Jim Collins, the author of "Good to Great" presents an analogy that I found to be extremely useful in explaining the phenomenon of extraordinary business growth.
He says that there are not really all that many true overnight successes. The reason we view them that way is because when the publicly visible upswing occurs it can be very dramatic. But, if we study what caused the successes, which is exactly what Jim Collins did, we often find that there were months, if not years of preparation leading up to that "overnight success".
Collins explains it as a giant, heavy, wheel that is mounted on a center post. Imagine it like a big merry-go-round weighing many tons.
Something heavy has a tremendous amount of inertia. It's impossible to spin it with a single hard push or even lots of individual pushes every now and then. More than anything else, consistent pushing is required to get it spinning.
Getting the business model articulated may be one long push, then making the right partnerships is another one, getting the right technology working for you can be another one, getting a key clients may come next, getting a bit of external funding, increasing market awareness, refining product offerings... you get the idea. All these things are pushes. Together they can get the wheel started in the right direction. It may be slow, but you just have to keep pushing and pushing. Soon it may be spinning at 1 revolution per minute, then 2, then 5, then 20...
Now, momentum is on your side. Steady pushing is still required, but each push now has greater impact and it starts to go... and go... and go. When it spins, and I mean really spins, it would take some really big set backs to even slow it down. You can then use smaller motors to keep pushing on your behalf. The whole goal is to just keep pushing. You just crank and crack.
At that point, you may get the media to tune in, and they may be there to watch you go from 20 revolutions per minute to 1000 rpm. From their perspective it will all have happened very quickly, without all that much effort. Well, they don't know about the thousands of pushes the company made before the media started paying attention. It all started long before that with one single push followed by thousands of others.
Seeing incredible results requires consistency more than anything else. I've been pushing my company HouseFLIX for almost two years now and now we're finally seeing inertia working for us rather than against us. There's no way it would have even been spinning at all if I were the only one pushing. I've got several committed people working to make it happen. Together we're seeing that big wheel turn.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Thoughts on Machiavelli
I just finished reading "The Prince" by Niccolo Machiavelli. One of his more common themes is "the end justifies the means." Seemingly, no matter what means necessary. So it's not very politically correct to say the least.
I had heard lots of bits and pieces about him because his theories are often referenced in various news articles and business books. I was just curious what it was all about and it's a relatively short little book, so I figured I'd read it.
A few thoughts...
The book is essentially a handbook for the head of a country, emperors, kings, or any other "prince" as he refers to them as.
By handbook, I mean, handbook on the acquisition and use of power. The principles he defines have practical application in almost any other situation dealing with power and authority. Some can be seen played out in our democratic politics and business structures of today. So it makes for an interesting read.
Since this blog is about business, I'll try to keep my comments inline. How does any of this fit into business?
He strongly discourages the use of mercenaries (foreign soldiers who are paid to fight in your army). Mercenaries seem great until they're truly tested. When the battle gets tough, their loyalties are with their own, not with their hired boss. Also, in the cases where they are successful in battle on your behalf, you are endebted to them and they may keep the conquered lands for themselves.
This is akin to outsourcing in today's businesses. It's not fair interpret that to mean that all outsourcing is bad. However, in other ares of the book Machiavelli says that the primary occupation of a prince is "war." So it makes sense to translate that to outsource your primary occupation or business function is not good. Businesses need to understand what their primary business is, and where their "value-added" happens. If that central function is outsourced, then they're just asking to eliminate themselves from the chain of power. Well, one could say for example that a company like Apple who outsources most of their manufacturing to China is breaking that rule. The assumption there is that they're a manufacturer... but they're NOT. Their primary business function is design. There are efficiencies to be gained from outsourcing. But, business have to clearly understand what business they're in, and be sure to keep that function "in-house."
Machiavelli understood the rallying power of setting out to accomplish great things. He mentions that in order to become an esteemed prince one should "embark on great enterprises and give rare proofs of his ability." He understood the concept of people wanting to ally with people who are setting out to do something big. People love worthy causes and big projects where they feel they can contribute.
Machiavelli also reaffirms my previous post about the power of surprise and the story-telling that occurs as a result. He says to "resort to unusual and distinctive acts in civil matters... when someone does something extraordinarily good or bad in civic life, he should reward or punish him in a manner that will arouse considerable comment." Providing a story worth telling is a powerful way to disseminate information.
One last point I want to mention is what he says about how the strength of a principality should be measured. To summarize, he says that a principality needs sufficient power and resources to stand on their own when the need arises, or whether they will always require the protection of others. This could be translated to business that they need adequate funding and resources to get through the tough times. For start-ups, this means having the resources necessary to get through the launch phase.
Those are some lessons from Machiavelli that have practical application to businesses.
I had heard lots of bits and pieces about him because his theories are often referenced in various news articles and business books. I was just curious what it was all about and it's a relatively short little book, so I figured I'd read it.
A few thoughts...
The book is essentially a handbook for the head of a country, emperors, kings, or any other "prince" as he refers to them as.
By handbook, I mean, handbook on the acquisition and use of power. The principles he defines have practical application in almost any other situation dealing with power and authority. Some can be seen played out in our democratic politics and business structures of today. So it makes for an interesting read.
Since this blog is about business, I'll try to keep my comments inline. How does any of this fit into business?
He strongly discourages the use of mercenaries (foreign soldiers who are paid to fight in your army). Mercenaries seem great until they're truly tested. When the battle gets tough, their loyalties are with their own, not with their hired boss. Also, in the cases where they are successful in battle on your behalf, you are endebted to them and they may keep the conquered lands for themselves.
This is akin to outsourcing in today's businesses. It's not fair interpret that to mean that all outsourcing is bad. However, in other ares of the book Machiavelli says that the primary occupation of a prince is "war." So it makes sense to translate that to outsource your primary occupation or business function is not good. Businesses need to understand what their primary business is, and where their "value-added" happens. If that central function is outsourced, then they're just asking to eliminate themselves from the chain of power. Well, one could say for example that a company like Apple who outsources most of their manufacturing to China is breaking that rule. The assumption there is that they're a manufacturer... but they're NOT. Their primary business function is design. There are efficiencies to be gained from outsourcing. But, business have to clearly understand what business they're in, and be sure to keep that function "in-house."
Machiavelli understood the rallying power of setting out to accomplish great things. He mentions that in order to become an esteemed prince one should "embark on great enterprises and give rare proofs of his ability." He understood the concept of people wanting to ally with people who are setting out to do something big. People love worthy causes and big projects where they feel they can contribute.
Machiavelli also reaffirms my previous post about the power of surprise and the story-telling that occurs as a result. He says to "resort to unusual and distinctive acts in civil matters... when someone does something extraordinarily good or bad in civic life, he should reward or punish him in a manner that will arouse considerable comment." Providing a story worth telling is a powerful way to disseminate information.
One last point I want to mention is what he says about how the strength of a principality should be measured. To summarize, he says that a principality needs sufficient power and resources to stand on their own when the need arises, or whether they will always require the protection of others. This could be translated to business that they need adequate funding and resources to get through the tough times. For start-ups, this means having the resources necessary to get through the launch phase.
Those are some lessons from Machiavelli that have practical application to businesses.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Balance
Work v. Personal Life.
It's not simple. I have a tendency to overwork myself to the point where my work becomes ineffective. It is typically better for me to take a short break and start again thank to just keep pushing. If it were not for my awesome wife reminding me to stop...I'd work from 7am to midnight every day.
Sometimes you have to stop long enough to remember why you're working. It's great that I enjoy my work. But when my balance is off I become too one-dimensional. The interesting thing is that the imbalance ultimately hurts my business. Being too focused mitigates my creativity, makes me far less personable, and severely limits my social life.
If you look at that list you realize that each of those qualities are essential for operating a business:
Creativity - Essential for innovation.
Being Personable - Business is about personal connections.
Social Life - Meeting new people expands your vision and exposes you to people with talents and knowledge that could help you in your business life.
I'm not saying that you the only reason you take a break is to help your business. I just think it's cool that it ends up working that way.
Without finding that balance, you've got nothing worth working for.
It's not simple. I have a tendency to overwork myself to the point where my work becomes ineffective. It is typically better for me to take a short break and start again thank to just keep pushing. If it were not for my awesome wife reminding me to stop...I'd work from 7am to midnight every day.
Sometimes you have to stop long enough to remember why you're working. It's great that I enjoy my work. But when my balance is off I become too one-dimensional. The interesting thing is that the imbalance ultimately hurts my business. Being too focused mitigates my creativity, makes me far less personable, and severely limits my social life.
If you look at that list you realize that each of those qualities are essential for operating a business:
Creativity - Essential for innovation.
Being Personable - Business is about personal connections.
Social Life - Meeting new people expands your vision and exposes you to people with talents and knowledge that could help you in your business life.
I'm not saying that you the only reason you take a break is to help your business. I just think it's cool that it ends up working that way.
Without finding that balance, you've got nothing worth working for.
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