Do You Know Where You Are Starting From?

Understanding where you are is mandatory for choosing a path to your destination.  Think of it this way.  You are standing in a huge mall looking at the directory. You see the numbers for all of the stores, the color coding for the various levels, and so on. But you don't have a clue as to where you are on that map.  There isn't "You are here" indicator anywhere, so how do you know where you are and how to get to your destination? You have to look around you and see if you can gather information about your location and relate it back to the map.

Understand What Your Organization Looks Like Today

Take a look around and understand what is and isn't happening in your organization. What financial and operational results are you getting? Who is performing? Who isn't? What was suppose to occur? What really did happen?

• Understand what your financial results are telling you
• Analyze your existing operations for capacity, contraints, and opportunities
• Determine what your operating environment is
• Understand the economic and competitive conditions
• Know your businesses capabilities
• Identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunties, and threats
• Know your organization in and out before you begin to make changes