The One Minute Manager — Management By Objectives — Strategic Planning — Management By Walking Around — Sensitivity Training and T-Groups — Creativity Workshops — Theory X and Y and later Z — Total Quality Management — Reengineering — and many more — each hailed as the answer to an organization's prayers and soon ridiculed as fads.  And yet each contained some good ideas.

I believe there are some fundamentals that any business, not-for-profit or governmental unit should apply to help insure long term success — and if ignored can lead to mediocrity or even significant failure.

The first was articulated by Peter Drucker — the purpose of a business is to create a customer.  I suggest a modification — the purpose of any organization is to create and retain satisfied customers, clients, patients, students, taxpayers.

And how is that done?

With the products and services.  Organizations must develop and deliver high quality products and services, continually improving and periodically innovating all aspects of what is important to customers.  They need to measure customer satisfaction, not guess at it.  They should strive to be better than their best competitor.

And how is that all done?

With the people.  All employees, including those at suppliers or partners, must understand the first two fundamentals.  They need to be treated with dignity, recognized and rewarded, encouraged to participate in creating new products and services and improving processes.  They need to be given the tools to do their jobs, including appropriate new technology.  They need to be well trained.  Employees, after sufficient training and coaching, who cannot or will not do what is expected and needed, must be removed.

And how is that all done?

With the leaders.  Only with excellent leadership — and not just at the top, at all levels of the organization. Successful organizations need caring, courageous, creative, serving leaders who set high goals, act ethically, provide resources.  Leaders must go out ahead and show the way.

Test any new management theory or idea against these fundamentals.  If it supports these four fundamentals, adopt it, if it makes sense to you.  If it is in conflict with any of the four, don’t waste your valuable time — or your employees’ time, who will frequently recognize the folly sooner than many managers.