1. Identify the Real Bottom Line

The process of bottom-line thinking begins with knowing what you’re really going after. It can be as lofty as
the big-picture vision, mission, or purpose of an organizaion. Or it can be as focused as what you want to
accomplish on a particular project. What’s important is that you be as specific as possible. If your goal is for
something as vague as “success,” you will have a painfully difficult time trying to harness bottom-line thinking to
achieve it.
The first step is to set aside your “wants.” Get to the results you’re really looking for, the true essence of the
goal. Set aside any emotions that may cloud your judgment and remove any politics that may influence your
perception. What are you really trying to achieve? When you strip away all the things that don’t really matter,
what are you compelled to achieve? What must occur? What is acceptable? That is the real bottom line.

2. Make the Bottom Line the Point

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone whose intentions seem other than stated? Sometimes
the situation reflects intentional deception. But it can also occur when the person doesn’t know his own bottom
line.
The same thing happens in companies. Sometimes, for example, an idealistically stated mission and the
real bottom line don’t jibe. Purpose and profits compete. Earlier, I quoted George W. Merck, who stated, “We
try never to forget that medicine is for the people. It is not for the profits. The profits follow, and if we have
remembered that, they have never failed to appear.” He probably made that statement to remind those in his
organization that profits serve purpose—they don’t compete with it.
If making a profit were the real bottom line, and helping people merely provided the means for achieving it,
then the company would suffer. Its attention would be divided, and it would neither help people as well as it
could nor make as much profit as it desired.

3. Create a Strategic Plan to Achieve the Bottom Line

Bottom-line thinking achieves results. Therefore, it naturally follows that any plans that flow out of such
thinking must tie directly to the bottom line—and there can be only one, not two or three. Once the bottom line
has been determined, a strategy must be created to achieve it. In organizations, that often means identifying
the core elements or functions that must operate properly to achieve the bottom line. This is the leader’s
responsibility.
The important thing is that when the bottom line of each activity is achieved, then THE bottom line is
achieved. If the sum of the smaller goals doesn’t add up to the real bottom line, then either your strategy is
flawed or you’ve not identified your real bottom line.

4. Align Team Members with the Bottom Line

Once you have your strategy in place, make sure your people line up with your strategy. Ideally, all team
members should know the big goal, as well as their individual role in achieving it. They need to know their
personal bottom line and how that works to achieve the organization’s bottom line.

5. Stick with One System and Monitor Results Continually

Dave Sutherland, a friend and former president of one of my companies, believes that some organizations
get into trouble by trying to mix systems. He maintains that many kinds of systems can be successful, but
mixing different systems or continually changing from one to another leads to failure. Dave says:

Bottom-line thinking cannot be a one-time thing. It has to be built into the system of working and relating

and achieving. You can’t just tune into the desired result every now and then. Achieving with bottom-line

thinking must be a way of life, or it will send conflicting messages. I am a bottom-line thinker. It is a part