It's Not Luck - Eliyahu M. Goldratt [72]
I agree that we’re bound to reveal a deep cause that we can handle. I pray that we can handle them with only small changes. Probably that’s the case, since there are so many UDE’s that stem from our service.
As he does it, I’m concentrating on the next injection. How can we guarantee that the market perception of value for our products will be higher than for our competitors?
To my surprise I realize that no additional injection is needed. The market has several existing UDE’s that relate to our type of product (including the way it is currently offered). This means that currently no one is successfully addressing the core problem responsible for these UDEs. If we do it, the market is bound to have a higher perception for our products. No sweat.
I know that for the markets of each of my companies these UDE’s are not small. Relieving all of these UDEs will be highly beneficial. We are going to get a dominant competitive edge.
When Don finishes, I go to the flip-chart and post in the appropriate statements and arrows. When I finish, the injection, “The perception of value the market has for the company’s products is higher than the perception it has for the competitors’ products,” is no longer an injection. It’s a derivative, a result.
“I see why you insisted on writing the Future Reality Tree even though it was a pie-in-the-sky,” Don is beaming. “Now it provides us with a clear map. We know exactly what we have to address.”
“So let’s address it. What is the next injection we have to connect to?”
“ ‘The actions the company takes are difficult to follow by its competitors,’ ” he reads from the board. “How can we guarantee that the competitors will have trouble copying our offering?”
We continued the process, hammering out every detail and building a rigorous map for Bob and Stacey to follow.
21
I half sit, half lie in front of the TV, barely watching the news. It was an exhausting day, especially with the bomb Pete laid on me just before the day ended. It’s a big problem. And if it’s not solved immediately, everything might collapse.
Stacey’s company will be sold to the shredders, Pete and Bob’s companies will be sold for peanuts, and before long they too will be destroyed. And me? I’ll be thrown out, disgracefully, into the street. Trumann and Doughty will guarantee it. Everything depends on a quick solution to this unexpected problem. Well, not exactly unexpected. I suspected it right from the start, but who could have anticipated it would be so severe?
Why is it that exactly when everything seems to be under control, reality proves that it isn’t? If there is one thing I can’t complain about, it is living a dull life. Some excitement is fine, but this roller coaster I’m on is a little too much.
The worst thing about it is that I personally cannot do a thing. My hands are tied. The only thing I can do is sit tight and wait for Pete and Don to straighten out the mess. One thing more nerve-wracking than being a warrior is being the one waiting behind the lines for the warriors to win.
Do I have a real reason for my concerns? It all started at four this afternoon, when Fran passed me a call from Pete.
“Alex, I think I’m running into a little problem.” Knowing Pete’s British heritage, I suspect a big problem. “What is it?” I calmly ask. “My people are unable to sell our new offer,” he says without emotion.
“How come?” I am sincerely surprised. “According to your reports, you have closed three more deals in the past two weeks.”
“Yes, Alex. That’s the problem. I have closed them, not my people. My people have succeeded in closing nothing so far. Not that they haven’t tried. They have. By now they are so desperate that they refuse to try anymore. I am afraid we’ll have to revise the forecast back down.”
“Wait, Pete, not so quickly. Tell me more.”
“There is nothing more to tell,” Pete sounds down. “I just finished a sales meeting. Each one of our salespeople has tried to sell it