The effect of implementing priority thinking at MasterCraft
was that the managers found themselves working much more colaboratively and working on areas they never seemed to be able to
get to. Dorton offers an example: “The day in the life of the VP
of sales used to consist of issues like ‘We need a better guy in California, we need to get rid of the discounts, or whatever.’ Now his
day is [devoted] to two main focuses: reduce our dependence on
wholesale push and increase retail pull to improve and control the
retail experience. He’s now more focused.”
That sales executive now spends time using internal IT systems
to analyze market data by geographic area so that when a dealer
says that his or her market does not need, say, a twenty-two-foot
Model X-30 wakeboard boat “because they don’t sell here,” the
MasterCraft VP can use his data to show what model and size are
appropriate for that market. The vice president can focus on
changing dealer behavior.
As MasterCraft’s experience shows, there are distinct benefits of
forced collaboration: