IDEAS & OBSERVATIONS
Short reads on growth, sales, leadership, relationships, and the decisions that shape a business.
Useful ideas. No 14-page white paper required.
An issue left unnamed gives people time to build different explanations for it. Address it while the facts are manageable and the relationship has room to respond.
Read note : The Hard Conversation Usually Gets More Expensive With TimeAn expense line tells you what something costs. Before removing it, understand what work it enables and what the business will lose.
Read note : Cost Cutting Is Easy. Knowing What Not to Cut Is Harder.An agenda names the topics. A useful meeting has a reason to bring these people together and leaves the work, or their understanding of it, somewhere different.
Read note : A Good Meeting Should Change What Happens NextPeople learn the real rules through ordinary encounters with leadership. What happens repeatedly carries more weight than what gets announced.
Read note : Culture Is What People Learn to Expect From YouSeek the disagreement that improves a decision. Then be clear about who owns the call, even when some thoughtful people would choose differently.
Read note : The More Important the Decision, the Less Helpful Consensus Can BecomeA customer should not have to carry the context from one department to the next. Continuity is part of what the company sold.
Read note : Your Customer Can Feel the HandoffA job description can collect a company’s frustrations without defining a job anyone can succeed at. Get clear about the work before adding the person.
Read note : Don’t Hire Around a Problem You Haven’t DefinedA useful partnership begins with understanding what the other business values—and making the relationship work for the people who have to carry it.
Read note : The Best Partnerships Usually Start Before the PitchMore business can reveal weak handoffs, unclear ownership, and founder bottlenecks. Adding people helps only when the underlying work is understood.
Read note : Growth Exposes What the Business Was Getting Away WithGood opportunities still compete for finite attention. A useful strategy helps a business choose which ones deserve it now.
Read note : A Strategy Should Make It Easier to Say NoFounder involvement can help win important business. Founder dependency makes every opportunity compete for the same person’s attention.
Read note : If Every Sale Still Needs the Founder, You Don’t Have a Sales System Yet