Disrupting Uber; Blockchains Critical; Pillow Fights; CEO Stretched Thin
May 13, 2016
Anarchist Meets General; Preakness Preparation; Thriving Kids; Smart Thinking
May 27, 2016

Steve Jobs’ Retreat; Quadruple Ditto; Good Vibrations; Share the Love

"…insights for scaleups"

HEADLINES:

Why VERBAL Communication Is Critical the more we're learning about the brain, the more we are finding that verbal communication (sending out vibrations) and storytelling are critical to keeping teams in sync – thus the power of the daily huddle. I often remind audiences that for 100,000 years we've had the spoken word, but only the written word for 5000 and Excel spreadsheets for 50 – so which do you think is more critical to our surviving and thriving! And the daily huddle (and weekly meeting) is at the heart of agile and scrum methodologies which are just Rockefeller Habits for software development.

TED Talk Highlights Brain Research Neuroscientist Uri Hasson at Princeton shares, in this TED talk specific research he's conducted that supports the power of verbal storytelling in keeping teams in sync – along with the importance of creating a common lexicon (same biz terms) and belief systems to enhance team alignment. Hasson explains his premise in the first 1:17 of this 14-minute talk. Thanks to Boston-based Gazelles Coaching partner Bill Flynn for pointing me to this TED talk.

Steve Jobs' Meetings — speaking of storytelling and creating vibrations, it's a year old, but this Inc. article outlines eight lessons for running an effective executive retreat – and it include 20 minutes of Steve Jobs' footage "demonstrating" the key points. You can scan the article in 2 minutes, but take time this weekend to watch the full 20 minutes.

Daily Huddle Quadruple Ditto — sports fans are familiar with hockey's Hat Trick or basketball's Triple Double. Sales assessment guru Dave Kurlan has introduced something similar for the daily/weekly sales huddle – the Quadruple Ditto. It's all about upping the vibrations! Take 1 minute to read through Dave's blog to learn about this fun new component.

Book Creates Key Connection (Gazelles case study) — want to build a closer relationship with your most important customers? As mentioned above, having a shared language and set of beliefs connects us as people – and we're all in the people to people business. To this point, I received this note from Richard Metcalfe, founder and MD of Ireland-based Arkk Solutions:

Hi Verne, hope you're well. I just wanted to share a great experience I recently had centred around your Scaling Up book. I was recently at dinner with a big client of mine who is one of Ireland's leading two banks and I was telling him about how we implemented things like the daily huddle, quarterly themes et cetera and he was fascinated as to how he might do that in such a big business such as his. On returning home I sent him a copy of your book and finding a common ground on how he can use the techniques I've used in my business in his has really cemented our relationship.

This is what it's all about – building relationships through the sharing of ideas and stories. Get a box of books, mine or someone else's, and start sharing the love (of learning)!

COACHING:

Have you ever wondered if your company would be a good candidate to work with an executive growth coach? Click here to watch Gazelles International President Keith Cupp describes the four most important attributes of successful clients.

And if you're interested in becoming a world-class certified Gazelles International coach, please contact Jean Carpenter at [email protected] / (360) 798.9471.

TECHNOLOGY:

Align Software puts everyone on the Same Page – Literally! See, in real time every person in your organization and how they are progressing on their priorities – alongside how they Align to the Company Priorities! Scale Up your Rockefeller Habits implementation with www.aligntoday.com – on your computer and on your phone.

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.

Verne Harnish
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.