Do Your Business Rules Violate the Prime Success Directives?

Michael R. Wood is a Business Process Improvement & IT Strategist Independent Consultant. He is creator of the business process-improvement methodology called HELIX and founder of The Natural Intelligence Group, a strategy, process improvement and technology consulting company. He is also a CPA, has served as an Adjunct Professor in Pepperdine's Management MBA program, an Associate Professor at California Lutheran University, and on the boards of numerous professional organizations. Mr. Wood is a sought after presenter of HELIX workshops and seminars in both the U.S. and Europe.

 

Every business has a set of business rules it follows.  They are the rules that govern the way business is conducted.  For some, the rules are formal and well articulated. For others, they are informal and have evolved without much deliberate thought.  The important question is, "How do you know if your business rules are right?" Are there criteria that any set of business rules can be tested against for correctness?  I believe there are.  I like to think of this over-arching test as the "Make It Easy" rule.  This rule applies to every organization.  It is the driver of success.  Organizations that violate it find it difficult to maintain long-term growth.  They find it hard to build employee loyalty and sustain productivity. Their customers are short-term in nature.  Their owners are dissatisfied with their investment returns. The "Make It Easy" rule is the Prime Success Directive because it is consistent with human nature.

Every aspect of your business should be built around making it easy for people to buy from you, work for you, invest in you and support you.  Ironically this basic formula is frequently violated and ignored in business.  When a business subscribes to the "Make It Easy" rule, it finds that customers are more apt to choose them over the competition; employees find the workplace more relaxing and rewarding; and owners reap the rewards of a productive …

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