Strategic Discipline Blog

Here’s my problem. I’d like to give you as much as I can in small doses the impact ideas you can apply and learn from the Fortune Growth Summit in Phoenix.  On my flight back Friday I scanned my notes (reviewing increases retention).   As I poured through the pages I attached sticky notes to each segment I felt was worth a blog topic or idea.  It required 49 post it’s!   Not all of these teach a lesson on Strategic Discipline (What my marketing people demand I stick to in my blogs).  Yet all have valuable lessons for your business – anyone of which could provide you with a breakthrough.  With that in mind I plan to select the best ideas from the 49 topics I identified and deliver them to you in the days and weeks ahead.  Still I thought you might like a quick overview of the speakers and a little on each of their specific topics. 

As today’s Fortune Growth Summit came to a close one of the coaches next to me, Howard Shore, whispered that this might be the best Growth Summit yet.  I’d have to agree.  Verne Harnish always wraps up the show with a short conclusion, several sponsor messages and today a comedian who is also a Jewish Rabbi.   Rabbi Stephen Baars offered excellent comedic relief as well as an exceptional message on thinking.  More of that in another blog.  Todd Klein, author of Built to Change and Sally Hosghead, consultant and author of Fascinate: Seven Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation had great messages and ideas all share in the coming weeks. 

Monday’s blog will continue insight from Jim Collins “Great by Choice.”  One of my clients and partner provider wrote a blog that provides insight into the current economy that I thought my readers would find interesting.  Read his short blog Ray Dalio says this is no recession. 
Dalio runs the biggest hedge fun and has received a better return on his investments than Warren Buffet.  You can read more on Dalio in this Wall Street Journal article Ray Dalio Down on Europe, High on Fed.  If you read it I’d be interested in your perspective on his views on the economy.  Please provide a comment on my blog.

The popularity of shows like The Biggest Loser and ABC’s recent foray into this with Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition I believe stems from the encouragement and reinforcing belief in ourselves we receive by watching someone achieve success in reaching their goals.   It’s the same attraction that has us spend so much money on sporting events.  

Please forgive the length of my last blog.  Believe it or not it was longer but I edited some things out.  I’m afraid I was suffering from education overload.  Each day we start the Growth Summit at 8 AM.  When that concludes at 4 PM Gazelles coaches gather for another two plus hours in additional education and planning. 

What Differentiates a Multiplier from a Diminisher?  A discussion with a client this weekend punctuated his ability to use this characteristic to bring out the best in people.  Liz Wiseman, author of Multipliers, asked the Growth Summit Audience last week which of the following responses most differentiated Multipliers from Diminishers:

It is a recurring theme I almost wrote about yesterday.  Today several speakers addressed it again - the importance of discipline and the value of strategic thinking and preparation over strategic planning.  David Sokol, Warren Buffet’s Mr. Fix it and the man consistently mentioned as Buffet’s eventual replacement, Chip Heath [Switch] iz Wiseman [Multipliers], and Verne Harnish all delivered insightful messages today.  I’ll offer more from each in my blogs ahead. 

In advance of the Fortune Fall Growth Summit, Gazelles coaches gather to sharpen our plowshares [so to speak] and learn new best practices and ideas from the thought leaders.  Today included a new tool from Verne Harnish to help identify the 4-9 critical processes that drive a success as well as Verne’s new concept on Strategy.  He specifically provided a best practice example from one of our Gazelles clients, Build Direct, that’s applying the Seven Strata of Strategy with great success.  More on these in future blogs and newsletters.

One of Michael Gerber’s [E-Myth Revisited author]precepts for building a business was that the business should serve the owner.  In order to do that Michael preached that you had to build the business to sell it one day.  Until now I haven’t seen a good test that could accurately offer whether or not your business is ready to market and sell.  Our Rockefeller Habits Checklist provides a good list of activities that when followed put your business in position where your executive team will consistently work strategically on the business, concentrating on the right things and not to be interrupted by the day to day operations.  That puts the business in a position to be sellable.