The economy, already on the ropes in the second quarter, received a savage one-two blow to the head on Sept. 11, 2001. The accumulation of billions of dollars in lost business, hundreds of thousands of layoffs, rapid erosion of disposable income and a negative read in consumer confidence signals a knockout recession - the champ may soon go down in an unavoidable full-blown downturn.Economists cry "crisis," business leaders cry "foul" and seek government rebates. Political leaders try to inspire calm and suggest we return to "business as usual". But isn't this a time for business UNusual? Somewhere along the line, the champ developed a glass jaw and got weak at the knees. The one-two punch of Sept. 11 was a surprise attack, but it should not have had enough force to create the ripple effect it had on the U.S. economy and the domino effect around the world. I believe there is a hidden flaw in our business management systems that allowed this to happen and should now be addressed as we rebuild our economic infrastructures.

There must be a business "dressage" where all businesses, large and small, are trained in profit improvement. Just as ergonomics protects the employee by preventing injuries through effective workplace design, a constant focus on profit improvement helps safeguard the company against the effects of recession. It is time to make profit improvement a regular part of our business "conditioning" and build our economic muscle. Only then can we avoid the knee-jerk reaction of laying off large numbers of people at the first sign of an economic shortfall. Any type of business can become recession-proof by taking the following steps:

1. Large companies should develop Profit Building Teams. The team's primary purpose is to develop innovative solutions or ideas for reducing costs within every line of the profit and loss statement. Presently, developing teams specifically for profit improvement is uncommon, despite management's widespread knowledge of teams and their effectiveness. However, I have found this method to be extremely successful and have applied it to a wide range of organizations in myriad situations. Over the years, millions of dollars have been saved through the innovative solutions produced by Profit Building Teams.

A productive Profit Building Team possesses the following qualities:

• The team members represent a cross section of departments and skills within the organization. These should include operations, marketing, finance, information technology, human resources, telecommunications, and administration. Team members are chosen for their proven ability to come up with creative solutions.
• There should be no fewer than five and no more than eight team members. Issues associated with cost reduction require urgency, consensus and action. A large team slows the process down, while a small team takes a more focused view.
• Team members are committed to reducing costs within each line of the profit and loss statement.
• Team members set performance goals that are easily tracked and measured using the profit and loss statements.
• Team members hold themselves accountable for cost reduction and profit improvement.
• Team members meet on a regular basis, at least once a week.

Small businesses should form a Profit Building Consortium. By teaming up with other small companies, they can pool their talents into one highly skilled Profit Building Team that serves all the businesses in the consortium more effectively. For example, a marketing company, an accounting firm, a software or Internet company, a printer, and a mailing service might come together to form a Profit Building Consortium. Representatives from each company would comprise the team, with each contributing his or her highly specialized skills and knowledge. One can imagine the leveraged synergy such a team would create. Team members could share information, develop new strategies and come up with creative solutions as they play off of each other's strengths.

Each of the businesses could also leverage or barter skills, resources, and talents within the consortium to reduce costs and build revenue. The accounting firm, Internet business, and printer can benefit from the abilities of the marketing company and better promote their products and services. The marketing business, mailbox service and Internet company can benefit from the talents of the accounting firm, who can help them find ways to reduce costs. The printer can provide a reduction in rates to all businesses in the consortium, and so on, creating a win-win situation for all.

2. The Profit Building Team or Consortium should have a clear understanding of innovation management. Training in innovation management prepares team members to recognize the enablers of innovations as well as how to deal with setbacks that may occur. The process takes into account certain factors, such as the size of the organization, its age, the number of times an idea has been tried, and how these factors will affect the success or failure of the idea. Team members must learn to measure the company's ability to change, to lay the groundwork for future innovations, measure an idea's success and make any needed adjustments. Innovation management training also opens the door to greater company-wide participation in cost reduction efforts, as team members are taught to search for solutions by turning to the employees for help. These people are often the ones who hold the answers to the profitability question. In my book Profit Building: Cutting Costs Without Cutting People, I provide additional information regarding training for innovation and change management. I also suggest using the Internet to locate training programs based on innovation and change management (use these as your key words for searching).

3. Once trained, the Profit Building Team uses Questions Brainstorming to uncover creative solutions. Questions Brainstorming is brainstorming with a twist; the team is searching for questions instead of answers. This process stimulates creative thinking and allows team members to freely explore the possibilities without the pressure of having to find immediate solutions. Coming up with question after question eventually leads to powerful innovations. Following are the steps to the Questions Brainstorming process.

Questions Brainstorming:

• Call a meeting with the Profit Building Team and give each member a copy of the latest profit and loss statement to use as a reference. Announce that the goal is to come up with a list of questions - as many as possible - that will eventually lead to strategies for improving profits and reducing costs
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• The team manager may jump-start the process by asking a few questions: "How is revenue generated? How many marketing dollars are spent each year?"
• List all questions on a flip chart. Do not edit or omit any questions. Sometimes the wildest questions lead to the best solutions.
• Continue asking questions until a sufficient list has been generated.

4 The Profit Building Team turns questions into answers, and answers into action steps. The team first revisits the list of questions generated during the Questions Brainstorming process and analyzes each one to determine whether opportunities for cost reduction exist. The team then ranks and prioritizes the questions. The top questions are documented on a performance improvement plan where action steps, measurements, and contingency planning are developed. Team members are assigned responsibility for researching needed information and implementing action steps. Periodic measurements reveal whether the action steps are successful. If needed, contingency plans can help put the project back on track.

By following these four steps, businesses large and small can start to recession-proof their organizations by improving profitability and reducing costs on a regular basis. These steps support managers in discovering innovative solutions for reducing costs. They also show organizations how to give employees an opportunity to participate in a process that perpetuates cost reduction strategies, thereby sustaining profit improvement.