Business counter strategies

When your previously hot group beavers away but gets nowhere, you've reached the dreaded 'Limits to Growth' when, says Michael Goodman of the Arthur D. Little consultancy, 'the harder you push, the harder the system pushes back': thus, the more you cut numbers, the worse you serve customers.

So, don't push so hard - deliberately slow down. Second, think about the future today: try to anticipate roadblocks, etc. Third, experiment to find better ways round the blockages. Fourth, if you're shaking everything up, you'll generate resistance: so find things you can leave unchanged amidst the upheaval.

Reset the goals in this way and you make it easier to score.