Lessons Learned: Change and Alignment
by Vart Adjemian |
| Chief Operating Officer Vart Adjemian |
"We
often believe we can achieve our goals through change alone. This can
be a wonderful method for creating the illusion of progress while
producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization."--Patrinus Arbiter, Roman General.
The world has changed
significantly in recent months and continues to change in profound
ways. We all saw this in the incredible and heinous terrorist acts of
9/11, and we know that life will not be the same.
Our business world has also
changed and continues to present new challenges. Consumer awareness has
accelerated enormously, and many more dynamic competitive forces are
operating. Standards in all industries have risen to a point where
there is simply no way to "fake" quality, and no way to be average and
be successful.
In our own company, we went
through a dramatic change three years ago when we divested our grain
trading operations. We are still changing today, continually working to
improve our businesses and our performance. We are also responding to a
wide range of external forces and pressures. These include, but are not
limited to:
- The shifting sands of deregulation and
re-regulation. A totally unexpected development was the Senate's
approval of the Johnson Amendment to restrict livestock ownership by
meat processors, and the still unresolved status of this amendment in
Congress.
- The competitive challenge of emerging companies in all areas and sometimes (as in the case of Enron) their total collapse.
- The accelerating rate of technological progress, especially in productivity and manufacturing efficiency.
- The increasing globalization of the world economy. For our
company, exports of certain products to overseas destinations are
critical business drivers. Yet world trade is often influenced by
inherently political considerations rather than by economics and human
needs.
As we all know, change isn't easy and
can be a painful process. However, it should be embraced when it is
logical and necessary. On the other hand, change only for the sake of
change, and only for appearances, can be unproductive and damaging.
Throughout my career,
having been through a number of major changes, I have learned that
successful change occurs when people are aligned with, and committed
to, the company's goals and objectives. When there is no alignment, it
is impossible to change successfully and complete the transformation.
This alignment consists of ensuring that our organizational structure,
focus, systems, and operational processes contribute to achieving our
objectives and meeting the needs of our customers, shareholders, and
employees.
Far and away the greatest
leverage of the principle of alignment comes when all our managers at
all levels and all our people are in alignment with our vision and
strategy. Every phase of the process, every activity, counts and is an
integral part of the chain. When our people are filled with a true
understanding of the company's needs, and are challenged to create and
continually improve the structures and operating systems that will meet
these needs, then we have alignment.
As one CEO has said, "I
think of our company as a volleyball team. It takes three hits to get
the ball over the net and it does not matter who hits it."
Vart