John Spence, author of Awesomely Simple

Earlier this year, I discovered the book Awesomely Simple and wrote a book review on it for this blog. I admired the book’s down-to-earth approach and wanted to learn more, so I reached out to its author, John Spence. John agreed to sit down with me last month for an interview.

Jennifer: Thank you so much for your time, John.  Let’s start from the broad perspective. What’s has the reaction Awesomely Simple been?

John:

As I talk with people about the book, here’s what I’m finding: business owners are hungry for any idea that will help them improve their business. They are running so fast and lean that they don’t have a lot of time to work ON their business. They are able to get solid ideas [from the book] that they can implement immediately. I tried to write the book in as simple a manner as possible to help them out.

Jennifer: That leads to my next question. You say that the premise of your book is complexity versus simplicity and running an effective business is simple, but not easy. Why do you think sometimes the business books make it so complex?

John: Many business books today are written by academicians or people who are big serious thinkers and are seriously into research. These people get paid for being brilliant and making things complex so you have to hire them to explain it.  That is part of their job. I just wanted my book to be simple and clear to understand. Here is the important part:  if it is easy to understand, then it is easier to apply.  

During my presentations to leaders, I often ask: “How many have read “Good to Great?” Just recently, during a lecture I gave at Wharton, many raised hands. Then I asked, “How many used it?” Not so many hands raised.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Jim Collins.  I always think this is an interesting dichotomy; there is a big difference between reading a book, understanding a book and then applying the ideas in the book. To me a book is useless if you can’t get to the third stage of applying the ideas. I wanted [people to take] ideas to action in my book.

Jennifer: Is it that the ideas in some books are too esoteric?

John: It might be that they are a little too challenging to grasp. Too esoteric.  It’s that old “Knowing/Doing Gap;” a lot of people know what they have to do but making that gap as narrow as possible is extremely difficult to do.

Jennifer: So we are talking about how your book is different. It swings the pendulum in a completely different direction—back to simplicity. The book outlines six principles of business success. Have any of the six been resonating more strongly than others when you talk with folks?

John: “Best People” has definitely resonated. I am starting to hear something that businesses are concerned that when the economy turns around their employees will bail as they have been worked so hard, maybe with less pay.  This is a bad thing to hear a business owner say especially if they know they have some great quality personnel.

Another one that has resonated with many people is “Disciplined Execution”. Leaders are saying “I know these things, but I’m not doing them consistently. It’s isn’t about learning a whole new model, it’s being more consistent about doing the basics. I can’t believe we don’t nail the fundamentals.”

Here is a classic example. Everyone knows how difficult it is to lose weight and what has to be done: reduce your calories and increase your exercise. So simple, yet not many of us do it really well. You need courage, discipline and determination to do these things really well. In my book there are just six thing to focus on. Just do the fundamentals really really well and you’ll devastate the marketplace.

Jennifer: So what is getting in the way?

John: Tolerating mediocrity, being so busy trying to put out fires that they don’t take time to build a fire station, getting caught in the daily busy-ness.  People are so busy working in their business that they don’t have time to work on their business. They are always hoping for a magic bullet. The six [principles] I have listed are the most critical.

Jennifer: You mentioned tolerating mediocrity. I noticed this is a strong theme throughout your book. In your experience of working with a broad section of leadership, why is this going on?

John: There are a several sides to this issue. First of all it is impossible to create a culture of excellence unless there are clear standards of excellence. I think companies may tolerate mediocrity because they have not defined what superior performance looks like clearly enough.  You can’t hold someone accountable to a standard that is ambiguous. No one ever told them [employees] what good performance is and how it will be measured. You have to clearly outline the standard.

In my book I discuss:  Train/Transfer/Terminate.  I love the Jack Welsh quote: “I never fired anybody that was surprised.”  You need to tell the employee you have set clear standards. Leaders need to say “we know you are not meeting them, what can I do to help you?”

Tolerating mediocrity falls back on the leader to set standards, discussing those standards, holding people accountable for those standards, being honest, and having courageous communication around those standards and letting people know when their performance is subpar. 

Here’s another factor: consider the middle or senior manager who may not be performing that well either. They don’t want to shine a light of accountability on someone else because they know that light will be reflected back on them.

In “Five Dysfunctions of a Team” by Patrick Lencioni talks about this really well when he talks about vulnerability.  It is about people thinking: I am afraid to say “I don’t know” or to say “I made a mistake”. Then the thinking evolves to “I don’t want to hold anyone else accountable because I don’t want anyone to hold me accountable”. I think a lot of times a mediocre leader lets mediocrity go because they don’t want to be held to a higher standard either.

Lastly, I think it is very challenging for people to have the conversation around “your performance is not to standard.” Many leaders are reluctant to have this conversation because they are just afraid to confront it. They just hope the situation fixes itself. One of my favorite phrases is: hope is not a strategy.  Leaders need to get better at those courageous conversations. Allowing someone to perform poorly when it eventually puts their job in jeopardy without talking to them is really mean. It’s not fair to the person, or the company. So, the earlier you have those conversations, the better because there’s still a chance you as a leader can fix it. But leaders need to have those courageous communications so that they aren’t tolerating mediocrity.

Jennifer: Speaking of conversations, I think your book really outlined some helpful specific dialog and practical tools to use.

John: Yes, there are several tools I have put in the book to help leaders. They’re sort of common sense and yet have been huge hits. For example, there is the “four pieces of paper” to help with managerial the four levels of decision-making.  I just met with a board of director and taught him the four level decision-making process. He thought it was so fantastic and would be able to apply it immediately.

Jennifer: In the chapter outlining the “Best People” principle, you tell a story from your personal consulting experience in which you stood in front of a client’s entire workforce and told the truth, which in turn got you fired from the project by the company’s leadership. It was a great example of “telling the truth to power”.  Readers from my blog are external leadership consultants and internal leaders.  Please give them some advice on how to speak “truth to power.”

John:  First of all, if you are a consultant: As a trusted advisor, you have an absolute responsibility to tell the truth all of the time— as you see it. Even if that costs you your job.  [As a consultant] I have been terminated for saying things that were uncomfortable or saying things that no one else would say.

The things I share [with clients] are not based upon my opinion or my thoughts and feelings. I collect information from hundreds or thousands of employees. I deliver the message from the employees. Most of my stuff is based on interviews, confidential surveys, and gathering data, with just a little bit of my opinion added in.

Now, if you’re a leader receiving unflattering information: I believe that when someone delivers that kind of information to you [as the leader] that the good lead r (metaphorically speaking) hugs that messenger. The leader’s message should be, “I hate to hear that, I love that you told me.” It may be painful to hear but it is important to listen and be thankful.

Jennifer: John, this has been an extremely interesting conversation. Readers of The People Equation will benefit tremendously. Thank you so much for your time.

John: My pleasure.

NOTE FROM JENNIFER:

John has generously offered to give me three signed copies of his book Awesomely Simple to share with my readers.  Want a copy?  Write a comment here or at the SkillSource Facebook fan page to the following question:

“What’s the most simple, yet awesome advice you ever received from a leader?” 

I will take all comments, put them in a hat and draw out three winners.  Enter your comment by 5:00 PM (EDT) Friday April 23, 2010. I’ll contact you via email if your name is drawn.

Awesomely Simple by John Spence

Book Review:
Awesomely Simple: Essential Business Strategies for Turning Ideas into Action

By John Spence

In the introduction to his book Awesomely Simple, author John Spence declares: “everything in this book is from real life: you’ll find no fluff, no grand theories, no intellectual back-flips.” Readers who want complex organizational theories or a rigorously annotated bibliography will have to look elsewhere.  Spence promises a comprehensive roadmap for ensuring organizational success and he delivers.  To get the most out of this book, you’ll just have to trust that Spence knows what he’s talking about, based on his track record as a successful business owner, strategic consultant and guest lecturer at many prestigious universities.

Spence’s premise is that organizational effectiveness is simple, but not necessarily easy to implement.  He offers up his Six Principles of Business Success:

• Vivid vision
• Best people
• Robust communication
• Sense of urgency
• Disciplined execution
• Extreme customer focus

The above list isn’t ground-breaking. It’s common sense, which Spence acknowledges readily.   In fact, he says that the ideas set forth in his book are “largely common sense, but not common practice.”  Spence asserts that if companies consistently practice all six business principles, they will be far ahead of their competition because most only can manage to be good at just one or two principles.

This book has real “meat” to it.  Spence has a way of presenting the information very clearly, with just enough detail that the reader can envision doing what he suggests, rather than feeling overwhelmed.  That’s quite a feat considering the book tackles very broad subject matter.

I would highly recommend this book to:

• C-level players of small to mid-sized companies
• Leaders in Strategic Business Units of large companies who have the authority to affect organizational change
• Leaders in any organization who want to improve their leadership effectiveness, even if they don’t have ability to implement all of Spence’s ideas

Awesomely Simple is ambitious in its scope, yet pragmatic in its recommendations.  Read it and let me know what you think—which of these Six Principles can you implement in your organization?

[Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book as part of the review process.]

Whenever I attend a business networking event and mention Twitter, I invariably get a group of people flocking to me wanting to know more about the social media micro-blogging site. They want to know “How do I get started?” “Is it really a viable business marketing tool?” and “Twitter seems so frivolous—does anybody really care about what I had for breakfast?”

Happily, I now have a useful book to recommend: Tweet This! by Jessica Miller-Merrell. (No relation to me). The answers to these questions and many more are in this handy, easy-to-read Twitter reference manual. In about 90 minutes, you can have a clear map for how to get started with Twitter, suggestions for additional tools to increase Twitter’s functionality (called third-party applications) and even an excellent list of Twitter users (called Tweeps) for you to follow.

What’s unique about this book is that it’s targeted specifically for small business owners, entrepreneurs and consultants. All of Ms. Miller-Merrell’s suggestions are framed in that context, including some great worksheets to help business owners construct a Twitter account that pays attention to their company’s marketing plan and branding strategy. She also includes a few stories and case studies that vividly portray the do’s and dont’s of using Twitter effectively.

Brand new to Twitter? Consider this book as your starting point before you even set up an account.  It provides a great roadmap for business people to consider prior to “jumping in” to Twitter. Worth noting: the one thing this book doesn’t do is explain all the mechanics for how to navigate Twitter or the third-party applications. That’s not the book’s intent. You’ll still need to check various social media blog sites and the Twitter help section to learn the nitty gritty.  However, Miller-Merrell has you covered on that as well—her book points out several well-respected social media sites you can peruse to get up-to-the-minute technical information.

My recommendation: Read Tweet This! if you are a small business owner who’s brand new to Twitter, or if you have a Twitter account that’s been laying dormant because you have no idea how to use it for business purposes.

You can purchase the book at  Jessica Miller-Merrell’s website or on Amazon.com.

[Disclosure: I received a free e-book copy of Tweet This! in order to review this book.]

“If respect is the grease that helps society move smoothly, relationships are the glue that holds it together.” – Deborah Norville

This book is about respect as both a verb and a noun.  Deborah Norville explores both the how-to’s of demonstrating respect, and the notion of self-respect in our family lives, schools and workplaces. She draws the conclusion that self-respect and dignity are the foundation of being able to show respect to others.

Using her journalistic research skills, Norville cites various studies and interviews with people, both famous and unknown to help support her point of view.  Many of the anecdotes are heartbreaking—a bullied 13 year old commits suicide, a soldier in Iraq is burned nearly beyond recognition. Many others are uplifting and inspirational.  But none cross into sentimentality.  Norville has a point to make and it’s this: old-fashioned as the notion of “respect” may seem in this day, it’s a key ingredient to building and maintaining solid relationships.  It’s a shame we need a book to remind us, but I’m glad Ms. Norville has done so.

(Disclosure: As part of the Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers program, I received a free copy of this book. )

Marcus Buckingham wants to teach women how to live a “strong” life.  He says a strong life is one in which you are able to discern the activities which energize you, catch those moments and cradle them so that you feel fulfilled—personally and professionally. That’s a pretty tall order, especially when coming from a man. The irony of his gender aside, Buckingham does a thorough job of exploring the topic and providing helpful suggestions.

Whereas Buckingham’s previous books have explored strengths in a business setting, this book focuses on the nine Life Roles he says women were “born to play”. Readers can log in to his website and take a nifty (free) Strong Life Test to determine their primary and secondary Life Roles.  Buckingham then uses these Life Roles as a backdrop for helping the reader determine where she finds energy, what drains her and how to align this information to create a strong life.

This book was written for women who are struggling in some way. Readers who are feeling drained by the demands of their life or simply don’t think they’re contributing in a meaningful way will enjoy the specific suggestions and framework that Buckingham provides.

I reviewed this book as a member of Thomas Nelson Publishers Book Review Blogger program. (Disclosure: I received a free book in exchange for this review.)

In preparation for reviewing the Marcus Buckingham’s soon-to-be released book Find Your Strongest Life, I decided to pull some of Buckingham’s earlier books off the shelf and give them a second look.  This review is the first of a three-part series.

Now, Discover Your Strengths

Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton

The highlights:

In the follow-up to the best-selling book First, Break All the Rules, Buckingham settled into the key theme for many of his subsequent books: how to leverage one’s strengths. The premise of this book is that most organizations have the people equation backwards: they select, train, develop and measure their employees based on pre-determined, uniform standards like competencies and performance requirements. 

Buckingham and Clifton assert that organizations need to reverse the order of this equation. Rather than form-fitting people to an existing standard they need to identify employees’ strongest threads, reinforce them with practice and learning and help them carve out a role that draws on their strengths. The authors’ research leads them to believe that organizations’ inherent focus on “fixing” weaknesses (rather than building strengths) tends to create “well-rounded” employees.  That is, they are marginally good at many things, but not excellent at any.  By contrast, “strengths-based” companies have people who are “sharp”—defined by their spikes of talent.

 The book is divided into three sections:

•  Defining “what is a strength?”—which is seen as a combination of innate talent, knowledge and skills
•  Discovering one’s greatest strengths—as measured by 34 “themes” in an online StrengthsFinder profile, which is included in the purchase of the book
•  Putting one’s strengths to work—both for the individual and for managers wanting to develop their employees’ strengths

Jen’s Take:

In theory, I agree that focusing on one’s strengths make sense.  In practice, however, most companies (especially large ones) are wired for conformity. This makes the concept of creating highly personalized development plans a challenge at best and completely impossible at worst.  Plus, I think that developing competencies can help leaders get clear about the performance they need to be rewarding in their employees.  My preference is to advocate for a “both” approach rather than either/or—work within the company’s need to have structure, yet find a way to capitalize on employees’ strengths, while minimizing their weaknesses.

Best for: managers looking to find a way to energize their employees; individual contributors who are seeking direction in what their hidden talents are

Take a pass: managers who work in highly structured organizations; the book’s recommendations may be frustrating.

In preparation for reviewing Marcus Buckingham’s soon-to-be released book Find Your Strongest Life, I decided to pull some of Buckingham’s earlier books off the shelf and give them a second look.  This review is the first of a three-part series. 

First, Break All the Rules
Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman

The Highlights
A decade ago, First, Break All the Rules put the current “strengths” movement of leadership practices on the map. Based on over 25 years of extensive research by the well-respected Gallup Organization, it represented data culled from surveys of over one million employees and 80,000 managers.  The book’s main premise is that the best front-line managers flout conventional wisdom and break several key “rules” of management, thereby creating highly performing teams that in turn produce exceptional results for their respective companies.

Buckingham and Coffman identified four areas in which the best managers break the rules of conventional wisdom. These managers:

• Select for talent, not just “skill”
• Define the right outcomes for the job, but let individuals define their own path to performance
• Focus on employees’ strengths, not fixing their weaknesses
• Find the right fit for employees (where can they best leverage their talents?)

Jen’s Take On the Book:
Even after 10 years, two take-aways from this book remain clear in my mind:

1. The research supported that people don’t “quit” their company; they “quit” their boss.  Meaning, direct supervisors have a huge impact (positive or negative) on retention.
2.  The notion that people have unique, “enduring” natural talents that basically don’t change a whole lot over the course of their life was an interesting idea. The authors assert that even copious amounts of excellent training will only provide marginal improvement if someone doesn’t have a natural talent for the skill being taught.  Sobering stuff for a training professional like me to hear.

 Best for: managers looking for a well-researched and documented case of how to capitalize on employees’ strengths.

 Take a pass: people already hip to this concept.