Dr. Adizes: I welcome you to Adizes Methodology.
I think it would be good if I express to you what I believe is critical to make the methodology successful and why some companies are not fully successful.
What is the essence of the Methodology?
We all deal with change. Whenever there is change there are going to be problems. How do you handle problems? How do you grow a company when there is so much change?
The problem is that there is uncertainty, you don't know what is going to happen, and there is risk. How to handle uncertainty and risk better than the competition?
This methodology was not developed in the library in a university. I left the university to go to the real world and see how to make this happen; how to make companies grow, in spite of uncertainty and risk.
This methodology has been tested for 50 years. Please look at our website and you will see presidents of companies who say they grew the company from $12 million to $4 billion with the Adizes Methodology. It is a testament for the methodology. It has been tested in 58 countries, in companies from startups to the biggest in the world.
Why the success?
If you have a complementary team, you see things I don't see; I see things you don't see. Together we see more. That reduces uncertainty.
Now, if you have the same interest, if we have common interest, that will make risk lower because those who you need will cooperate. When there is common interest there is cooperation. When there is cooperation there is less risk. A complementary team that shares knowledge and is based on common interests, reduces uncertainty and reduces risk.
That raises the question, what causes people to share information to make better decisions?
Mutual respect.
And what will make people have common interest?
Mutual trust.
So the whole Adizes Methodology is how to build mutual trust and respect in a company, so that the company can handle risk and uncertainty, and handle change better. Not only to make you happier, but also to make you richer.
A company will grow better outside if it is integrated inside. If people are fighting inside, no energy is available to deal with the outside.
Now the question: how do you build mutual trust and respect? Especially in Russia ( the audience is Russian, ed note) -- because Russia does not have a history of democracy. It was always a totalitarian system, and companies in Russia are run in a totalitarian way. So there is a cultural problem: We have to change the culture inside the company.
How?
The program is very systematic, with a program and manuals.... The results are exceptional. As I told you, companies grew from $12 million to $4 billion. But the program is not easy to apply. Changing the culture of a company is a very, very time-consuming and difficult job.
It is normal that people want change as long as they don't have to change. So in order for the program to work, in order for a company to succeed with the Adizes methodology, it requires commitment.
Many times a president of a company has asked me, "Dr. Adizes, have you ever failed?" I say, "Yes. Not every company succeeds."
And they ask me, "What is the difference?"
I look them in the eye and say, "You."
How committed are you? Because people will complain: "It takes too much time... it's too much work... we cannot do it..." Are you going to hold the line? Or not?
Adizes is not a consulting company. It's not a training company. We are like a coach. We will train you to be an Olympic champion but you have to work hard. You have to do it. And it's not going to be easy.
What is going to be difficult?
Number one: The program takes time. You cannot hire somebody to do physical exercise for you. That is what is wrong with some big consulting firms: You hire them to do the work for you. You just need a report and the job is finished. Is it?
To be a champion you have to show up. "But I don't have time," people complain. In that case forget Adizes. Try a consulting firm, and good luck.
Adizes requires commitment -- at minimum one to two days a month. If you really don't have time, then you start the Adizes program at 1 o'clock in the afternoon to 10 o'clock at night twice a month.
Problem number two: As a first-line supervisor, you tell people what to do. You listen, but not too much. Your mouth is big; your ears are small.
As you ascend the hierarchy to be the president of a company, your mouth should become small and your ears should become big. Small mouth and big ears. That's right: You have to listen what is going on.
You have to listen to the people, what is going on with them. You are now far from the action. They are on the fighting floor, so you have to listen to what is happening down there. That is where the roots of the tree are. Watch the roots, not just the leaves. Financial statements are important but remember they are the leaves not the roots of your success.
That means that you have to change your style. You have to sit in the room and listen to the people. Some people are difficult. You must learn how to lead people whose style is different from yours.
Adizes is training you so you can handle change in the future without us. We are proud of every client we lose. Our job is to teach you the tools how to manage as a team, and then say goodbye, thank you very much. Finished. It's like psychotherapy, organizational therapy: You should not be dependent on your therapist for too long. A good therapist makes sure you are healthy and says goodbye, you are done with therapy. You are on your own. You can come to our conventions every year and learn what is new and update yourself so your company continues to grow.
You get 4 results from the program:
You solve problems.
You build a team.
You become better managers.
And you enrich your managerial style.
I can promise you one thing: If you do a diagnosis of your company, and you identify problems which are chronic -- they come back, and back, and back, and back--this is what is blocking your growth of the company -- this is what you lose sleep over at night -- I promise you--because we have the experience of 50 years, thousands of companies -- 40% of these chronic problems will disappear. Minimum. 40% will be better; 20% will not change; and the second year, what was better will disappear, what did not change will become better. In 3 years, all problems you have today should disappear. That is on average. Some companies do it faster. It all depends on how committed you, the CEO, are to give time and energy.
In 3 years, it does not mean that you will have no more problems. You will have bigger problems. Because you are as big as the problems you are dealing with. Today maybe you have problems of quality control, you have problems of marketing, and maybe you have problems of hiring the right people. In 3 years, you will have a big problem: how to become an international company. By solving the small problems you can address the bigger problems.
Once I sent a New Years card, with wishes for the new year to my clients: "I wish you bigger problems next year than this year that you can solve." Tell me how big the problems you are dealing with are and I will tell you how big you are.
The Adizes Methodology does not only make the company bigger, it makes you -- you personally -- better. People say that it helps their marriage. Next year it's coming out, a new book of mine on how to apply Adizes in family life. And I just finished yesterday a new book on how to apply Adizes to personal life. So, this methodology is not a consulting methodology, it's a philosophy of life.
I welcome you, I hope that you will enjoy the methodology, and I hope you will join us and many, many companies around the world and have a better company and a better quality of life.
Thank you .
Watch the presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IIyJjSC5o8#action=share