Business results are downstream from culture. Culture determines what you’re focused on. What you’re focused on gets done.
A few years ago, I worked with a company which was struggling with innovation and top line growth. Digging a bit deeper, the problem became obvious. They had directed so much energy to cost cutting that a scarcity mindset had set in:
They were only focused on trying to get a bigger piece of the pie, and had forgotten how to simply bake more pies. No wonder that trust was low and turf wars over resources were rampant.
I helped them change their perspective by simply redirecting their behaviors: They shifted their leadership energy from finding ever more intricate ways to get the biggest piece of a limited market, to creatively open up new markets by smart innovation and bold business decisions. Soon, they exchanged a scarcity mindset for an abundance mindset.
An exhaustive focus on cost reduction deprives any organization of oxygen and poisons the river of business success. Do you wait to act after the dead fish appear, or decide to start driving an abundance mindset today?
Photo credit: iStockphoto/MasaoTaira