Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

Problems Must be Able to be Solved

Not only is Buffett able to look at a company and project out what he sees its ability to produce for years ahead, he is also able to look at a company and the problems it faces and determine what the extent of the damage is; and whether it is temporary or likely not to go away.

Much of this is the eventual determining factor in Buffett deciding to purchase the company or not.

This brings up the issue of whether problems we face in management are able to be solved or not. Have you watched someone stubbornly cling to a project, or even people, that simply were a mistake to start up or hire in the first place? In some cases it can destroy a business or department.

We need to be able to look objectively at something or someone and properly measure its health to the company. Are problems related to practical challenges? Are people struggling because its related to a unqiue personal situation that is temporarily affecting them?

Measuring problems as to their ability to be solved is of key importance. Not knowing when a project or someone must simply be dropped, is detrimental to a company and leader.

The very first question that must be answered is whether the situation can really be solved or if it needs to be shelved. Better to deal out the tough medicine right up front than try to incremently attempt to take care of it while it grinds away at the business.

This requires objectively and rationally stepping back and looking realistically at what or who is the problem and if an answer can be found. If not, we need to stop things in its tracks. A business can't save a project that isn't meant to be saved. Neither can it solve all the problems of certain people that may not really want their problems solved.

It is our jobs as business leaders to honestly look at these types of situations and make the decision on whether there is any hope in it. If not, take care of it. Letting it go on could cause irreparable harm to the company.

Other Buffett Resources:

Investment Whiz Kid: Buffett Amasses a Fortune

Management Styles - The Buffett Way: Learn from the maestro himself

Understanding the Company

Brand names Commodity companies

THE REAL GENIUS OF WARREN BUFFETT

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