Be Different or be dead

August 29, 2022

How an employee can easily break loose when they are forced to conform

How an employee can easily break loose when they are forced to conform.

The reality is that sometimes an employee is confronted with a culture that encourages sameness: copying best in class organizations, following academic pedagogy, complying with non-practical consultant advice and conforming to many internal company practices.

Some organizations want you to comply, but there are ways of breaking out.

They feel stifled; stepping out from accepted norms in terms of how their job is performed is simply not an option if one is to avoid being labeled as a loner—not a team player—and if they want to keep their job.

So what options does someone have if they want to be creative and be different but the culture says conform to the traditional established scripture?

First, recognize that the world is not black or white; either fit in or step out are not the only considerations when faced with this dilemma.

This is the approach that I used in an organization that reeked of adhering to strict standards.

#1. Define the areas of the job where conformance is expected and no deviation is tolerated.

If, for example, copying best practices is mandated for a specific function in sales like sales funnel management in order to have everyone doing it consistently then accept it and perform the function in amazing fashion.

#2. Define other aspects of your current role where compliance rules haven’t been defined and step out in these areas.

To illustrate how you might go about stepping out of the conformance challenge, here are some simple actions that worked for me to perform my roles differently than others and shed the shackles of compliance.

#1. Personal brand — Build your personal brand strategy on the principle of standing out from the crowd. You need a strategy to guide your actions outside of the conformity zone. Look for opportunities to breakaway in areas that add value to the organization.

#2. Teamwork — Lead the teamwork process with other functions in the organization to get more support for your own team. A simple act that will benefit the entire organization; get known as the person who championed the cause.
It’s unlikely that others will be willing to go the extra mile in this area; you’ll be recognized as someone who is breaking away and adding significant value to the organization.

#3. Relationships — Try to find a way to be the champion for relationship building both inside and outside the organization. Look specifically for how to engage with customers and bond them to your company.
Long term success requires intimate customer relationships and loyalty; create your own rules for doing this and teach your colleagues.
You will be substantially rewarded for this stepping-out act.

#4. Contrarian — Outside of the compliance zone defined by the organization, be audacious in doing the opposite of what you observe others doing.
Take leadership to eliminate boilerplate and copycat thinking and focus on innovating and creating new approaches to how the organization conducts business.

#5. Cravings — Gather people ‘cravings’: those deep innermost wants and desires people have but will tell only their most trusted partner. This can be practised with colleagues and ultimately with customers and partners.
This is an area you can easily breakaway from the traditional ‘needs based’ way most organizations do marketing.
Cravings not only pave the way to building loyalty, they also enable you to step away from the common ways others perform their roles.

#6. Report card — Introduce an internal report card; rate others on how well they support your organization.
This is an excellent way to enhance the support received from other functions in the organization and be innovative in improving the performance of the organization without being spotted as a non-conformer.

#7. Customer champion — Look for opportunities to step up to be the customer’s champion inside your organization. Be that person who does whatever it takes to get an issue resolved if it comes your way; shield the customer from the pain of having to deal with your bureaucracy, rules and policies.
Talk up and behave live THE customer advocate among the others in the herd around you.

You can be different in an environment that mandates compliance and sameness.

And you can be an effective agent in changing the culture of your organization from a copycat to a vibrant, innovative and creative one.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

‘Audacious’ is my latest…

• Posted 8.29.22 at 06:00 am by Roy Osing
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August 1, 2022

7 proven ways to easily achieve operational excellence

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7 proven ways to easily achieve operational excellence.

What is operational excellence?

It’s usually defined by many such things as:
▪️Increased training and number of employees with key skills.
▪️Greater employee engagement.
▪️Reduced employee turnover.
▪️Enhanced accountability by individual team members.
▪️Improvement in cross-department cooperation.
▪️Higher employee satisfaction scores.
▪️Improved productivity.

And the list goes on to literally cover every operational tactic that organizations grapple with improving without providing a context and framework for deciding on the KEY tactics that, if successfully employed, will really drive operational EXCELLENCE rather than average operations.

It’s not that other operational tactics aren’t important, it’s that not all are of the SAME importance.

And for me, those that were critical to successfully implementing the strategic game plan of the organization ranked at the top of the tactical list.

My experience in leading businesses to achieve remarkable levels of performance has taught me that operational excellence is defined by how effectively the strategy of the organization is executed.

The organization’s operating model must be strategically relevant with operational efficiency running second.

It must drive strategic gains BEFORE efficiency improvements. It must seek efficiency only after it achieves strategic relevance.

These are 7 operational tactics I focused on to take a startup TO A BILLION IN SALES.

#1. The Strategic Game Plan (SGP) — The anchor for an operational plan is the strategy for the organization. It provides the overall context that drives the focus of every operational element.

Operations priorities must be led by the SGP otherwise dysfunction sets in.

If you can’t relate an operational activity to the SGP, question why you’re doing it.

#2. Line of sight — ‘Line of sight’ translation of the SGP is the tool I used to ensure that every operational function was directly in sync with the strategy of the organization.

The question is “What does the SGP specifically mean to (customer contact, recruitment, billing…)?

What activities, processes and systems for example need to be added in order to execute the SGP and what needs to be dropped because they are no longer related to the strategy?

Direct line of sight for every person in the organization translates into pristine strategy execution; unclear foggy notions of what the strategy means, on the other hand, results in dysfunction and little progress.

#3. A clean inside — Removing obstacles—Cutting the CRAP—that gets in the way of people doing their jobs is fundamental to a smooth and effective operations environment.

Administrative grunge must be eliminated and the policies and rules—dumb rules—that make no sense to cusomers must follow suit, or at least be changed to be as acceptable as they can.

As long as ‘the inside’ is needlessly complicated and messy, people get frustrated, they can’t do their job well and execution suffers with them.

#4. Serving leaders — Effective operations requires a leadership culture that has leaders in the workplace constantly asking people “How can I help?”.

This Leadership by Serving Around approach is critical to understanding what needs to change—point #3 above—to enhance how well the strategy of the organization is being executed.

#5. Strategy Hawk — Every strategy needs an owner—the Strategy Hawk—responsible to see that the strategy gets implemented in the way it is intended.

The Strategy Hawk is the ONE person who lives and dies by the success of the strategy which usually depends on a strong operational plan.

The Hawk’s role:
▪️constantly is ‘in the face’ of people in the organization keeping strategy execution alive.
▪️questions everything being done for strategic relevance.
▪️advises the CEO on what’s working and what’s not.
▪️hold regular operational review meetings to track progress on strategy execution.

#6. Goosebump recruits — Operational excellence requires the right people in the right positions as determined by the strategy.

And given that every strategy must include an element dealing with building customer loyalty, this means that people with a natural inclination to serve and care for other people must be the target of the recruitment process.

You can’t train people to like people.

You need to find them and hire them, and the process I use is simple: you ask the potential recruit to ‘tell you a story’ that would prove they ‘loved people’ and if their answer was rich and passionate enough to give you goosebumps you hire them straight away and teach them the other parts of the role they are aspiring to fulfil.

#7. A frontline culture — Cultural values that focus on supporting the frontline are a requisite to having an operational plan that is awesome at strategy execution.

Rather than thinking of them as low ranking, low skilled people ‘at the bottom’ of the organization chart, a frontline culture organization views them as the ‘objects of affection’, holding everyone accountable to discover how to make their jobs easier and to enable their effectiveness.

Any claim of operational brilliance without a ’living for the frontline’ organizational attitude is hollow and disingenuous at the very least.

Operational excellence isn’t an aspiration.

It’s the result of doing the hard operations work required to advance the organization’s strategy.

It’s a strategic concept not one that merely bundles together the populist notions of the day on operational effectiveness.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

‘Audacious’ is my latest…

• Posted 8.1.22 at 05:44 am by Roy Osing
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July 18, 2022

11 simple proven ways to grow your small business

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11 simple proven ways to grow your small business.

The Audacious Unheard-of Ways I Took a Startup TO A BILLION IN SALES are not applicable to large businesses, they are also relevant to small businesses.

Here’s what one small business owner says:

”Every concept Roy touches on in ‘Audacious Unheard-of Ways’ can be used in small business. This is about a personal journey to success. Roy teaches you not just how to focus but where to focus, how to cut the CRAP, that there is greater value in looking ahead then behind, and how to build respect and get results with your staff in his Bear Pit sessions. And the list goes on. If you are a small business owner and you really want to differentiate yourself to achieve better results Roy tells you how. Ask yourself, do you want to be DIFFERENT or be dead?” — Daniel Boisvert, A DiFFERENT Entrepreneur and Notary Public, Delta Canada

In my experience, these 11 Moves will put your small business on an growth trajectory that will leave you speechless:

#1. Strategy — Get your strategy done FIRST!
Don’t start chase tactics until you have created your strategic context. My Strategic Game Plan—‘Head West’ planning method—will get you there by asking 3 simple questions:
✔️ HOW BIG do you want to be?
✔️ WHO do you want to SERVE?
✔️ HOW do you intend to COMPETE and WIN?

#2. Competitive advantage — Create the ONLY Statement.
Declare a clear separation between your business and your competition using my ONLY Statement—“We are the ONLY ones who…”

Avoid CLAPTRAP and ASPIRATIONS in your competitive claim — BETTER, BEST, #1, LEADER, PREMIUM, MOST COMPELLING, MOST RELIABLE, GREAT TASTING etc.

They are aspirations at best and offer little to define how your small business is different from others.

Examples of unhelpful claims

“Canada’s largest and most reliable 5G network.”

“To inspire humanity – both in the air and on the ground.”

ONLY examples

“St John Ambulance is the ONLY First Aid Advocate that provides safety solutions anywhere, anytime.”

“Roy is the ONLY coach and advisor who offers The ONLY Statement as a practical and proven tool to create a competitive advantage for organizations and individuals.”

Rules for ONLY

▪️The ONLY Statement must speak to the experiences and value you create for people—WHAT THEY CARE ABOUT—not the products or services you want to push.

▪️Keep it BRIEF. It’s a sound bite not a narrative. If it consumes a page it isn’t a viable claim.

▪️Talk to the specific customer group—the WHO— you are targeting, not the market in general.

▪️TEST your ONLY statement with customers and employees to ensure it is relevant and true. Tweak it based on what you learn.

▪️Consider your ONLY statement a DRAFT. Revise it ‘on-the-run’ based on changing circumstances.

#3. Cravings — Discover what your customers ‘CRAVE’.
Competing on the basis of what people NEED, unfortunately, is not always a winning strategy. There are too many competitors in this space and people tend to be price sensitive.

’CRAVINGS’ is a category beyond NEEDS. It refers to what people desire, want or wish for as opposed to the basic thing they need to sustain their lives. Of course, the needs category continues to expand as new products, services and technologies continue to proliferate.

And, as THE major benefit, the CRAVINGS business has fewer competitors and is less price sensitive which means margins are higher.

#4. Feelings — Focus on the CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE.
Don’t do like everyone else and focus on how cheap your prices are. People will soon forget about what they paid for a product or service, but they will NEVER forget about the experience they had when they bought it.

Develop your service strategy as the way of deciding on the level of service you want to deliver.

#5. Loyalty — Focus on rewarding your EXISTING LOYAL CUSTOMERS.
Avoid the common mistake of putting most of your energy into acquiring new customers  by offering them special promotional deals and other ‘goodies’ you don’t make available to the customers who have supported you for many years.

You can grow your business by getting current customers to refer you to others.

#6. Policies. — Simplify and ‘kill’ your internal rules and policies—DUMB RULES— that annoy your customers and threaten their loyalty.

#7. Stop doing stuff! — Eliminate projects and activities—CRAP—no longer relevant to your strategy.

#8. Frontline people. — Stay in touch constantly with the employees—FRONTLINERS—who deal directly with your customers, and get their input on what’s working and what’s not.

#9. Don’t delegate. — Micromanage the activities critical to the execution of your strategy. These actions—for example architecting what the ‘customer moment’ looks like—should never be delegated to anyone. They’re the role and responsibility of the leader.

#10. Hiring. — Recruit people who have the innate desire and ability to ‘take care’ of humans. You can’t deliver memorable customer experiences with employees who don’t ‘like” people.
Hire for GOOSEBUMPS.

#11. Strategy execution. — Ensure every employee understands their specific role in executing your strategy—LINE OF SIGHT LEADERSHIP.
Every employee needs to understand what new things they have to take on, new behaviours they have to learn and adopt, and what old things they need to give up.

Amazing business performance happens when all the simple actions are taken to ‘light fires’ in people and deliver pristine strategy execution.

If you follow these 11 Audacious Ways, you’ll be surprised how well you can sleep at night!

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

‘Audacious’ is my latest…

• Posted 7.18.22 at 03:04 am by Roy Osing
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July 11, 2022

Holacracy has some serious problems. Here are 9 practical reasons why

While holacracy may be a really cool concept to some, it has some serious problems.

I was asked on Zoe Routh’s recent podcast show what my views were of holacracy as a way to manage a company.

Holacracy is a system for managing a company where there are no assigned roles and “employees have the flexibility to take on various tasks and move between teams freely”.

The organizational structure of a holacracy is rather flat, with there being little hierarchy.

Holacracy replaces the conventional management hierarchy with a new structure.
In holacracy, instead of operating top-down, power is distributed throughout the organization – giving individuals and teams freedom “while staying aligned to the organization’s purpose”.

It encourages individual team members to take initiative and give them a process in which their concerns or ideas can be addressed.

Proponents of holacracy argue that…
“it empowers team members to freely contribute ideas much like in an idea meritocracy. It is possible because employees from all levels are autonomous and are given the freedom to discuss ideas they believe will benefit the organization.”

Holacracy is a system that removes traditional managerial hierarchies “allowing employees to self-organize to complete work” in a way that increases productivity, fosters innovation and “empowers anyone in the company with the ability to make decisions that push the company forward”.

What I like about holacracy.

▪️Movement of people among teams can enhance employee experience and personal development.

▪️Empowering people can speed up the decision making process.

▪️Flat organization structures typically improve the strategy execution process with the removal of layers in the organization structure.

What my concerns are.

▪️ The concept looks good on paper but the challenge is how to OPERATIONALIZE the concept without reducing organizational effectiveness and performance.

▪️ The most appropriate structure for an organization should follow this process:

— What is the Strategic Game Plan?
— What are the fundamental processes to use to deliver the Game Plan?
— What organizational structure is best suited to the processes defined?

The structure chosen must be the most effective one to deliver the organization’s STRATEGY; structure shouldn’t be chosen for any other reason.

You simply can’t “empower anyone in the company with the ability to make decisions that push the company forward.”

In my world that’s a crazy notion :(

️ ▪️ Staying ALIGNED with the organization’s purpose is a major issue with holacracy; defining the ‘box’ for the teams to play in.

Rather than allowing employees to do their own thing, effective alignment between what people do and what the organization’s strategy says requires Line of Sight leadership to prevent dysfunction and to ensure the strategy for the organization effectively executed.

▪️ FOCUS. It’s all very well to have a structure that encourages new ideas but this has the potential for people to ’chase stuff’ —the possible many—rather than stick to the priorities—the critical few— inherent in executing the organization’s strategy.

▪️ EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT. To maintain executional focus, some employee’s new ideas will not receive attention which would damage the purpose of self directed teams.

▪️ Teams will COMPETE with themselves which is another version of internal SILO competition which can create dysfunction and loss of focus on strategy execution.

▪️ Teams have people with varying degrees of skills, competencies and experience. Decisions made by inexperienced teams could jeopardize the overall PERFORMANCE of the organization.

▪️ The delegation of traditional leadership responsibilities to numbers of teams has the potential of negatively impacting strategic leadership roles.

It could be a slippery slope to the ABDICATION of what leaders are there to do: create a high performing organization that executes its strategy brilliantly!

▪️Holacracy can be too INTERNALLY FOCUSED, impacting customer service. For this reason, Zappos has backed away (quietly).

Zappos executive John Bunch, who co-led the rollout of holacracy, has explained that the company, famous for its exceptional customer service, encountered some “big challenges” in its business metrics and sought to redirect employees’ focus back to the customer (an oft-cited criticism of holacracy is that it is too internally focused).

Like many gee-whiz organizational ideas, the holacracy notion marches to its own drummer rather than being an effective and helpful tool to execute strategy and build performance.

Organization structure should serve strategy and process. Period.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

‘Audacious’ is my latest…

• Posted 7.11.22 at 04:12 am by Roy Osing
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