Know: ‘timing is everything.’

“feeding problems while starving opportunities.”
• Lack of clear objectives. Companies often fail to spell out or
prioritize their objectives. “If you don’t know where you’re
going, it’s really hard to get there.”
(Viri Mullins, presi-
dent, Armstrong’s Lock & Supply). I have a strong bias to-
ward advising a company to do what is strategically right
rather than what is immediately profitable.
• Relying on acquisitions. Companies that build their growth
plans on acquisitions rather than innovation are suspect. Half
of a company’s acquisitions will become tomorrow’s spin-offs.
• Middle-of-the-road strategy. What happens to those who have
a middle-of-the-road strategy? They get run over.
• Believing if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. That is one of the worst
rules of management. “In today’s economy, if it ain’t