How would you change your business if your profits were cut by 50% overnight?

I was working with an executive team earlier this week, helping them to create focus and alignment around their agenda for the next 12-18 months. They have a potential problem – which may or may not happen – and so did some work to determine how they could reduce costs if the worst case was to happen.

Despite this organisation being full of busy, efficient and effective people, the exercise helped them discover interesting new ways in which they could more than cover the shortfall.

And here’s the interesting thing: many, if not most of the ideas can be applied to the existing business whether or not the worse case happens.

In other words, by seriously reviewing the implications of a worst-case scenario, this executive team has created alignment and commitment around a few, focused actions that will add 25% to their bottom-line over the next 12 months.

If you were to really question the way your organisation does business, what new opportunities for profit growth could you discover?

© Stuart Cross 2009. All rights reserved.