Creative Management
Great leaders have many skills, but out of these, there is one skill that will that sets the tone of their success or failure. There is one big thing to remember; that not all past ways may work from one company to the next. No matter what, a different company will exhibit technological difference that require much different development, operational, GTM, sales structures, etc. that meet the needs of the respective company. Time-to-market is of essence, but if the management team is merely putting in what may have worked in their past company(s) into their new company, then this is disaster waiting to happen, this has never shown success in any case study, and I can show and give plenty of examples. Great leaders should have many ways to adept to evolving changes in today’s high-technology companies. This is creative management vs ‘hand-me-down’ management. It’s a skill that’s earned with experience that has proven to be successful, time and again.
The management team should always on the same page to understand the essentials for execution of not only their organizational responsibilities, but to help others in different areas that may need their support. These areas could include such things as product and roadmap feasibility, market TAM’s, competitive environment, engineering execution (ie product release processes), operational models (ie manufacturability, inventory management, etc.), GTM overlay into sales models, support and services models, etc. All these areas are the ‘foundation of the company’ and they need to be established properly to execute on all fronts. Think of them as all connecting together, like Lego’s to build a great output or something that people are proud of. They must all have to click together and, if not, then there are breakdowns, and goals/results will not be met. It’s critical that every management team member is aligned.
Building the company’s foundation is the crux of every company’s problem and takes the longest to fix. The very first thing that breaks companies, is the management team chemistry. It’s absolutely critical that the management team is working together on all cylinders because not only are there dependencies with each other’s organization that are keys to the company’s success, but it’s critical that every departmental leaders understands the elements of all the other departments as well. If they’re great executive leaders then they better know their own respective department and charter, inside and out. However, if the marketing leader fully understands the charter of the engineering leader, and vice-versa, then I guarantee you that the output of both respective leaders will be even higher. This is very easy to see and the employees just feed off of this, positively. It’s the exact opposite, of ‘I’ll play my part and use play yours’. Management team members need each other to win, just like any team sport; if all the players on the team are working together in harmony then an average team can beat better teams that have ‘me-only’ players.
Simply put, this is creative management and it’s the job of the management team to work together, leveraging old ideas with new ideas, thoughts and mindshare to do what will work for this, particular company in order to help achieve company success. It’s not just ‘one’ individual. It’s absolutely key to make sure these foundational areas are all working together like Lego’s are linked together to achieve their goals, before any movement in the market would be expected. Without this, then management is setting false expectations to employees, board members, shareholders and other key stakeholders. It’ll turn out to be just all talk, with no positive results. Building the foundation is the key of any successful company, and it all really starts with having the management team in unison from the beginning.
Learn more by talking with key executives at Linear Growth Consulting, LLC
