 |
|
The
Little BIG Things
Preview--Our Gift to You
As part of introducing Tom's new book The
Little BIG Things, we want to give the readers of the TP
Times a gift to say thank you for being loyal fans. So, here is
something that's not otherwise available: Section
1, titled "Little" (the last section in the book is
"BIG") free for downloading.
You may have read on tompeters.com that The Little BIG Things originated
with the Success Tips that ran on our blog from September 2004 through
June 2009. However, as Tom worked on the book it became much more,
and now its resemblance to the Success Tips is mainly that it is
a collection of ideas, 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence (which is the
subtitle of the book). The ideas are bundled into sections consisting
of a handful of related actions that you might implement in your
day-to-day routine. Read only one item or a few, and sample another
section later. By taking advantage of this preview, you can get
started right away.
Back
to top
Coffee
Nation--Culture Change Starts at the Top
[Many of Tom's success tips are are exemplified in this tale of
transforming a company's culture. For example, "Master
the Art of Listening!", "Rigidity
Watch! Start Today!", and "Hail
the Decentralization 'Warfighters'".]
The CEO of Coffee Nation
started with the company at the very beginning. He's one of the
founders--a strong entrepreneur. The organisation has grown dramatically,
and the whole operation, new managers, new investors, and new staff
all look to him for leadership as the Chief Executive. He realised
that the whole organisation (including himself) had to undergo wide
change in their way of working. He made the decision to implement
change despite the economy being in the middle of a recession, because
it was clear to him that a "micro-managed" management
team was not going to see the business through the tough times and
set it up for future performance.
The changes have meant that the business has seen an increase in
bottom-line profit during this economic downturn and has provided
a structure to capitalise on growth opportunities.
To me, the most significant change is not the tangible process of
what they do; but the change to how they actually do what they do!
Important facets of the changes:
1. The change started from the leaders of the business. There was
a recognition of the need to change from "leader as hero"
making all the decisions; to wise decisions being made at the right
level. Just by paying attention to being curious and asking questions
rather than giving an answer (which has been difficult for a CEO
who has always been in control) has given people the opportunity
to take personal responsibility for their decisions.
2. To support the change to a "way of working" where people
take responsibility and are accountable for the decisions they make,
the management team have involved everyone across the organisation,
in creating clarity of a shared purpose, the organisation's strategic
intentions, and Coffee Nation values (way of working), giving a
clear direction to all. All employees are able to confidently refer
to this operational framework to make wise local decisions.
3. What has been apparent is the importance of the management team
in "role modeling" the desired change of behaviours. There
have been many occasions where it would have been really easy for
the CEO to revert back into "making the decisions" for
people. But he hasn't--and that has had a significant impact on
the change in the organisation.
4. The behavioural changes have rippled through the whole organisation--being
gradually integrated into every process--for example generating
an inclusive budgeting process and ensuring the communication process
is fit for purpose. The CEO uses examples of what he sees happening
in the day-to-day running of the business to demonstrate the behaviour
change we're looking for--and those we're not. The stories form
part of the newly introduced communication process--ensuring everyone
has the information they require to effectively deliver their job
role.
These small (often hard) changes of behaviour often have the biggest
impact. Do you have what it takes to loosen control in the face
of an economic downturn? Could your company commit to decentralized
decision making? Could your management team maintain a culture change
like this one?
Ruth
Smith
UK Consultant & Facilitator
Back
to top
Leadership
Lunches
[See Tom's "XF-50:
50 Ways to Enhance Cross-Functional Effectiveness" and
"Success
Tip #98: Relentlessly Focus On Pragmatic Actions" that
follows it. Then read how this group implemented efficient cross-functional
communication.]
Here is a fabulous series of events--created by an excited and determined
group of managers working in Texas Instruments Europe.
This group of four originally set up a regular monthly lunchtime
meeting--LEADERSHIP LUNCH--with the goal of turning a set of newly
learned leadership behaviours from KNOWLEDGE into ACTION. They wanted
to sustain and develop the leadership lessons they had learned in
a recently completed development programme. They wanted to maintain
their momentum and spread it across the widest possible group of
employees in the business, because they knew the positive impact
it could have on improving business performance.
Seven (7!) years on ... the lunch survives! ... and it has evolved--from
quite a LITTLE thing into a GREAT big thing.
Leadership Lunch is open to all and attracts a consistent core group,
along with a dynamic flow of new people in and out. Now the reach
is cross-functional: cross management level, cross organisational
division. Discussion goes beyond leadership theory--the subject
matter varies widely. A democratically chosen annual agenda covers:
cross-organisation awareness & knowledge; interdepartmental
familiarization & collaboration, etc. Agendas are even draw
from outside the organisation--including input from customers, ex-employees,
and a University professor with his own business challenge!
The organisational impact is substantial--as the organisation operates
on a silo-based structure these meetings are the only regular forum
where leaders from all the different divisions meet informally with
the opportunity to network, discuss common topics, and simply learn
from each other.
Congratulations to Hans Martin Hilbig and Team for this amazing
achievement!
Helen
Green
UK Consultant
Back
to top
Re-Set
Business Conference
Tom's publisher HarperStudio
and Vanity Fair are hosting
a breakfast April 20th in New York that we think might interest
you. It's called Re-Set: The Business Models of Tomorrow. Seth
Godin will moderate, and the panelists are Tom, Anna
Bernasek, Michael Eisner,
and Gary Vaynerchuk. (Sounds
like something you don't want to miss, doesn't it?)
You can download the invitation
from our website to get more information.
Back
to top
|