CL&D Executive Book Club Notes

Book: Outliers—The Story of Success

Author:  Malcolm Gladwell

Published: 2008

Pages: 285

Why Read

Ever here about a “rise from nothing” story and think, “Wow, that person was really lucky.” Well, it turns out you’re right, according to Gladwell’s theory that successful people don’t do it alone, where they come from matters. Citing Bill Gates as an example, he goes on to say that “it takes no small degree of humility to look back and say I was lucky.” Outliers, people or places that lay outside everyday experience (where normal rules don’t apply), have this in common: they all have been presented with hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities.

This book tells tale after tale, leading readers to two conclusions: one presented (the outlier in the end is not an outlier at all) and one implied (with an understanding of what makes people successful, we should be able to identify and recognize opportunities and take advantage of them). After all, what if Gates chose the wrong path when presented with the proverbial “fork in the road?”

Summary

Outliers opens with the Roseto mystery, a small town in Pennsylvania with a 50 percent lower death rate from heart disease than the rest of the U.S. Turns out that the town was transplanted from southern Italy and they had built “a powerful, protective social structure capable of insulating them from the pressures of the modern world.” The difference was their small-town culture—their sense of community—including how they visited with and regarded each other. They were healthy because of where they were from and not the logical reasons one might suspect (diet, exercise, genetics, or geography).  

The author gives other examples: in any elite group of hockey players, 40 percent (the majority) are born between January and March, and more major league baseball players are born in August than any other month. This is called “the Matthew Effect” from the Bible and it’s based on random cutoff age dates that determine participation. (Hockey is January 1, so a boy who turns 10 the next day plays with kids who don’t turn 10 until the end of the year—and 12 months is a huge head start in physical maturity.)

Plus, apparently practice does make perfect. The Beatles, by sheer chance, got invited to Hamburg, Germany to play a series of long non-stop shows and packed the fans in. How did they master their art? The author contends it was in large part due to the amount of time they were forced to play: eight hours straight, seven nights a week. This is the 10,000 hour rule (which is roughly 10 years). He also touches on practical intelligence versus analytical intelligence (practical is social savvy or street smarts).

Ultimately an outlier’s success is not “exceptional or mysterious, but rather grounded in a web of advantages and inheritances some deserved, some not, some earned some just plain lucky—but all critical to making them who they are.”

Part 2 of 2 Summaries

Book: Beyond Performance

Author:  Scott Keller, Colin Price

Published: 2011

Pages: 241

Why Read

Closing with a quote from Star Wars Jedi Master Yoda, “Do or do not, there is no try,” this “manifesto” on how great organizations build ultimate competitive advantage is for action-oriented leaders who don’t just want to think or talk about what they would like to do. Though not an easy read, it is a very detailed accounting of how to set a master plan to build a healthy company that performs perfectly and changes quickly—with results today and relevancy tomorrow.

InPart 1 of our summary, we provide a background, touch on the research, and then introduce the “5As,” the five frames of performance and health that are the foundation of achieving organizational excellence.

With a good understanding of the first A, Aspire, in Part 2, we’ll cover successfully moving through each of the remaining four stages, touch on a profile showing the process in action, and wrap up with some guiding principles.

Summary

Assess is the second step in the 5As, where companies determine the capabilities they possess that have the greatest effect on performance aspirations and then evaluate them. It is here that the significance of mindsets is explored, as mindsets are “the highest leverage point for management time and energy.” The authors liken ignoring the power of mindsets to the Whac-A-Mole amusement park game (you pound one mole into its hole and instantly another one pops up in another hole). Rather, they suggest taking on three to five shifts in mindset over 12-18 months because it is a gradual process.

Step three, Architect, takes off on the second step and much time is spent here because it is the hardest part of the transition. The plan calls for looking at developing a portfolio of performance initiatives and then having deep discussions on selecting the right steps to shift mindsets and behaviors. This is the “A” that helps bridge the gap between your current capabilities and mindsets and the ones needed to reach performance and health aspirations.

Test, learn, and scale up are the best ways to approach moving into Act, the fourth A. This is the test run or pilot phase—actually the authors recommend two of these. The first one, called the “proof of concept” tests whether the action creates value, and the second or “proof of feasibility” tests how to harness the bulk of the desired result in a way that is replicable. Test runs translate into the best possible start. Act wraps with three models for scaling up program initiatives.

The final stage, Advance, is different because it is never over (going back to the ultimate competitive advantage of being a continuously improving organization and the book’s title). The authors find focusing on two things make the transition from the intensive work and constant stirring of transformation to continuous improvement (CI): 1) making sure CI is hard-wired into your org and 2) leading from a core of “self-mastery and ongoing learning.” The latter gets bonus attention as four common characteristics of centered leadership are discussed: have a direct link to performance improvement, start from a quantifiable baseline, accommodate different learning styles, and allow for self-discovery.

Though admitting that generalizations are sometimes dangerous, the authors found the single most important aspect of the senior leader role in a transformation to be shifting the culture of the organization.

Closing with the 2005-08 profile of Wells Fargo as the five frames in action, the authors again point to the approach at a thriving organization. The book leaves us with three principles (below)—and of course, the unforgettable quote from Yoda in our “Why Read” introduction at the top.

The Three Principles

Performance and health matter as much as one another—and can be measured and managed with equal rigor.

Performance and health are both things you should be managing today.

Nothing changes unless behavior does.

Putting it all together: These principles, in action through the five frames approach, will put your company—in any industry—on its way to sustaining high performance and leadership.

Part 1 of 2 Summaries

Book: Beyond Performance

Author:  Scott Keller, Colin Price

Published: 2011

Pages: 241

Why Read

Closing with a quote from Star Wars Jedi Master Yoda, “Do or do not, there is no try,” this “manifesto” on how great organizations build ultimate competitive advantage is for action-oriented leaders who don’t just want to think or talk about what they would like to do. Though not an easy read, it is a very detailed accounting of how to set a master plan to build a healthy company that performs perfectly and changes quickly—with results today and relevancy tomorrow.

Part 1 of our summary provides background, touches on the research, and then introduces the “5As,” the five frames of performance and health that are the foundation of achieving organizational excellence.

Summary

Beyond Performance opens with Coke’s 2004 “Manifesto for Growth” detailing a growth plan that covered not just where the company wanted to be, but what it would do to get there and how its people would act as a team during the process of transformational change. It’s an example of the authors’ assertion that focusing on organizational health is equally as important as focusing on traditional performance drivers. (Organizational health is defined as the ability to align, execute, and renew itself faster than competitors—and this self-proclaimed “field guide for harnessing the full potential of your organization” offers a dynamic approach because ultimately people change, not the organization.)

The evidence? The authors cite a survey that organizational transformations that focus on performance alone are 1.5 times more likely to fail, but perhaps even more telling is the business banking example that yielded improvements of eight percent with a traditional approach to change while the performance and health approach results were more than double.

The 5As are introduced with corresponding questions that need answers in order to change:

Aspire-Where do we want to go?

Assess-How ready are we to go there?

Architect-What do we need to do to get there?

Act-How do we manage the journey?

Advance-How do we keep moving forward?

Then, the five translate into a challenge each for performance and health (totaling 10 challenges in all).

Focusing on the first step, nine elements of organizational health are offered under Aspire (direction, leadership, culture & climate, accountability, coordination & control, capabilities, and motivation)—each being further broken down into several practices. The main idea under the first step of Aspire is that organizations essentially need to choose six to 10 practices to be “elite” at. The authors give three questions to ask to help determine which to choose: Which will enable me to reach performance aspirations? What are our existing strengths? Which practices complement each other?

Leaders can leverage these three questions to see which of four “archetypes” to use as the foundation to build their organization’s health on (most companies do just fit into one): leadership-driven, execution edge, market focus, or knowledge core.

Next

With a good understanding of the first A, Aspire, in Part 2 of our summary, we’ll cover successfully moving through each of the remaining four stages, touch on a profile showing the process in action, and wrap up with some guiding principles.

Book: How to Market to People Not Like You

Author:  Kelly McDonald

Published: 2011

Pages: 212

Why Read

Surprise…unlike disciplines including accounting, there is no easy way to measure marketing, and a one-size-fits-all strategy that appeals to the masses no longer works. McDonald’s offering on how to gain sales, profits, and customer loyalty? Market to people not like you via narrowcasting: Learning about a very targeted market and communicating to them “frequently, richly, and relevantly.”

A highlight? The author’s generational breakdown made easy—with a snapshot for matures, boomers, gen X/Y/Z. Think Gen Y’s iconic entertainer: Black-Eyed Peas, Boomer’s HH income: just under 60K, Mature’s defining idea: duty, Gen X’s style: entrepreneur, and Gen Z’s absolute obsession with technology!

Summary

McDonald says the key is to stop thinking simple demographics and market to the target’s values because budgets are getting tighter and the marketplace is more fragmented than ever. This means that consumers are more selective and powerful—and accordingly, marketers must ensure that consumers not only receive the message, but receive it “enthusiasm.” She starts by giving seven steps (see below) and explaining that marketing magic happens when innovative products or services speak the following to consumers: I see you, I value you, and I want you. She goes on to define and discuss the importance of operational readiness, or making sure your business is easy to do business with. Wrapping up the first part, she focuses on leveraging technology (website, database, email marketing, social media, etc.).

Part two covers ways to narrowcast, by generation, women, immigrants, and ethnic minorities; the third and final part by political views, sexuality, hobbies, geography, and more.

7 Steps

Get out of your comfort zone

Get to know the customer you don’t have

What do they need? Tweak your offerings

Make your sales and CS departments customer-friendly

Communicate in their language & develop marketing messages based on their values

Use technology

Deal with the naysayers (employees and core customers who don’t like who you are marketing to)

Book: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
Author: David Allen
Published: 2001
Pages: 259
Why Read
Do you get complete and utter joy out of the simple act of crossing things off your to-do list? Or, do you wish you had control over your to-do list? Either way, this book is for you. Allen says it best, by challenging us to think about things instead of things—and along with his tricks, tools, and key concepts he says you too can have a “mind like water” like martial artists (or be in the more-familiar “zone” of athletes and perform at your peak). Simply put, if you’re tired of fighting fires, this book is the “vaccination” you’ve been waiting for. His key principle that says to ask yourself upfront, “What action do I need to take to resolve this?” and this question’s value is that it forces clarity, accountability, productivity, and empowerment.
Summary
Allen answers the questions of what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. Finally. But more than getting things done (think focus), the book speaks to having more energy and being more relaxed as a result. The key to managing all of your “stuff” he offers, is managing all of your actions, which requires surprisingly little planning and time. How much time? As much time as you need to get the project off your mind (getting you to a state of focus on the task at hand). The “how” is covered under putting the tools in place to create a “cockpit of control” which can be your home office or as simple as an in basket in the corner of the kitchen. You then have seven things to keep track of (projects list, support materials, calendared actions, next actions list, waiting for list, reference materials, and someday/maybe list). The book goes into great detail on all, but the gist of it is that everything goes through five stages of workflow* and that you can get them all done if you focus on two key objectives:
(1) Capture all the things NOW that you need to get done, then
(2) Discipline yourself to make front-end decisions (aka, overcome procrastination!)
During weekly reviews (a few hours each week, same time) you focus on one thing at a time in your in basket and “process it.” You’ll learn about horizontal thinking versus vertical (the latter is big-picture thinking that unleashes your creativity) and enjoy “the day-before-vacation” phenomenon regularly (peace of mind in knowing that everything will be under control before you leave).
Particularly interesting was the key principle on the collection end of things—what goes in your in basket. When others “get” that without fail, you receive, process, and organize effectively all of the agreements they have with you they TRUST you. So it is important to avoid breaking agreements—and probably most important, don’t break agreements with yourself. In other words, don’t set yourself up for failure by making the agreement at all. (He goes on to talk about the other options, which of course are to complete the agreement—where the guilt comes in—or effectively renegotiating the agreement, which is not breaking it!) Ultimately Allen says once you realize the price you pay for not keeping agreements, you’ll be more cautious and selective in making them in the first place.
Of course, Allen’s conclusion, printed word-for-word below, says it all:
“[the book] is a road map to achieve the positive, relaxed focus that characterizes your most productive state.To stay on track, work on doing some things to become habit: keep everything out of your head, decide actions and outcomes when things first emerge, and regularly review and update the complete inventory of “open loops” of your life and work.”
*5 Stages of Workflow: 1) Collect things that command your attention, 2) process what they mean and what to do about them, 3) organize the results, 4) review the options, 5) do

Book: Little Bets

Author:  Peter Sims

Published: 2011

Pages: 256

Why Read

Leading business consultant Peter Sims takes a “do something” proactive approach to problem solving (also known as “trial by error”) and says it has worked for Apple and Pixar. What are “little bets?” It’s an approach that turns negativity into positivity—reinforcing that every move you make can be a risk but it is better to take one then to passively sit by. Some call it a radical approach (failure is good! questions lead to solutions!), others call it refreshing.

Another highlight? The interesting results behind the experiment by Wiseman on why some people seem to be lucky—and others unlucky.

Summary

Hewlett-Packard is offered up as a “little bets” example: Hp’s first calculator was to be priced at $400, as compared to much lower-priced slide rules. So they hired an expensive market research firm who told HP they wouldn’t sell. Hewlett suggested they make 1,000 and see if they sold—and they did. In under six months HP was selling 1,000 per day. The book goes into defining the differences between types of innovators (conceptual and experimental), and examines the results of a study of more than 3,000 executives who invented new products or were behind the start-ups of innovative companies. What was found? Several patterns of actions or discover skills in addition to experimenting that can be boiled down to the word “inquisitiveness”: observing, questioning, and networking.

As for learning from setbacks, experts speak to the mindset of an individual. Someone with a fixed mindset, for example, wants to be seen as capable, even if it means they won’t learn anything (setbacks and criticism chip away at their self-image, they give up sooner and show more aversion to risk). A mindset can be determined by what an individual deems most important—ability or effort.

Book: Wrong: Why Experts Keep Failing Us—And How To Know When Not To Trust Them

Author:  David H. Freedman

Published: 6/2010

Pages: 336

Why Read

Much time is spent discounting hundreds of studies, including business ones that will be of most interest to executives (specifically, the studies that look at profitable companies and explore the management techniques that work from them). The real value to this book is in the big reveal: How organizations can find good or “right” valuable information from the seemingly endless array of misleading offerings presented.

Summary

There are all types of experts out there, and by “out there,” we mean even more sources than ever before—courtesy of the Internet. Some of the “less credentialed,” as the book refers to them, include “alternative health gurus, fitness trainers, and mediagenic (meaning, appealing to news media readers/viewers) business tycoons.” These types of “experts” rely on the media, along with speaking engagements, to perpetuate their advice. The book talks about how these experts understand that delivering advice that resonates with us (simple, actionable, entertaining, or universal) and then disseminating it through the media and speaking/appearance circuit is the way to “make” their career.

The book also asserts that “optimistically,” two-thirds of medical research is wrong, and that scientific “breakthroughs” are also blown out of proportion as “breakthroughs” again thanks to the media.

What’s the problem? On the business end of things (for brevity purposes, we’re just mentioning this specific issue; the book details many segments), studies claim that a certain management technique is successful by offering examples of profitable companies that in fact practice that technique. The expert offered in the book says the flaws in thought here are 1) This reasoning doesn’t touch on all of the other things the successful company is doing, 2) that the possibility that the method was the cause as opposed to the effect, 3) no evidence is provided that the success will be lasting, and 4) how do we know that unsuccessful companies aren’t also employing the technique?