Walter Stulzer and the 6-Million-CHF Turnaround
“We wanted to change, but we couldn't.”
Walter Stulzer had a 6 million CHF problem. He wanted to transfer his company to the next generation of leadership, but revenue was declining, and staff turnover was high. Walter had recognized the issues and set goals for his company to get the situation under control, but after two years, none of the goals had been achieved, and the situation was getting worse.
Walter was getting frustrated. He knew his revenue problem was caused by his talent problem, and he was leading the transformation with enlightened, well-intentioned management- Somehow, the problem was getting worse anyway.
“We were getting the wrong kind of business, which was hard on our profitability and on staff motivation.”
This is where Peter Stevens entered the picture. Peter helped Walter identify the root causes of their issues then implement a solution.
“His strengths are his ability to listen, to understand the big picture, and make complex concepts tangible so everybody can understand them. Peter showed us how to apply the principles of agility to our challenges as a leadership team. Agility is well established in the software development, and it is extremely powerful for leading companies in transition. “
Instead of trying to do everything at once, they focused on a few achievable objectives that they could accomplish in the next few weeks. In a roughly three-week cadence, they would review their progress, then set new objectives for the next three weeks. Six months later, they had achieved all the goals they had set out to achieve two years before!"
Thanks to Peter's approach, Walter and his team were able to achieve all their goals with half the work in one quarter of the time. It also meant that Walter could end each day with satisfaction and start each day with confidence. His staff knew why they worked there, and his customers knew why they wanted to work with them. Thanks to Peter's support, Walter was able to hand over the reins of a viable company to the next generation, knowing that they would be able to take the company forward.
