High quality mechanical watches have industrial grade rubies fixed in critical parts of the movement. These “jewels” prevent wear of critical parts and provide stability and structure to maintain precision dependability over time. High quality watches may have as many as 21 of these tiny jewels integrated into their design. They are elements of a watch that while small are pivotal to the function of the watch.
While it is easy to see the larger movements like springs and flywheels, the small, durable elements hold the watch together and help it perform over time. They deserve as much attention as the larger, more visible parts of the watch.
Organizations can have all the big pieces in place and still fall flat on their face. Companies like Wells Fargo have sophisticated systems for nearly everything including people, processes, and infrastructure and can still continue to suffer embarrassing public failures.
It is not enough for companies to have all the obvious pieces in place like infrastructure, compensation plans, technology, processes, and procedures if other critical pieces like ethics, trust, values, and mission are missing.
So what are some of your “jewels” that exist to support your business? What are you doing to preserve them and to use to your benefit?
While it is easy to focus on the big elements, the best leaders understand that there are some key elements to their success that may appear small but, in fact, have an out-sized impact on the success of a business. These require their attention as much as the big, obvious parts of a business, if they want to keep things moving smoothly.
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