OUR LATEST IDEAS AND INSIGHTS ON BUSINESS STRATEGY AND ORGANIZATIONAL HEALTH:
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In a healthy executive culture, executives have the freedom to express their ideas and are encouraged to challenge norms. They must have protection from the cliquish trolls. They must be encouraged, to a person, to bring something new to the table and argue for and against the merits of the ideas.
Every job, every role, every company has lessons to teach if you’re willing to learn. These are my top lessons from food service.
In turbulent times, companies must discover what kind of adjustments are right for them to stay relevant. It can seem overwhelming. But there are a few ways to think about resourcefulness to help companies of any size manage through stressful environments.
Dandelions put out a taproot from the very beginning to give themselves every advantage possible in journey ahead—because they don’t know if that journey will be easy or tough.
Unfortunately, too many companies don’t operate with the basic principles of dandelions and as a result, start with weak foundations, don’t plan for adversity ahead, and falter when the economic winds change. If we’ve learned anything from history it should be that change is inevitable. It can be sudden and unpredictable or like a slow-moving glacier.
Managers often place high performing individuals together and expect them to work well together. Then they are usually disappointed when those same individuals fail to reach even basic goals and objectives. But this shouldn’t come as a surprise. There are countless examples of high performing individuals fighting one another to reach the top of some mountain while happily sacrificing others around them.
The one unifying aspect of affecting your current situation or enabling you to change for the better comes down to three simple words: Do Great Work!
It is easy to get focused on the destination or goal and race to a perceived finish line and miss the simple beauty of the people and places around us.
We didn't start out that way. We started on the premise of doing great work from the ground up to help brands stand out from all the noise in the marketplace. There is a lot of noise out there. And it's getting worse.
Every generation has to face its own rounds of brand challenges related to the economy, public attitudes, world events, and more. Especially when things go bad, it’s easy to think that in the crisis of the moment there are no parallels to reference for a way forward. This is where despair sets in. But there are almost always examples we can look to for how to thrive in challenging times.
There are winners and losers in every economy. Some people and companies collapse under the weight of changes and uncertainty while others seem to thrive. Same conditions, similar circumstances, but one group withers away while others not only survive the challenge but go on to do great things. What makes the difference?
Dandelions don't need perfect conditions to flourish. No, they don't mind if the soil is bad, the water inconsistent, or even if they have to go it alone against all odds ... like taking root in a small crack in concrete. They accept the conditions given and find a way to succeed.
Much has been written about the difficulty of successful companies thriving in the second and third generations. The same logic holds true for the age of COVID-19. Companies would do well to revisit the founder mentality and get back to their entrepreneurial roots.
Leaders who excelled in guiding the company along historic routes can struggle with change. Agile organizations are the ones who are able to weather the storm and redefine their paths forward while fixed companies struggle with the change.
Top-heavy organizations are susceptible to major disruption during stormy market changes.
I've found that in healthy business cultures, people work hard to do the right thing most of the time. And in pushing forward they make mistakes for all the right reasons. When those mistakes are made, management owes it to their teams to have some grace.
… too many speedboats and you can new idea your company out of existence. Too many tankers and the world will pass you by. With innovation, it's often best to let your speedboats race out to the front.
Every company has check-the-box employees. These are people who keep their heads down and move through a steady list of to-do items.
Success can trap even the speedboats of a company into believing their one brilliant win is enough. It isn't. Companies must continue to innovate and learn, try and fail, learn more and stretch to find what's new.
The average tv remote control has 40+ buttons. Most people use about six on a regular basis and stretch to 10 in a crunch. So why do remote controls have the extra 30+ buttons? Because they can. But should they?
This week, challenge yourself and your team to see the GOOD in people. See that they ARE trying—that they ARE working to solve the problem.
It's hard enough out there. Let's give each other a break.
A year after launching a start-up agency built on filling the gap between in-house creative groups and traditional agencies, I get asked almost weekly if I think the traditional agency model is dying. The answer? Maybe. But the reasons are far simpler than people think.
If your culture is dysfunctional, it doesn't matter how many core values you list or how you word them. If the leadership doesn't demonstrate the kinds of behaviors you want, TELLING your employees how to act will fall on deaf ears.
In every business category, whether B2B or B2C, service-oriented or manufacturing, people want to know that the products and services offered are relevant to how they live.
If you solve problems for your audiences, you have relevance.
Executives must lead from the front in uncertain times. They must prove that even when it's tough they, the leaders, have some idea of what a positive future looks like and are willing and able to help the company achieve success. They must give the people in the organization hope that tomorrow will be okay.
Management's job isn't to beat people into submission. It's to lead them with a focus on a greater good, a bigger goal that will require everyone on the team bringing their best ideas every day.
You. Are. Deserving.
On one hand they wanted people like themselves who took initiative and conquered big challenges. At the same time, they felt threatened by that behavior. Managers who live like this destroy good people and derail careers. They kill cultures and companies from within.
Avoiding mistakes is useless. Making them is human. Owning mistakes and learning from them is where leadership begins.
The business world loves stereotypes, where old-line companies (we call them tankers) boast about their age, stability, and staying power while young startups (we call them speedboats) scream about their pace, out-of-the-box thinking, and innovation. Seasoned workers at tanker organizations get cast as rigid and resistant while their speedboat counterparts are hailed as adaptable and tech-savvy.
There is a need for both tanker and speedboat organizations. But let’s be clear here: the only thing you get with age is older. Age isn’t an indication of wisdom, sophistication, or savvy. Age alone does not determine ability to deliver.