Accelerate your business by committing to a culture of continuous learning
When it comes to your business, would you say your knowledge is half-full or half-empty?
By Carl Bates
In this case, being half-empty is a good thing. It shows that you are open to learning something new and seeing your business from a different perspective. Being half-full may be an indication that it is time for you to move on. Without fully embracing that there is always something new to learn, your business will not have the forward momentum needed for extreme business success.
The Law of Continuous Learning, the third law from my book The Laws of Extreme Business Success, focuses on the role continuous learning and improvement plays in your business. Too often I have observed business owners, especially when the business was founded on their knowledge, having the mind-set that they know their field and business so well that there is nothing left to learn. They would balk at the thought of an external consultant coming into their business and providing expertise and guidance, or even a little training. At the other extreme I have also witnessed business owners embarking on ambitious projects when they clearly do not have the knowledge to succeed.
While learning can be achieved through education and reading books, the real learning happens on-the-ground while you and your team strive to grow your business. This is as much about learning from mistakes as it is about getting it right the first time round. The key difference here is to make mistakes that help you to “fail forward”, or improve from those mistakes, and not to make mistakes that sink you. Either way, growth requires a willingness to take calculated risks and then learn everything possible from the situation. This requires that you lead your business in creating a culture of continuous learning, where every experience is an opportunity to review and improve on what you have done.
Lisa Gering, Sirdar’s National Growth Manager, recently returned from an expedition to Everest’s Base Camp at 5,364 metres above sea level. Having climbed Kilimanjaro in 2010 she reflects on how this experience helped her to understand this law, “On the mountain, just like in business, you have to be adaptable and willing to change. The weather alone is constantly forcing you to adjust to new conditions. Kilimanjaro was a really tough experience for me, yet I decided to be open to the lessons she provided, and in doing so, I was ready and prepared for our trip to Everest Base Camp. The result was a powerful and life-changing experience. I see this for our clients too; if they embrace the lessons to be learned, the next attempt brings a wealth of new opportunities.”
This process of learning, and the acceleration in business that comes from it, is most obvious when a governance process is implemented in an SME. While governance may be a new idea in the context of smaller businesses, it is rapidly becoming clear that in many cases it is more critically needed in SMEs than larger businesses and corporates.
One of the key responsibilities of a board of directors is assessing the results of the business against its strategy, business standards and policies, which requires systems of review, planning, monitoring and evaluation. This directed focus provided by the board supports management in their drive towards continuous improvement and meeting their strategic objectives. It also creates a culture of learning and growth in the business. The board will also expect and require that all directors, executive and non-executive, commit to continuous professional development through formal training, even by sitting as directors on other boards.
While directors bring their own expertise and learning contributions to the businesses they govern, the real impact of their involvement results in shortened cycles of learning; turning lessons into value to be leveraged quicker and more effectively.
Yet in SMEs the learning process is not always what you think it is. Lisa Gering adds, “The learning and support provided by the board is not always just about the hard data such as financials and performance targets. Very often it is about teaching business owners how to make the emotional journey from being a craft, where it is all about you, to being an enterprise with a bigger promise. Letting go can sometimes be the hardest lesson to learn”.
www.sirdargroup.com
carlbates@sirdargroup.com
+27 21 418 0752
By Carl Bates
In this case, being half-empty is a good thing. It shows that you are open to learning something new and seeing your business from a different perspective. Being half-full may be an indication that it is time for you to move on. Without fully embracing that there is always something new to learn, your business will not have the forward momentum needed for extreme business success.
The Law of Continuous Learning, the third law from my book The Laws of Extreme Business Success, focuses on the role continuous learning and improvement plays in your business. Too often I have observed business owners, especially when the business was founded on their knowledge, having the mind-set that they know their field and business so well that there is nothing left to learn. They would balk at the thought of an external consultant coming into their business and providing expertise and guidance, or even a little training. At the other extreme I have also witnessed business owners embarking on ambitious projects when they clearly do not have the knowledge to succeed.
While learning can be achieved through education and reading books, the real learning happens on-the-ground while you and your team strive to grow your business. This is as much about learning from mistakes as it is about getting it right the first time round. The key difference here is to make mistakes that help you to “fail forward”, or improve from those mistakes, and not to make mistakes that sink you. Either way, growth requires a willingness to take calculated risks and then learn everything possible from the situation. This requires that you lead your business in creating a culture of continuous learning, where every experience is an opportunity to review and improve on what you have done.
Lisa Gering, Sirdar’s National Growth Manager, recently returned from an expedition to Everest’s Base Camp at 5,364 metres above sea level. Having climbed Kilimanjaro in 2010 she reflects on how this experience helped her to understand this law, “On the mountain, just like in business, you have to be adaptable and willing to change. The weather alone is constantly forcing you to adjust to new conditions. Kilimanjaro was a really tough experience for me, yet I decided to be open to the lessons she provided, and in doing so, I was ready and prepared for our trip to Everest Base Camp. The result was a powerful and life-changing experience. I see this for our clients too; if they embrace the lessons to be learned, the next attempt brings a wealth of new opportunities.”
This process of learning, and the acceleration in business that comes from it, is most obvious when a governance process is implemented in an SME. While governance may be a new idea in the context of smaller businesses, it is rapidly becoming clear that in many cases it is more critically needed in SMEs than larger businesses and corporates.
One of the key responsibilities of a board of directors is assessing the results of the business against its strategy, business standards and policies, which requires systems of review, planning, monitoring and evaluation. This directed focus provided by the board supports management in their drive towards continuous improvement and meeting their strategic objectives. It also creates a culture of learning and growth in the business. The board will also expect and require that all directors, executive and non-executive, commit to continuous professional development through formal training, even by sitting as directors on other boards.
While directors bring their own expertise and learning contributions to the businesses they govern, the real impact of their involvement results in shortened cycles of learning; turning lessons into value to be leveraged quicker and more effectively.
Yet in SMEs the learning process is not always what you think it is. Lisa Gering adds, “The learning and support provided by the board is not always just about the hard data such as financials and performance targets. Very often it is about teaching business owners how to make the emotional journey from being a craft, where it is all about you, to being an enterprise with a bigger promise. Letting go can sometimes be the hardest lesson to learn”.
www.sirdargroup.com
carlbates@sirdargroup.com
+27 21 418 0752
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