Part one looked at you being you. It was meant to capture or stimulate the “you-ishness” that makes others want to shop with you, to come back into the store. Now part two looks at your scorecard.
I immediately think of golf. I think of three persons. My brother in law. He has one of the most natural swings I have ever seen. It is very cool to watch. His sister, my wife has an equally beautiful swing, although she chooses not to play. And secretly, I wish she would – she would be great. Maybe it is a gene thing. I also think of my father. He has the most awkward swing ever. I love my father and still I watch in horror as he swings and yet it is always straight as an arrow. Your response would probably be “huh?” He is making adjustments to accommodate what he wants to accomplish. And then there is me. Yes, then there is me.
Let’s say we are part of the ubiquitous threesome and we all have the goal of a par four hole. Each of us would do what we think best to achieve the same goal. We evaluate clubs and distance and angles (not so much me, that would require something I do not think I possess). You see we all want the same things and yet we are not only at different levels of ability, we also are striving to achieve those things by different and unique means. This suggests we are capable of at least identifying the goal (think part one), we work to meet a need and we want to, well win, right? And at the end of the adventure, we would know our score. We would know how we succeeded (or not) in meeting our objective. We would know to what extent we were successful in our goal of meeting four strokes. Each a different path, an incredibly different style and still we had the same desire to meet a similar outcome. Is that not what we see in business?
This represents part two. You have to keep score. You must have benchmarks. You must align what you are trying to achieve (you being you) with some type of scorecard. And you must also realize how to get to “that” point. What it takes and how different it may be to achieve the outcome. Nevertheless, without a score, we do not know how we did.
So how do we look at culture? What scorecard matters most? As always, it depends. My immediate reaction is three things, period.
- Sales. Are you putting “rocks in the box”? You are retailers and that is the central goal. You are a sales organization and that means selling your widgets…today!
- Customers. What would they say about their experience? Think about that very carefully. Again, what would they say? Do you know or are you guessing?
- Employees. They have got to have a say. They have an importance in the cultural reality! They are easily half of the expression of culture. One is the customer’s ”vibe”. The other is the employee’s “vibe”.
So, back to our golf analogy. Having a score is one thing. What is takes to achieve the score will always be different. Let me re-phrase. You are all at different places. Some of you may have a natural “swing”. Others may have the most awkward swing ever and some of you may just be…well, just you. God bless you. Retail is a beast and is not getting easier. You are depending on the aspect your “golf” game will get…umm, better. What is your score?
Tomorrow, I will be practicing my golf swing. I will try to improve various behaviors to meet, achieve and exceed my desired outcome. I will evaluate my efforts to meet my benchmark, my scorecard. Are you doing the same?
What is your desired score?
Does your team know the score?
How are you keeping score?
If asked, what would your team say about how they’re doing today?
You asked today, right? And they said it was slow. Compared to what?
I have been raised with the phrase, “If you cannot measure it, you cannot manage it.”
Does that make sense?
Or are you looking to use your mulligan?
Cheers