We focus too much on the results and forget about HOW we can get to the finish line and beyond. Training completion numbers are the usual KPI tracked by most companies, but do they mean anything to the corporation’s bottom line?

Working with Executive teams in corporations one of my go-to questions at planning/budgeting time has been: Can you squat 700 lbs? 

I vividly remember a conversation, like it happened yesterday, with two Senior Executives during which we were discussing the company’s ability/inability to reach our revenue and profit goals for a given year. I asked them how we had decided what our revenue/profit targets would be and the answer I received was basically “because that is what’s necessary for us to keep the doors open”. I then asked both execs: Can you squat 700 lbs.? They both looked at me with a funny look on their faces, probably confused with the question and how it related to corporate finance.

I have been an athlete my entire life and truly believe that Sports (one can say Music and Arts are too) are the ultimate lab for performance – everything you did in training and preparation goes out the window in a second unless you deliver the goods in front of a lot of people who only see whether you succeeded or failed. The weight and exercise are merely an illustration of a Herculean task and goal – it’s not easy and very few humans can squat 700 lbs. by themselves.

One of the execs that I was meeting with responded that he could perform that squat as long as he could break the weight up into 7 separate lifts of 100 lbs. each. (playful, outside the box) They both understood what I was getting at, although neither of them felt like they could ever pull it off.

I explained…

Setting a budget target for revenue and profits is a necessary exercise. We had the past and some indicators to guide us but the exercise without a PLAN and buy-in from all levels of the organization was as much of a guess and a hope than me asking them to squat 700 lbs. The goal obviously didn’t talk about HOW we were going to increase both our revenues and margins dramatically. (which one knows in business is often hard to do simultaneously)

Why does this have anything to do with training?

Here’s where all sorts of corporations fail in their efforts from budgeting to training, and anything in between: We know that we need to achieve a result. We might even know WHY we need to achieve that result (to keep the doors open, to get more capital, to grow…). But do we know HOW to achieve that result? Does everyone in the organization understand their part in that 700 lbs. squat and what they’ll need to do each day to pull that lift off at the end of the year?

Some people will get intimidated right away and say forget it. I can’t squat 700 lbs.

There are also people who may think no problem! I “got” this (pardon their grammar). They’ll try the squat right now without warming up and will injure themselves (don’t try this at home).