Education is inoculation against disruption. Read for an hour each day to protect your hope, refine your craft and grow your knowledge.
Robin Sharma
Like coiling rope, professionals put things away slowly so that they’ll be ready, quickly, when needed. Investing time now for later.
Seth Godin
Scaling Up Summit May 3 – 5, Dallas
Inoculate yourself against the drama/chaos ahead – time to be ambitious and get back to the fundamentals. I’m looking forward to 2.5 days of intense and practical learning as we address inflation, talent acquisition, compensation, and business model disruptions – new topics for a new time – like reading a dozen books. If you need rooms, email [email protected] directly. Invest time now and register (sharpen your saw!) https://scalingup.com/2022-may-master-class-scaling-up-workshop/
Founder Factor
Ann Hanna, the founder of Taureau Group, a boutique M&A firm based out of Milwaukee, is attending my CEO Boot Camp this week in Lake Tahoe (snow, snow, snow!). She’s identified what she calls the “Founder Factor.” Notes Ann, “how they (founders) become successful is by being scrappy and cheap – and how that later gets in their way of successfully scaling and exiting.” It’s an example of “what got you here, won’t get you there!” Robin Sharma, quoted above, shares something similar “Cheap costs more.” Where are you being too cheap?
Next Source of Competitive Advantage?
HBR features a critical article on datagraphs by Vijay Govindarajan (I try to read everything he writes) as the next source of competitive advantage. Notes the summary of the article:
Leaders must invest in upgrading their data architecture to enable a real-time, comprehensive view of how consumers interact with their products and services so that they can develop unique ways to solve customer problems. Datagraphs capture this information, helping to reshape competition in every sector.
He goes on to note:
Datagraphs capture how people work, play, learn, socialize, transact, travel, and do any other activity that can be associated with commerce.
This article is more for B2C, though we ALL sell to people. Please have your CMO look over it for a few minutes. If you know more than your competition about the demand side of the business (about customers), it’s a strategic advantage.
Hyatt Extends Incentive Comp
Notes Mark Hoplamazian, CEO of Hyatt, in Fortune’s recent daily blog:
We are now looking at how to extend the incentive compensation plans through the whole hotel, as opposed to just for managers and above… The people who can move the guest experience data, which we’re tracking very carefully, are the ones who are intersecting with the guests directly.
Customer (and Culture) Included in Compensation Decision
Setting compensation is more than just a private conversation between the employer and employee. There are other critical relationships that figure into compensation decisions, namely the other employees (culture) and the customer (strategy). Is your compensation plan aligned with what your customers ultimately want you to deliver (job to be done) and the culture of your firm? Hyatt seems to be seeking better alignment.
Benefit From Chaos – April 28, 2 pm ET Webinar
Tesla reported 27% EBITDA this week!! They benefited from the supply chain chaos – they are anti-fragile vs. just resilient. I’ll explain and share much more about how scaleups install systems and processes engrained to overcome the 3 most significant growth barriers companies face (no matter the external factors). Join me LIVE next Thursday, 4/28 @ 2 pm ET. I'll walk you through the growth barriers to watch out for and how Scaling Up can help you build an antifragile organization.
https://hubs.li/Q018p9Ds0
Weekend Countdown – 1-Minute of Wisdom
Enjoy this kickoff to your weekend – some bits of wisdom from a fresh set of wise teachers, updated each weekend.
https://vimeo.com/showcase/weekendcountdown
Order a box of 20 Scaling Up books
Want to save 50% over the price on Amazon? Go to this link.
COACHING:
Are you wondering if working with a coach is right for you? Take our Four Decisions Assessment to learn which type of coach is best for you.
All of our Scaling Up Certified Coaches™ are masters at guiding you and your leadership team through the implementation of the Scaling Up Performance. But our promise is a custom diagnostic approach from Day 1, including how we match you with a coach.
We even have a team member dedicated to helping you find the perfect Scaling Up Certified Coach.™ Schedule a complimentary, personal follow-up. Or check out our FAQ’s.. Additional questions can be sent to [email protected].
TECHNOLOGY:
ScalingUp ScoreboardIntegrated 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.
Planning to Exit?
It’s the most critical decision a business owner will make in their lifetime – and over my 40 years of helping firms, I’ve seen owners taken advantage of time and time again – leaving tens of millions on the table. You’re up against sophisticated buyers who have done hundreds of acquisitions – whereas this is often your first rodeo. And these buyers have a formula for ripping you off – and it works. Seeking help, owners find the big M&A firms, especially those specializing in your industry, are more beholden to the buyers than the sellers (they will tell you otherwise). They are not your friend in the process, just another transaction. Email me to get a white paper on what to avoid when exiting [email protected].
SCALING UP WORKSHOPS:
Engage your team with interactive workshops to optimize your company’s performance.
(list of workshops below)
Toronto, Canada - May 12, 2022 (Virtual)
Hadley, MA - May 19, 2022 (In-Person or Virtual)
Ann Arbor, MI – May 18, 2022 (In-Person)
Grand Rapids, MI - May 24, 2022 (In-Person)
London, UK – May 26, 2022 (In-Person)
Naples, FL - June 1, 2022 (In-Person)
Birmingham, AL - June 3, 2022 (In-Person)
Melbourne, Australia – June 7, 2022 (In-Person)
Amsterdam, NL – June 8, 2022
Toronto, Canada - June 9, 2022 (Virtual)
Buffalo, NY - June 10, 2022 (In-Person)
Albuquerque, NM – June 14, 2022 (In-Person)
Auckland, New Zealand – June 14 & 15, 2022 (In-Person 2 Day Master Class)
Hong Kong – June 15, 2022 (Virtual)
Hadley, MA - June 15, 2022 (In-Person or Virtual)
La Crosse, WI - June 15, 2022 (In-Person)
Melbourne, AUS – June 21, 2022 (In-Person Master Class)
India – June 22, 2022 (Virtual)
Salisbury, England -June 23, 2022 (In-Person)
Toronto, Canada - July 14, 2022 (Virtual)
Sydney, Australia – Aug 3, 2022 (In-Person)
Toronto, Canada - Aug 11, 2022 (Virtual)
Dallas, TX – Aug 25, 2022 (In-Person)
Toronto, Canada - Sep 8, 2022 (Virtual)
San Diego, CA – Sep 13, 2022 (In-Person)
Melbourne, Australia – Sep 13, 2022 (In-Person)
Columbus, OH – Sep 23, 2022 (In-Person)
Toronto, Canada - Oct 13, 2022 (Virtual)
Sydney, Australia – Oct 26, 2022 (In-Person)
Toronto, Canada - Nov 10, 2022 (Virtual)
Salisbury, England – Nov 15, 2022 (In-Person)
Melbourne, Australia – Nov 29, 2022 (In-Person)
Toronto, Canada - Dec 1, 2022 (Virtual)
EDUCATION:
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.
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