Finally! Another failure. Why am I so excited? Read on, ladies and gents...
Failure #2: No plan B
In transitioning from our summer 2012 market research projects into fall (school time) operations, I set very clear goals for the organization leading up to and including summer 2013. Stage 1 would be prototyping operations at Queen's with one team to see how that would play out over a semester. Check. Stage 2 would be expanding operations at Queen's (to a total of 3 teams) and starting at team at Ivey. Check.
All of this was suppose to lead into Stage 3: profitability in summer 2013 via paid projects. umm...not even close to "Check."
Like the first failure, Failure #deuce was another under-estimation. I sorely underestimated how long the sales cycle would take. As we approached May 2013, and it was becoming increasingly clear that we wouldn't secure a paid client in time (to allow for a full project cycle from May to August), I realized I didn't have a backup plan.
My MBA butt got into gear and did create a high level backup plan which took less than a day, but such last minute planning shouldn't be happening. The lack of quick decision making can make or break an organization especially as its growing.
Although the summer is far from over, we need to secure a paid client "yesterday" to ensure the project cycle completes its course before the students return to school in fall.
Learning and Changes #2: Plan for failures
While 'not becoming profitable' was a failure in terms of the outcome, I think the bigger failure here is not creating a backup plan in the event we don't secure a paid client(s) for the summer.
When setting big, mission-critical, goals for SFC as we move forward, I will be sure to plan for failure. Even if it's a high level treatment, knowing my options whenever we hit a crossroads is surely better than standing idle where days or weeks of indecision can mean everything in the land of fast-paced business.
Update on Changes #1: Facilitating a "fun" company culture and increasing engagement
While I don't have time to create a spreadsheet and crunch actual numbers, I assure you that engagement is increasing. How do I know? Well, one measure of engagement is tracking how many team members leave an organization (or churn rate). From summer 2012 to fall 2012, the vast majority of team members didn't return. From winter 2013 to fall 2013, it's expected our team will consist of approximately 80-85% of past team members.
