"...keeping you great" Ten Minutes with the Growth Guy
HEADLINES:
10 Richest Americans Ever (Rockefeller maintains his lead!) -- just released, a fun list to click through -- I didn't realize that there were four people ahead of Bill Gates
Speaking of rich! -- this conglomerate outperformed Warren Buffett's firm the past 20 years -- this got my attention. BusinessWeek had a must read article this week on Steven and Mitchell Rales' company called Danaher Corp -- the best unknown conglomerate on the planet (based in DC) -- they've acquired boring niche businesses, applied outstanding management principles, and are now each worth over $2 billion. I had never heard of these two guys. Anyway, highly informative article, especially for those of you building your own mini-conglomerates and doing acquisitions. Here's a link
Danaher Business System -- to quote BW "DBS, as it's called, is a set of management tools borrowed liberally from the famed Toyota Production System." The Rales have been applying Lean principles to their businesses since 1987. I'm meeting with the head of the Lean Institute next Monday evening -- we're going to explore how we can adapt the Lean tools to growth firms -- stay tuned. Strategy drives revenue; streamlined processes drive profit -- you need both! Interestingly, they say Steve Rales is strategy focused while his brother Mitchell is operations oriented -- great combination.
Two screens: Little Improvements Add Up -- this note from Raymond Roberts yesterday, CEO of Cairo Corporation (www.cairocorp.com) "the whole team has two LCD screens on their desks now and everyone loves it. They are all saying that it improves productivity. Thanks for encouraging us to do this." The Lean approach is about making constant productivity improvements. Saving time opening and closing windows adds up over time!
Controlling the Ink in Your Industry -- congrats to "Soap Expert" Anne-Marie Fiaola. Notes Anne-Marie this week "I just wanted to let you know that we took your book idea one step above - we created two DVDs positioning us as soap experts! Here's the link to the DVD's on our site: (first two listed)." You'll find the two articles I wrote about book writing, blogs, wikis and squidoos in the left hand column of this insight.
Dinner with Sir Richard Branson -- Mike Faith, CEO of San Francisco-based Headsets.com, has launched a brilliant idea -- he's been combining his philanthropic obligations; his insatiable appetite for knowledge and scratching his entrepreneurial itch by hosting dinners with well know business luminaries in the interests of charity. Successful intimate dinners for ten to twelve, with the likes of Sir Richard Branson, head of Virgin and Rob Carter CIO of the $33B FedEx have kicked off what looks to be an educational and inspirational venture -- and have raised almost $100,000 for charity. More info at www.reservedinners.com and let Mike know if you want to attend one of these celebrity dinners. All of you could replicate this in your own town! Brilliant Mike!
Best BHAG from NZ tour -- I had an outstanding week in NZ, hosting over 400 executives of growth firms with our coaching partners The Results Group. One of the neatest companies was Hamilton Jet which has a BHAG to "Kill Propellers!" Hamilton Jet is one of the pioneers of waterjets, dating back to 1950. And you have to check out their new MouseBoat technology -- you literally use a mouse-like device to steer a boat -- move the mouse sideways and the boat moves sideways!
Best Quarterly Theme in NZ -- Generation Developments' "M.A.S.H." theme, giving them all a reason to kick back and sip martinis (as if the Kiwi's need any more reason to party). David Mansel, Director of Generation Developments (www.generation.co.nz), has been a client of The Results Group for almost a decade during which they've maintained their massive "gazelles" growth pace and dominated their niche within the homebuilding industry. I first met David and his team when they flew up three years ago to Malaysia and participated in their first of three Rockefeller Habits workshops.