He explains how he challenges himself and his organization……..

It’s the hardest thing to do as a leader, but it’s the most important thing.  Whatever day it is, something in the world changed overnight, and  you better figure out what it is and what it means.  You have to forget what you just did and what you just learned.  You have to walk in stupid every day.

Are there old assumptions and habits in your organization that need to be challenged?

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1) Rethinking Competition

2) Reinventing Innovation

3) Reconnecting With Customers

4) Redesigning Work

I am reading through part 4 now and I think its the most important. Parts 1, 2, and 3 all depend on 4.

Everyone always says, “People are our most important asset.” It might be an over used phrase, but it remains true. Rethinking Competition, Reinventing Innovation, and Reconnecting With Customers can only happen with great people.

Mavericks at Work authors William C. Taylor and Polly Labarre often ask CEOs the following question…

Why would great people want to work here? (The answer can’t be about salaries, bonuses, or stock options)

It is a good question to think about……..for employers and employees.

Employers want great people to work for them.

Employees want great people to work with them.

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One of the companies profiled in the book is ING Direct.

They are not your ordinary bank.

• No branches.
• No fees, no minimums, great rates.
• Most transactions online.
• Short list of financial products.
• No credit cards.

From their website……

ING DIRECT exists to help you Save Your Money.

This is the way banking should be. Simple, easy, ING DIRECT. Save Your Money.

They were and continue to be disruptive to the banking industry. A bank that encourages and helps you to make wise financial decisions. Savings focused vs. debt focused.

In this video, CEO Arkadi Kuhlmann states that a banking transaction should be as easy as purchasing a cup of coffee. I agree.

Clear purpose. Values driven. Simple. Different.

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One thing that I have noticed about all the successful companies that are profiled in the book is that they all know why they do what they do…….They all have a clear sense of purpose.

A few quotes from the book…..

- If everybody is selling the same thing, what’s the tie-breaker? It’s purpose.

- At the heart of every great company is a clear sense of purpose.

- The companies that get in trouble are the ones that are mushy about who they are.

My incredible wife, Jennifer, demonstrates this concept each weekend as a staff member of the Children’s Ministry at our church, Fellowship of The Woodlands. Each Sunday morning, she gathers a team of volunteers and reminds them why they do what they do.

She reminds them that they are planting the seed of God’s love as the children grow spiritually in a safe and secure environment while allowing the parents to hear God’s word without distraction.

Purpose is powerful.

Does your organization, team, staff, ministry need to be reminded why they do what they do?

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Here are a few of the lines that are now highlighted in my copy of the book….

• If everybody is selling the same thing, what’s the tie-breaker? It’s purpose.

• How you talk about your company speaks volumes about how you think about your business. And ultimately, how you think about your business determines how well it performs.

• If you do things the way everybody else does, why do you think you’re going to do any better?

• Companies that compete on a disruptive point of view are defined as much by the opportunities they choose not to pursue as by the businesses they do enter.

• Stop pussfooting around with “softball” issues such as corporate governance and stakeholder management and focus on what matters most in business – using every legitimate resource and strategy available to gain advantage over competitors.

• Even in the face of massive competition, don’t think about the competition……..Just think about the customer.

• At the heart of every great company is a clear sense of purpose.

• We believe that a new wave of strategic innovation is being built around disruptive points of view.

• The companies that get in trouble are the ones that are mushy about who they are.

• The open-source movement clearly demonstrates that the more smart people you can persuade to work on a problem, the more likely it is to get solved.

• You cannot motivate the best people with money. The best people in any field are motivated by passion. People do their best work when they are passionately engaged in what they’re doing.

• Companies that successfully attract outside brainpower will absolutely eat the lunch of companies that don’t.

• It’s amazing to think there are people inside big companies spending millions of dollars to rediscover knowledge that already exists.

• You can think big without having to think of everything yourself.

• Whatever day it is, something in the world changed overnight, and you better figure out what it is and what it means. You have to forget what you just did and what you just learned. You have to walk in stupid every day.

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