Outdated Business Habits Are Dangerous Ground

While advances in technology over the past two decades have changed the physical working environment and given employees many labor-saving devices to even out workloads, the fly in the ointment of increased productivity is still human behavior. This is the most difficult of all elements to change, as it requires firstly, the willingness to change and secondly an individual effort to work constantly on issues to bring about that change. One of the elements of behavior that always requires work, especially when talking about change, is habit - those conditioned responses we all have to almost every situation that are sometimes self-serving and sometimes quite destructive.

Actions we take without much thought are called habits, for no reason we often think "this is what i have always done". In fact, recent research into 51 corporate failures suggests that business habits, when unchallenged in the light of new management developments, are a significant factor in the decline of some businesses. By accessing business consulting, managers can discuss with experts any antiquated business habits that could be damaging their business.

The research identified seven management habits that, if pursued in moderation, are relatively harmless but if constantly reinforced, can have such a negative effect on the operation of the business that, in number cases, eventual failure is the result. -

=> Habit Number 1 Management sees the organization and themselves as the sole focus of the corporate world.

=> Habit Number 2 The personal identification with the business is too intense and there is no clear line between personal interests and business interests.

=> Habit Number 3 is the most dangerous of all where management thinks they have all the answers.

=> Habit Number 4 is the lack of tolerance for anyone perceived not to be 100% supportive of management.

=> Habit Number 5 is the obsession with the company image which is to be protected at all times.

=> Habit Number 6 Major obstacles are underestimated or trivialized.

=> Habit Number 7 is relying on past strategies that were successful. -

Also identified in the study are ways to counteract these habits, which are often strongly entrenched in organizational culture. By testing strategies through business marketing, managers can seek customer input on product and services. Also needed is a free-thinking culture which encourages employees to question management direction; a finger on the market pulse; the adoption of multi-dimensional strategies as opposed to "magic" answers and the willingness to change direction when it is obvious that a chosen strategy is wrong.

Continuing blindly with old practices is dangerous, it encourages stagnations and will result in accelerating the decline of your business. Nothing is as it was a decade ago. Successful companies expose their managers to new and innovative business philosophies, and only keep those habits that still serve the common purpose.

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