What years of conversations keep showing me

This isn't just about judging. It's what talking to people over the last six months, alongside years in this work, keeps putting in front of me.

Two things come up again and again, in businesses and organisations alike.

I was reminded of this again recently, judging the Electra Business & Innovation Awards.

1. A plan with no way to run it

Plenty of businesses and organisations don't have a strategy or a plan at all. That's the obvious problem and probably the one people expect to hear about.

The less obvious one is the ones that do have a plan, sometimes a good one and sometimes not and yet the still don't do anything with it. The strategy exists on paper, in someone's head or in the top drawer of a desk. But there's no real time or people, set aside to actually implement it. It sits there, technically in place but doing nothing.

A plan without the means to impliment it isn't really a plan. It's just a multi page document.

2. Great at the work, new to the business

The second theme is just as common. A lot of owners are really good at what they do, the trade, the craft, the technical skill that got them started in the first place. That's often exactly why they went out on their own. It's a Kiwi thing too: 97% of businesses in New Zealand are small businesses usually started by someone good at their craft.

But running a business is a different skill. Pricing, cash flow, people, and deciding where to spend your time, none of that comes from being good at your craft. It's a separate thing to learn, and a lot of owners are left to work it out on their own, usually while still doing the work that pays the bills.

Neither of these is a failing. They're just the two gaps I keep seeing in the businesses and organisations I've judged, the conversations I've had, and the work I do day to day. Seeing the gap is usually the first step to closing it.

Image by Yen Vu