As the result of a merger between two manufacturing companies in 2000, I became a co-owner and CEO of the Geroldmaster Manufacturing Company.^>2 Although at first the company was not the most experienced and well-equipped, by 2004 it had left all of its competitors behind, thanks to the implementation of the management tools discussed in this book. I had no choice but to start this implementation. As the company's production volume had grown larger, the organizational chaos had torn my company apart. Interestingly enough, in spite of all our problems, we were manufacturing the best products. This saved us from alienating and losing customers, even though we were consistently behind schedule.

Once the company was functioning smoothly, I left the CEO position to focus on the owner’s role. I started conducting outside seminars on management, during which I explained in detail the organizational know-how that had allowed us to become industry leaders. To my surprise, I found that none of the owners of Geroldmaster’s competitors attended my seminars, even though I consistently invited them. It was just unbelievable! Within a few years, Geroldmaster had become the established leader in its field. It was the youngest, most audacious company on the market, with the highest-priced products, which, like a tank, had rolled over the medal-design and -manufacturing industry, making products for government ministries and agencies, the military, and major corporations, as well as for a variety of social and religious organizations. Even though the owners of the competing companies knew that I was providing the answer to the question “How did Geroldmaster do it?” they still did not attend my seminars. They were stuck in an “I know it all” attitude.

When a person is stuck in such a mindset, he has tons of excuses as to why the situation should be exactly as lousy as it is. If you talk with him and ask what the problem is, why things are the way they are, the excuse is “the market conditions,” or “We don’t have any experts,” or some other made-up nonsense. But the truth is, that business owner is simply afraid to face the real situation, because upon facing it, he will have to do something that he has probably never done before. He is like a bad driver who blames other drivers, bad road conditions, and the weather. A man with problems in his personal life will tell you what is wrong with modern women and society in general. They simply do not have enough courage to look and see things as they really are.

In order to get rid of this “know it all” attitude, either you need to establish very important goals for yourself, or receive a good kick in the butt. An owner may realize that the results of his hard work are just a weak shadow of the results he desires, or he may find the day-to-day problems become too overwhelming. It is those in the latter group, who want to resolve day-to-day issues, not just cope with them, who most often seek our consulting help.

I wish I could brag that I got out of the “I know it all” attitude thanks to having important goals, but in truth, it was my clients who helped me with this. In 2002, the business was expanding, and as a result we had an almost completely uncontrollable company. Nearly 80 percent of our medal-manufacturing orders were overdue. Since most of our customers were military or government entities, my tenure as CEO was plagued by unpleasant adventures. My workday started and ended with dealing with unhappy customers. There was no way we could even think about strategic planning—I felt as if bullets were whizzing over my head. These unhappy customers were my miraculous kick in the butt. With my feeble attempts to fix things, it took a few months before I realized I had no idea how to run a growing company. That period was a turning point for me. I started looking for answers as to what I should do to make the company more manageable so that I, as the owner, could focus on strategic planning, rather than on fixing small issues.