Success Is Fundamental

by Bill Collier

“Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals.” – Jim Rohn

When I was a kid, a typical birthday party consisted of Pin the Tail on the Donkey, a cake and presents. Today, if little Johnny’s party doesn’t include a flyover by the Blue Angels, the kids think it’s lame.

Some business owners are like that. Always looking for the next big idea – a fancy new technique for what ails the company or for the next stage of growth.

As head basketball coach at UCLA, John Wooden won 10 NCAA national championships in a 12-year period – including an unprecedented seven in a row. At one point his teams won a record 88 consecutive games. In 2009, Sporting News named him “Greatest Coach of All Time.”

Wooden achieved his phenomenal success largely by having his teams focus on the game’s fundamentals. He was beloved by his players, and his influence was as applicable in life as it was on the court. His “Pyramid of Success” was built on a base made up of hard work, friendship, loyalty, cooperation and enthusiasm. That’s about as basic as it gets, and yet it provided the foundation for unparalleled success.

“If you keep too busy learning the tricks of the trade, you may never learn the trade.” – John Wooden

We business owners could learn from Wooden’s insistence on focusing on the basics. It would be hard to argue with this list of business fundamentals:
• Attract and engage prospects (marketing).
• Convert those prospects into customers (sales).
• Make or perform the core products or services.
• Efficiently fulfill orders.
• Attract and retain the best employees.
• Effectively conduct all support functions (HR, accounting and so on).
• Run your business by the numbers for optimum profit.

 But show a list like this to a “fad-of-the-week” junkie and he’ll say, “Everybody knows that.” Just like the “Fifteen minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance” TV commercial.

Why that attitude? Because the list is made up of simple elements, and there’s no “advanced” information in it. He’d probably say, “I know all that.” And guess what? He’d be right.

He does know it already. Know. Not do. Big difference.

Most of us entrepreneurs fall prey to the siren song of “shiny objects.” Just imagine how much more successful we would be if only we’d follow the ingenious advice of that other esteemed sage:

“Git ’er done!” – Larry the Cable Guy

Put the fundamentals in place, stay focused and make it work. It sure worked for Coach Wooden. Why not give it a try in your business?

“To win it all, a team has to be obsessive about the fundamentals and the little things.” – Joe Gibbs

Bill Collier is the St. Louis-area coach for The Great Game of Business. He works with organizations that want to improve financial results, engage their employees and create a winning culture. Bill can be reached at 314-221-8558, GreatGame.com/stl, GGOBSTL.com or billcollier@greatgame.com.