Food industry chief executives engage Blueberry when they want change. Something, Somewhere or Someone in the company is not producing the right results, or the right plan needs help getting started. By the time we arrive, we often find that mediocrity was tolerated for far too long and companies have fallen behind the hot, fast pace of the industry--requiring swift, sometimes uncomfortable, action to turn things around.
Maybe the CEO just didn’t notice millions of dollars in lost opportunity slipping through the cracks. Maybe he confined his attention to what’s going on inside the walls of the organization. Maybe she wasn’t alert to core products or business under attack by innovative competitors. Maybe he didn't realize the company was wasting time and money on ventures that have no real wings. Maybe she couldn't accept that a high profile executive was failing...because he's an executive with a big corporate pedigree. The red flags were there but the CEO wanted to know for sure, so he waited for a bigger flag. Then a bigger flag. Like a frog on a hot stove, he had a strong inkling to take a leap now, but bought into the line that results would come next quarter. Or the quarter after that. Or the quarter after that.
While market heat turns up yet another notch.
If a company isn't moving forward, it’s falling behind. Flat is the new decline.
What are CEOs waiting for? How long will they excuse underperforming areas of business without taking decisive--unpopular--action to get the company on the right track... especially a new track? Why is what’s not working allowed to continue? Remaining just one more day within the boundaries of yesterday will lead to big regrets tomorrow, I promise.
"The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire."
It's up to you. To survive the incoming waves of change in the food industry, chief executives must tear off the blinders. What worked in 2011 is simply not going to work this year. Each new piece of business, every new innovation, every case sale must be won with a repeatable, sustainable excellence and expertise aligned with the rest of the market.
Slow industry? No. We've never seen it so full of opportunity--and risk. Some executives are invigorated by it; many are overwhelmed. Ralph Marston said, “You've done it before and you can do it now. Redirect the substantial energy of your frustration and turn it into positive, effective, unstoppable determination.” Insist on organizational renewal this year. Take a non-negotiable stand on performance and results from new, vibrant areas of the industry. Don’t create waves; create tsunamis. Break out of your company's walls to see what's happening on the outside and prepare now for what's coming your way, including never-before ways of engaging with customers and trading partners. Be alert to the biases, outdated attitudes and thinking standing in the way of opportunities right in front of you.
And finally, by all means, overhaul the protectionism and sacred cows that are sacred to no one but you.
It may be January, but Baby, It's Hot Outside. Our industry is and will continue to demand more from your company. Are you prepared to respond and deliver in 2012?
