Buy-in key to better business

It has been a big week, topped off by the election result.

It seemed to come around quick after 2008 and I reflected on Sunday about how exponentially better my life is from where it was two to three years ago. In pondering those achievements and changes, I realised that if you want positive change in your life it's up to you - you need to drive change.

I am already on record through this column that I am not a great believer in (or user of) sayings or catch phrases. But one rings true when it comes to wanting to better your business and that is "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink".

The key to sustaining any continuous improvement initiative is the buy-in of those who are part of the business seeking to improve. This is also true where you are mentoring someone to improve their performance. Buy-in is key because without it (and its "sister" quality, enthusiasm), initiatives which would otherwise have major organisational pay-offs don't have the planned impact. A personal example is my own fitness regime which has slipped back recently and an unhealthy lollies habit has resurfaced.

This week, I was busted by Mrs Bell and her sidekick, Miss Bell, in my attempt to conceal a stash of Jetplanes and Wine Gums. Evidently, the glove box in the "Bell-mobile" is not the optimum place to conceal banned foodstuffs. In fact I had been noticing lollies disappearing faster than I had been consuming them. I sense Miss Bell was herself apprehended in the act and ratted out her father when offered a plea bargain by Mrs Bell.

Anyhow, the succumbing to temptation and indulging in sugary treats is symptomatic of a deeper loss of buy-in to the exercise regime which I wrote about earlier in the year.

On reflection, I miss the exercise and the good things it did for me but I slipped back into a bad habit.

So it is with improving your business or your own performance in it. You need to see it through and keep it going.

In a month we will all be pondering this year's round of resolutions - how many of us have achieved the ones we set out to do at the beginning of this year? Or for the last three years for that matter.

And keeping it going can be as little as five minutes a day or as much as entirely revolutionising the way you do things.

It amazes me that after 15 years of working in the process improvement field that there are a minority of people who stubbornly hold on to the "old way" or return to bad habits after being shown the path to effectiveness and being trained to get better. These same people moan and groan when they are overlooked for a promotion or get less than they expected at salary review time. If someone gave you a winning Lotto ticket you would cash it in, wouldn't you?

In my case, I will take the hard work of exercise and get back to what was working so well for me lest little voices in my house continue to call me "fat Dad". Terry Arbuckle, if your phone hasn't rung yet, it soon will!