What’s in your Toolbox?

I have always been impressed with how true professionals go about their business regardless of their profession.  I recently had to have several trees taken down, some fairly large.  The professional tree service that I contracted with, went about their work in an amazingly effective, quick manner that almost seemed effortless.   The clean up was outstanding and they were gone almost as quickly as they had arrived.  Two things stood out to me as I observed them cutting down the trees, their experience, plus the tools and equipment they used.  The fact is, they simply could not do their job, be competitive in their industry, nor be efficient without the tools necessary to carry out their tasks.

Ted Williams was one of the greatest MLB hitters of all time.  In researching Williams, there were many reasons for his fantastic hitting; superb natural eyesight,  great physical conditioning, a constant analysis of pitchers, relentless work on his hitting stroke, and great tools.  Williams learned that bat speed, not bat weight was critical.  Consequently, he began to use much lighter bats.  “Williams visited Louisville and talked with an old-timer named Fritz Bickel, who actually took the raw wooden cylinders and meticulously fashioned bats out of them.  “Ted, here’s a wonderful piece of wood for you,” Bickel said, holding up a cylinder.  Pleased, Williams gave Bickel twenty-five dollars, and from then on Bickel carefully looked for just the right piece of wood for Williams, and Williams sent him occasional small gratuities(Halberstam, p.190).”  Williams knew that to be the best, he had to have the right tools.

It is the same with every business that wants to excel in their industry.  They must have the right tools in their toolbox.  In their book, Scaling Up, Verne Harnish and the team at Gazelles, provide a series of tools that can be used to address four key areas (People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash) and gain maximum efficiency in growing their companies(Harnish, p.2).  I highly recommend this resource to make sure your company has the right tools to grow and prosper.

*Halberstam, David, (1989), Summer of 49

*Harnish, Verne, (2014), Scaling Up