GENCO MEMO-12-20-24: Book Except Q&A From My Library
A few excerpts from my library instructive in turnaround situations.
We are close to the end of the year and always enjoy going back to what books I read and what I found worth highlighting.
Here are some excerpts from my library that I found to be relevant to business turnaround situations.
Q: Why is it important to evaluate the current situation before developing a plan going forward?
A:
Here is a scene we often quote at the Firm when we see someone executing on a plan without an honest assessment of the situation:
Q: Once I understand the situation and the problem I face, how do I develop a plan to solve it?
A:
The point is that once you truly understand the problem, the solution reveals itself to you.
Here’s a good video of Mapping a situation so that the solution reveals itself. This is the methodology developed at Google and described in the book: Sprint.
Q: Where’s a potential source to find ideas to solve the problem if I can’t think of any?
A:
According to Sam Walton's book "Made in America," Wal-Mart was built almost entirely off of other retailers' good ideas.
"Most everything I've done I've copied from someone else," Walton writes in the book.
One of Walton's first jobs in retail was running a franchise for Ben Franklin, a chain of discount stores. While he was running the Ben Franklin store, Walton often visited his competition across the street–looking at prices, looking at displays, looking at what was going on.
As the book describes, when Walton built the first predecessor to Wal-Mart in Bentonville, Arkansas, he copied everything from Ben Franklin — from the accounting system to shelving.
"Although we called it Walton's Five and Dime, it was a Ben Franklin's franchise," Walton writes.
Walton says he was obsessive about staying on top of every new idea in retail.
"I read an article about these two Ben Franklin stores up in Minnesota that had gone to self-service — a brand-new concept at the time…I rode the bus all night long to two little towns up there — Pipestone and Worthington. They had shelves on the side and two island counters all the way back. No clerks with cash registers around the store. Just checkout registers up front. I liked it. So I did that too."
Sam Walton should probably be on your list of people to learn from.
That is all.
Enjoy your weekend!