Thoughts on a business in transition... the first of many it seems.

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

Recently I have been having in depth discussions with a colleague of mine regarding businesses in transition, what it means, its impact, and how our backgrounds offer a unique perspective on this topic; particularly on the commercial side (Renee is quick to remind me that Sales and Marketing is much clearer than saying "commercial"; this is another point of discussion). Call it Commercial or Sales and Marketing, we definitely can offer insight.

Transition (the noun) is defined as the process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another*, and with respect to business, I will say this is a constant state... the exception I suppose is when a business is stagnate (showing neither growth nor decline). Even this stagnation though will tip either towards growth or decline in time and return the business to its natural state of change. BY DEFINITION, A BUSINESS IS ALWAYS IN TRANSITION... sometimes fast and sometimes slow, but always transitioning one way or another.

There are four considerations that come to mind when it comes to transition that frame up the real world aspects of dealing with it:

Transition due to internal factors - Transition and change in the organization driven by internal activities and initiatives by leadership and employees to build a more viable and successful business. An example of this would be the implementation of a new CRM system for the sales force to manage customer opportunities and increase revenue.

Transition due to external factors - Transition and change in the organization driven by external forces that impact how the company conducts business. Examples of this can range from new government regulations, through new competitive products, to the countless changes that can happen with the customer's ever changing expectations. 

Transition by "evolution" - Transition and change that occur at a controlled pace as part of long term strategic planning, the companies goals, and market considerations. 

Transition by "revolution" - Transition and change that occur because of a dramatic event... either externally or internally. A merger or leadership change (with very different philosophies) represent the more colourful examples of transition by "revolution".

It was at this point I literally looked up from my computer and asked myself, "Do you really believe you can tackle this topic with a 500 to 700 word blog post?"  I will definitely need more words and future posts, and with that said, I will lay the foundation regarding a business in transition by saying,

"Transition in business is a natural state that is under constant influence by external and internal factors, and it is the responsibility of leadership and employees alike to manage this as proactively as possible... ever prepared to deal with the change of revolution" 

The gauntlet has been thrown down... I will organize my thoughts on a business in transition, particularly with the commercial function, and tackle it with gusto 500 to 700 words at a time. I invite my colleague Renee Cormier, as well as anyone else, to offer insights on a business in transition.

Because in a very practical sense, it will touch us all throughout our careers.

iamgpe

* Thank you internet for one of the many definitions.

Mergers, acquisitions, and the inevitable "integration".

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

If you are in the private sector, particularly in a public company, I can say with great certainty you will go through a merger or acquisition sometime in your professional career... and probably more than once. I've gone through no less than seven, and that is not including the various acquisitions "just for the technology".

I will defer to the Directors, Investment Bankers and Lawyers to offer up the subtle differences between "a Merger" and "an Acquisition" as it seems there is always someone in the equation who was doing the "acquiring". Semantics aside, there is always an integration of one organization into another... what used to be two, is now one.  

Unless you are part of the aforementioned group, more often than not you will find out about the "merger and/or acquisition" through a press release, a company wide email or if you are really lucky, get called into someone's office and given a heads up 30 minutes before "something is about to go down". No one integration is ever the same in my experience; all having different rules of engagement and scenarios with no standardized check list to help get you through it. 

At the very most, I was able to come up with three guiding principles over the years that have served me well.

There will be CHANGE, and there will be OPPORTUNITY.

This is a truism (and quite possibly a universal law) that may or may not be to your benefit, advantage or convenience when it comes your way; you may be able to influence it or even champion it, but in the end, you will have to manage it no matter where it takes you. I was introduced to the book "Who moved my Cheese by Spencer Johnson" many years ago during my first integration; I encourage everyone to read it at least once. It is an excellent book on managing change.

You will hear the phrase, "Business as usual" to be sure and this is a very true statement; it does carry the presumption that everyone internally understands that there is an accelerated need to manage through transition and that any subsequent changes don't negatively impact the customer experience. From an external perspective it needs to be business as usual, but do not assume that applies internally.

It's wasted energy trying to rationalize that change will not touch you, and more important to focus your energy on how to effectively manage through any change and opportunity that will present itself. If you are thinking, "My function is too important to be impacted", or "We bought them so they will have to do what we do", or "We are doing really well so there this no way they will change how we do things", or the countless other ways we rationalize that things will not change... you need to stop and refocus your thinking.

CHANGE and OPPORTUNITY are coming.

Synergy, restructuring and unfortunately good people will leave.

A Merger and/or Acquisition poses the question, "How can the new organization be run more efficiently to reduce costs and increase revenue?".*

• Revenue synergy (more revenue as a result of the merger and/or acquisition)
• Cost synergy (cost savings as a result of the merger and/or acquisition)

This is the reality of business... reduce duplication and inefficiency to increase profits. This is the birthplace of all that change, the resulting restructuring, rationalization of two departments into one, and the reduction in duplication of resources.

More often than not, restructuring and the search for synergies is not an overnight event. You will be part of the process as you manage "business as usual" and directly or indirectly restructure for the future. Like it or not, inevitably good people will leave... either out of the organization or to a new opportunity within the new organization.

No matter how much change there is, an organization doesn't want to lose good people because there is just so much work to do... be open to where restructuring and opportunity may ask you to go.

In the end, all you have is your Leadership and your Character.

The question you have to ask yourself is what does "Leadership and Character" mean to you and what will it look like as you work through the dynamic and difficult times that are often part of any Merger and/or Acquisition. You represent yourself during these times... no one else.

And remember people are watching, that they are also managing through the same change, and they have most likely been asked to make difficult decisions.   

My recent merger and/or acquisition experience ended up having me saying goodbye to a company after twenty-two years... on good terms, with a smile, a tear, and a handshake. What an amazing ride to be sure. I made a point of passing on these guiding principles before I left to anyone who would listen. Alas, that wasn't as many as I had hoped.

iamgpe

* I would suggest a business interested in staying modern and viable always needs to be asking "How can the new organization be run more efficiently to reduce costs and increase revenue?"

I thought I would learn to code... what was I thinking?

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

In magazines, definitely in social media streams, and even in a best selling tome... in one form or another, we have all seen this:

                                    "The 10 things you need to know to be successful!"

Sometimes it's eight and sometimes it's fifteen, but nevertheless it is a list of "proficiencies" that you need to know to be successful; I have noticed a tendency to emphasize the list and not so much the definition of success, but that is neither here nor there.

I was reviewing a list a while back, because hey, "we all want to be successful" and one of the suggested "success points" in this particular list was to learn computer coding*. The reasoning was that with the continued personalization of computer programs to manage our daily activities, having a basic understanding of how to code will be crucial.

                                                        This actually made great sense to me.

I should mention that before three weeks ago I had never taken a computer course, a logic course and had always avoided making "macros" in Excel because it was something so foreign to me... a little reminiscent of when I decided to learn to ride a motorcycle. Coincidentally, it seemed a good friend of mine had also read the same "Top 10" and was already into his online lessons. He is in finance and his motivations were slightly different than mine... he wanted better insight into the basics of computer programming so he would know if his IT people were bullshitting him about costs, deadlines and the such. My reasons, besides being more successful, were slightly different.

I've been at it for about three weeks now** and below you find the code I put together for a simple "Pig Latin Translator"... when you enter a word it moves the first letter to the end of the remaining word, and adds "ay". It really works !

print 'Welcome to Pig Latin Translator"
pyg = 'ay'
original = raw_input('Enter a word:')
if len(original) > 0 and original.isalpha():
    print original
word = original.lower()
first = word[0] 
new_word = word[1:len(new_word)] + first + pyg
else
print 'empty'

What am I really getting out of this?

Do I have a goal to ultimately be competent with basic "Python" code and able to program at a basic level? Yes! 

Is that my only reason? No way... in fact there are many reasons:

• Trying something new offers me the opportunity to connect and network with new people... I find myself constantly looking for people in "the know" and am introduced to people I would not normally connect with. And based on my humble experience, they are very interesting people.
• I am forced out of my comfort zones, my habits, my routines and into something unknown. I have to switch off my "autopilot" and think differently. This is the simple formula for discovering wonderful new things.
• New things compliment old things. In the case of coding, proof reading the code itself, the indentations and the colon placement is making me a better proof reader when I write with "good ol' letters"
• What I am doing contributes to that Top 10 List for Success because as you know, "constant learning" is always close to the top of that list.

                                                                                  And one last thing,

As my finance friend mentioned, it's a sign we haven't given up... not by a long shot. He is very smart by the way.

iamgpe

PS: Let me know if you see something wrong with my code.

* I understand that in some circles there is a debate as to whether the appropriate word is "coding" or "programming. In my world, I am using the word "coding" because it has less letters to type.

** I am using CodeAcademy (on-line) and I really enjoy their approach; as modest as it is, I am leaning something. I am constantly forgetting to indent and add a colon, but am told this is all quite normal and "to keep at it".