Have you ever gotten:

• A pebble in your shoe OR
• A splinter in your finger OR
• A kidney stone?

How can something so small cause so much discomfort? That little issue can cause disruption, lack of focus, and create interruptions to your day. It is so small, but it can cause great aggravation.

Often, we just try to ignore it, hoping it will go away. Unfortunately, the pain has to become great enough for us to realize we have to resolve the problem. Then, that resolution is often much easier than we realized, resulting in relief.

The same applies in business. We have some small issue that can cause great aggravation and instead of resolving it, we just try to ignore it. We ignore it because we think it is not easily resolved, or we do not know where to start, or we are not certain the outcome will be positive. Yet, if we just worked through resolving it, life would be so much better.

Have you been avoiding taking the first steps to trying My COO Resources (www.mycooresources.com)? It can help to more clearly identify those issues that are causing problems, and give you the Solutions to resolve them.

Questions? Do not hesitate to contact me at CharleneA@mycooresources.com. Also, check out our blogs and previous newsletters and/or emails at http://www.mycooresources.com/?cat=3

Have you started gardening yet, or are you just hoping that your yard will magically go from how it was at the end of March to how you would like it to look for the summer?

Todd Hunter, our most recent addition to the Aldridge Kerr Team, made an observation that there are lots of parallels between gardening and achieving operational effectiveness. For example, both require:

• A plan: just throwing out changes, whether it is within an organization or in your yard, can be detrimental and create chaos. Instead, there needs to be a plan as to what the results (end product) will produce
• Managing the change: going from what was, to what it will be, requires managing the process of change
• Specialized expertise: When we do not use Experts, we waste a lot of time, energy, and resources. Whether you hire a landscape architect or operational consultants, if you want excellent results quickly, then you need to bring in the Experts

The best news is that, whether gardening or working on improving your organization’s operational effectiveness, you will clearly see a “before” and “after.” That is exciting.

Not sure how to improve your organization’s operational effectiveness? Do not hesitate to contact me at CharleneA@mycooresources.com. Also, check out our blogs and previous newsletters and/or emails at http://www.mycooresources.com/?cat=3

Most trainers, physical therapists, and other healthcare professionals regularly encourage us to do what it takes to strengthen our core. Why? A strong core leads to better balance and stability.

Harvard.edu goes as far as saying that “a strong, flexible core underpins almost everything we do.” It impacts every aspect of our lives, including at home, at work, and at play.

Having a strong core also applies to our businesses. A strong core (or foundation) allows us to be more nimble, flexible, and able to better balance all that needs to be done. It is the backbone (pun intended) of an organization.

What is required to build a strong core in your business? Here is a short list:

• Ensure everyone in the organization has clarity on the priorities
• Build repeatable processes that are efficient and effective
• Create a culture of continuous improvement and communication
• Address those “one-only tasks” that can cripple your organization
• Move from tribal knowledge to institutional knowledge

Are you unsure how to build this core? My COO Resources can give you the methodology needed to work through those issues. Questions? Do not hesitate to contact me at CharleneA@mycooresources.com. And check out our blogs and previous newsletters and/or emails at http://www.mycooresources.com/?page_id=324

Here are some interesting statistics:

• Eighty percent (yes, that’s 80%) of folks who join a gym in January quit within five months
• Only half of members go to the gym on a regular basis
• Gym owners assume that 18% of members will not use it consistently

The benefits to regular physical activity are outstanding. A long list of health experts state that regular exercise leads to a happier, healthier life. The Mayo Clinic lists seven reasons why regular exercise is so important:

• Controls weight
• Combats health conditions and diseases
• Improves mood
• Boosts energy
• Promotes better sleep
• Puts the spark back into your sex live
• It is fun and social  

So why do the majority of us not exercise regularly? Livestrong.com lists a few reasons: we claim we do not have time, there are competing interests, we have not developed the habit, we find it overwhelming, not motivated, or results are not realized quickly.  

Those reasons apply to other areas of our lives that we KNOW we should be doing them, but we are not. This can include anything from avoiding having our teeth cleaned, to addressing business problems, to taking on a home improvement project.

As a business associate recently said, “we find a long list of excuses that keep us from achieving great results.” We miss out on those amazing results because we do not allow ourselves to overcome the reasons, excuses, and obstacles that block our way.

This also applies to not trying or following through with My COO Resources. Our Users consistently tell us that they have found this do-it-yourself interactive, on-line tool to be quite helpful. But some of you are missing out because you are allowing those common obstacles to get in the way to great results.

Do not be the majority. Do not allow common obstacles to get in the way of achieving success.  

Need help getting started (and sticking with) My COO Resources? Do not hesitate to contact me at CharleneA@mycooresources.com. Also, check out our blogs and previous newsletters and/or emails at http://www.mycooresources.com/?page_id=324

The story of Dashrath Manjihi is both inspiring and heartbreaking. Manjihi’s young wife fell crossing Gehlour hills and because of the isolation, he was unable to get her to medical attention. Her injuries resulted in her death.

Manjihi resolved then to dig through the rocks of Gehlour hills so that his village could gain easier access to medical help. It took him 22 years to complete this task (from 1960 – 1983)! He was mocked and rebuked for his tenacity, but his 22 years of effort reduced the distance between the two sectors of the Gaya district from 34 miles to less than 10 miles. This, of course, allowed for those in his village to obtain better access to medicine and numerous other supplies.

Most of us do not need that level of tenacity to accomplish what we have set out to do. Yet, if we would model Manjihi’s commitment to those initiatives we want (and need) to achieve, the results could be extraordinary. Finding that drive and discipline to impact the change will make a difference!!

Do you need help moving forward on something you want to achieve? Do not hesitate to contact me at  CharleneA@mycooresources.com. Also, check out our blogs and previous newsletters and/or emails at http://www.mycooresources.com/?page_id=324

Spring is here, and it is the time of year to enjoy backyard living. Wait!! Our backyards typically do not magically awaken from winter and turn into that wonderful outdoors we so enjoy. Instead, we have work to do to create that space each spring. There is weeding, and planting, and more weeding, and starting that project we dreamed up last winter, and more weeding, and . . . yeah, you get the point.

To really enjoy our backyards, it requires work. That work may be tedious, unfulfilling, and downright exhausting (or, put a dent in your budget if you have someone do it for you). Yet, the outcome can be truly wonderful. There is joy in the fruits of that labor.

The same principle applies to anything we want to enjoy: company growth, implementation of a new initiative, resolving those operational challenges, improving your customer service, positioning your company to sell. Each of us has something we want to address that will allow us to reap the results we desire.

In many cases, it simply requires a commitment to the work so you can reap those desired results. This applies to the work needed as one works through the Solutions within My COO Resources. Unlike the effort required in our backyards, with a commitment to only one hour a week, you will begin to see results.

Need help getting started? Do not hesitate to contact me at CharleneA@mycooresources.com. Also, check out our blogs and previous newsletters and/or emails at http://www.mycooresources.com/?page_id=324

Topic: Operational Effectiveness and Your Small Business

What does operational effectiveness have to do with your small Company? When we think about operational effectiveness, we may assume this only applies to larger Corporations: those that have hundreds or thousands of employees. Yet, there are some fundamentals that smaller Companies can – and should consider – in order to build a strong, sustainable Company that will better position them for whatever comes next: whether it is growth, maintenance, change, a sale and/or merger.

Small Companies need to think about creating processes that position them to build that operational effectiveness so they can do the things they want to position themselves to do. Fundamentals like:

• Establishing the ability to quickly and easily find information that is needed to run the Company
• Having clarity around what tasks are most critical for success
• Communicating information consistently and clearly – both internally and externally, especially for the Company’s Prospects and Customers and those that support them
• Creating what we call “repeatable processes”
• Minimizing errors and improving the quality of the Company’s products or services
• Implementing methods to monitor day-to-day tasks

Those fundamentals are needed for any Company whether they have thousands of employees or they only have four. However, establishing those fundamentals can be challenging. Leaders of any size Company typically know there are issues that should be addressed, yet for various reasons they do not take the first steps to address those challenges. Why?

• A belief they don’t have the time
• The concern there is not the financial resources and/or the willingness to utilize Staff and/or hire additional Staff, and/or utilize Consultants or other Resources
• Unsure how to even begin
• Unclear what is needed and/or the value of it

This is why My COO Resources was created. It is as an alternative, affordable solution to help Companies begin to build that operational effectiveness. And it is self-paced with a do-it-yourself approach. Yet, it provides a structure to first identify a Company’s biggest operational issues and then prioritizes the solutions to resolve them.

My COO Resources can help your Company begin to build operational effectiveness within your Company. Try us at www.mycooresources.com. Questions? Contact us at Newsletters@mycooresources.com to schedule a time to discuss how we can assist you.

Read our blogs on our My COO Resources website as we provide helpful hints related to creating operational effectiveness within your Company.

And, be sure to sign up for our newsletter