After 50 years spent working with a range of companies -- as well as founding and running my own company, J.D. Power and Associates -- I have come away with a few thoughts about how to have the best shot at success in business. The businesses I've seen grow, adapt, and thrive are the ones that keep a focus on satisfying customers by listening to them, anticipating their needs and desires, and maintaining these principles. And this experience has taught me a number of lessons that I believe should be internalized by anyone in business, whether a first-year business student or a seasoned executive. Last month, I shared five of these lessons. Here, I share an additional five.
1. Be willing to look at situations from unusual directions to seek the truth. Don't be afraid to take a counterintuitive position in order to generate better ideas. The Jesuit education I received at the College of the Holy Cross provided a basis in questioning the status quo, a trait that has served me well.
2. Accept change. I really believe that you need to anticipate changes, be flexible, and move with the trends. We are in the Information Age today. The rise of the Internet and its impact on retailing is the most recent example of the ways companies must adapt in order to survive, but there has never been a time when change was not actively underway.
3. Stay true to your values. Part of your brand is what you are -- and, at the core, what you are is made up of your values. Whether you are an individual or an organization, you must keep your compass aligned to the virtues that guide you. At our company, I really felt that we kept the organization focused on the "Three I's:" independence, impact, and integrity.
4. Find information and inspiration in the work of others. I have long been a student of the writings of Walter Wriston, Peter Drucker, W. Edwards Deming, and Alvin Toffler. Their observations are still compelling today, as are myriad others, who can offer insight and perspective that will be invaluable to your pursuits.
5. Don't "torture the data till it confesses." Don't be blind to all but the good news you may want to hear. Consciously or unconsciously interpreting information that comes across your desk in a way that supports past decisions rather than illuminates needed improvements is short-sighted and won't bring you closer to the satisfied customers who will ultimately dictate your success.
These principles guided me through a successful and satisfying career. The individuals whom I dealt with who shared a similar view of business invariably had the respect of their clients and colleagues, and the markers of success were realized for them as well.
James David Power is the founder of J.D. Power and Associates. Stories from 50 years in the auto industry are shared in the new book, Power: How J.D. Power III Became the Auto Industry's Adviser, Confessor, and Eyewitness to History. For more information, visit www.davepowerbook.com