Pivot, pivot, pivot. That’s all you hear about. The need to pivot.
Plenty of people have talked about the need without talking about the how. It’s all easier said than done. A crisis demanding the need for sudden change can be overwhelming. When it continues to slog on for months and the changes keep changing, it becomes exhausting.
Sometimes we make it harder on ourselves than we need to. Take the long lost buffet for example. Remember those? Even before Covid-19 reared its ugly head, buffets were starting to suffer from a reputation of being a bit dodgy when it came to germs. That decline was exponentially escalated back in March. Business leaders were forced to rethink their whole approach to accommodate new restrictions, health guidelines, and nervous customers.
And at least one did that brilliantly.
Good quality olives are expensive. There were tubs of delicious green, black, and kalamatas just getting old and thrown out. Pounds and pounds of wasted product and lost money. How were they going to recover any of their investment?
Many ideas were floated and some were instituted. Curbside pickup was fairly successful, but they still weren’t turning a profit on some of their most expensive stock. Finally they tried repackaging it. Instead of loose olives that no one was ordering, they were stuffed into easy to purchase jars.
Not only did excited customers begin adding them to their orders, but they were able to turn a higher profit on the jarred olives than they ever did with them on the buffet. This new normal became the best thing that ever happened for them. It's their Silver Lining.
It seemed like such an easy and obvious fix in retrospect. Many of our pivots feel can like that afterwards. We ask ourselves how we didn’t see this before. I find myself doing just that.
For years, I’ve led our live Catalytic Coaching Courses, training hundreds of business leaders and HR professionals how to be better Coaches and lead the Catalytic Coaching program in their organizations. Then suddenly, I couldn’t. Our March Course had to be postponed and rescheduling has been held up by concerns over the health and safety of participants, many of whom travel hundreds or thousands of miles to attend.
Weeks passed and many pivots were made before my Silver Lining became clear: I’m taking the Course into the virtual world. All the exercises and learning opportunities that seemed fixed in a real world setting are now adapting to a Zoom world. This new normal is going to be the best thing that’s ever happened for me and Catalytic Coaching! The elevated Catalytic Coaching Mastery Program is up and running! I can’t wait to share my newly jarred olives with you.
How do you jar your own olives?
Ask around. Your customers have been asking for product or service updates all along, either by voicing it or through their buying habits. Ask your team for their insights. You may find the best pivot hidden in the feedback.
Pivot again and again with a plan. In today’s new normal, one pivot isn’t going to get the job done. They’ll often build on each other. Be prepared to explore several opportunities before landing on the ones that ultimately bolster your company. Take a Plus/Minus assessment of the changes and drop what’s not working for you. Not every adjustment is a long term solution.
Rally the troops. Redesigning the Catalytic Coaching Course for an online world was a massive undertaking. Thankfully I have the support of several talented team members that worked hard to help make it happen.
Cascade your strategic shifts down by using direct, actionable Focus Areas that employees can build a Development Plan around. Targeted SMART goals give each worker clear direction and understanding of how they fit into the organization’s new normal.
Knowing what to Say, Ask, and Do in the face of a Crisis is a superpower. If your organization needs some help Coaching Through Crisis, I have developed a workshop that would be perfect for you.
Garold (Gary) Markle is the creator of Catalytic Coaching and author of Catalytic Coaching: The End of the Performance Review. He brings real world experience from 17 years in HR leadership in major corporations coupled with 20 years of teaching small and mid-sized organizations how to cultivate their leadership and ditch their detrimental performance reviews for a proven Coaching process.
Book Gary to speak to your audience about speeding your pace of significant change.
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