Dear ScaleUps,
Hope it’s been a productive and purposeful week. Here are some insights/opportunities to help you outlearn/outthink the competition.
| From the day I joined GE to the day I was named CEO, 20 years later, my bosses cautioned me about my candor. I was labeled abrasive and consistently warned my candor would soon get in the way of my career... and I'm telling you that it was candor that helped make it work. | |
| former GE CEO Jack Welch | |
Latest ScaleUp News --
Iconic CEO Jack Welch Died Sunday Age 84; The Founder of Trader Joe’s Also Passed Away this Week Age 89; Waymo Raises $2.25 Billion for Autonomous Vehicles – this news and more at ScaleUps.com, your one-stop weekly update.
High Dose IV Vitamin C Research for Coronavirus --
Given the effectiveness of high dose IV C for sepsis and flu, Zhongnan Hospital in Wuhan Province of China has initiated a clinical trial administering patients 24 grams of IV C each day for 7 days. Stay tuned. In the meantime, I’m getting my monthly 50-gram IV C with a 2-gram glutathione push later today after coming off three weeks of international travel.
The Infinite Game, Simon Sinek’s Latest Book --
Simon has done it again, with a very insightful book titled The Infinite Game*. This 25-minute video provides a summary and is pure Simon in style. Starting at 7:44 he outlines the five attributes of a company playing the infinite game – a company competing more against itself (seeking to get better) than others. The five attributes:
- Just Cause – why do you exist – people are willing to sacrifice to see a cause through, fighting FOR something instead of AGAINST something
- Courageous leadership – willing to sacrifice the short term for the long term, especially if it meanings caring for people
- Trusting team – environment in which people feel safe to say they made a mistake, need help, I’m scared – no fear of retribution – otherwise everyone’s lying, hiding, faking
- Worthy rival – helps reveal to you your weaknesses – not to beat them, but learn from them (my words) – and build a strong foundation that outlasts
- Flexible playbook – he ran out of time to explain so you’ll have to read the book!
In the end, the goal is to simply stay in the game. And rather than talk about winning or losing, you’re either ahead or behind. Thank you to Scaling Up Certified coach Chuck Kocher for sharing.
Graduate Student Team Determines Next Distribution Location --
Last week I reported on how COE Distributing (office furniture) has partnered with their local hockey team on an innovative employee recognition program. They’ve also partnered with the Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh on several important initiatives: identifying the best location for their next distribution center; and creating an AI platform for predicting which new products will be successful. Each project has cost just $10k. This 1-minute article details these efforts.
Houston the Chosen Site --
To continue, a team of graduate students working for 3 months, “…took into account multiple bits of information available: distribution space, cost of distribution space, customer concentration, cost of logistics and so on,” notes J.D. Ewing, CEO of COE Distributing. In the end the students chose a specific location in Houston and Ewing then engaged a commercial real estate firm to find the specific property, a quarter million sq. ft. facility they are leasing today.
Predicting Product Success Using Predictive Analytics --
In addition, COE Distributing regularly introduces new products with varying degrees of success. The latest graduate student project has built a machine learning platform that is proving accurate in helping COE better predict which products are likely to make it. Notes Ewing, “the more that model is used, the better and more accurate it is.” At a total cost of $10k, any firm can afford this kind of entry into Artificial Intelligence (more accurately called machine learning) – and COE has now hired two of the graduate students from the project to drive data analytics throughout his firm.
Partnering with Universities/Community --
Exclaims Ewing “what we found is that any university is looking for these types of partnerships.” Please pick up the phone and call your local university – often professors are eager to find real-world projects to engage their students during a semester. When I was teaching “Technical Entrepreneurship” at Wichita State University, we pursued similar projects for local firms. What local sports teams, universities, charities etc. might you partner with to connect more with your community and create win-win opportunities for them and your firm? Thank you J.D. Ewing and COE Distributing for showing us the way.
The Messenger Matters --
How people perceive you, though not often fair, drives your ability to persuade. So, what are the key factors? This video excerpt from influence guru Steve Martin’s course Messengers (no, not the American actor), based on his book by the same title, illustrates the power of perception with a trial-of-the-century story - the case of Texaco vs Pennzoil and what made that jury of 12 people decide on a $10 billion ruling. It's a fascinating case study of image and presence. Please watch Steve's insightful video here.
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