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Execution-MiH ENCYCLOPEDIA →
Execution Making-it-Happen →
SECTION - Entraprenurial Execution →
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CHAPTER - Entrepreneurial Way of Managing Business
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This chapter goes into the details of business management traits of an entrepreneur, which should be applied in organizational context. This includes 'thinking of possibilities', 'having an equal focus on topline & bottom-line', 'managing ambiguities' and high agility.
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Topics
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Assume no back-up
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An entrepreneur is alone in his pursuits as he cannot delegate upward or downward for make-or-break situations. One way to nurture an enterprising mind-set is to drive people to think about solutions and respond to problems. This does not mean a hands-off approach by the manager. Statements like 'what you would have done, had you been me?' or ' what you would have done, had it been your shop?' can help.
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Think about the solutions
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An inventive mind would not look for issues, but also possible solutions. Managers admire the employees who come with problems as well as possible ways to solve it. A manager has to be encourage employee to identify the real problems and try to find possible solutions. An enterprising mind needs to be fed with information and guidance. A manager should share the big picture, the organization priorities, the thought-process of senior management to make an employee think holistically.
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Build multi-skill resources to stay lean
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A start-up cannot afford too many specialists, and people have to do multiple jobs at the same time. This tendency tends to evaporate as an organization grows. Developing multi-skilled employees provides a greater depth as well as flexibility. This is not a disrespect to specialization. However, a good proportion of roles in a business are not complex enough to demand specialization.
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Maintain supplier of choice attitude
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Somewhere, one has to devise an incentive for people to maintain themselves as supplier of choice. There is a tremendous potential for an internal supplier to benchmark itself with independent service provider, and try to beat it as a competition. No performance is good performance, till it has got an external benchmark to compare itself with. An entrepreneurial mind-set is anti-complacency and works on exceeding constantly-changing performance benchmarks.
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Maintain equal focus on top-line as well as bottom-line
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Different functions have different focus. While sales is focused on topline, the operations are looking at the expense. Business heads finally end-up being among few roles, which are worried about both. An commercial mind in any role will look at both the topline and bottom-line impact of its actions. This can also be driven by tweaking the metrics. If an operations person is measured not only by the expense factor, but contribution to topline, it will refine the attitude.
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Managing ambiguities and unknowns
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An entrepreneur understand that not only he will not have answers to all the questions, he might not have all the right questions to ask (you don't know what you don't know). An employee with inventive mind-set will recognize that he will not be able to get answers to all the questions, as organization itself will not have the answers. In ambiguous times, a manager should come clean in terms of sharing the uncertainties with his team, instead of posturing confidence on future, and loosing credibility.
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Have the right questions and find the answers
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An entrepreneur constantly seek new information & clarity to improve his business. An inventive employee is a compulsive seeker of knowledge and he tries to create his own, if he does not get the answers. Constantly challenging the assumptions, testing new hypothesis and experimenting new ways are typical traits of a inquisitive mind.
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All Chapters in "Entraprenurial Execution." Section
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