Four Pivotal Lessons
Haaaaaaaappy Halloween Friday!
By definition, one doesn’t become exceptional by thinking and acting like everyone else. The same applies to teams and organizations.
Last week, I spoke to 60 Northern Nevada engineers and shared four examples of how thinking and acting differently contributed to ECO:LOGIC’s success. The list is long, but ECO's successes include:
· No utilization targets, yet utilization remained in the high 70s to high 80s.
· No profit objectives, yet profit was consistently in the mid-20s.
· No voluntary employee departures to a competitor…actually one, in 17 years.
· No HR person (just someone on contract if needed).
· No claims against E&O insurance.
· No lawsuits of any kind.
· Many innovative, first-of-a-kind projects.
These four lessons are a roadmap that's easy to follow. Taken together, they inspire a virtuous cycle of exceptional outcomes for both the firm and staff.
Lesson #1: Engineers design the scaffolding of civilization. Engineering is, therefore, the world’s most important profession. As such, engineers have a duty to prioritize excellence, ethics, principles, responsibility, and to always be the adult in the room. If you’ve ever met anyone from ECO:LOGIC, you’ll recognize these qualities in them. They are the adult in the room. Adopting this attitude generates exceptional loyalty and respect from fellow staff and clients.
Lesson #2: What you do is not nearly as important as why you do it. By selling your why, you can punch well above your weight and outmaneuver competitors selling their what. It's biology. For an explanation, watch this famous short video by Simon Sinek https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0HIF3SfI4. Two decades late, but he got it right.
Lesson #3: How strongly people care correlates with business success. The more people care about their work and the organization, the more success results. The less people care, the less success. How do you get people to care? I refer you here to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, a simple but powerful representation of what all humans need and want. Make self-actualization your approach to employing and leading humans, and you’ll get exceptional success in return.
Lesson #4: What your organization stands for is whatever the people with leadership titles talk about most. That mission statement on your website was designed to attract and inspire people to join and care. But it isn't real if it isn't repeated and reinforced. Your organization's de facto mission is whatever its leaders prioritize and talk about most.
Like playing telephone, leaders talk about what their boss talks to them about. That means cash flow metrics - utilization, WIP, A/R, and backlog.
The question someone should probably ask is: Does talking about these things cause profit to increase or decrease? If you think people choose the engineering profession because they aspire to deliver cash flow metrics, then yes, keep talking about it. Making it a cultural phenomenon torpedoes #2 and #3.
Growth and profit are a result, not a purpose. The more leaders talk about growth and profit, the more elusive both become.
That's it. Have a terrific weekend,
Dave
Feedback and blowback are always welcome: dave@goodnewsfriday.com
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