ABI Biz Blog

I was in a meeting recently and recognized that the speaker was going on and on about a topic that I did not find relevant.  I tried to stay in the moment, but my mind wandered.  I was thinking forward to what I would say when it was my turn and focused on all of the things that I needed to accomplish by the end of the day.

I reflected back to Jim Collins at the ABI Convention in June where he advised business leaders in the room to “be interested rather than interesting.” What does this mean, in the context of the meeting, and in life in general?

Interest is curiosity.  Children are always curious, asking who, what, where, when, why, and how questions.  Sometimes this is harder for adults who may not “have the time” to be interested/curious. 

What if I was more interested?  How could my meeting improve by utilizing Collins' principles?  I decided to find out.  I became interested in speaker and the topic at hand.  I asked him probing questions about his product, his business, ideal customers, connections in the community, using some of the skills that Collins says many of us are missing. I learned a great deal outside the original scope of the meeting. His passions. His background. His fears. We connected and found common ground to build a business relationship.

I’m glad that I was “interested” in Collins' keynote speech at the ABI convention…

Rob Kane
319-558-0268

rob.kane@cliftonlarsonallen.com

As one of the enthusiastic attendees to this year’s Taking Care of Business Conference, I was struck with the similarities and differences of Friday’s two keynote speakers: Gino Wickman and Jim Collins.
 
Wickman’s explanation of his Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) outlined clear steps in how to align an organization’s leadership team around a common vision, create accountability, and give a company traction to reach the next level of success. It is a fairly simple, straight-forward process. An excellent speaker, Wickman brought clarifying examples and stories into his presentation. That, combined with EOS worksheets available online at no cost, provided attendees with logical, actionable steps they could immediately implement in their organizations.

Jim Collins, arguably the best-known business author of the last twenty years, was an equally adept public speaker but his presentation had an entirely different feel. Possessing the emotion of an evangelical preacher, Collins’ motivational style challenged us to move from Good to Great. He also used stories and research from his books to make his points, but somehow it was different – more motivational; more inspiring.

Together, both speakers exemplified what every successful organization needs: a logical head and a passionate heart.

The “head” must make sure processes are at their most efficient, keep everyone accountable, and ensure sales—and their respective profit margins—keep the doors open with enough left over to expand the company. Company leaders must keep their focus on these business factors. This is a given.

However, this alone does not energize everyone in an organization. The “heart” unites, energizes, and motivates at a more gut-level. It gives you hope, a vision for an obtainable future, a reason to give it your all every day. It is not necessarily rational, but it is essential and affects everyone in your organization—not just the decision makers.

Without a “heart” business becomes mechanical, predictable, stagnant, and perhaps obsolete. Without a “head” an organization may never get past the idea stage. A healthy dose of both Wickman and Collins is just what the doctor ordered for the balanced wellness of your company.

Steve Vaught, Lexicon Content Marketing

515.321.6867

svaught@lexiconconsultinginc.com

One of the most important elements of a good vision for your organization is defining your culture. Culture is determined by the core values of the organization and must stem from the leadership team.

Gino Wickman gives an example of a company which established its core values but was tiptoeing around its most important. Employees would work 70 – 80 hours per week, putting in long hours to complete projects. The company was having trouble finding and retaining employees which were a cultural fit for the organization. Finally, through the Vision Building Day of the Entrepreneurial Operating System™, Gino persuaded the leadership team to get real with itself. The organization valued those long hours. Instead of having “me too” core values of quality, integrity and service, Gino encouraged them to embrace the value of hard work, long hours and timely project completion. This allowed the organization to attract like-minded individuals.

   When setting core values:

 -     Make sure they come from the heart of the leadership team     Make sure they are not aspirational

 -     Make sure they are limited to 3 – 7, less is more

 -     Make sure they already exist within the organization

 -     Make sure they are communicated to everybody within the company

Troy Shoen, Riverhead Resources
515.263.0408
tshoen@riverheadresources.com

How often do we sit through stirring session at a convention, trade show, meetings, civic event, or even a sermon at church without taking a single note or making a commitment to apply what you learned (or what your employer paid for)? Often (or maybe not), we create accountability for ourselves and engage others to help us with the follow through. We create tasks, agendas, to-do lists, and maybe event an entire plan around engagement.

What if there was a better way, one that allows you to learn, create, and engage a team with new ways of learning, growth, and activation to continually raise the bar? How could you possibly do this without looking like a "flavor of the month" manager?

At the Iowa Association of Business and Industry Annual Convention in Des Moines, IA on June 15, 2012, Jim Collins, the legendary author of Good To Great and Great By Choice gave what you could call a speech, presentation, pitch, or even a sermon to over 1,400 Iowa business leaders. While you found out that he is incredibly perceptive, disciplined, really likes Southwest Airlines, and has some fantastic insights on leadership and organizations, his urging to continue the conversation and push our own envelopes left us with ten tasks. 

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Jim Collins To Do List

1.      Diagnostics at website - create pocket of greatness (http://www.jimcollins.com/tools.html)

2.      Identify key seats and people on the bus - personal board of directors

3.      Confront brutal facts - annual meeting on team. Fact only, not opinions

4.      Focus on hedgehog. Anything fail the test?

5.      Set 15-25 year big hairy audacious goal and zoom out

6.      Commit to 20 mile mark to hit BHAG (creative 50% intellectual  30% other stuff 20%)

7.      Practice productive paranoia - what can kill us and where is the gorilla?  Put away enough to go without a job for a year 

8.      Get a high return on the next luck event

9.      Discipline - to do list and stop list- Pocket of quiet every two weeks

10. Discover your purpose and what would be lost? Be useful. 

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So, you at least know I took the time to write them down - what next? Well, I started with #9... then back to #2. I've been working on Getting Things Done (GTD) by David Allen for the past two months and seen some strokes of success by just starting to breaking down and managing information by getting it out of my head. How does this relate to the Collins list? It is helping me with discipline by focusing on what matters, including knowing when to say "enough" and walk away from a task or project, but at least knowing it has a beginning, middle, and end with an outcome I'm expecting. For a concrete example on the success of GTD, I was able to improve my management and development of the first ABI/CliftonLarsonAllen Innovation Zone, where five promising start-ups earned the opportunity to attend the conference, pitch their products & services, and had Saturday Mfg., recognized as the Best of Show with sixty seconds in front of the crowd before Jim Collins took the stage. Yes, I could have done this all without GTD, but by getting it all out of my head, I was able to zoom in and out on areas of focus and importance as needed.

With #2, I've researched Dunbar's Number and used the premise of ability to manage quality relationships to tap a handful of friends to be that informal personal board of directors. They know where I've been, my failures, successes, and don't have a problem giving me the facts. 

What next? I'm going to continue to work on #2 and #9, reporting to my personal board(s) (some who know it and some who don't) and then spend more time with the other tasks.

Check out his Good to Great Diagnostics Tools and more at his website.

Written by:

Marc Hollander

515.222.4400

marc.hollander@cliftonlarsonallen.com