In 2020, I asked Jim Collins what research he had on how to determine the right seats for the right people in which to do the right things made famous from his seminal book Good to Great. In the updated version of his first book Beyond Entrepreneurship - BE 2.0 - he provides an answer in this excerpt:What makes for a … Continue reading “How do you know you have the right seats?” – Answered by Jim Collins

This brief article outlining much of and confirming the work I do is heartening. Here is the list (my favorites are in bold):1. Remote workers can have higher engagement than in-office workers -- when they receive frequent feedback from their manager.2. Employee engagement is an even stronger predictor of performance during tough economic times.3. Management has … Continue reading 7 Gallup Workplace Insights: What We Learned in 2020

From the folks at the NeuroLeadership Institute comes a useful article on how to focus on the things that matter the most most often.  1. Here is what stuck out most for me: Zoomxaustion is a thing.2. Meet less often for less time to get more of the essential work done. Suggestion: Create minimal meeting Mondays … Continue reading 3 Ways to Hack Your Calendar for Better Focus

The Key Process Flow Map*The key process flow map (KPFM) shows where the money starts and ends. Where you spend your first dollar and when you get it back.  Also known as the cash conversion cycle. The goal of laying out the KPFM is to identify each step, key inputs and outputs, and associated function along the … Continue reading One strategic picture to transform your business

Here are recommended survey questions to determine each of your team member's level of resilience (scale of 1-low to 5-high). If you have a psychologically safe environment you have the option of this being anonymous or not.  If you are not sure, I recommend anonymity to increase the likelihood of full disclosure. I have all the freedom I need … Continue reading How to measure and build resilience in your team

Do not let your business outgrow the people Just knowing that a learning organization is a growing organization is not enough. We must ensure that the learning sticks. Understanding the basics of how the brain receives, stores, and retrieves information is critical to the process.Author James Zull writes the following in his new book, The … Continue reading Create a Learning Culture

Article Summary  The article focuses on a few key areas at which successful entrepreneurial ventures excel.  The premise is a startup venture within an enterprise but I think these apply to any organizational size or genesis that has a fledgling business model working. I summarized the points below. Please note that I combined a few as they … Continue reading How incumbents successfully scale their new businesses

Jim Collins, the management guru, tells us that his research of the most successful companies over long periods consistently points to get the "Who" correct before the "What" and then getting people into the right seats. The "Who" first approach is abundantly supported with core values and purpose leading the way.This makes sense to me.However, … Continue reading How do I know I have all the right seats, Professor Collins?

Food for thought After decades of study, experience, and working and speaking with hundreds of CEOs and companies around the world over the past few years, I have found the following, for the most part: We do change wrong - 70% of change initiatives failWe do decisions making wrong - We rarely have a standard processWe do vision wrong - Visions are clear, detailed, … Continue reading Leaders, for the most part, do almost everything wrong…but don’t have to

Hiring? - Flip a coin There is data that shows the chance of a successful hire is fifty percent.Neuroscience shares that the standard interview process is fundamentally flawed and rife with biases. I believe that the worst way to hire someone is the standard interview process (e.g., strengths and weaknesses, how would you act in this situation?). The best … Continue reading How to Design a Better Hiring Process