Soul Dies; “Warbers”; Best Biz Dev; Want Industry Attention?

Dear ScaleUps, 

Hope it’s been a productive and purposeful week. Here are some insights/opportunities to help you outlearn/outthink the competition.

Soul of a ScaleUp - 3 Keys --
This July HBR article by Harvard Prof Ranjay Gulati, though titled for startups, captures perfectly the three things his research found drive the “soul” of an organization:

1. Business Intent - how do you plan “to make history” (great question)
2. Customer Connection - Nike’s Ekins gathered customer insights and fed back to HQ
3. Employee Experience - less about “fun” and more about giving “voice” and “choice”

Though these might not seem novel, I really like how Gulati frames each in the article – using plain language (like voice and choice) and examples. It’s worth 2-minutes to read and then ask “are we doing these three simple things” in our company? 

How the Organization’s Soul Dies --
Gulati goes on to detail how a vibrant soul ends up dying inside the organization.  He acknowledges that as companies scale they need to add discipline and systems.  However, if not done carefully…

…there is a danger that added bureaucracy and “new blood” will cause workers to feel stifled, customers to feel disconnected, and an organization’s entrepreneurial flair to disappear. I interviewed several seasoned “growth stage” CEOs who’d been brought in to replace the founders of companies and who, despite the best of intentions, quickly squelched the spirit of those enterprises.

Gulati concludes by sharing how to “Preserve the Soul” with concrete ways Warby Parker (using “Warbers”) and Netflix did just this.  It’s a well written article worth the time to read.  Thank you to Susan Packard, founder of HGTV and author of Fully Human (keynoted our last Summit), for alerting me to this article. 

Customers, not Technologies, Disrupt Markets --
I’m jumping up and down -- I love when a book/article discerns a key insight different from the norm. In this HBR article, Thales S. Teixeira, author of Unlocking the Customer Value Chain, shares a fantastic insight:

Disruptive startups enter markets not by stealing customers from incumbents, but by stealing a select few customer activities (emphasis added). And the activities disruptors choose to take away from incumbents are precisely the ones that customers are not satisfied with.

Please read that paragraph again and again – it’s at the “activity” level (where Michael Porter says differentiation happens) that disruption occurs. Find out what activities within an industry/service are driving customers crazy and fix those!!! Please read this article for the extensive list of examples. Thank you, Steve Hall, for sharing.

9 Best Biz Dev Books --
This is a little dated (May 2019), but I like both Benzinga’s list of top business development books and how this online publication summarizes each below the list. And several are industry focused – biz dev for law firms, biz dev for professional service firms, etc.

Most Interesting Obscure/Insightful “Fact” for the Weekend --
Things are not always as they appear. Why do most Egyptian sculptures have broken noses? Seems they were damaged on purpose. Sculptures were not art; they were representative of a specific person/tribe. What every part was damaged indicated what power they wanted to take from that person’s spirit i.e. grave robbers would break off the nose of the sculpture (representing breath) to “kill” the spirit so it wouldn’t haunt them. If the left arm was broken off, that prevented the spirit from giving; and if the right hand was broken off that prevented the spirit from receiving alms. This article provides more details, but now you know!!

Want Positive Attention in Your Industry? --
Involved in your trade association? I enjoy keynoting these industry-driven events and having you introduce me on stage. I generally rate highly and I’m able to incorporate one of your best practices in my presentation - giving you broader visibility (and kudos) among your peers. Email me [email protected] if I can help. 

CEO-BOOTCAMP: spend 3.5 days with Verne, serial entrepreneur John Ratliff, and 6 other CEOs in a beautiful retreat setting, addressing the constraints holding back you, your business, and your industry. Aug 20 - 23, 2019 (Sold Out); Jan 14 - 17; Jan 21 - 24; Mar 10 - 13, 2020.

COACHING:

Have you ever wondered if working with a coach might accelerate your company's growth, exponentially? Do you have what it takes to move the dial from good to great? The Scaling Up team is prepared to support you. We have helped 40,000 other organizations over the past 30+ years, in scaling up their organizations through coaching, workshops, online training and more. 

We would like to offer you a complimentary, personal follow-up from our Scaling Up team to share how we can support you in scaling your organization.

YES! I WOULD LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT COACHING & RECEIVE A COMPLIMENTARY FOLLOW-UP (CLICK HERE)

For questions or more information contact us at [email protected]

TECHNOLOGY:

Create Accountability - Drive Execution with Align, cloud-based software designed to scale up your Rockefeller Habits implementation. www.alignwithscalingup.com - on your computer, tablet or phone. Click here to watch an introductory video.

Better Book Club -- What's your team reading? Increase your books read per team member. Easy, Proven, and in the Cloud at http://www.BetterBookClub.com.