Sometimes You Need to Shift Focus (Again)

“The next-generation Ford Focus will be built in China and exported for sale in the U.S., Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday, abandoning a plan to build the small car in Mexico. Production of the new car is scheduled to begin in 2019,” writes Bill Chappell in their recent NPR article entitled “Ford Shifts Focus (Again): Car Will Be Imported To U.S. From China, Not Mexico.”

According to Chappell, “Ford says the move will save it $1 billion in investment costs and will make it "a more operationally fit company." It also promises that "no U.S. hourly employees will be out of a job" because of the move to China.”

A more operationally fit company? Now, we’re interested in this recent development.

“Ford is coming off a record year in China, having sold 1.27 million vehicles there in 2016 — a 14 percent gain over 2015. That figure includes vehicles made in China by Ford's joint ventures, as well as Ford and Lincoln imports. When it opened its sixth assembly plant in China back in 2015, Ford said it could build 1.4 million vehicles a year in the country,” the article continues.

The NPR piece continues that “For Mexico, this is the second dramatic shift from Ford in 2017. The new Focus originally was to be built in the central state of San Luis Potosi, but the company canceled construction of a $1.6 billion plant there in January.”

“Back in November, Ford's then-CEO Mark Fields said the company would move forward with a plan to build the Focus in Mexico. But under new CEO Jim Hackett, that plan has changed again,” Chappell explains.

Ford, being a large corporation, got our attention with this shift.

You know that we’re certainly not advocates of complacency. So, to see a change of this size by Ford sparked our curiosity.

Have you ever shifted your focus – again?

Regardless, keep reading; we’re going to make a case for the importance of changing often.

Complacency Kills Operations

Maybe you’ve been running your operation the same for the past decade.

Or, perhaps you’ve just moved to a new framework and upgraded your technology.

Either way, you have to stay on your toes.

You can’t stay or become complacent. It’s important always to remain alert to change in the operations landscape.

For example, look at Ford. In a short time, they moved from building the Ford Focus in Mexico back to China.

Chappell even notes that “it [Ford] will also convert its Michigan plant to produce the Ranger pickup truck in late 2018 and the Bronco midsize SUV in 2020.”

That’s bold, but it’s a shift in focus they believe is necessary to succeed.

We believe there’s a critical lesson for you.

Never get complacent and feel like any changes and improvements you’ve made to your operation will work well five years or even one year from now.

That moment you start to relax is when someone or something exploits your weakness – and destroys your operation.

One incident can shape your reputation as a reactive operation or a proactive operation.

Be a proactive one.

Proactive Operations Continuously Address Their Focus

Here’s a little secret you can learn from Ford.

Not everyone is always going to agree with your shift in focus (and change in strategy).

Why?

You see things about your operation that reactive mindsets won’t catch.

Think about it.

When you’re always responding to the change in your environment, technology, and threats, you’ll never have the ability to prevent incidents.

But, when you employ Proactive Operations – you know that Strategy is the first tier to success.

So, what do you need to do? You need to address your focus continuously.

You need to scrutinize your current strategy for everything regularly.

How often? As often as it takes. But, that also depends on your access to resources and your team’s ability to come together.

It might be once a week, month, or every quarter. It’s up to you to determine.

Start asking critical strategy questions once you’re ready, though.

These 22 questions will open your eyes and mind to changes, improvements, and things you can optimize that are already working.

Take a deep breath – let’s get started.

1. How will staff always know what’s occurring?
2. What common events, issues, and incidents occur throughout your operation now?
3. What unique events, problems, and incidents occur throughout your operation now?
4. What level of awareness does your staff have of what’s happening?
5. What level of awareness do you have?
6. On the proactive-reactive spectrum, where does your staff fall?
7. What do you need to ensure your employees are always proactive?
8. Do you have enough resources to mitigate and even prevent issues or incidents from affecting your operation’s effectiveness?
9. How do you ensure resource allocation measures up?
10. Are your resources in the right places?
11. What do you need to manage departmental teams efficiently?
12. How do staff communicate? Do you use cell phones, email, radio, mobile applications?
13. Does your team execute operational tasks that need to get done regularly and those that occur at random intervals?
14. What do you need to retrieve incident details in 24 hours? Five days? Three years?
15. If you needed an incident report from five years ago, could you locate it and would it be comprehensive?
16. Is liability defense something you need to address now? How does your documentation need to look?
17. If a guest loses something, what’s the most efficient way to track it and get them their possession back?
18. What’s your track record for getting lost items back to the correct guests?
19. How do you track accountability across departments?
20. How do you ensure employees are executing the correct protocols-to-handle?
21. What tools do you need to improve your operation's performance continuously?
22. Do you take information learned about your operation and apply it to make your operation better?

Don’t stop with these questions.

You can’t anyway because your operation would suffer and you’d miss other important aspects of your strategy.

Over to You

Making a habit of addressing your strategy will form the muscle memory necessary to achieve maximum performance. It’s time for you to shift focus and create a lasting, proactive operation.

So, are you ready to do this again and again?