June 14, 2013
Values
If someone says they will do something and they don’t, then the result can be a lot of hurt. If you think of any time you’ve been hurt, I’m sure it was when your expectation was not met.
If you have an organization made up of people who do not do what they say they will do, then everything is dysfunctional. So it’s understandable when leaders want to institute “accountability” as a core value. But there’s a problem with that.
Values are based on what people value. You either value it or you don’t. It’s based on desire. But honestly, no one seeks accountability. We may like accountability because it helps us reach our goals. But in truth, we all want freedom to do what we want when we want it.
For that reason, accountability is really a skill. And to build that skill, think about it like a muscle: It must be built up over time. Take the Zappos on-boarding program…
New hires must show up everyday by 7am or they are fired. No excuses. Coming in one day at 7:05 can mean your job. People would overcome any situation to make sure they would be at work on time. With that kind of “workout regimen” – the accountability muscle is put through basic training.
It’s tempting for a leader to simply declare accountability a core value and expect everyone to fall in line. But the truth is, without starting small and building it over time, everyone is bound to feel disappointed.
June 13, 2013
Vision
I’ve seen it time and again… the desire for growth can kill a company.
Friendster was set to take over the world. It was based on a simple concept – rather than online dating, people could meet each other through friends of friends. It became the first major social network, and now it’s all but disappeared. How could this happen with a huge market lead and a new a team of silicon valley’s best and brightest?
As Friendster grew, the site’s founder saw the site load time was getting slower. The board didn’t think much of it because it was not a long page load delay. But where there’s smoke there’s fire. The founder pushed for resources to fix it, but the board was obsessed with growth, partnerships and revenue models. By the time it was a full blown fire (a 10-second page delay that had everyone running to Myspace), it was too late. Friendster became a ghost town.
It’s easy for a company to get drunk on growth. It’s fun, everyone feels good, the momentum is amazing. But when you’re drunk, your senses are impaired. And God knows how awful it can be when someone believes their senses are still in tact, and steps into a car. You may have driven correctly a thousand other times. But one disconnected moment could end it all.
Leaders are at the wheel of the company and the best leaders consistently look out for smoke (to mix metaphors!). Take Richard Branson. This CEO of Virgin meticulously reads complaint after complaint. And he loves it. He’s cultivated a sheer joy in tackling problems in customer service. But unfortunately many companies are looking to reduce customer service. They want to spend less. And most company leaders feel they can’t be bothered with trivial customer complaints.
Customer service is only one example of how the wheels can fly off the machine when it’s running faster than the frame can handle. But whatever the area, it’s in the tiny details. Big vision is what guides the company, but the smallest errors are where the mighty fall.
June 12, 2013
Vision
Branson on Thinking Big
In this article, Richard Branson says everything comes down to two things: Culture and Service.
“We had accidentally stumbled on the core elements of a culture dedicated to delivering great customer service! It turned out that people who work in a friendly environment that is tolerant of mistakes, and who are empowered to make decisions about how they do their jobs, arrive at the best possible solutions for serving customers.”
Why make it an accident? Plan for it. Design your culture.
March 14, 2013
Productivity
I’m at a coffee house, and the wifi is down. Awesome. No, seriously. Awesome! Now I can actually get stuff done.
My friend Dawn, author of Small Footprint Family, had her internet connection go out completely at her house this week. A few hours later, she had finished formatting her book – a task that she had put off for months, assumed would take weeks, and would require assistance from freelancers. Dawn is the antithesis of lazy. In fact, the time she spent online was spent working on marketing, SEO, and blog posts. But eliminating that option opened up a new possibility.
Dawn’s husband Ivan had never been able to sleep more than 5 hours a night. That night he slept for 7 hours. Why? Because with the internet down, there was never that stressful feeling that he could be doing work from the office. It reminds of the Jewish laws for the Sabbath. The specific wording in the commentary is that the command is not just to rest, but to rest “as if you never have to work, ever again.” Can you feel the difference between those two levels?
My friend Patricia decided to put fate in her own hands by specifically choosing a coffee shop that has NO internet connection. By going there to work just a couple hours a day, she completed her entire business plan in a week.
What is something you’ve been putting off? Something you know you must do. Something you think will take a long time, but you won’t know until you try it? Great, now find a coffee house with no wifi.
