I am a big fan of Jim Collins’ work: Good to Great, Built to Last, and How the Mighty Fall.  The principles in these books have helped us steer jiveSYSTEMS into the company it is today and are shaping our future.   I especially find it useful to strike a contrast to Jim’s work by reading content that has a roll-your-sleeves-up type of approach.  John Spence is one of those contrast studies.  Also, I don’t find it productive to read entire books, unless they are truly outstanding.  I use executive summaries and other types of condensed knowledge to expedite learning.  An executive summary combined w/ a video breakdown is the best combination I have found thus far.  ReaditFor.me is one of the initiatives, it does the second part very well—they provide awesome rich media video breakdown’s of some fantastic books.

Awesomely Simply by John Spence is one of those videos that really made an impression on me.  I have embedded the 10 minute presentation below.

Here are my cliff notes:

6 Steps to Making Any Business Grow and Prosper

Vivid Vision

• Use mantra to stay focused on goal
  • Have everyone repeat our mantra’s daily
    • Do it, Automate it, Delegate it, or Ditch it
    • My personal one: Thing Big, Work Smart, Live the Dream
• Live the mission, vision, and values
  • Make some billboards and put them on the office walls
  • Order some t-shirts w/ our core values and logo: compassionate, holistic, and prompt

Best People

Five C’s

1. Competence
2. Character
3. Collaboration
4. Communication
5. Commitment

Robust Communication

• Honest
• Empathy
• Courage
• Safety
• Intellectual Property
• Transparency

Urgency – Speed Rules

• Clear intended outcomes
• Empower people to make decisions

Disciplined Execution – 9 Steps

1. Vision and Values
2. Strategy – Less is More!
3. Commitment & Responsibility
4. Alignment
5. Systems – Make Success Repeatable
6. Communication & Priorities
7. Support & Training
8. Adjust and Innovate – Measure what Matters
9. Reward & Punishment
   1. Lavish Rewards
   2. Immediate Actions

Extreme Customer Focus

• Quality People to Deliver
• Hire for Attitude – Train for Skills

It’s a relatively simple process that can be implemented and tested very quickly.  You’ll most likely be many things that are part of the 6 steps.  The goal them is the implement and test the things you are not doing.  We are living most of the six steps.  However, this video has reinforced my desire to improve our internal communication, empower our team to make decision using a tiered system, and invest even more time into training.

How do you feel about the 6 steps above?  What do you do to ensure you business and clients grow and prosper?

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