Matt Perman, Author at What's Best Next

Good-to-Great Organizations Do Not Rely on Lay-offs as a Strategy

February 13, 2014 by Matt Perman

Important words from Jim Collins in Good to Great:

The good-to-great leaders were rigorous, not ruthless, in people decisions. They did not rely on layoffs and restructuring as a primary strategy for improving performance. The comparison companies used layoffs to a much greater extent.

I’ve heard some people say that Jim Collins’ metaphor of “get the right people on the bus, and the wrong people off the bus” is advocating lay-offs as a central tool the managers strategy. That is an utter and complete misunderstanding. A careful reading of his chapter on “First Who, Then What” in Good to Great reveals the exact opposite. (Note: This misunderstanding does not just, or even mainly, reside with folks that are trigger-happy with layoffs; it also comes from sincere people that I’ve heard express concern about business ideas being wrongly used in the church. The great news here is that this is a misunderstanding of Jim Collins’ metaphor, and his teaching coheres with and upholds a biblical view.)

Further, and just as importantly, you need to correctly define who exactly are the people that need to be sent off the bus. It’s not people that are in a department you might be downsizing (which is a bad strategy most of the time in itself, but sometimes happens), for he says “If you sell off your problems, don’t sell off your best people.” (Translation: If you do have to close a department or division, keep the talented people who were working in that department, and are committed to the vision.)

The people you fling off the bus are the people that are not on board with the values of the organization. The people that are passionate for what the organization stands for are to be kept at all costs. You simply cannot have enough of such people.

Yet, so many organizations do the reverse. Their leaders see people, including those most passionate for the vision, as expendable based on how they as leaders are seeking to conceive of the strategy. They have failed to grasped Jim Collins’ core point: first who, then what. That is, you get the right people on the bus first (that is, the people who love the mission and values of the organization) and then, through an empowering management model (rather than top-down approach), you decide where to go.

Or, as John Wooden, one of the best coaches in history, had to say: you move from the people to the plays—not the reverse.

Lay-offs and top-down leadership are absolutely contrary to good to great management.

The Cornerstone of Winston Churchill's Time Management

February 6, 2014 by Matt Perman

It is fascinating that when you study the most effective individuals throughout history, you see the same theme coming back again and again in how each of them managed their time. The key was focus and concentration on a few very significant priorities, always keeping in mind what is centrally important at the moment (that is, what’s best next).

We see this especially in Winston Churchill. Here’s how Steven Hayward very effectively summarizes Churchill’s approach in Churchill on Leadership: Executive Success in the Face of Adversity:

Despite his wide-ranging attention and interests, he always kept in mind what was centrally important to the moment. He was always able to focus his full concentration on the immediate task at hand, and he sent clear signals to his subordinates when an inquiry or directive was of special importance. “When his mind was occupied with any particular problem,” Sir Ian Jacob wrote, “it was relentlessly focused upon it and would not be turned aside.” Ultimately this served as the cornerstone of his time-management system.
….His general method of work…was to concentrate his personal attention on the two or three things that mattered most at any given moment, and to give to each of these all the time and attention that it merited.

This is the same observation Peter Drucker made about effective executives in the midst of his 50 years of observing them: “Effective executives put first things first, and do one thing at a time.” That’s the key.

Note one misunderstanding we can fall into, however, about what it means to focus on a few core priorities. It doesn’t mean that you are getting less done and doing fewer things overall. Rather, it means you are doing more things overall. That’s why you do one thing at a time — precisely because you have so many things that need to be done. Hence, you focus on one thing at a time because “doing one thing at a time means doing it fast. The more one can concentrate time, effort, and resources, the greater the number and diversity of tasks one can actually perform” (Drucker, The Effective Executive).

So the key is you identify that which is centrally important, and work on that all the way until it’s done. Then you work on the next thing of central importance until it is done. And so forth. (And, of course, above all of these and governing the choices you make about what to do next are just a few, overall, chief goals for the current quarter or year or season.) Drucker summarizes this well:

Effective executives know that they have to get many things done — and done effectively. Therefore, they concentrate — their own time and energy as well as that of their organization — on doing one thing at a time, and on doing first things first.

4 Principles for Setting the Right Priorities

February 5, 2014 by Matt Perman

From Peter Drucker in The Effective Executive:

Pick the future against the past;
Focus on opportunities rather than on problems;
Choose your own direction, rather than climb on the bandwagon; and
Aim high, aim for something that will make a difference, rather than for something that is “safe” and easy to do.

Why Do So Few Organizations Get Going on Their Good Ideas?

January 25, 2014 by Matt Perman

They are too busy on the tasks of yesterday.

Drucker:

There is no lack of ideas in any organization I know. “Creativity” is not our problem. But few organizations ever get going on their own good ideas. Everybody is much too busy on the tasks of yesterday….
The need to slough off the outworn old to make possible the productive new is universal. It is reasonably certain that we would still have stagecoaches — nationalized, to be sure, heavily subsided, and with a fantastic research program to “retrain the horse” — had there been ministries of transportation around 1825.

Maximize Your Leadership by Unleashing Your Clout

January 24, 2014 by Matt Perman

This week, Jenni Catron’s new book Clout: Discover and Unleash Your God-Given Influence, is out.

Jenni is executive director at Cross Point Church, a multi-site church in Nashville, Tennessee. I know Jenni from being on the blog team for the Global Leadership Summit, and she is super smart, an excellent writer, and understands leadership very well. She is a young leader that is worth paying attention to and learning from.

Her book focuses first on overcoming the seven clout killers of fear, comparison, jealousy, the scarcity mentality, insecurity, pride, and control. Then she focuses on the four clout cultivators of identify, confidence, mission, and passion.

This book will be helpful for anyone wanting to learn more about leadership because, first of all, it is filled with great insight and, second, the structure of the book is so easy to grasp. Knowing the 7 clout killers and 4 clout cultivators is a very helpful tool for navigating your leadership.

My favorite chapter is the one on the scarcity mentality. In my opinion, Jenni does an even better job unpacking this concept than Stephen Covey did, from whom I originally learned about this and whom I think first made that concept widely known.

Briefly, the scarcity mindset is the notion that life is a fixed pie—if someone else has more, then you have less. It keeps us from seeking the success of others, because it thinks that there is only “so much” to go around. Hence, the thinking goes, if you seek to help others succeed, you will be reducing your own potential for success.

But in reality, the opposite is true. We become more successful ourselves precisely by seeking the success of others. Great leaders have an abundance mentality, not a scarcity mentality. As Jack Welch has said, great leaders have “a generosity of spirit.” (This actually ties in to my forthcoming book very well, where I argue both from the Scriptures and the best business research that generosity is the key to success.)

Hence, though there are some things to learn from scarcity (this is one of the other notable features of this chapter — it was helpful to hear Jenni talk about her own experience with the scarcity mindset and some of the few good things we should learn from scarcity), letting scarcity be your dominant mindset is a definite clout-killer that we need to get rid of.

Here are some of the key quotes from the chapter:

When leaders manage from a position of scarcity, they create unhealthy environments for those they influence. Rather than focus on developing and investing in others, we focus on protecting and defending ourselves.
Stewarding our position is impossible from a position of scarcity because our actions are motivated by self-preservation.
When we gather rather than give, we erode our influence with others. We impair clout rather than earn it.
Scarcity also shows up in the words we don’t say. [We can] withhold good words [and be] quick to speak frustration or discouragement.
The real test of leadership and influence is when we’re willing to stand behind others and let them shine.
Generous leaders are contagious. Generosity multiplies our clout. Our God-given influence thrives and blesses others.

You can get Jenni’s book at Amazon and learn more about her at her blog. And here’s the trailer where she talks a bit about the book:

How to be Productive in 2014

January 1, 2014 by Matt Perman

My guest post at The Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics. I talk about the importance of setting goals and how to do it well for this year, without overwhelming yourself.

Stop Marketing Like It's Still 2004

December 5, 2013 by Matt Perman

This is an excellent, insightful, enjoyable, and easy to follow slideshare from Gary Vaynerchuk.

Storytelling in 2014 from Gary Vaynerchuk

Here are a few key points I took down:

Most marketers simply treat social media as a distribution channel—as another form of mass marketing. Big mistake! You lose all the benefits.
This forgets that what’s unique about social platforms is that they are a two-way conversation, not one-way. That’s what distinguishes them from mass marketing.
Social media is like a cocktail party. And a good cocktail party doesn’t come from talking about yourself the whole time (that’s one-way marketing), but from talking about others and interacting.
You bring value by engaging with users. That means replying to them—not just shooting stuff out there.
The trick is to learn the uniqueness of each platform and tell your story in a way that syncs with why and how people use that platform.
“Those who don’t learn how to tell their stories on today’s platforms are the ones who will go out of business.”
This has taken down some very smart, rich, and well-supported companies (for ex: Blackberry; AOL).

The Tribe or the Person?

December 4, 2013 by Matt Perman

This is perhaps one of Seth Godin’s most difficult blog posts to grasp — but also one of the most important. Kudos to him for writing something that goes so deep.

At root, he’s talking about the difference between leadership and management. Management is about changing people one-on-one and is about individualizing; leadership is about groups and tapping in to what is universal.

That’s a broad brush, and the best leaders can individualize very well (and need to more and more, in our age — so you can’t ignore that). But it’s a critical distinction to keep in mind. Godin’s post helps.

Here’s where it leads: “To change the culture, change the conversation.” That is, culture change requires leadership, not just management.

How to Delegate When You're Overwhelmed

November 26, 2013 by Matt Perman

This is a really good article over at 99U on overcoming the biggest obstacle to delegation. I love out how it starts out by nailing the exact difficulty that I find with delegation:

You’ve tried every productivity hack in the book and have reached your max capacity in terms of output. You know that you need outside help to bring the work to the next level… but you hesitate. On the one hand, the idea of not having to do everything yourself really appeals to you. On the other, you wonder if you can handle the management responsibilities on top of your already heavy workload.
Your concerns are valid. In order for people to help you, they need to know what you need and to receive feedback and direction along the way. Your workflow that was uniquely yours will now have to account for another person. With the right systems and communication, this process can run relatively smoothly. But without them, the people who were supposed to help can end up creating more work.

She then gives five very helpful strategies. It’s worth the read.

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