Seeking Growth

Book Review: “Wired for War,” by P.W. Singer

Book Review: “Wired for War,” by P.W. Singer

There have been a number of interesting articles spotlighting two growing/related trends that I have been following: robotics and drones.

Most recent was Paul Rand’s filibuster calling attention to the risk of US drone strikes on US soil.

As a result, I thought it would be timely to repost my book review on Wired for War, first posted on Venturebeat.

The Speed of Trust

Trust is so basic to business that it is rarely discussed in an analytical and accessible way. The book “The Speed of Trust” offers critical advice for entrepreneurs on how to actively manage trust in order to accelerate growth and reduce costs, while avoiding missteps. The more trust within a company, the faster it can move with lower costs. Think of the adverse impact 9/11 had on the time and cost of air travel — longer lines and more security — because of the damage it did to trust.

The speed at which you can assess and extend trust determines how fast your business can grow because it affects every relationship. That is, relationships with employees, new hires, business partners, investors, and customers. I expect discussion of trust – it’s meaning, development and measurement – will rise as social networking begins to dictate who consumers are influenced by. For instance, Ebay was built entirely on community trust through its rating systems. As Seth Godin notes, today Yelp is drives companies to make better products based on customer reviews.

Moneyball by Michael Lewis

I submitted the following story on Moneyball to Venturebeat back in June - it is quite relevant given the recent release of the movie.

Moneyball is hardly a new book. Written in 2003, it’s back in the spotlight these days as anticipation builds for the Brad Pitt-starring movie adaptation in September. But while sports and Hollywood might be the big focus these days, there are several lessons startup owners can take away from the story.

Author Michael Lewis explains how a baseball team applied analytics to compete with wealthier competitors and, in the process, changed baseball. It’s a rare case study for entrepreneurs showing how analytics can enable them to identify and execute a disruptive strategy in virtually any market.

The Breakthrough Company

Author: Keith R. McFarland

Who should read it: Entrepreneurs, Managers

“The Breakthrough Company” helps entrepreneurs navigate the hyper-growth that companies pass through on the way to becoming market leaders.

In the spirit of Jim Collins’ Good to Great, author Keith R. McFarland undertook an extensive study of small growth companies that grew from $5 million to $250 million in revenue, comparing them with peer companies that didn’t fare as well. In this study, he covers several themes relating to growth: shifting goals from the founder’s success to that of the company; investing in new markets and approaches (including how and when to do that); and making the transition from being nimble to competing with scalable advantages.

Switch

Authors: Chip and Dan Heath

Who should read it: Entrepreneurs, Marketers, Managers, Educators, Parents

The following review also appeared on Venturebeat's Entrepreneur Corner. 

One of the biggest challenges entrepreneurs have is managing change – for prospects, customers and employees.    Using research studies and integrating ideas from top authors with related insights, the Heath  brothers, authors of the best-selling “Made to Stick,” have woven a concise, actionable formula for managing change and illustrated it with real life stories to drive the message home. It’s simple and powerful.

“Switch” addresses two parts of the decision-making process: analytical and emotional (the Rider and the Elephant).  It’s a good way to understand why people behave as they do, address both parts of the process and achieve change

Made to Stick : Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

Authors: Chip and Dan Heath

Who should read it: Entrepreneurs, Marketers, Managers, Educators, Parents

Note: An abridged version of this review originally appeared on Venturebeat's Entrepreneur Corner.

One of the most important roles we can play as entrepreneurs is to inspire and motivate, evangelizing our ideas to recruit partners, employees, customers and capital.  It’s a 24/7 job and mastering the skill is vital.  Yet I, like most entrepreneurs, have a healthy skepticism for much that passes as lessons in marketing communications or ‘Marcom’.  Advice is often based on 'spin management' and lacks concrete, actionable recommendations.  This is why this book is so wonderful: it provides a concrete formula for making your messages stick and spread.  There is a formula for being a master at evangelizing great ideas and the Heath brothers have captured it.   If you remember nothing else remember this – the reason you are not doing as well as you could in your communication is that you know too much.  Amazing but true - read on. 

The authors have developed a formula to rate any message or presentation on exactly how memorable and effective you are likely to be in your call to action. Even better, the formula can be tested and also shows you how to improve.  The model was developed based on analysis of a broad range of proven and effective messages ranging from famous speeches like Aesop’s fables, to sports quotes, successful lesson plans and advertising messages. It also combines a splash of neuroscience to support why the brain needs these elements to hold on to an idea.  The resulting formula can be used to significantly improve your ability to define the core message. Use it to get people's attention, get them to believe you, get them to care and then finally – get them to take action.  And the best part is that the Heath brothers practice what they preach so there are lots of interesting stories with surprising turns, that demonstrate the power of their advice.

Delivering Happiness, A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose

Author: Tony Hsieh

Who should read it: Founders, Entrepreneurs, Managers, Coaches, Teachers

This review was first posted at VentureBeat's Entrepreneur Corner

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Entrepreneurs are always trying to break new ground, so it is inspiring to look at how others have succeeded.   Tony tells the story here of how he started his two very successful companies, the lessons he learned along the way and a model he has developed for creating intensely passionate corporate cultures.  Unlike business books by researchers that observe trends, this book is about what Tony has learned personally and how he thinks other companies can benefit from his experience.  Interestingly it pulls together many themes for my last few book reviews - Switch, Drive and Made to Stick.    

 Tony also likes reading and applying the latest learning from the emerging field of positive psychology (a.k.a. how to be happy).  He is the first entrepreneur that I have seen to take many of the tenets from the positive psychology field and apply them to make his customers, partners and employees work together for a great, shared outcome: very forward-looking and clearly successful.  His insights are helpful for anyone building an organization looking to deliver amazing results.

Drive

Author: Daniel Pink

Who should read it: Entrepreneurs, Managers, Parents,

This review was first posted at VentureBeat's Entrepreneur Corner

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Successful entrepreneurs know that bringing their ideas to the most powerful reality is a function of building a team of the right caliber and with the right motivation.  

Drive proposes a new model to develop that motivation and deliver far more than you can with purely monetary rewards.   Daniel Pink argues that business is in the midst of a transformation, from a monetary-focused compensation model (Motivation 2.0) to one that relies on more intrinsic motivation (Motivation 3.0).  Success unlocks exponentially improved performance – and organizations whose leaders and employees have tremendous drive are capable of amazing results.

If you doubt that we are in a non-monetary business revolution (and you should be skeptical – it’s different from what we learned), stop and consider which of the following two business plans you would have bet on succeeding in 1995:

The Innovator’s Dilemma

Author: Clayton Christiansen

Who should read this book: Entrepreneurs, Company Owners, CEOs, Product Marketers

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An abridged version of this review first appeared on Vitesse Media's Growth Business

  This is a ground-breaking business strategy book for entrepreneurs. It provides counter-intuitive insights into how and where massive markets are created by new entrants.  First published in 1997 (republished in 2003), it’s the closest thing I have found to a “treasure map” for new business leaders.

Disruptive innovations are ideal for entrepreneurs because they are typically developed with off-the-shelf technologies by small, capital-efficient businesses and, best of all, have a lower failure rate than those that compete directly with incumbents.

Clayton Christiansen offers three key lessons on disruptive innovations:  why market leaders typically don’t/won’t pursue the disruptive innovations which create new market leaders; where to look for those opportunities; and how to pursue them effectively.  

It is an entertaining read:  told through interesting case studies that describe challenges faced by market leaders in multiple industries.  This is masterful storytelling, with example after example of bright, well intentioned CEOs losing their company’s market leadership position to entrepreneurial companies because they followed sound business practices.  That’s right – following good business practices and sound management decisions will eventually lead to your demise as a market leader when competitive and disruptive technologies emerge.  In this situation, if you listen to your customers, investors and employees you are doomed.   Now that’s counter-intuitive.  

The New Strategic Selling

Authors : Robert B. Miller and Stephen E. Heiman

Who should read it: CEOs, Company Founders, Entrepreneurs, VP Sales, Sales Execs

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The single best book on sales I have ever read, it lays out a process that for sales management is intelligent, customer solution focused, and analytical. I have employed these principals personally and have had one of my companies standardize on the methodology.  It is highly effective in developing a common language for prospects, resource allocation, marketing investments and growth expectations.

If you are sales oriented and know Miller/Heiman you may find some of my applications below of interest.  The real benefit is not sales process but sales management improvement and the ability to get to key decision makers effectively.  If you have a non-sales background, this book is critical since it will give you a punch list of questions to ask your sales managers to gauge the quality of a pipeline. It will also help you understand the resources you need to provide to help get to the economic buyers in your customer base.  Just like you innovated your product, you need to innovate how to get people to listen and provide solid feedback on their needs, be it through purchases or by vocalizing unaddressed pain points.