You and I probably don't go anywhere without our iPhone and iPad or Blackberry – we’re afraid we might miss something important. And we’d probably agree that technology can, and probably has, become an addiction. Even worse, we let technology blur the boundaries between our work and our personal lives.
We hear an email alert or a ding and we just can’t help ourselves. We have to check it. We stop what we’re doing or stop focusing on listening to someone else, to check the cause of the alert, knowing that the majority of technology alerts we receive are of little importance. These interruptions and our “always on” mentality really keep us from having a life. Whoops, sorry, I have to leave for a few minutes to check an email that just arrived; I think it might be really important. Okay I’m back now. Sorry for the interruption. What were we talking about?
“Since 2004, the US lawn and garden market has declined over 33%. This significant and prolonged market decline is unlike any other this industry has seen in decades.”
So read two sentences in the “Restructuring Actions” section of Briggs and Stratton’s financial results report released Jan. 26, 2012, for its second fiscal quarter and first six months of fiscal 2012, ending Jan. 1, 2012. My question to you is “have you noticed this market decline?” And equally important is my other question “what have you done differently in your business in response to this declining market in your chosen industry?”
Briggs and Stratton is responding to this declining market by closing two plants - one in Newbern, TN and the other in Ostrava, Czech Republic - and consolidating that production into two other U.S. plants in Murray, KY and Poplar Bluff, MO. As Todd Teske, chairman, president and CEO of Briggs and Stratton, states in the financial results report, “The actions announced today to consolidate our manufacturing footprint further will better align our production capacity to the markets we serve,,, It is a very difficult decision to close these production facilities; however, these changes are a necessary step in executing our strategy to grow the profitability of our business and invest our resources in high margin and margin expanding areas. We will make a dedicated effort to minimize the impact of these closings on our employees and the surrounding communities.”
Here’s my two cents worth how you should respond to this declining market: quit doing what you’ve always done! Don’t necessarily focus on what you can do better. Focus instead on what you should quit doing. Ask yourself the following questions: “Is it really necessary to keep doing something?” Why do you do it this way? If you didn’t do this at all, would anybody notice?”
In my business, our computer spits our lots of reports, some daily, some weekly, and some monthly. Guess what? We discovered that many of these reports are never read by the people who receive them. We don’t print them anymore or at the very least, not as often. If you only read the executive summary, then that’s the only thing you should print regularly. Maybe quarterly executive summaries will suffice instead of a daily or weekly report?
In 2012, we’re focusing on what we should quit doing. Maybe you should too?
Husqvarna recently reduced its parts distributors in the US from about eighteen to five. It’s been a long time since any OPE manufacturer made such a radical distribution change. No matter how manufacturers rationalize their parts and service distribution channels from time to time, your expectations as a warranty or non-warranty service dealer should never change. You should always expect and receive high quality and timely parts service from your authorized OEM central distributor or other authorized OEM source. And most importantly you should always expect to be treated like the valuable customer you are or will become, as long as you fulfill your business obligations with your suppliers.
I’ve previously written about how we are each responsible for our life, and how our ultimate success depends on the choices we make daily. Taking responsibility for the choices you make and the life you live is an indication of good character. Here’s a little story I read recently in Harvey Mackay’s Blog about accepting responsibility for the choices you make and the resulting outcomes.
“In ancient Rome, when the scaffolding was removed from a completed Roman arch, the law read that the Roman engineer who built the arch had to stand beneath it. The point was, if the arch came crashing down, he would experience the responsibility first hand. As a result, the Roman engineer knew that the quality of his work was crucial and would have a direct personal impact on his life.”
Roman engineers truly took responsibility for the job they did and the choices they made. Do you?
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