Power in Unlikely Places

Recently, I was asked to spend a couple of hours in front of 40 sales people and assorted work-place dignitaries and guests.  Originally, this was to be a training session for the business system implemented 16 months ago.  Let’s just say, the launch started out poorly and that major issues continue even today.

It’s critical that things are done correctly at the start of the work-flow process if one expects to have reliable data when the work-flow stops.  Additionally, the system in place is completely unforgiving.  Mistakes are costly in the form lost productivity.

Month after month, as we struggle to get a handle on this system, tempers have been known to get a bit difficult to control.  Salespeople struggle in efforts to work with customers.  They frequently feel that our new system is preventing them from doing what they do best, and change is not welcome.  Finance struggles with conformity and uniformity.  Every rule exception creates systemic havoc.