The Agile Scaleup

Top Five Biz Books 2020; YPO-only CEO Boot Camp; Horst’s Gift of Excellence; Happiest of Holidays!

Learning’s a gift, even when pain is your teacher.

Michael Jordan 

We cannot hold a torch to light another’s path without brightening our own.

Ben Sweetland

Holiday Gift of Excellence
Enjoy this one-hour replay of Ritz Carlton famed Horst Schulze’s presentation on Excellence Wins from last week’s Master Class. The first half-hour is theory, the second half-hour is practical and story filled (his story of removing a customer from the hotel is classic!). Excellence always wins!! Share with the team and prepare the right mindset for 2021

CEO Boot Camps – Two Public, One YPO-only
Spend 3 days with 6 other CEOs, John Ratliff, and Verne Harnish going deep in how to scale – including some one-on-one time with Verne and John. Two seats opened-up for Jan 12 – 15, Marathon, FL; and four seats open for Feb 2 – 5, Marathon. YPO Southern 7 is hosting a private YPO-only CEO/COO Boot Camp Jan 19 – 22. Open to ten YPOers and their #2, five teams are already signed up – so five more spots. For more info, visit www.ceo-bootcamp.com.

Top Five Business Books 2020 and Crisis
My pick for the top 5 business books for 2020 – and the top 5 for dealing with any crisis – are listed here along with my recommended chapters to prioritize and make your reading more relevant/easy! 

Reflection On 2020
At the end of my top book list, I share the following reflection:

Nature would have never done to itself what our leaders have imposed on the human race in 2020. No ant colony or beehive would lock down so insanely (vs. selectively). I lay the blame on the “experts” – a term I’ve come to despise in 2020. What many of the books above point to is that the crowd/tribe is so much wiser than any leader/expert. We know what to do if the leaders would just get off their money/power trips and let us be. Ok, Verne, just breathe!

There, I feel better – and hope we continue to turn to the tribe for guidance, like we do in choosing restaurants and products and experiences. 

Happiest of Holidays!
I’m taking the next couple of weeks off from writing the insights – back Jan 7. Happy New Year!

Order a box of 20 Scaling Up books
Want to save 50% over the price on Amazon? Go to this link.

Write Your Own Book
Whether you want to make it to the bestseller lists or just sell a lot more of your goods or services, with a profound competitive edge over the competition, Book The Business: How to Make BIG Money With Your Book Without Selling a Single Copy is for you! Request your free copy of this ground-breaking book at advantagefamily.com/scalingup.

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: 
ScalingUp Scoreboard
Integrated with Salesforce, Slack, and Zapier (allowing it to connect with 1000s of systems), use Scoreboard to provide your team (working remotely even more important!) a real time visual dashboard of cascading priorities and metrics. Get a personalized tour of Scaling Up Scoreboard to see how you can use it to better implement Scaling Up in your business.

EDUCATION: 
We’re still in business coaching and training firms:
Oxford, UK - Jan 13, 2021 (Virtual)
Colorado Springs, CO - Jan 13, 2021 (Virtual)
Waltham, MA – Jan 14, 2021
Louisville, KY - Jan 15, 2021 (Virtual)
Oklahoma City, OK - Jan 15, 2021 (Virtual)
Ann Arbor, MI / Indianapolis, IN – Jan 20, 2021 (Virtual)
Washington, DC - Jan 21, 2021 (Virtual)
Oakland, CA - Jan 21, 2021 (Virtual)
Columbus, OH - Jan 21, 2021 (Virtual)
Atlanta, GA - Jan 26, 2021 (Virtual)
Ontario, Canada Region - Jan 28, 2021 (Virtual)
New Orleans, LA - Feb 12, 2021 (Virtual)
Irving, TX – Feb 25, 2021
Lancaster, PA - March 2, 2021 (Virtual)
Salisbury, England - March 18, 2021
Brisbane, Australia - Mar 24 & 25, 2021 (2 Day Master Class) 
Salisbury, England - July 6, 2021

Lancaster, PA - Oct 26, 2021
Salisbury, England - Nov 18, 2021

Growth Institute Online Executive Education:
Master of Business Dynamics
Scaling Up Master Business Course
Exponential Organizations Master Business Course
Topgrading Master Business Course

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.

Did you miss previous insights? - read here 
  
Read Verne's Insights on Kindle http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003SX13YI 

Sign up for Verne's Weekly Insights  

Dies in Showers; Raja’s Juice; Netflix Series; Dec 16 FAST Verne Webinar

We win with people! 

Woody Hayes, Legendary Football Coach

The problem with most strategic planning processes is they are not designed to create strategy. They are designed to create consistency.

Kaihan Krippendorff, author of Outthink the Competition

Great ideas don’t die in the market, they die in the shower. People are too scared to pursue them because they appear crazy.

Kaihan Krippendorff

Everyone Needs a Scoreboard – Verne Harnish Webinar Dec. 16
I'll be joining Align, our partners on the Scaling Up Scoreboard, for a free webinar on "FAST Goals: Game Plan for 2021" on December 16th at 2 PM ET. I'll lay out how FAST vs SMART goals can take your business from surviving to thriving in 2021. Register here: https://aligntoday.com/register-fast-goals-game-plan-for-2021-with-verne-harnish/

10 Reasons Sports Teams Are Better Run Than Most Businesses
In the spirit of “gamifying” the business to make it more fun and engaging, Scaling Up Certified coach Rick Crossland wrote a succinct article detailing 10 aspects of professional sports teams that can easily port to business – a nice 10-point checklist including the need for scoreboards. Please take one-minute to scan and see how many you’ve executed in your firm. 

Netflix -- 5 Legendary Sports Coaches
The Netflix series titled “The Playbook” highlights lessons applicable to all of us as leaders and parents. Here’s a link to the official 2-minute trailer. Featured coaches include the Los Angeles Clippers' Doc Rivers; two-time FIFA World Cup-winning coach Jill Ellis; Premier League’s José Mourinho; Serena Williams’ famed tennis coach, Patrick Mouratoglou; and hall of fame basketball player and coach Dawn Staley.

How Raja’s Juice Stand 100x’d Revenue? Strategy!
This 2-minute video highlights how to be different in a commoditized industry – selling juice. How did Raja 100x revenue, garner free publicity, and reduce his costs – a triple win! The answer is in the first 30-seconds. How are you different? Thank you to forum guru Mo Fathelbab for sharing. 

Strategy Matters! Otherwise, Execution is Wasted – Dec 18
Is your strategy designed to make you different and dominant in your niche (“riches are in niches”)? We have partnered with former McKinsey strategy guru Kaihan Krippendorff for a world-class online program based on his award-winning book Outthink the Competition* to help you and your leadership team design an innovative strategy you can trust moving into 2021. There is only room for 50 companies with more than half of the seats already taken. Class starts December 18th, and you can learn more and download a course outline here >> https://hubs.ly/H0ChSfs0

* As an Amazon Associate, I may earn revenue from qualified purchases made through this link.

Order a box of 20 Scaling Up books
Want to save 50% over the price on Amazon? Go to this link.

TECHNOLOGY: 
ScalingUp Scoreboard
Integrated with Salesforce, Slack, and Zapier (allowing it to connect with 1000s of systems), use Scoreboard to provide your team (working remotely even more important!) a real time visual dashboard of cascading priorities and metrics. Get a personalized tour of Scaling Up Scoreboard to see how you can use it to better implement Scaling Up in your business.

EDUCATION: 
We’re still in business coaching and training firms:
San Francisco, CA - Dec 17, 2020 (Virtual)
Oxford, UK - Jan 13, 2021 (Virtual)
Colorado Springs, CO - Jan 13, 2021 (Virtual)
Waltham, MA – Jan 14, 2021
Louisville, KY - Jan 15, 2021 (Virtual)
Ann Arbor, MI / Indianapolis, IN – Jan 20, 2021 (Virtual)
Washington, DC - Jan 21, 2021 (Virtual)
Oakland, CA - Jan 21, 2021 (Virtual)
Columbus, OH - Jan 21, 2021 (Virtual)
Atlanta, GA - Jan 26, 2021 (Virtual)
New Orleans, LA - Feb 12, 2021 (Virtual)
Irving, TX – Feb 25, 2021
Lancaster, PA - March 2, 2021 (Virtual)
Salisbury, England - March 18, 2021
Brisbane, Australia - Mar 24 & 25, 2021 (2 Day Master Class) 
Salisbury, England - July 6, 2021

Lancaster, PA - Oct 26, 2021
Salisbury, England - Nov 18, 2021


Growth Institute Online Executive Education:
Master of Business Dynamics
Scaling Up Master Business Course
Exponential Organizations Master Business Course
Topgrading Master Business Course

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.

Write Your Own Book
Whether you want to make it to the bestseller lists or just sell a lot more of your goods or services, with a profound competitive edge over the competition, Book The Business: How to Make BIG Money With Your Book Without Selling a Single Copy is for you! Request your free copy of this ground-breaking book at advantagefamily.com/scalingup.

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]

Did you miss previous insights? - read here 
  
Read Verne's Insights on Kindle http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003SX13YI 

Sign up for Verne's Weekly Insights  

 

#1 Book; Addiction; Carney and Hsieh Die; Musk Wins; WOC Help

Managers can waste a lot of time at the outset of a crisis denying that something went wrong. Skip that step.

Jack Welch, as seen on the wall of Alltite in Wichita, KS

Don't be arrogant. Don't be flashy. There is always someone better than you.

Tony Hsieh, founder Zappos (RIP)

The appearance of a conflict of interest is as bad as a conflict of interest.

Frank Carney, co-founder Pizza Hut (RIP)

FT/McKinsey Business Book of the Year
Announced Tuesday, the winner is Sarah Frier’s No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram.* This link takes you to the shortlist of 5 and a longer list of books considered for the 2020 award – how many have you read? 

Fortune’s Businessperson of the Year
Also this week, Fortune gave their annual honor to Elon Musk based on 10 key metrics and having a remarkable impact on the world. Here’s a link to the entire list of 20 including seven women.

Please Help Black and Hispanic Women Entrepreneurs
Please consider helping the Million Dollar Women Fund to provide scholarships to women of color (WOC) business owners, hit hardest by this pandemic. With your help, we (I’m on the board) are making it possible for some of the most severely impacted business owners to not only stay in business but keep growing – it’s a 50/50 match, not a handout…more below... 
CLICK HERE TO DONATE

Frank Carney, co-founder of Pizza Hut, Dies at 82
Co-founder at age 19, Frank and Dan Carney built one of the most recognized global brands. After selling to Pepsi, Frank joined up with competitor Papa Johns. Extremely disciplined, Frank was a voracious learner. And it was in the original Pizza Hut, which was moved to the Wichita State U campus, that I launched the Association of Collegiate Entrepreneurs (ACE). This Wichita Eagle article adds detail to Frank’s amazing entrepreneurial career.

Zappos founder Tony Hsieh’s Tragic Death at 46
Tributes have been pouring in all week highlighting the genius of Tony Hsieh (FYI, he also started in the pizza business while in college!). His focus on culture and customer service are legendary. What hasn’t been talked about enough is how much he gave to others – taking time to share and teach his ideas – I’m not sure he ever said no to anyone that asked, having keynoted for us several times and opening up his operation for thousands to tour.

Tony’s Brilliant 28-Minute Keynote
Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and invest 28 minutes in learning from Tony – how he structured the sale of Zappos to Amazon (different than any other Amazon acquisition); how he took his marketing budget and invested it into the customer experience and then let the customers do his marketing as they soared to their first billion; and details about their annual “culture book”; and on and on. Lots of great ideas to shamelessly steal!!! 

We Teach That Which We Need to Learn the Most
Tony was all about happiness, having extensively researched and written a book on the topic. In the end, it was likely his addictions that ended his life. Though I’m not an expert on addictions, I do know that a large proportion of entrepreneurs suffer deep bouts of depression. It’s something we talk a lot about inside Scaling Up and our coaching community – and how important it is for us to be there in community with these leaders of scaleups. The pressures are tremendous.

An Open Letter to Anyone Struggling from Addiction
After learning that Tony likely died (and forced out of his CEO position) due to his addictions, I immediately reached out to marketing guru Joe Polish who almost died when he was 18 from his addictions. Joe has dedicated a significant portion of his life and wealth to addressing this issue – and has launched Genius Recovery to help. Here’s a link to his “Open Letter to Anyone Struggling from Addiction.” You’re not alone.

Million Dollar Women’s Fund
Every dollar goes to help a woman small business owner regain her footing and not just survive, but thrive, thanks to gaining access to coaching, mentorship and capital. Since 2017, we've helped so many WOC entrepreneurs and this year we want to make an even bigger impact. Our goal is to raise $75,000 in 25 days to provide 25 scholarships to women of color entrepreneurs. Can you help? A gift of $25, $50, or $100 or more will make a huge difference. It’s my only charity appeal – if these complimentary insights have been helpful, please pay what you think they’ve been worth to this important cause – thank you.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE 

Verne’s Scaling Up Master Class – Dec 8-10
We're hosting a condensed (3 hours/day Dec 9 and 10) virtual version, where I'll take you through the 4 Decisions of Scaling Up: People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash. One thing I’ve heard over and over this year – the companies using the Scaling Up tools/techniques have both survived and thrived. I look forward to working with your team to jump start (or refine) the use of Scaling Up as you prepare for 2021.

* As an Amazon Associate, I may earn revenue from qualified purchases made through this link.

Order a box of 20 Scaling Up books
Want to save 50% over the price on Amazon? Go to this link.

EDUCATION: 

We’re still in business coaching and training firms:
Atlanta, GA - Dec 9, 2020 (Virtual)
Vancouver, BC, Canada - Dec 9, 2020 (Virtual)
San Francisco, CA - Dec 10, 2020 (Virtual)
Sydney, Australia - Dec 10, 2020
San Francisco, CA - Dec 17, 2020 (Virtual)
Oxford, UK - Jan 13, 2021 (Virtual)
Waltham, MA – Jan 14, 2021
Lancaster, PA - March 2, 2021 (Virtual)
Salisbury, England - March 18, 2021
Brisbane, Australia - Mar 24 & 25, 2021 (2 Day Master Class) 
Lancaster, PA - Oct 26, 2021
Salisbury, England - July 6, 2021
Salisbury, England - Nov 18, 2021
Colorado Springs, CO - Jan 13, 2021 (Virtual)
Louisville, KY - Jan 15, 2021 (Virtual)
Ann Arbor, MI / Indianapolis, IN – Jan 20, 2021 (Virtual)
Washington, DC - Jan 21, 2021 (Virtual)
Oakland, CA - Jan 21, 2021 (Virtual)
Columbus, OH - Jan 22, 2021 (Virtual)
Atlanta, GA - Jan 26, 2021 (Virtual)
New Orleans, LA - Feb 12, 2021 (Virtual)

Growth Institute Online Executive Education:
Master of Business Dynamics
Scaling Up Master Business Course
Exponential Organizations Master Business Course
Topgrading Master Business Course

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.

Write Your Own Book
Whether you want to make it to the bestseller lists or just sell a lot more of your goods or services, with a profound competitive edge over the competition, Book The Business: How to Make BIG Money With Your Book Without Selling a Single Copy is for you! Request your free copy of this ground-breaking book at advantagefamily.com/scalingup.

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: 

ScalingUp Scoreboard
Integrated with Salesforce, Slack, and Zapier (allowing it to connect with 1000s of systems), use Scoreboard to provide your team (working remotely even more important!) a real time visual dashboard of cascading priorities and metrics. Get a personalized tour of Scaling Up Scoreboard to see how you can use it to better implement Scaling Up in your business.

Did you miss previous insights? - read here 
  
Read Verne's Insights on Kindle http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003SX13YI 

Sign up for Verne's Weekly Insights