After my latest book, Prepare for Crisis—Plan to Thrive, was published, I reread a previous book thatI co-authored in 2013 with Dave Cowens of NBA and Boston Celtics fame and former employee, Barbara McLaughlin. Updated in 2019, There Are No Do-Overs: The Big Red Factors for Sustaining a Business Long Term is not as focused on weathering an organizational crisis, but complements Prepare for Crisis—Plan to Thrive to tell the story of the evolution of Northeast Delta Dental from its early days up through its more recent history.
In both books, I tell readers about the good decisions we made, but I’m also transparent about things we could have done better. Our business learns from its mistakes so that we don’t repeat them. Continually improving its processes is particularly important to all organizations during a business crisis (like the COVID-19 pandemic), because crises challenge our abilities to make sound decisions—sometimes without all of the information or with conflicting information.
There Are No Do-Overs is loaded with examples from Dave Cowens and me showing that whether you are aspiring to business or basketball success, key principles hold true. Like a winning basketball team, businesses and nonprofits need to find the right people for the right positions, develop their abilities, earn their trust, recognize their accomplishments, and pay attention to the details that support and advance positive organizational development. These and other themes explored in this book are important facets of building a strong foundation. In Prepare for Crisis—Plan to Thrive, I make the case that building a strong foundation begins by insisting on best management practices (we use the principles of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program), and that this strong foundation is crucial to navigating successfully through a crisis and emerging from it in a position of strength and vitality.
If you would like to read There Are No Do-Overs: The Big Red Factors for Sustaining a Business Long Term, you can find it on Amazon by clicking here. If you want to learn more about Prepare for Crisis: Plan to Thrive and where it’s available, readmy December 15, 2021, blog post.
