BRIAN WEBB BLOG

Momentum begets momentum, and inertia begets inertia. Did you know that the rules of exercise apply just as much to your business as they do your body?

In my experience… I’ve found that moving organizations tend to keep moving. Ones that rest… on their laurels, or otherwise… actually atrophy, grow weaker and die young. Regrettably, “not moving” never seems like a bad idea… “at first.” Because nothing immediately goes wrong… and furthermore, nothing signals the dangers of standing still.

“Hey… we waited to see if we were “right,” and nothing bad happened… so waiting is good… right?”

If they only knew.

As a result, not moving inspires more not moving. Employees become dormant too, and are no longer faced with exciting new challenges and positions. A few employees tolerate this condition. And others…creatures of habit and opponents of change, actually relish it.

But dynamic people require dynamic environments. Go dormant, and your action-oriented team will bolt, and take your greatest source of vitality with them. Without these people, your organization becomes even “more waiting oriented,” and you grind to a halt… and so many times… even shift into reverse.

Exercise works for business too. Keep stretching. Keep pushing!

I’ve recently completed the book… The Four Obsessions Of An Extraordinary Executive, by Patrick Lencioni. I’d give this book 3 out of 4 stars, and I recommend it to you. As always, Patrick makes his point in the form of a fable. This time, the fable is about 2 competing consulting firms that headquarter in the same town.

For the sake of brevity, I thought I’d summarize what Lencioni advocates as the 4 obsessions.

OBSESSION #1: BUILD AND MAINTAIN A COHESIVE LEADERSHIP TEAM
It’s always about the team, right? Lencioni points out that without obsession 1, the rest doesn’t really matter. It’s crucial to cultivate an environment of trust throughout your team… real trust. He advocates vulnerability, and a loyalty to the company and each other, no matter what.

OBSESSION #2: CREATE ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY
Without clarity, confusion and hesitation invade any organization. What are the mission, values and priorities of your organization? Why does the organization exist? What difference does it make in the world? It’s important to avoid the temptation to “market” these items like a slick campaign. It’s a lifestyle from the top… down.

OBSESSION #3: OVER-COMMUNICATE THE IDENTITY AND DIRECTION
You can’t say it enough! Andy Stanley once said that “Vision is like a bucket with holes… they both leak.” It’s imperative to discuss, promote and demonstrate the identity and direction of your organization, in what might seem like excessive doses to your team. Create a strong sense of common purpose and direction that supersedes any departmental or ideological allegiances that your team may have. It’s as simple as 1, 2, 3… 1. Repetition, 2. Simple Messages & 3. Multiple Mediums.

OBSESSION #4: REINFORCE ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY THROUGH HUMAN SYSTEMS
Communication alone will not reinforce clarity. There are 4 primary human systems that serve to institutionalize an organization’s sense of clarity.

1. HIRING PROFILES: Look for candidates that will fit within the organizational culture. Ask the right questions, and avoid making costly hiring mistakes that sometimes take months and years to correct.

2. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT: Help your employees to identify opportunities for growth and development. This system should be customized to provoke meaningful discussions between managers and employees about relevant issues they’re dealing with on a daily basis.

3. REWARDS & RECOGNITION: Reward and recognize your team as they consistently and successfully exhibit behaviors and actions that support and align with the direction, values and success of the organization. These not only provide incentives for your employees to exhibit the right behaviors, but they also serve as a high-profile means of promoting the values themselves.

4. DISMISSAL: It’s crucial to only have those on the team that are truly on the team. You don’t want the right person on the wrong bus. Don’t allow one apple to spoil the rest. Act fairly, but quickly.

Checkout these excerpts from Ricardo Semler’s lecture at MIT. You can catch more of this on the 37 Signals blog. TIME Magazine featured Ricardo Semler among its Global 100 young leaders profile series published in 1994 while the World Economic Forum also nominated him. The Wall Street Journal America Economia, the Wall Street Journal’s Latin American magazine, named him Latin American “Businessman of the Year” in 1990 and he was named Brazilian “Businessman of the Year” in 1990 and 1992.

MOST BUSINESS PLANS ARE WISHFUL THINKING
A 5 year plan is just an extrapolation added to wishful thinking. Have you ever seen a business plan that says, “I’m going to go up 5% and then down -14% and then -22% and then I’m going to recuperate a little bit and then it’s going to go to hell?” ‘Cuz that’s what happens. That’s how it looks in practice, but that’s not the way we design it. We’re willing to trick ourselves into thinking we have control as long as we do it with wishful thinking.

COMPANY GROWTH IS OVERRATED
The assumption that growth is good for companies is a very difficult one to sustain. There is no evidence whatsoever that companies that grow a lot do better than companies that don’t grow a lot.

ADMIT WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW
We don’t know where we’re going, but we’d rather not pretend that we do. Because we think pretending is a lot more dangerous than admitting that we don’t…Talking about specific numbers more than six months out is improbable. Think about the future but don’t write it down. If you write it down, you have to follow it.

MAKE MEETINGS VOLUNTARY
All our meetings are on a voluntary basis. Because if it’s getting boring, go…If no one’s left, do we really need to do this?

MOST HIRING IS LIKE INTERNET DATING
On hiring, the typical process of recruitment and selection in a company is basically an internet dating process. You say your company is Brad Pitt and she says she’s Angelina Jolie and you go and meet at a bar…You get together for two quick meetings and then you decide to get married and hope it work. Instead, we take qualified candidates, the ten that fit the bill, and ask them to come in together. Then we have whoever wants to be involved interview these people. This will go for hours. Then “the interviewers” write down the two people who they want to keep. The two who score highest come back and spend the whole day here and talk to anyone they want…The result is less than 2% year turnover.

DO NOTHING SOMETIMES
Sometimes doing absolutely nothing, even about a critical decision, will end up bringing you through a solution. The idea that we alone can be trained to “know the answer” is a very dangerous rational.

WE NEED MORE DEMOCRATIC WORKPLACES
We will send our sons anywhere in the world to die for democracy…but I’ve never seen a democratic workplace. So it’s very important for our lives except where we spend 60% of our time. There must be something wrong with that.

This post is directed to all of you entrepreneurial business owners out there. Do you “EVER” want to take weekends off… leave the office at 5pm… coach your son’s little league team… or leave for vacation without stressing over what will crash and burn in your absence?

Well, it’s all about systems. You will be enslaved to your business forever unless you choose to systematize your business. “A little hard work and some common sense is enough to get me where I want to go.” That’s a myth.

I’ve posted about it before… but I vehemently and emphatically implore you… I insist… I beg you to read 2 books that are critical to your business and personal freedom… by Michael Gerber… E-Myth Revisited and E-Myth Mastery. If you’re not a reader… then checkout the E-Myth Revisited and E-Myth Mastery audio books from iTunes. Study these resources with a microscope… examine them… implement them… master them! They are the cure for most forms of your business cancer.

Click Here to watch a newly posted video that highlights some business leaders that have experienced EMyth success.

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE IS FROM MICHAEL GERBER’S MONTHLY
E-NEWSLETTER, THE E-MYTH INSIDER:
Documenting the processes that control business operations is where the rubber meets the road in systematizing a company. System documentation requires a business owner to analyze and define all regular business processes. In E-Myth terminology, standard operating procedures are documented using “Action Plans.”

An “Action Plan” is a form that defines the desired result, required materials, sequential steps, quality standards, due dates and staff responsibilities for individual business processes.

Once processes are formalized, the “Action Plans” become key elements in the “Operations Manual” of your business. Producing your “Operations Manual” will help your business run more efficiently, and should allow you to step back from the day-to-day tactics to do real strategic planning.

WHY CREATE ACTION PLANS?

1. Action Plans can be used as templates for defining systems
2. Action Plans capture input from those involved in the process
3. Action Plans become lessons for staff training
4. Action Plans become the contents of your business’ Operations Manual

Click Here to see an “Action Plan” sample for “making coffee.”

Okay, I am not suggesting that quality isn’t important… but if you’re to compete in the marketplace of tomorrow, prioritize speed over quality. We’re living in a world where my family and I can pull up to a drive-thru window, and be driving away with a hearty full-course dinner for 5 in under 2 minutes.

I can walk into my bank tomorrow morning, and close on a $250,000 business loan before lunch.

I can order a $10,000 MacPro computer, an $1,800 30″ Cinema display, and a $650 HP printer on Monday afternoon… and have a pile of boxes sitting on my doorstep by the following morning.

Shooting for “fast” simply isn’t good enough anymore. We’re living in a culture that more and more offers us instant gratification. People expect more, and expect it faster. The delivery of services is headed towards “real time.”

Shoot for speed over quality. Refine your business to cut your service delivery times in half… then in half again… then in half again.

Clearly, planning is crucial to your organization… but not so much because of what the plan itself yields, but rather because of what the “process” of planning yields. Plans themselves often prove to be ineffective, simply because things change… The economy changes, the market changes, we change, culture changes, and our focus changes. But the “process” of planning keeps us sharp, always evaluating, collaborating and pursuant of creative new approaches to our business or organization.

Conventional “Walt Disney” wisdom of decades past, led many to conclude that you must have a 5, 10, 15, 20 and perhaps a 25 year plan… and that you leave little to chance. That “crystal ball” mindset in today’s culture and economy is simply obsolete. It’s impossible to consistently predict with accuracy what tomorrow holds.

Best selling author, renowned communicator, and senior pastor of a leading church in Alpharetta, Georgia; Andy Stanley, was questioned at a conference about his long-term plans. Andy compared the limitations of planning… with the headlights of his car while driving at night. “The headlights of my car shine and reveal a certain and finite distance ahead of me… I can only see so far. But I can see farther and farther ahead as my car advances forward, one linear foot at a time.”

Paraphrased… Every new day reveals a little more about the need for new business strategies and tactics. Plan for the short-term. Dream for the long-term.

STUMBLING AROUND IS HEALTHY TOO
On the other hand, while it’s healthy to plan, stumbling around a bit is just as healthy in balanced proportions. Sergey Brin; Co-Founder of Google, once stated, “The more you stumble around, the more you’re likely to stumble upon something valuable.”

Did you know that Google requires their senior engineers to spend 20% of their salaried work-week to pursue their own personal projects. These personal projects have nothing to do with their professional responsibilities at Google. They just invent.

The process of planning is crucial, but allot time for your executive, professional and administrative teams to stumble… to grow, to develop, to invent, to make mistakes, to fail forward. This balance promotes growth, and a happier and more fulfilled team… and ultimately a stronger business/organization.

I can cite more than one instance in which one of my business development staff had celebrated their big meeting with that large “trophycase-worthy” prospective corporate client. “Finally!” they gasped. Their mouths watered at the sheer prospect of landing this huge new client with buldging budgets and liberal spending policies. Their years of feeding on business chum had finally paid off… or so they thought.

After landing their so called “big fish” client, they rapidly discovered a different reality than they’d previously expected. They learned that Joanne; Marketing Director for a large medical system conglomerate, had less money in her budget than several of our existing “maw & paw shop” and new business startup clients. And that ubiquitous billion-dollar oil and gas company they’d been stalking for months, was run by a CFO that survived the Great Depression… and who’d rather personally vacuum the offices each night, than pay for the opulent luxury of a janitorial service. Who woulda’ thunk it?

Don’t underestimate or under-appreciate your prospects and existing clients that have yet to appear on the cover of Forbes. According to the International Information Program, 99% of all independent enterprises in the country employ fewer than 500 people. Furthermore, some 19.6 million Americans work for companies employing fewer than 20 workers, 18.4 million work for firms employing between 20 and 99 workers, and 14.6 million work for firms with 100 to 499 workers. Agressively seek out smaller fish in bigger ponds. You’ll live longer.

Secondly, when you “are” going fishing for that large corporate prospect, manage your expectations. Understand that large corporations are extremely compartmentalized, and budgets are reluctantly passed down to department heads. Recognize that your proverbial foot-in-the-door might be a great step, but it’s likely to be the first of many on a long and strenuous journey.

Please feel free to share your comments. I’m always thrilled to know if I’ve helped you, your business or organization in any way. - Brian

One day in Dallas in 1997, a woman took her siamese cat to her veterinarian for routine inoculations. The vet noticed something that the cat’s adoring owner had missed. The cat seemed to be walking just slightly out of balance. Concerned… the vet began probing the animal with his fingertips. In this process, the doctor noticed a tiny growth behind one of the cat’s ears… a cyst that could be malignant.

The vet explained this to the owner, then anesthetized the cat, and opened an incision behind the cat’s ear. The vet located the growth, lanced and removed it, stitched up the incision, and sent the cat home later that day. He saved the life of this cat.

As a regular practice, the cat’s owner was given a survey. Among the questions was this simple one… “How do you rate your veterinarian’s medical skills?” The owner had the typical 1-10 choices, with 1 being the least competent, and 10 being the most competent. The doctor’s fellow veterinarians would’ve scored him with a 10. Most agreed that most veterinarians would’ve missed that diagnosis, and that cat’s tumor would’ve become fatally inoperable.

How did the client rate the vet? A 7 out of 10. Pretty good, but certainly not excellent, much less exceptional. How could this be? How could an expert doctor that performed beyond reasonable expectations be rated as a mere 7?

The answer was in his coat. He didn’t wear a labcoat that day. Pet owners give the lowest scores to vets who fail to wear labcoats… the next lowest to those who wear “blue” labcoats. On the other hand, the second highest ratings go to vets that wear “white” labcoats. Which vets get the highest rating? Those that wear white labcoats “and” stethoscopes… by a wide margin.

Like it or not… you’re only as expert as you appear.

Please feel free to share your comments. I’d be thrilled to hear from you.

It’s not secret that I am an enormous fan of Michael Gerber and his literary resources on how to successfully build a business. While Michael Gerber has written numerous best-selling books on building a world-class business, it’s my belief that E-Myth Revisited, and E-Myth Mastery should both be legally mandated prerequisites for anybody applying for a DBA, S-Corp or LLC. I believe the resources in these 2 books are just that crucial to the success of any business.

Listed below, Michael Gerber summarizes the differences between the entrepreneur, the manager and the technician. He highlights the strengths and weaknesses of each, while pointing out the danger that erupts anytime the wrong person is at the helm of a business.
You can read this “CEO Report” article in its entirety by simply clicking here. I hope you enjoy, and share this with your colleagues.

THE ENTREPRENEUR
The entrepreneurial personality turns the most trivial condition into an exceptional opportunity. The Entrepreneur is the visionary in us. The dreamer. He lives in the future, never in the past, rarely in the present. He’s happiest when left free to construct images of “what if” and “if when“. He is our own creative personality; always at its best dealing with the unknown, prodding the future, creating probabilities out of possibilities. Every strong entrepreneurial personality has an extraordinary need for control. Living as he does in the world to concentrate on his dreams. Given his need for change, he creates a great deal of havoc around himself, which is predictably unsettling for those he enlists in his many projects. This then becomes his world-view: a world made up of both an over-abundance of opportunities and dragging feet.

THE MANAGER
The managerial personality is pragmatic. Without The Manager there would be no planning, no order, no predictability. He lives in the past. He craves order. He compulsively clings to the status quo. He sees problems. He creates neat, orderly rows. Without The Manager, there would be no business.

THE TECHNICIAN
The Technician is the doer. “If you want it done right, do it yourself” is the Technician’s credo. He loves to tinker. Things aren’t supposed to be dreamed about, they’re supposed to be done. He lives in the present. He loves the feel of things and the fact that things can get done. He’s happy when he’s working. To him thinking is unproductive unless it’s thinking about work that needs to be done. He’s not interested in ideas; he’s interested in how-to-doit. All ideas need to be reduced to the methodology if they are to be of any value.

PUT ANOTHER WAY
The Entrepreneur dreams, The Manager frets, and The Technician ruminates. To The Manager, then, The Technician becomes a problem to be managed. To The Technician, The Manager becomes a meddler to be avoided. To both of them, The Entrepreneur is the one who got them into trouble in the first place.

SUMMARY
The fact of the matter is that we all have an Entrepreneur, Manager, and Technician inside us. And if they were equally balanced, we’d be describing an incredibly competent individual. The Entrepreneur would be free to forge ahead into new areas of interest; The Manager would be solidifying the base of the operations; The Technician would be doing the technical work. Unfortunately, the typical small business owner is only 10% Entrepreneur, 20% Manager and 70% Technician.

The Entrepreneur wakes up with a vision. The Manager screams “Oh, no!” And while the two are battling it out, The Technician seizes the opportunity to go into business for himself! To The technician it’s a dream come true. But to the business it’s a disaster, because the wrong person is at the helm.

Please feel free to share your comments. I’d be thrilled to hear from you.

In many services, the product of the service has become the measurement of it’s value. “What will the market bear?” is the question so commonly uttered by venture capitalists and business analysts.

What is talent and thought-leadership worth? And why is some worth more than others?

A woman was strolling along a street in Paris, when she saw Pablo Picasso sketching near a cafe. She asked Picasso to sketch her, and to charge her accordingly. Picasso, in just minutes… sketched the woman beautifully. There she was. An original Picasso.

“So what do I owe you?” the woman asked. “5000 francs” replied Picasso. “But it only took you 3 minutes” she politely reminded him. “No” Picasso replied… “it took me all my life.”

Don’t charge by the hour, charge by the years.

It’s so easy for your business or organization to end up in a stall because you’re helplessly paralyzed by your desire for perfection. In his national best selling book; “The Five Temptations Of A CEO,” Patrick Lencioni warns about the temptation to always choose certainty over clarity. Many times the best tactical move… is simply to move. Do something. Avoid the detrimental trap of constantly waiting for more and more and more information before making decisions to move forward. I call this trap the “Ready-Aim-Aim Syndrome.”

So where does this temptation come from? Fear. Fear that executing the plan or moving forward, without volumes of documentation guaranteeing imminent success, will somehow show your superiors, colleagues, direct reports and the world that your plan was not perfect. So rather than risk judgment, a bruised ego, or being labeled a fraud… you do nothing. You wait, and your business or organization suffers.

Many outstanding big picture thinkers are always looking for… and burdened by the search for perfection. But too often, the path to perfection leads to procrastination, which leads to stagnancy… and ultimately, failure.

Ask yourself these 5 identifier questions…

1. Do you pride yourself on being intellectually precise?
2. Do you prefer to wait for more information rather than making a decision without all of the facts?
3. Do your direct reports seem chronically irritable because you schedule too many meetings and demand too many case studies?
4. Do you enjoy debating details with your direct reports during staff meetings?
5. Do you find yourself repelling action-oriented people?

Don’t let the perfect ruin the good. Ready, Aim, FIRE!