You may or may not know that golf is diminishing in popularity across the U.S. and some attribute cost and time required to play as the causes for reduced participation. For me, a reduction in interest is summed up in two words – back stiffness. I played through pain most of a round recently and it was difficult at best. I suppose there are others, as well, who may understand and play less for similar reasons. Such conditions can cause frustration. When frustration sets in, golf tends to become a four-letter word.

No question that the game is a brilliant and unique game that appears easy. It is precisely the opposite, ergo the capacity to frustrate those who play it. If you combine expense to play with the time required, and frustration, it is understandable why play might be down.

I once heard author and speaker Margaret Feinstein offer a solution that included four elements she described as “red neck golf”. Red neck golf is not all that different from conventional golf with a few minor exceptions including these:

You can’t pay more than $25 a round to play because your behavior would get you kicked off more expensive golf courses.
All par 4 holes became par 8 plus 2 or par 10 holes.  Some have talked about increasing the size of the hole, but not red neck golf – that would be too easy!
If, while playing red neck golf you find additional balls you subtract the number of found balls from your score. So much for shortening time of play.
There must be goodies to indulge in during the round that would vary depending on the age and preference of those playing.

Margaret also referred to golf (described by her father) as being so named golf because it was the last remaining four-letter word in the dictionary. I must admit – I relate to that remark. Experiencing the frustration that can overcome a human being when playing golf is an experience like no other. Being rendered helpless, hopeless and humbled is not a feeling of delight. For those of you now chuckling, may I say to you – “try it and you too may love to hate it”. 

I once heard a playing partner tell about being in a foursome where a gentleman hit a poor tee shot and then proceeded to pitch his bag full of clubs into a pond. Two conclusions to draw from that incident: 1) the player was extremely frustrated and 2) that turned out to be a very expensive round of golf. You will notice that I did not label the player a “bad person”. He may, however, have made an unwise decision. 

And so, it can be in a business that we make poor decisions based on difficult circumstances. One of the most common errors made in business is to cut costs to improve the bottom line. When profits become jeopardized, often the first course of action taken by businesses is to cut costs. That seems logical and really is to some degree, but not to the degree that many do it. Prudent spending should always be the rule of business law. What gets misunderstood is that there needs to always be a spend-cut balance to maintain a healthy business environment. Too often the option of business growth to gain profitability is disregarded in favor of spending cuts. When extensive cost-cutting measures overshadow growth initiatives, innovation, creativity, competitive differentiation, and employee motivation also decline.

As an example, at a time in healthcare when margins and reimbursements are squeezed and costs are escalating, it is easy to understand why organizations are focused on cost-cutting. What so often goes unattended to is the ramifications of such action – both short and long term. If any organization focuses solely on cutting costs, how then can they focus on business growth? The approaches are dichotomous in nature and at best neutralize one another. A better approach seems to be one that incorporates a reduction of cost during the process of growing the business and improving the quality of care and/or service provided in a balanced manner. The difficult question is how is that accomplished?

Engaging employees through transparency, accountability with authority and personal development focus may be one answer that can drive innovative ways to improve profitability while promoting growth. Operating the same old way is not the answer in a profitability shrinking environment. Change must occur and with a focus on improvement versus reduction may be the answer to growth and profitability. It may require external thinking and finding ways outside your existing environment to get better and more profitable at what you do. Uncomfortable decisions to change may just be the enabling factor that triggers positive innovation. Without it, margins will inevitably continue shrinking as the cost-cutting measures run dry. Not to mention, growth will almost certainly diminish or disappear altogether, leaving but a shell of an organization as opposed to a vibrant organism that is seeking growth in a positive way.

There are essentially two basic ways of viewing an approach to doing business:

The last four-letter word:

G – good

O – old

L – lasting

F – frustration

Or a different four-letter golfing word referring to how you attack the opportunity:

F – focus

O – on

R – reviving

E – excellence