Cause and effect

After A comes B. Sure? If you sell more products at the same price, then your revenue will grow. Right? If you pay out more rewards to your sales staff, then the sales will grow. Perhaps. Perhaps not. If you decrease the prices of your services, then you will sell more. It depends.

The correct estimation of cause and effect is a wicked problem when it comes to business decisions.

Many managers spend a tremendous amount of time finding the screws they have to turn to become or stay successful.

The trick is this: The different screws are interrelated.

What is the solution? Consistency.

The chances for success are by far higher if you drive consistent activities toward your goals. If one measure shows no effect, then the next will push forward instead.

The keywords are clear goals and consistent actions. You need both.

It is as simple as that. Most organizations that I see lack at least one of these two ingredients. Many lack both: They stumble ahead toward unclear goals. They will not be successful, at least not sustainably.

This is, by the way, a very clear cause-and-effect relationship!

Monday morning task: Ask some of your people how clear they find the organization's goals and how consistent the related actions.

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