The ABC of Achieving More with Less: The Mantra for Business Success in the Future.

Published by Wayne Goldsmith on February 21, 2014February 21, 2014

More with less.

The business world not only could go in that direction and should go in that direction but it will go in that direction.

Look at the alternatives:

Do you seriously believe that successful business’ in the future will be based on achieving more by doing more? No way.

And you couldn’t honestly believe that your business can achieve more by doing the same. Won’t happen.

The world is moving towards a culture of efficiency: using less fuel, wasting less time, eliminating wasteful practices…about achieving more with less. Is your business – and are you – focused on ways of achieving more with less?

Here’s the ABC of achieving more with less.

Recently I was talking about performance and the future with a leading swimming coach. He had produced several Olympians including an Olympic Gold Medalist in Athens in 2004.

We were talking about the future of performance and where things might head in the next 5-10 years.

He said, “We are going to have to work smarter and find ways of getting our swimmers to go faster with less training. In the past to go faster, we have simply worked harder and longer. Now, we need to find ways of going faster using less training time and with less work. Success is a moving target. World records will continue to improve but at the same time people have no time. People want to be the best but they want to spend less time getting there. Our greatest challenge is to find ways of enhancing performance but doing so more efficiently – more with less“.

The future of business success will be based around four fundamental and inter-connected themes:

• Innovation;
• Integration;
• Imagination;
• Individualisation.

These so called “Mega-trends” underpin the key directions and decisions the world has to make in coming generations. And, at the moment, as most of your business is conducted here on earth, your business also needs to embrace and reflect the Big Four (innovation, integration, imagination, individualisation) when it comes to your strategies, plans and operations.

How can we (you) do it? How will we achieve more with less? What is it exactly that we need to do more and less of?

• More Attitude: Less Apathy – the future is whatever you make it;
• More Brilliance: Less Bulls$&* – be yourself, back yourself, let who you are shine for everyone to see;
• More Creativity and Connectedness: Less Criticism– create new ideas, share them with others and stop criticising those who dare to be different;
• More Drive: Less Drivel – inspire others with your actions instead of just talking about it;
• More Enthusiasm: Less Ego – It’s not about “Me” – it’s about “We”;
• More Fun and Fitness: Less Fossil Fuel – Get up, get healthy, create some energy instead of just using it;
• More Generations: Less Geriatric-thinking – Listen and learn from young, talented, passionate people – let the past go;
• More Human: Less Hot heads – People, personality and potential not temper, tirades and tantrums;
• More Innovation, Ideas and Integration: Less Idiots – be unique, be open, collaborate, grow, learn, change – forget the petty personality and political differences;
• More Journeys: Less Jerks – take risks, experiment with new ways of doing things – ignore people who tell you “that’s not the way we do it here”;
• More Kids: Less Kings – think like, act like a kid – use your imagination everyday in everything;
• More Learning: Less Limits – learn faster, learn every day, learn to love learning;
• More Motivation: Less Money – get excited, be passionate and the money will flow – chase your dreams don’t just chase the dollars;
• More Nerve: Less “No” – reject people who tell you it can’t be done – it’s just that its never been done before;
• More Originality: Less Offense – express new ideas and creativity – give people the chance to speak, to think, to try, to fail and to learn;
• More Passion: Less Politics – nothing excites the world more than passionate people;
• More Questions: Less Quibbling – move on from petty arguments and political squabbles – question, wonder, ponder, challenge and discover;
• More Resolve: Less Respect – fight hard for change – be committed to ideas and reject the old “our way is the only way” mentality;
• More Service: Less Selflessness – put the needs and dreams of other people first;
• More Teamwork: Less Talking – teams grow together through the power of individuals working to their peak potential more often and inspiring each other;
• More Uniqueness: Less Uniformity – the common denominator of all great people is that they accepted themselves and embraced their uniqueness – have you?;
• More Vigour: Less Venom – energy, enthusiasm and excitement can change the world – negative thoughts, words and actions only destroy it;
• More Walking the walk: Less Waste – everyone talks about being green but still has a 20 minute shower each morning – talk the talk – the green economy is here;
• More X-Factor: Less X-clusion – put your faith in the indefinable qualities of being human;
• More Youth: Less Yelling – get kids involved with your business – their ideas, their imagination, their innovation, their ideologies can transform you and your business;
• More Zoom: Less Zealots – grow your culture from inside to out by the passion, energy and determination you show every day.

The future is about achieving more with less – and your future starts today.