Illuminate - Part 2

 

Issue No. 369 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (Sept. 27, 2017) features a case study on Chick-fil-A’s venture into an innovation center—and a conversation with Jason Pearson on breaking stuff! And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies). Break Stuff and Get Messy! (Part 2 of 3) As I reported in the last issue (click here), I’ve waited all year to launch a series of reviews on one phenomenal book. Meet my new best friend, Illuminate: Ignite Change Through Speeches, Stories, Ceremonies, and Symbols. The authors say that movements follow a story structure with five actions:    • Dream (the moment of inspiration)    • Leap (the moment of decision)    • Fight (the moment of bravery)    • Climb (the moment of endurance)    • Arrive (the moment of reflection) The case studies (and mini-stories) are stunning. So I’ve asked my son, Jason, to have a conversation with me on these five transformational phases for effective movements. John: Leaders will resonate with the Chick-fil-A case study—but warning: it’s bold and messy—and stuff gets broken! Jason: But with messy, you get innovation, right? Chick-fil-A leaders had always inspired a “culture of continual improvement,” but not necessarily innovation, according to Illuminate. Imagine this: their first mall restaurant opened in 1967, but by the mid-1980s they anticipated the decline of malls—and moved out. (That was foresight, right Macy’s?) John: Right, but the company had this “don’t mess it up” culture—and risk and failure were avoided at all costs. (We know organizations like this—and it’s not pretty.) So I was impressed that in 2008, Chick-fil-A leaders traveled the country to visit leading innovation centers like Lucasfilm, Pixar, Google, Stanford d.school, and Hewlett-Packard. And you know me—any chance I get, I’ll mention another book. Pixar is mentioned in this fun, short-reading book about failing quickly: Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge From Small Discoveries, by Peter Sims.   Jason: Great book! But…back to Chick-fil-A…and as you mentioned, their travels convinced them to build a large innovation center. And get this great name—Hatch. John: I love it. Let me quote from Illuminate: “Leadership needed to convey to employees that it’s okay to try new things at Hatch. Instead of a traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony, the VP of design and construction stood on a lift fifteen feet in the air and dropped three paint-filled eggshells onto the floor. The ceremonial act was a dramatic statement that Hatch was a different work environment, where people could, and should, be breaking things, taking risks, and getting messy in the pursuit of innovation.” Jason: And it gets better—even though their corporate culture salutes suits and ties, Hatch is messy. And so after the speeches that first day, “more than 250 staff members threw paint-filled eggs onto canvases, which now hang in the reception lobby as art pieces.”  John: Brilliant—and the physical act of breaking something created a powerful moment and memory.  Jason: But you don’t need to dedicate a new building for innovation—just to get “messy,” right? John: Exactly. It’s a mindset. It’s a culture. It’s a fork-in-the-road leadership decision about the safe way—or the innovative way. But remember what Peter Drucker said: "People who don’t take risks  generally make about two big mistakes a year. People who do take risks  generally make about two big mistakes a year." Jason: Preach it! I appreciate a comment in this Illuminate case study from Steve Nedvidek, who is Hatch’s innovation specialist. He said, “The executive committee, especially Dan Cathy, had our backs. Executive commitment took the fear of failure away.” John: That’s rare. Really rare. So…how about lunch at Chick-fil-A? To order from Amazon, click on the title for Illuminate: Ignite Change Through Speeches, Stories, Ceremonies, and Symbols, by Nancy Duarte and Patti Sanchez.  Your Weekly Staff Meeting Questions: 1) The Illuminate authors note that innovation, in reality, was started with Chick-fil-A's first restaurant in 1946. “Truett [Cathy]’s innovation lab was his first restaurant.” So where is your organization’s innovation lab? 2) Where is your organization today: Dream, Leap, Fight, Climb, or Arrive? To ignite change, should you be using speeches, stories, ceremonies, or symbols? What team should read Illuminate this week? New Buckets Workbook! Insights from the new Mastering the Management Buckets Workbook (2nd Edition) Here's the latest edition of Mastering the Management Buckets Workbook: Management Tools, Templates, and Tips From John Pearson (A Pearpod Resource). Created by John Pearson, it also includes color commentary by Jason Pearson. With 232 pages, in a helpful workbook format, this resource includes worksheets for each of the 20 management buckets (core competencies), plus an appendix with more than 400 leadership and management books and resources, all categorized within the 20 buckets. It’s perfect for a team to study together, but also works for individual study. Some leaders and managers are working through the 20 buckets in 20 days, 20 weeks, 20 months, or 20 years (if you’re young enough!) To order from Amazon, click on the title for Mastering the Management Buckets Workbook: Management Tools, Templates, and Tips From John Pearson (A Pearpod Resource). The workbook includes new material, not previously offered in the two-day Management Buckets workshop. Example: read the commentary on The Results Bucket and learn why Fred Smith, Sr. quoted a friend on the difference between activity and results, who said, “Please show me the baby and don’t tell me about the labor pains.” For more resources, visit the 20 management buckets here. And if you have not read the Buckets book, click below to order from Amazon.  NOTICE! Effective Oct. 1, 2025, all 657 eNews issues, previously archived on Typepad.com are slowly (!) being moved to this blogsite MORE STUFF! • BLOG: Pails in Comparison • SUBSCRIBE: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews • JOHN'S BOOK REVIEWS: on Amazon • WEBSITE: Management Buckets • BLOG: Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations • PODCAST: John Pearson's Buckets Podcast ECFA BLOG on “Governance of Christ-centered Organizations” – Add your thoughts and comments to John Pearson’s 2017 series on Max De Pree's book, Called to Serve. Read the 28th blog, "Don't Neglect Your CEO's Growth."

Illuminate

 

Issue No. 368 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (Sept. 13, 2017) oozes over a powerful book detailing when to use speeches, stories, ceremonies, or symbols. And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies). Illuminate highlights Airbnb’s beginnings, when cofounders Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky responded to a hotel room shortage in San Francisco. Yes...an air mattress! Movements Follow a Story Structure (Part 1 of 3) I’ve waited all year to launch this fall series of reviews on one phenomenal book. Today’s the day. Meet my new best friend, Illuminate: Ignite Change Through Speeches, Stories, Ceremonies, and Symbols. Really. Start with the 10 case studies—compelling/memorable—guaranteed to keep you off your $1,000 iPhone. Next, the gorgeous fold-out book summary—bound between pages 58 and 59. And the big idea: “Movements follow a story structure.” And here’s the structure—five actions:    • Dream (the moment of inspiration)    • Leap (the moment of decision)    • Fight (the moment of bravery)    • Climb (the moment of endurance)    • Arrive (the moment of reflection) The authors, Nancy Duarte and Patti Sanchez, have shared their firm’s trade secrets and they didn’t hold back: 321 pages of inspiration, how-to, more inspiration, more how-to, and practical detail and head-nodding context—with dozens and dozens of delicious aha! moments. Here’s what struck me—immediately. My old school approach (30 years as a CEO):     • Identify a problem, crisis, or opportunity.    • Leverage my intuition and best practices portfolio.    • I like to write—so leverage my writing tools. (Others, I noticed, like to speak—so they leveraged their oratory to warn or inspire the troops.)     • Apply my preferred tools to the situation.    • Done! Guess what? It didn’t work that often. But there’s still hope for you. The book’s “Communication Toolkit” tutors leaders and managers across a fascinating array of tools and action steps. Much like Ecclesiastes 3, there is a season for everything. “There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth…” (MSG). Example: Picture a five-column grid and column headings of Dream, Leap, Fight, Climb, and Arrive. Then visualize four horizontal rows: Speeches, Stories, Ceremonies, and Symbols.  When should leaders use stories versus ceremonies? When you’re in “Fight” mode, you have two options: “Overcome the Enemy Story” or pull out your “Come From Behind Story.” But maybe…a speech would be more appropriate—like the “Underdog Speech.” Whew! It’s all here—a toolkit, the science, the nuances, and the rich non-technical content. I’ve never, ever read a book like it. You may already employ some of these methodologies, but perhaps driven more by the coolness factor rather than a 30,000-foot intentionality. The case studies (and mini-stories) are stunning. Example: Illuminate highlights Airbnb’s beginnings, when cofounders Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky responded to a hotel room shortage in San Francisco: “Brian and I both quit our jobs to become entrepreneurs…[but just then] our rent went up and suddenly we found ourselves unable to afford our apartment…. That same weekend a design conference was coming to San Francisco that was so big all the hotels had sold out in the city…. We started to think creatively: What if we were able to blow up an air mattress, put it in our living room, and rent it out to designers who need a place to stay for the conference? We could go so far as to cook them breakfast, and by the end of the night we had this concept called Airbed and Breakfast…. Within 24 hours…we had people who started writing us from all over the world who wanted to stay in our living room. We made a thousand dollars and they saved our apartment.” In the Executive Summary (available here, along with videos), the authors warn: “Change Is Critical.” They add, “Businesses can choose to embrace change or ignore it—but they cannot stop it. When a company chooses not to change, the industry simply evolves past it. To thrive, organizations must continually reinvent themselves by imagining and implementing new initiatives.” Then this: “40% of newly created companies last less than 10 years.” “50% of Fortune 500 companies will be replaced by new companies in 59 years or less.” Is your mission/movement/cause stalled, plateaued, or declining? This book will help.  Next Week (Part 2 of 3):  the first of five transformational phases for effective movements.   To order from Amazon, click on the title for Illuminate: Ignite Change Through Speeches, Stories, Ceremonies, and Symbols, by Nancy Duarte and Patti Sanchez. (And thanks to David Russell at MANAGEtoWIN for recommending this book!) Your Weekly Staff Meeting Questions: 1) Did you know that when Meg Whitman was CEO at HP, she removed the “Executives Only” entrance? Did you know that Starbucks uses lower case letters for all employee titles, including the “ceo” title? What culture missteps are obstacles to your organization’s health and growth? 2) The Illuminate authors recommend using “warning” communiques to help people get unstuck. “This is no time for spin—be honest. Fight inertia by tackling the FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) that easily saps your travelers’ courage.” How do you move team members from stuck to unstuck? Trumpet Tribal Stories Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Nonprofit The Hoopla! Bucket in Mastering the Management Buckets challenges leaders to “harness the power of hoopla! for celebration, recreation, intentional food and fellowship gatherings, and just plain fun.”  Max De Pree (1924-2017) wrote this in his business classic, Leadership Is an Art: “One of the important things leaders need to learn is to recognize the signals of impending deterioration.” He kept a list and observed that leaders, especially in large organizations, fail to see the signs of entropy, including: 1) a tendency toward superficiality; 2) no longer having time for celebration and ritual; 3) a growing feeling that rewards and goals are the same thing; 4) when people stop telling tribal stories or cannot understand them; and 5) when problem-makers outnumber problem-solvers.  His list was longer—but you get the idea. For more resources on hoopla!, including a link to Dennis Bakke's “Water Cooler Wisdom Posters,” visit the Hoopla! Bucket webpage. MORE STUFF! • BLOG: Pails in Comparison • SUBSCRIBE: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews • JOHN'S BOOK REVIEWS: on Amazon • WEBSITE: Management Buckets • BLOG: Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations • PODCAST: John Pearson's Buckets Podcast  ECFA BLOG on “Governance of Christ-centered Organizations” – Add your thoughts and comments to John Pearson’s 2017 series on Max De Pree's book, Called to Serve. Read the 26th blog,"The Error of Leadership Indifference."