of the 46% who feel trained to do their job. After all, most want to secure themselves in their job. It decreases stress. Something that also makes them more willing to stay in their job.

Not all training needs to come from outside your organization. Mentoring and coaching by existing staff can have a powerfully positive effect on team dynamics. Do you have someone in your teams who exemplifies "good" or "great" in your opinion? Let them lead training. They will feel valued and other team members will take notice when senior leadership crowns someone as the standard to aim for. Better yet if a manager takes their own time to help ensure the employees can be successful. That is the right message to send for a variety of reasons.

Vigilance about skills and articulating their value is a necessary part of becoming a company which can align its reward and performance counselling system into a clear “what we do and how we do it”. We frequently remind clients that leaders should start the conversation with their teams. They should start with tools and processes teams are currently using. Solve that problem first. Then move onto new things

 A 2016 Forbes Magazine article also highlighted the importance of the "front-line" ownership of training plans we encourage. In the article, training professionals detailed the wasted expenses and poor results companies may get when employee training decisions are driven solely by HR (read it here). The author argues that needs must be driven by discussions, starting from the CEO downward, in which leaders ask hard questions about the degree to which teams have the needed technical skills (like writing copy) or are using methods that fit their company (Lean for example).

For many small businesses (like myself) and start-ups the challenge can be even greater. Because we don’t always know what the basics are that we should be good at! Many successful companies are run by people without the broad foundation in methodologies that a business degree might provide. We hire or contract services exactly because we don’t have experience in the needed skills. So how do we ensure those members of the team have the needed brilliance in those basics?

In this situation, I recommend you take a note from a recent video I shared about Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. Start by scheduling some time to just sit and think about the subject. Write down your questions. Since we live in a time of unparalleled access to knowledge- you can start by letting Google be your guide. The resources are immense. Here’s an accounting course for managers. Thinking bigger? Try a list of thousands of free courses taught by Universities like Stanford and Duke here. Wondering what your digital marketing consultant should be doing? Google Analytics for beginners here; Facebook’s how-to courses here. The list is endless.

The point is, its important to have a bias towards action. Commit the time and resources somewhere within your company to researching what is needed and how to get it (i.e. tell someone else to work on it if you can’t)

All things being equal, your employees' skill-level is one of the few things your competition may find hard to match. If you follow the formula of articulating to your teams the importance of "Brilliance in the Basics" and taking ownership of the training your teams need, then this investment can become a powerful competitive advantage for you. Get the basics right and any "fancy" plan you try will likely be that much more effective. The "magic moment" as they say in the hotel industry; the thing that puts you over the top.

Good Luck.