A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here

Analysis by VC Anthony Tjan, founder of Cue Ball, found that 25% of both entrepreneurs and corporate business builders consider themselves lucky.

That’s a big percentage for something considered random, dubious or non-existent, depending on whom you ask.

Further research found “a combination of what we call a lucky attitude and a lucky network” as opposed to random luck.

What happens next? Does that attitude continue as success mounts?

But the biggest risk for top leaders is being complacent and overconfident — which amounts to being disconnected from the reality, attitude, and relationships that can sustain and take excellence to a new place.

Tjan recommends seven MAP functions to avoid the disconnect:

• humility, the lack of which leads to arrogance;
• intellectual curiosity, the lack of which also leads to arrogance;
• optimism, looking first for the positive attracts great people, while the opposite repels them;
• vulnerability, the best preventative for arrogance;
• authenticity, which is lost when shrouded in spin; worse, believing the spin leads to arrogance;
• generosity, no matter your success, share your knowledge sans the ‘what’s in it for me’ attitude; and
• openness, willingness to a listen to new ideas from 360 degrees of non-traditional sources.

Read the article (it’s short) and then share your thoughts on luck below.

Option Sanity keeps you lucky.

Come visit Option Sanity for an easy-to-understand, simple-to-implement stock process.  So easy a CEO can do it.

Warning.

Do not attempt to use Option Sanity™ without a strong commitment to business planning, financial controls, honesty, ethics, and “doing the right thing.”
Use only as directed.
Users of Option Sanity may experience sudden increases in team cohesion and worker satisfaction. In cases where team productivity, retention and company success is greater than typical, expect media interest and invitations as keynote speaker.

Flickr image credit: HikingArtist

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A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here

A few weeks ago I had lunch with a potential client to get a feel for his MAP, i.e., management style, cultural vision and underlying beliefs, etc., while “Tony” got to know mine.

Afterwards I told him I didn’t believe we could form a productive relationship, wished him luck with his startup and we went our separate ways.

Yesterday I received an email from him regarding a senior level executive he was anxious to hire.

Tony said that the interviews seemed to go well, but when he made the offer it was turned down.

When he asked why the candidate responded in writing, below is the relevant paragraph.

The company culture can be moderately formal to moderately informal.  I care most about professionalism and mutual respect. I do not tolerate a highly politically charged environment where I must spend a lot of time calculating what the impact of a recommendation or observation will have on alliances, potential career tracks and other selfish-focused issues for the people around me.  I must be in a place where we are solidly aligned towards a clear set of goals, and those goals are not about personal advancement per-se, they are about people exceeding their own goals in pursuit of the company’s goals (which may shift with market conditions).  I need to be in situations where there are bright, optimistic people, who are open to new ideas.  There needs to be an environment and culture of accountability, and at the same time, one of try-fast, fail-fast, try again.  I need to surround myself with people who are good at not “this is not possible” but rather “this is what needs to happen for this to be possible.”

Tony said he didn’t see anything in the email to account for the turndown and asked if I had any suggestions on what he could do to land the guy.

I’ve only been speechless a few times in my life and this was definitely one of them.

Option Sanity™ reflects culture.

Come visit Option Sanity for an easy-to-understand, simple-to-implement stock process.  It’s so easy a CEO can do it.

Warning.

Do not attempt to use Option Sanity™ without a strong commitment to business planning, financial controls, honesty, ethics, and “doing the right thing.”
Use only as directed.
Users of Option Sanity may experience sudden increases in team cohesion and worker satisfaction. In cases where team productivity, retention and company success is greater than typical, expect media interest and invitations as keynote speaker.

Flickr image credit: HikingArtist

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A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here

Over the past few days we’ve been discussing the importance of disconnecting, the destructive force of 24/7 work and what drives people to do it.

People who found companies do so because they have a vision; they recognize a need as well as a way to fill it.

The real work comes between recognition and fulfillment—sharing and evangelizing the vision, building a framework within which the vision can become reality and then sharing the reality with the world at large.

The middle step, the framework, is what differentiates short-term success from long-term.

The middle step requires a cultural vision that also needs to be shared and evangelized.

There is much truth in the analogy that startups are like children and, like parents, founders need to decide ahead of time the value system they want their child to absorb.

“People feel this constant need to be connected. There’s no priority structure. Everything is urgent. Everything is red flagged.” Nancy Rothbard, a Wharton management professor

As founder you have a far-reaching choice to make; far-reaching because it will affect your company for years to come and determine if your child is

1. respectful and values the people in and around it; or
2. a spoiled brat that sees the world only in terms of mememememememe.

Option Sanity™ is values-based.

Come visit Option Sanity for an easy-to-understand, simple-to-implement stock process; so easy a CEO can do it.

Warning.
Do not attempt to use Option Sanity™ without a strong commitment to business planning, financial controls, honesty, ethics, and “doing the right thing.”
Use only as directed.
Users of Option Sanity may experience sudden increases in team cohesion and worker satisfaction. In cases where team productivity, retention and company success is greater than typical, expect media interest and invitations as keynote speaker.

Flickr image credit: HikingArtist

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A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here

I rarely get comments, but I do receive emails; usually with questions that are too sensitive to ask publicly.

Very occasionally over the years they are commentary on what I wrote; I guess the writers assume the language used would relegate them to spam, so they email me directly.

I don’t mind, because it’s kind of cool to know my ideas can generate such explosive reactions, although sometimes I wonder why the person even reads MAPping Company Success.

I received such a response to yesterday’s post.

“James” made no bones that he doesn’t think much of my MAP concept, but his main disagreement was with the final sentence, which he said was garbage, especially in a startup.

Because just as their suggestions won’t directly change your MAP, your suggestions won’t directly change theirs [customers, employees and vendors].

James told me that

• his people followed his lead and his vision;
• running a startup was already an 80 hour-a-week job without spending additional time coddling misfits;
• he paid his vendors on time and if they didn’t cooperate he would find new ones; and
• customers wanted a quality product that did what they needed done at a price they were willing to pay and anything else was marketing hype.

I wrote back saying that everybody was entitled to their own opinion and I appreciated his taking time to share his with me.

So tell me, do you agree with James? With me? Or are you somewhere in-between?

Option Sanity™ acts as a screening tool.

Come visit Option Sanity for an easy-to-understand, simple-to-implement stock allocation process.  So easy a CEO can do it.

Warning.

Do not attempt to use Option Sanity™ without a strong commitment to business planning, financial controls, honesty, ethics, and “doing the right thing.” Use only as directed.
Users of Option Sanity may experience sudden increases in team cohesion and worker satisfaction. In cases where team productivity, retention and company success is greater than typical, expect media interest and invitations as keynote speaker.

Flickr image credit: HikingArtist

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A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here

Most people consider it wrong to take something, whether tangible or intangible, from someone’s home without asking—it’s called stealing.

Most people will be highly offended, if not downright pissed off, if someone goes through their cell phone, contacts their friends or reads their texts and emails.

Companies, on the other hand, see nothing wrong with it—unless they are caught.

I’m not referring to sleazy porn sites, but to the biggest names in mobile and social, the ones that are role models; names like Google Android, Twitter, Foursquare, Apple i-Whatever (Apple claims they prohibit it, but Yelp, Gowalla, Hipster and Foodspotting all do it) and a host of startups and app makers.

The address book in smartphones — where some of the user’s most personal data is carried — is free for app developers to take at will, often without the phone owner’s knowledge.

Heck, appropriating data was actually industry standard, until they were caught, that is.

Now they all claim to be changing their practice and giving users notice when they take personal data.

Does that give you a warm feeling or do you still feel violated the way you would if your home was broken into? (Most people spend more time with their phone than their home.)

Do you trust them to be upfront/authentic/transparent/honest in the future?

Or do you wonder what else they are doing that they haven’t mentioned and probably won’t unless/until they are caught.

Trust is fragile and difficult to fix once it’s broken.

Even oblivious Americans are starting to notice.

Option Sanity™  is trustworthy.

Come visit Option Sanity for an easy-to-understand, simple-to-implement stock allocation process; so easy a CEO can do it.

Warning.

Do not attempt to use Option Sanity™ without a strong commitment to business planning, financial controls, honesty, ethics, and “doing the right thing.”
Use only as directed.
Users of Option Sanity may experience sudden increases in team cohesion and worker satisfaction. In cases where team productivity, retention and company success is greater than typical, expect media interest and invitations as keynote speaker.

Flickr image credit: HikingArtist

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A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here

Bosses hiring for startups (or existing companies) wax lyrical on the benefits of hiring “stars” and are willing to jump through almost any hoop to get one.

Those of you who crave stars would do well to read the story of Jeremy Lin, who plays for the NY Knicks in the NBA.

Nobody considered Lin a star or even a potential star.

He was cut in December by the Golden State Warriors, his hometown team, after one season in which he rarely left the bench. The Warriors were intrigued enough to sign him but not enough to keep him. The Houston Rockets gave Lin a quick look and cut him.

Of course, his coaches didn’t play him, so they never learned what he could do.

The Knicks almost made the same mistake.

Lin started with two strikes against him; he is Chinese-American and graduated from Harvard—he doesn’t fit “the profile.”

In spite of superb high school playing he received no scholarship offers.

Similar scenarios play out every day in hiring decisions across industries and around the country.

In doing so managers walk by some of the best talent available.

How many Jeremy Lins have you missed?

How many of them now work for your competition?

Option Sanity™ recognizes stars-to-be

Come visit Option Sanity for an easy-to-understand, simple-to-implement stock allocation process.  So easy a CEO can do it.

Warning.

Do not attempt to use Option Sanity™ without a strong commitment to business planning, financial controls, honesty, ethics, and “doing the right thing.”
Use only as directed.
Users of Option Sanity may experience sudden increases in team cohesion and worker satisfaction. In cases where team productivity, retention and company success is greater than typical, expect media interest and invitations as keynote speaker.

Flickr image credit: HikingArtist

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As an article on in Forbes points out, your culture is the only part of a company that can’t be duplicated and is, therefore, your biggest and most sustainable asset—if you take the time and invest the energy to make it more than great-sounding words.

While the article doesn’t break new ground it did offer up a great image bite that may resonate with you.

All music is made from the same 12 notes. All culture is made from the same five components: behaviors, relationships, attitudes, values and environment. It’s the way those notes or components are put together that makes things sing.

It points out that the reason that culture can’t be duplicated is context, meaning that two people arranging the same components will have a different result.

That’s because context = MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™) and there is not such thing as two people with the same MAP.

Even identical twins won’t have identical MAP because MAP is the result of perception, not just experience.

The problem is building a culture that sings, whether concerto, R&B, pop or rap, takes effort, entrepreneurs are always in a time crunch and culture gets pushed to the back burner.

When that happens just remember that when reality requires you to pivot, when success requires you to staff up quickly, when the bugs surface or your competition is killing you the strength to overcome will be found in your culture—or not.

Flickr image credit: The-Lane-Team

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A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here

Last year I wrote about Tony Hsieh’s approach to employee empowerment, featuring some great quotes from him.

As I said then, the thing that sets Hsieh apart is security.

Hsieh is comfortable in his own skin; secure in his own competency and limitations, so he doesn’t need to be the font from which all else flows.

Entrepreneurs can learn from this.

Startup hiring usually comes in waves as the company progresses.

While most founders will listen to their initial team and first few hires, those hired later often find it difficult to get their ideas heard.

Unfortunately, this behavior often sets a pattern, with the ideas and comments of each successive wave becoming fainter and fainter and those employees less and less engaged—and that translates to them caring less and less about your company’s success—call it wave deafness.

Wave deafness is costly.

Costly in productivity and passion, but even more costly in lost opportunities.

As Hsieh points out, there is no way he can think of as many good ideas as are produced if each employee has just one good idea in a year.

And not just from certain positions. I never heard of a manager, let alone a founder, admit to hiring dummies for any position, no matter the level.

So if you hire smart people and don’t listen to them, who is the dummy?

Option Sanity™ rewards creativity.

Come visit Option Sanity for an easy-to-understand, simple-to-implement stock process.  It’s so easy a CEO can do it.

Warning.

Do not attempt to use Option Sanity™ without a strong commitment to business planning, financial controls, honesty, ethics, and “doing the right thing.”
Use only as directed.
Users of Option Sanity may experience sudden increases in team cohesion and worker satisfaction. In cases where team productivity, retention and company success is greater than typical, expect media interest and invitations as keynote speaker.

Flickr image credit: HikingArtist

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A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here

Last summer I wrote about the damage done by misrepresenting the real facts of your company culture.

Today I want you to think about the damage that can be done by misrepresenting your past—as was done by Yale football coach Tom Williams.

Williams said he had chosen to pursue a career in professional football at the expense of a possible Rhodes scholarship — and never regretted the decision. Witt leaned on his coach for advice, and eventually decided to play in the game. Yale was crushed, 45-7.

But Williams’s story was a lie.

Bottom line, Yale lost the game, Witt lost the scholarship, and Williams lost his job.

It doesn’t matter if the lie is large, like Williams’ was, or a minor tweaking of the facts; these are personal lies and they go beyond damaging cultural touchstones, they damage lives.

Too many entrepreneurs believe there is wiggle room as long as the words or actions further company goals or land rare and needed talent.

These entrepreneurs are willing to sacrifice not only everything, but everybody, to their vision.

Are you one of them?

Option Sanity™ isn’t for liars

Come visit Option Sanity for an easy-to-understand, simple-to-implement stock process.  So easy a CEO can do it.

Warning.

Do not attempt to use Option Sanity™ without a strong commitment to business planning, financial controls, honesty, ethics, and “doing the right thing.”
Option Sanity™ is not recommended for micromanagers, manipulators, or politicos. Founders and CEOs with large egos, or a sense of entitlement, should avoid prolonged exposure to Option Sanity™.
Use only as directed.
Excitement and a strong feeling of virtue are expected; contact your Option Sanity™ rep at the first sign of smugness or if you experience any difficulty explaining Option Sanity™ to others.
Users of Option Sanity may experience sudden increases in team cohesion and worker satisfaction. In cases where team productivity, retention and company success is greater than typical, expect media interest and invitations as keynote speaker.

Flickr image credit: HikingArtist

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A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here

Hmm, does the following look like a list of characteristics often attributed to founders?

1. See themselves and their companies as dominating their environment
2. Identify so completely with the company that there is no clear boundary between their personal interests and their corporation’s interests
3. Think they have all the answers
4. Ruthlessly eliminate anyone who isn’t completely behind them
5. Consummate spokespersons, obsessed with the company image
6. Underestimate obstacles
7. Stubbornly rely on what worked for them in the past

Do you preen a bit when they are applied to you, albeit using less harsh language?

Do you see them, with the exception or modification of number seven, as the traits that will help drive your company to success?

Would it surprise you to know that the list is from The Seven Habits of Spectacularly Unsuccessful Executives in Forbes?

Do you agree with the many comments saying that the same traits are found in highly successful CEOs, with Steve Jobs as most frequent example? In other words, it’s not the traits, but the actions they drive that matter most.

Do you embody these traits?

What actions do they drive in you?

Option Sanity™ drives transparency

Visit Option Sanity for an easy-to-understand, simple-to-implement stock process.  So easy even a CEO can do it.

Warning.

Do not attempt to use Option Sanity™ without a strong commitment to business planning, financial controls, honesty, ethics, and “doing the right thing.” Use only as directed.

Option Sanity™ is not recommended for micromanagers, manipulators, or politicos. Founders and CEOs with large egos, or a sense of entitlement, should avoid prolonged exposure to Option Sanity™.

Users of Option Sanity may experience sudden increases in team cohesion and worker satisfaction. In cases where team productivity, retention and company success is greater than typical, expect media interest and invitations as keynote speaker.

Use only as directed. Excitement and a strong feeling of virtue are expected; contact your Option Sanity™ rep at the first sign of smugness or if you experience difficulty explaining Option Sanity™ to others.

Flickr image credit: HikingArtist

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