A RECENT article in Fortune magazine explained why efforts to create executive management "dream teams" often fail. I found one reason fascinating: Participants don't want the truth, but rather just a positive message. The author recalled books advocating team-building exercises that sold millions of copies and directed thousands of managers to retreats where they were supposed to learn how to build trust in one another. If you attended one, I bet you'd agree that, for the most part, it wasn't very useful. Why not? Because building trust takes time. It doesn't develop the instant when, in the typical trust-building exercise, you catch people as they fall into your arms.Analysis of other "management techniques du jour" books indicates their "secrets of success" don't pan out either. What does work is daily incremental improvement. Why aren't people reading about that in business magazines and flocking to retreats to learn more? Because the message is too boring to sell and doesn't promise instant, painless gratification.

Consider these messages:Lose weight without exercise!One small pill every day burns the fat away!Attend our 2-day team-building seminar and see profits skyrocket!Compare them with these messages: Lose weight by eating right and exercising every day!Build trust in just 365 days!People want immediate results and miracle cures. Add unrealistic optimism, and you can see why it can be easy to persuade managers to chase the Next Big Thing. But often they wind up with zero results.In contrast with the instant-results marketers are the consultants and authors who won't speak up because they don't have anything thrilling to say. People who deliver honest but unpopular messages are rebuked, so they fall silent. Without insights to reality, we're left with fairy tales. But while we love "happily ever after," not everything is so easy in business. Agents who understand this and can "handle the truth" have an advantage over the competition. Here's why:First, smart agency owners won't bite when offered fairy-tale solutions that waste their time, money and energy. They understand that successful businesses are built with hard work, incremental improvements, alertness to opportunities, and quality products and services. Results are not apparent overnight.Second, smart agency owners recognize that they are naturally attracted to sales, often to the detriment of the agency. Because most salespeople would rather make a money-losing sale than none at all, agency owners are susceptible to consultants' promises of huge increases in sales–whether those sales are profitable or not. The "good news" messages are almost irresistible, but smart agents use critical thinking to distinguish fairy-tale messages from those that really work.Third, while smart agency owners are generally optimistic (one reason for their success), they channel their optimism into attaining realistic and achievable competitive advantages, rather than into chasing the Next Big Thing. Many read books to increase their motivation and enthusiasm, but they retain a healthy skepticism.I'd like to recommend two books that address the creation of competitive advantage. They also back up their recommendations with statistics rather than anecdotes:–"Profit From the Core: Growth Strategy in an Era of Turbulence," by Chris Zook, James Allen and James Allen (Harvard Business School Press, 2001).–"Beyond the Core: Expand Your Market Without Abandoning Your Roots," by Chris Zook (Harvard Business School Press, 2004).These books–and "The Machine That Changed the World," by James P. Womack, Daniel T. Jones and Daniel Roos (Harper Perennial, 1991)–argue that success is based on making measurable improvements in products and services–daily incremental improvement is the key.

Do you want to chase the Next Big Thing? Or would you rather work hard–one client, project or employee at a time–to build the most successful agency you can?Chris Burand is president of Burand & Associates LLC, an agency consulting firm. Readers may contact Chris at (719) 485-3868 or by e-mail at [email protected].