Most Complained About Company; Theme for 2018; 3 Question Sequence; Place to Visit This Summer

Published by Verne Harnish at January 18, 2018

"…insights for scaleups"

HEADLINES:

Most Complained About Company in 2017 — fun fact for the weekend gatherings, this Fortune article highlights the most complained about company in the US in 2017. And it was the winner in 49 states and DC – the only exception was North Dakota! Take 10 seconds to find out.

Blackrock's Focus on Social Impact — with $6.3 trillion under management, Larry Fink's Annual Letter to CEOs tends to get some attention. Blackrock's CEO, Fink gave companies three criteria they would use to invest in the future – a purpose, a long term strategic direction, and a diverse board (which is why mid-market firms that install Rockefeller Habits 2.0 are valued so highly by public companies – you have at least of the three already in place). The most interesting paragraph:

We also see many governments failing to prepare for the future, on issues ranging from retirement and infrastructure to automation and worker retraining. As a result, society increasingly is turning to the private sector and asking that companies respond to broader societal challenges. Indeed, the public expectations of your company have never been greater. Society is demanding that companies, both public and private, serve a social purpose. To prosper over time, every company must not only deliver financial performance, but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society.

Please take 3 minutes to read down through the letter – for both style and substance.

Three-Step Question Sequence — I love the headline "How Better Questions Can Drive Innovation and Business Growth: An Interview with a 'A More Beautiful Question' Author Warren Berger" so it caught my attention. Scaling Up is all about finding the right question – like "what is the constraint in my industry and how do I gain control of it." And who doesn't want to find a "beautiful question" – kudos to Berger for a beautiful title. However, for some reason the article fell flat, except for this three-step question sequence Berger suggests – why, what if, and how. More specifically:

When you ask "why?", you're trying to understand something: "Why does this problem exist? Why are we doing things the way we're doing them?" It's basically an understanding question. "What if" is an imagination question. You understand the problem and now you're saying, "What if we try this or what if we came at the problem by doing X, Y or Z?" You're moving now from understanding in the "why" stage to imagination in the "what if" stage. "How" is really about getting things done. They're very practical questions. "How much is it going to cost, how are we going to do it, how will we take the first steps." It's an interesting, 3-step cycle that moves from understanding to imagining to doing.

That's a beautiful paragraph and sequence – moving from understanding to imagining to doing. Worth putting to use. Thank you to Steve Hall, DriversSelect.com for suggesting.

25 Companies Getting Design Right — this Fortune article details how companies from Apple to Zalando are getting design right. I love the opening story, which I've shared around the globe, how Airbnb finally got it right after struggling for five years to build the company. It was four magical words "go to your users!" So, they moved from Mountain View to New York City. They figured out the two constraints to their business and the rest is history. This is your longer read for the weekend – 7 – 10 minutes – but it will get your head into the right place – design is everything – from processes to products, it's the user interface/experience that matters. It's so important that it's Gazelles' overarching theme for 2018 – to up the design impact of everything we do, starting with my PPT slide deck getting a major overhaul to the look and feel of our ScaleUp Summits, to the technology platforms driving Rockefeller Habits 2.0.

Planning Summer Travel — Spain has overtaken the U.S. as the second most visited country next to France. This Guardian article provides some of the details.

EXITING: Thinking about selling the business for $40 million or more? Want to get 25% to 200% more than you thought? Request the whitepaper from the Exit Strategies Summit at Harvard from Denise Richmond at (610) 299-6466 or email at [email protected]

COACHING:

Have you ever wondered if working with a coach might accelerate your company's growth, exponentially? Do you have what it takes to move the dial from good to great? Click here to watch Gazelles International President Keith Cupp describes the four most important attributes of successful clients. Contact us at [email protected] for more information.

And if you're interested in becoming a world-class certified Gazelles International coach, please go to gicoaches.com/becomeacoach for more information. If you determine that we're a fit and wish to join our premier organization, we invite you to contact our Dir. of Coach Engagement at [email protected] or 877.217.2253 ext.700.

TECHNOLOGY:

Create Accountability – Drive Execution
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Verne Harnish

Verne Harnish is founder of the world-renowned Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) and chaired for fifteen years EO’s premiere CEO program, the “Birthing of Giants” and WEO’s “Advanced Business” executive program both held at MIT. Founder and CEO of Gazelles, a global executive education and coaching company with over 150 coaching partners on six continents, Verne has spent the past three decades helping companies scale-up. The “Growth Guy” syndicated columnist, he’s also the Venture columnist for FORTUNE magazine. He’s the author of Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0); Mastering the Rockefeller Habits; and along with the editors of Fortune, authored The Greatest Business Decisions of All Times," for which Jim Collins wrote the foreword. Verne also chairs FORTUNE Magazine’s annual Leadership and Growth Summits and serves on several boards including chairman of The Riordan Clinic and the newly launched Geoversity. He is an investor in many scale-ups. A father of four, he enjoys piano, tennis, and magic as a card-carrying member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.

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