WHY I wrote Outbound Air –

Organizations moving to the next level, have solved the problems of the past, but solving those problems created the new problems of the future.

In the stage of infancy, everyone did a little bit of everything, but market demand required more volume, so headcount increased. With more headcount doing a little bit of everything, chaos increased and worked against the higher volume. It was great to have all hands on-deck, but the chaos wreaked havoc on efficiency. Sure, the product was delivered to the market, customers were satisfied, but in the wake, were body bags and organizational friction. These were the hallmarks of the Go-Go stage.

In the stage of infancy, efficiency was not an issue, because the point was “proof of concept.” Make the product or service, and (please) find a customer to buy. The sale did not have to be a profitable sale because the expense was pushed to a line of credit. But, at some point, the bank actually wants the line of credit paid off (primarily, so they can take it away, but that’s another story for another day).

At some point, the organization has to become profitable, it has to become efficient.