Ten Ways to Waste Money....

This article written by Dave Bertolini is one of the best I've seen for organizational growth. See the entire article go to http://reliabilityweb.com/index.php/articles/Top_Ten_Ways_to_Waste_Money/

But here is the first Three to give you a flavor of his truth laced with humor.

Number 10: When engaging with a consultant, ensure you ignore what they recommend. You’re only paying them to advise you. After all, what is it they know that you don’t already know?


Ideally, you have formed a partnership with your consultant and the total focus is on your organization’s success. A wise person once told me if you can’t solve a problem in three days, get someone from the outside to look at the issue, because you’ll never solve it on your own. It requires a leap of faith to place your trust in “an outsider,” but if you have chosen your partner wisely, mutual respect and trust can quickly be achieved and real results can happen. Remember, at the end of the day you’ve engaged with this individual to guide and advise you based on his/her knowledge and past experiences. More importantly the things you see and do every day are natural to you, but perhaps you can’t see the forest through the trees… when they might be able to. We all need someone to come by and pull our heads out of the mud puddle and tell us which way they went once in a while.

Number 9: Only empower and engage a small number of employees. It’s easier to manage and you won’t have to deal with a large group trying to change and move too
quickly.

If there was ever an adage that would fit nicely here it would be, “The more, the merrier.” Engage all you can. Empower people to make a change. The key to successful change is to paint the picture of the future, give them the tools to get there, and reward for the right results. A change initiative was once described to me that it’s like a big, long, fully loaded train. Once it gets up the steam and starts moving don’t try to stop it, because you can’t easily get it started again. The best thing one can do is to ensure the tracks are clear and the switches are set for the proper routing, and then enjoy the ride to the destination.

Number 8: Don’t waste money on training people. There are tons of free books at the library that people can check out to obtain the necessary skills to improve their performance and knowledge.

Does anyone really think when we hire an employee that they have signed on with all the skills they will ever need for their tenure within the organization? Hopefully not, however, most organizations end up treating people that way. Evaluate your training program; if there isn’t one, establish one. If not, you will always get what you have always gotten. Remember, all roles within the organization require some level of training to improve upon their fundamental skill sets. I heard a great saying somewhere along the way: “Remember, ignorance can be corrected through education; however, stupidity is forever.”