Huddle Video; Management Lightbulb; Visual Desk; Seattle, Toronto, Dubai

"…ideas for scale-ups"

HEADLINES:

Lean Profits? — FREE Course Viewing of Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits by Greg Crabtree on April 29th – Greg is a master at helping companies drive greater profits through the right performance metrics (like how to calculate profit correctly and what is true revenue – quite revealing when you get the numbers right). Register now to SAVE $99. Length: 103 Minutes

Lean Staff? (Major Publication Needs Examples) — Starting in Jan 2016, those with 50+ employees have to deal with the Affordable Care Act's employer mandate, which is a potentially big expense for employers that don't already offer ACA-compliant health care options. And there are other regulations that kick in at 50+ employees. As you approach having 45 employees, has this made you think twice about going above 50? Has it stalled your growth? Or have you outsourced to stay below 50? If you're willing to discuss with your views with a major publication let me know and I'll put you in touch with them – [email protected]

Lean Huddle — California-based Walters & Wolf designs, fabricates, and installs amazing glass interior and exterior walls for all types of construction. With 900 union employees, two years ago their president Nick Kocelj made no excuses why they couldn't fundamentally transform their company and since then has driven unbelievable performance in their industry using Lean. Go to 24:40 to see a couple minutes of their daily huddle; then go to 29:00 to check out this simple solution. Notes Paul Aker, the Lean guru Leadership Summit speaker highlighted in the video, "It's always nice when you can experience a level five leader (Nick Kocelj) in real life." The entire video is amazing, especially if you're in manufacturing/construction/installation – I started watching and couldn't stop as one simple innovation after another is detailed.

Lean Lightbulbs — the other Gazelle, a $100 million firm that buys and sells used electronics, is augmenting management dashboards with a simple Philips Hue lightbulb that changes colors (think red, yellow, green) to provide a visual indicator of productivity and problems – a key tool of the Lean methodology. Other firms are using them to signal when meetings should be ending. Take 2 minutes to read this FORTUNE article about the power of simple visual systems ($200 starter kit) to provide feedback to your team.

Lean Desk — notes Rochelle Carrington, "we have been using your one-page plan in my Sandler Training business for years. I subscribe to your weekly newsletter and invested in the Kaizen foam for our office that you recently detailed. Love it!" Below is the picture she sent – another example of a simple visual organizing system.

Seattle, Toronto, Dubai — these are the three upcoming Scaling Up workshops in May (7th Seattle, 26th Toronto, 27th Dubai).

COACHING:

What is the value of working with a Certified Gazelles International Coach? There are four key roles a coach plays in helping your company Scale Up…listen here to learn.

TECHNOLOGY:

Better Book Club — What's your team reading? Increase your books read per team member. Easy, Proven, and in the Cloud at http://www.BetterBookClub.com.

Align Dashboard — Want to keep track of your plans and progress in the cloud? The complete Growth Tools and Rockefeller Habits disciplines in a SaaS offering.