Go or No-Go

Uncle Paul was about to take a big step in his business.  He had long watched how the local treat shops did special things for Valentine’s Day growing their business significantly – for at least the few weeks prior to the actual day.  Typically, Uncle Paul stayed away from these kinds of special events, as he didn’t think people would look to his store as a source of gifts for a loved one.  This year was planned to be different.

I asked Uncle Paul about the risk in spending money to establish his business amongst such a popular and competitive segment of the market.  He said, “The key thing is to make sure you have done your research.  I always plan for success,” he smiled.  “I met with everyone on my team long before the Valentines’ “season” actually started.  We planned out each step, including which suppliers would have to be contacted, when things had to be delivered, who was contracted to do the delivery, the promotional plans, and so on.”

I new from my own experience that simply planning in advance was not enough, so I pressed him for more. “Uncle Paul, I plan many things, only a few actually go off as desired”. 

“Ah, the trick is to get everyone to buy into the plan, not just your immediate team, but everyone involved.  In my business, I call a special meeting that includes representatives from all the critical areas.  My suppliers have learned to trust my judgment, so they all personally attend. We go through the plan one item at a time and I make sure everyone agrees not only to the plan, but their specific role and commitment within it”.  He was proud of the respect and influence he held within the fruit market community.

“Once the plan is reviewed, I ask everyone to confirm their commitment to their particular role. I literally ask everyone to say “it’s a go”.  If we succeed in going around the table with everyone saying “it’s a go”, then I know I can count on achieving the goals of my plan.”.  He stared off somewhere behind me.

“And if they say no?” I asked.  “Ah, then we have to show our experience as business people.  We horse trade – we make deals – we sometimes even argue – sometimes a lot.  In the end, we look for ways to work around the obstacles.  For example, sometimes the delivery people have to agree to having a special truck on standby in case the schedule changes at the last minute and a rush order is needed”.  It sounded good so far, but I could sense not everything is always successful.

Uncle Paul looked at me this time and said, “If we can’t work out the trouble spots, we agree to refocus the meeting on the basic elements of the original plan.  If the plan is related to a major event like Christmas, we know our business is at stake -- we can get quiet innovative to solve our problems.  For minor events, I’ve sometimes walked away realizing that the risk was too high and I don’t ever want to disappoint my customers”.  I watched intensely his facial expressions – nose extended, jaw heavily grinding, wrinkles in his forehead all but gone as he curled his brow downwards, eyes transfixed on some internal image.

My Uncle Paul has always been a good storyteller.  I could picture him sitting in a room with all of his team reviewing the plans for some big event in his business.  Perhaps a release of a new kind of fruit, oh, maybe the time those special berries from Singapore came in as a favor from one of his best customers.  It was clear his secret was to involve everyone in the decision making process.  His success must come from allowing everyone to have a say in whether a particular goal is achievable or not. 

I could see how to apply his ideas to my line of work.  We plan major release cycles targeting specific market research. Inevitably, we have to wait until almost the last minute before actually knowing if we are going to have what we need. It gets very stressful, especially on the Marketing and Sales functions that already started to set external expectations – always planning for success.  We’ve disappointed more than we have pleased.  It seems like there are some key points to learn from Uncle Paul’s approach:

• Focus on the importance of team commitment to the goals.  The decision-making should include all relevant parties who contribute to the goal.  Everyone has a vote

• Go/No go decision making means business is committed to realizing an objective

• Remind everyone that money is spent; commitments need to be made – advanced commitments

• Everyone must accept that compromise will need to be made in order to keep important goals. You should decide – in advance – the line that can’t be crossed.  If you have to cross it – you default to a No-Go decision

• The person responsible for the business can override a go/no-go decision for sake of the bigger picture.  If an override occurs, no recourse should be allowed if goals are not achieved – business is about risk taking and this must be respected

• At each decision point, review the main objectives of the plan, reaffirm cornerstones of the product, reaffirm key elements of business case --- all to make sure everyone is on board and understands the basis for their vote