The people who run the best companies know the pathway to success lies in a focus on core competencies. Do what they are designed to do, keeping the first thing “the first thing” is a form of competitive advantage that no one has found a way to match.

Successful organizations never lose sight of that, even when a fundamental reset is necessary for long-term survival.

That is what David Steiner is looking at as he prepares to become the nation’s next Postmaster General. His predecessor, Louis DeJoy, lost sight of what made the United States Postal Service different from UPS and the firms that made their names getting packages anywhere they needed to be overnight. Unlike its competitors in the private sector, the USPS is required by law to provide six days per week of mail and package delivery to every address in the continental United States.

DeJoy lost sight of this. He, like the others with grand designs for the post office’s future, sees an agency that does everything from selling office products to banking and lending, regardless of cost, capability, or the reality that someone else is already doing it better.

On May 9, at the Postal Service’s Board of Governors meeting, the USPS announced its most recent quarterly financial results. They were horrific. The agency’s net loss for the quarter totaled $3.3 billion, compared to a net loss of $1.5 billion for the same quarter last year. There is little doubt that this year, unless something changes, the USPS will likely lose more than the $9.5 billion it lost in Fiscal Year........

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