Who are we?

 February 25 – Time to reach out to my other responsibilities – as Chair of company number 2.

You may recall I’d been working with the MD to tackle his procrastination. To do this I was using a technique called solution focussed therapy. This does not mean hours are spent analysing the problem. Instead it seeks to determine what the situation would be if the problem was solved and what characteristics would identify the change.

Through the turmoil in accounts in my main occupation this activity has been quietly going on in the background as the basis for identifying the changes needed if any business planning process is to be useful and set realistic targets for change that can be identified, so allowing progress to be monitored, all things that have not really happened in that company to date.

Weird things have come up. The strangest, and one I had not anticipated, is the confusion that the name of the company causes. This is a rather traditional family name. But this ahs two consequences. One is that it is rather similar to another entity, which wastes time and causes confusion. The other is that there is no clear brand perception for the company – hence the rather powerful position of the European distributor under whose name much of the product is sold, but not in the UK.

I thought this a strange concern at first. Discussion with the MD and a a few others suggested it is not. Those who buy the European product fail utterly to realise it is for all practical purposes the same as the UK product, and the latter trades at a discount in the market as a result, which is absurd.

As the discussion developed the very basic question of “who are we?” and “what do we do?” and “how do people know?” became issues that clearly needed resolution before we could resolve things. It’s hardly surprising you can procrastinate if such things are not clear.

So we’ve been tackling this. The solutions are apparent. The company needs a clear identity that can identify what it does and which can be applied to all product, including that sold in Europe in a way that creates a consistent brand image that all within the organisation can identify with and project to those outside it in a way that adds value to the organisation.

That created massive homework, because it was obvious that they’d know they’d succeeded when a) they had a new name and brand image b) it was in use c) it was on European product, at least somewhere and d) there was market recognition of it.

That’s solution focussed thinking. Now they’re working on it. And I have to say this is fun.