The Agile Scaleup

Zillow's CEO; Most Livable City; Critical Book; Best CEO Traits; Southeast Asia Tour

"...keeping you great"

HEADLINES:  

Stories for Fortune Needed -- what are you doing to streamline your organization - implementing Lean, utilizing more checklists, giving your team permission to stop stupid stuff, cleaning out processes? Let us know and we'll interview you for the column - more details below, but first...

Most Important Book 2014 -- Kenneth Cukier and Viktor Mayer-Schonberger have written the most important (and readable) book for biz leaders in 2014 titled Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think. Read chapters 1 and 7 immediately, then read the rest of the book. Then come hear Cukier (via London), along with Ben Horowitz, Keith Ferrazzi, Liz Wiseman, etc. keynote Fortune's Growth Summit in Vegas Oct 28 - 29. GazellesPro and book club members will receive a copy of Cukier's book next week.

Zillow's CEO Wins through Learning -- With the stock price up 7-fold since going public in 2011, and on the verge of purchasing rival Trulia for $3 billion, Seattle-based Zillow is on a roll. Adam Lashinsky notes in his latest Fortune article, "Spencer Rascoff is the rare chief executive who relishes not having all the answers." Instead, he's connected his management team to the teams of other leading online media firms, so they can garner best practices and learn from their peers. Choose a half-dozen firms you respect and do the same for your team (most are at the Summits). Take 2 minutes to scan the article for details.

Traits of the Inc. 500 CEOs -- the latest list is out and Leigh Buchanan reports on Gallup's latest research that compared the scores of 2,700 entrepreneurs on 10 personality traits with those of the CEOs of the Inc. 500 winners. In general, the winning CEOs simply blew away the scores of the general entrepreneur population - focus, delegation, knowledge seeking, relationship building, and the other 6 traits. Take a few seconds to scan down through the article and find the chart with the ten traits and scores. FYI, though the winning CEOs had higher relationship building scores, the entire group scores low in this category. Entrepreneurs aren't "social" beings in general. They crave independence above all else.

Head to Canada (or Australia) -- speaking of independence, the world's most livable cities list is out and seven of the top ten are in Canada and Australia with neighbor New Zealand picking up an 8th. #1 was Melbourne - the Barcelona of Australia. For US citizens, take a lead from Burger King this week and move to Canada. Dan Sullivan, co-founder of Strategic Coach, has always exclaimed the best of both worlds is living in Canada and making money in the US.

Inversion Deals -- Burger King and other large corporations are buying foreign companies, like Tim Horton in Canada, as a tax strategy. Rather than lambast these firms as President Obama is doing, the US should fix the problem and dramatically lower or eliminate corporate taxes - they are regressive, anti-competitive, and job killers. KPMG calculates that corporate tax costs are 46.4% lower in Canada than the US. Here's a list of corporate tax rates throughout the world. Yes, US corp's have various tax breaks and these should be eliminated as well. My full views are best articulate by Brett Arends in his recent column in Forbes.

Auckland (2 Sept), Melbourne (3 Sept), Sydney (4 Sept), Singapore (5 Sept), and Jakarta (8 Sept) -- I'm leading a series of workshops highlighting the new book Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0) which publishes Oct 21. Hope to see you there.
Auckland, Melbourne, Sydney 
Singapore
For Jakarta email to [email protected]

Fortune Stories Needed -- Many companies are seeing growth opportunities now -- but are still cautious about hiring, given rising costs and high taxes. For my next Fortune column, I am looking at how companies are scaling up while staying lean. Have you taken a close look at your processes to keep them efficient so costs don't rise dramatically as you grow? Have you found better ways to launch your products or new stores that don't require a massive hiring spree? Please email [email protected] and include the name of your company, the city where it is based, what it does, your annual revenue and if the company is profitable. (Fortune requires financials).

COACHING:

Need help implementing the Rockefeller Habits?

Killer Apps; Live Longer; Less Sleep the Better; Silent Killers; GGOB Summit

"...keeping you great"

HEADLINES:  

Stories Needed for Next Fortune Column -- see below, but first...

Five Ways to Get Organized -- my latest Fortune column (Aug 14 edition) is online. With those in the northern hemisphere preparing to head back to work after vacations in August, it outlines five ways to improve your efficiency:

1. Ditch the open-door policy - what to do instead
2. Avoid digital distractions - automate using two specific apps
3. Limit mental friction - deploy this technique
4. Streamline scheduling - utilize this app
5. Protect your sleep - wear these

Please take 1 minute to scan for the details - always a quick read.

Four Research Studies, Less Sleep is Better -- four studies independently found that people who sleep approximately 6 1/2 - 7 hours each night live longer and have better cognitive function than those sleeping 8 hours or more. Click here to read the whole story.

Living Longer and Better -- there are lots of health recommendations. Last week I shared the stage with David Kekich, President/CEO of Maximum Life Foundation and author of Smart, Strong, and Sexy at 100. A highly successful entrepreneur, he turned his attention to anti-aging in 1998. At age 71, he looks 45, and has some simple keys to a better, longer life:

1. No grains or dairy
2. High intensity exercise (4 min Tabata)
3. Meditation
4. Intermittent fasting
5. Financial independence (so you can afford the bleeding edge stem cell therapies)

Your Brain's Silent Killers -- Your lifestyle choices play a fundamental role in determining your brain's destiny. That is the powerful message that leading neurologist, Dr. David Perlmutter shares in his #1 New York Times bestselling book, Grain Brain:The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar -- Your Brain's Silent Killers. Dr. Perlmutter presents strong scientific evidence that links dementia and other neurodegenerative disorders, autoimmune diseases, ADHD, anxiety, and depression with the consumption of wheat, carbs, and sugar. He outlines a comprehensive action plan that includes a diet that replaces carbohydrates with higher amounts of healthful fats, colorful vegetables, and moderate amounts of high-quality protein. Amazingly, this type of diet alone can reduce your risk of developing dementia by 65%.

Avoid Statin Drugs -- Grain Brain is also filled with compelling research on the importance of cholesterol to your health and why you should avoid taking statin drugs. He also explains the powerful gut-brain connection, as well as key nutrients to take, and diagnostic tests you should do to evaluate your disease risk. This is a must read for anyone wanting to transform their health and vitality. Dr. Perlmutter was recently on Village Green Apothecary's Essentials of Healthy Living radio show where he shared some fascinating facts about the toxic effects of wheat, carbohydrates, and sugar on the brain. Click here to listen. Marc Isaacson, CEO of Village Green, is a regular attendee at the Fortune Summits - track him down to discuss.

Great Game of Business -- a reminder for all the Jack Stack fans - his 22nd Annual Gathering of Games, the largest open-book management event on the planet, will be taking place in St. Louis, MO September 3-5, 2014. It is the conference to attend if you currently practice any form of transparency in your company, or want to become more transparent with you employees. Use code ggobgazelles to receive $100 off your conference registration. Visit gatheringofgames.com to learn more and register. We hope someone on your team has the opportunity to attend The Annual Gathering of Games this year!

Need Stories for Next Fortune Column -- I am looking for tips on how to maximize sales in the fourth quarter. What strategies have your company used to determine if it is selling to the right customer -- and to weed out customers who distract you from your core focus? How are you getting deals closed now, before customers check out for the December holidays? Please include the name of your business, the city where it is located, what the company does, annual revenues and if the company is profitable. Fortune requires this info.

COACHING:

Need help implementing the Rockefeller Habits?

Escape Overseas; Best Persuasion Technique; Customer Funded Biz; Australia, NZ, Singapore, Jakarta

"...keeping you great"

HEADLINES:  

Plan Your Escape Overseas -- my latest Fortune column (Aug 11 edition) highlights five reasons to take a sabbatical or move overseas to spur growth in your business. Specifically:

• Get closer to the action
• Eliminate distractions
• Build new relationships
• Uncover best practices
• Beat burnout

Take 2 minutes to scan for details and then plan your move for 2015. Thanks to Larry Gilbert, Event Network; Vernon Menard, Choice Translating; and David Niu, TINYPulse for contributing to this column.

Customer-Funded Businesses -- Dell, Microsoft, and Banana Republic "raised" money from their customers to get started. And customers are the best source of growth capital. John Mullins' long awaited book titled The Customer Funded Business is the first to address this important source of funding. The co-author of the famous HBR article on the cash conversion cycle we've referenced for years, he outlines five approaches:

• Matchmaker models (Airbnb)
• Pay-in-advance models (Threadless)
• Subscription models (TutorVista)
• Scarcity models (Vente Privee)
• Service-to-product models (GoViral)

If you're thinking of raising cash or just want more of it faster, read this book. GazellesPro and book club members will receive a copy next week (Mullins keynoted our last Summit).

"Customer" Sourced Sleep Aids -- Fortune announced it's first-ever Big Data All Stars - 20 people using this powerful approach to fuel their respective ventures. Scan down through the list (20 short descriptions of each big data application) and read about Monica Rogati, Vice President of Data, Jawbone. Using customer sourced data, they are learning what keeps certain groups of people awake - and then using this information to help them sleep better. Immediately following Monica is Onno Zoeter, Research Scientist, Xerox Research Centre Europe. See how he used big data to analyze parking in Los Angeles and reduced congestion by 10%. Then come hear Kenneth Cukier, co-author of the most important and practical book on big data, keynote the Growth Summit in Vegas.

Persuade Customers Using Visuals -- ...and if you run into closed-minded customers (or others), take 1 minute to scan CEO (Rapid Learning) Stephen Meyer's piece in Forbes titled "Persuasion: Fascinating Study Shows How to Open a Closed Mind." He highlights three typical approaches, but only one works. The answer surprised me, but makes the most sense - show your evidence in a graphical format! Update your website and sales materials immediately.

Auckland (2 Sept), Melbourne (3 Sept), Sydney (4 Sept), Singapore (5 Sept), and Jakarta (8 Sept) -- I'm leading a series of workshops highlighting the new book Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0) which publishes Oct 21. Hope to see you there.
Auckland, Melbourne, Sydney 
Singapore 
For Jakarta email to [email protected]

COACHING:

Need help implementing the Rockefeller Habits?

Terrible Bosses; Boring Bosses; Remote Bosses; Eating a Scorpion

"...keeping you great"  

HEADLINES:  

No one is worthless; they can at least serve as a bad example.
	Author unknown

Terrible Bosses -- notes Katherine Reynolds Lewis, in this Fortune article, "You can learn quite a bit from so-called negative mentors; the misguided, wrongheaded, or simply evil bosses." She goes on to outline in her article titled "How Your Terrible Boss Can Make You a Great Manager" examples where leaders learned lessons about the importance consistency, delegation, open-mindedness, and honest feedback from experiencing just the opposite. Not sure you really need to read the article - the title and quote say it all.

Boring Bosses -- Google continues to use their "people analytic" skills to discern the best traits of successful employees and leaders. Their latest revelation "The most important character trait of a leader is one that you're more likely to associate with a dull person than a dynamic leader: predictability. The more predictable you are, day after day, the better." In other words, when managers are predictable, they remove a roadblock from employees' path -- themselves. Take 2 minutes to scan this short TNW article titled "The boring trait Google looks for in its leaders" for more on what Google has learned employees want from their bosses. Thanks to Georg von Laffert, our GI Certified Coach in Germany, for sharing this recent link.

Remote Bosses -- Mark Khabe, co-founder of PRIME Process Management Group with his wife, works from anywhere and everywhere. See recent photo below - Lombok, Indonesia - where he was working for 3 weeks while scuba diving. Notes Khabe, "One month I am in Indonesia, one month I am in Thailand, one month I am in India - just looking around for my next options." With 35 employees in Australia and India, Khabe feels the great part of being away from the business and always in different time zones is his team has to make their own decisions. "This is also driving accountability. They feel like this is their business rather than mine." And because he's always meeting new people and learning new things, it drives creativity and inspiration.

Collisions -- ...and to drive innovation, where you locate the restrooms is one of many "physical" decisions that the boss must get right. This week's Fortune article titled "What architects don't get about Steve Jobs spaceship" highlights several key decisions leaders make about where people sit. Jobs understood the importance of upping the accidental collisions of people to drive creativity and communication, lessons he first applied in designing Pixar's innovative HQ. Take 2 minutes to scan through the article (and there's a link to a much longer video recording of Jobs' presentation of Apple's new HQ to the Cupertino city council - it's worth watching if you have to win over the local authorities).

Eating a Scorpion -- You thought you had a bad boss. My son Cameron's "boss" on the first stop of his gap-year (jungles of Panama) had him eat a scorpion on his 18th birthday. If you have a teenager thinking about taking a year off between high school and college, Cameron has a blog titled "Filling the Gap" which might be of interest to them (including a photo of the scorpion-eating episode). And he'll be attending the Growth Summit in Vegas. Any executives wanting to expose their children to some outstanding biz education are welcome to bring them for just the cost of meals (and many do!).

COACHING:

Need help implementing the Rockefeller Habits?