Behind the Scenes at Global-Roam

(Excuse the sad pun)

This week we went out for lunch with one of the guys in the office who was celebrating his birthday.  One of the small things we do in the company to celebrate the uniqueness of every individual (that’s a tick – thanks for suggesting it those years ago, Ricky).

Anyhow, as we were waiting for our meals to arrive in the local steakhouse and conversation drifted to some of the more detailed technical nature of software development, my mind began to wander (yeah, that’s a cross) and I pulled out the latest copy of INC, which had just arrived in the mail and started to browse (yeah, another cross)!

An article in the magazine caught my attention, as it provided a few pointers about the workplace culture that we are working to cultivate internally.

Given that I have been asked a couple of times this week by candidates for our Chief Software Engineer position about our culture (how it is now, and how we want to evolve it, over time), I thought it would be useful posting this (though I know it does not absolve me of the crosses above).

With reference to culture, remember that this means, to me, “the way we do things around here”.

The Article

The article “Lessons from a Blue Collar Millionaire” is about a pizza business run in the US by a guy, Nick Sarillo.

I believe in the motto “steal ideas shamelessly” hence am happy if we can continue learning, and be continually improving, by grabbing good ideas from anyone and anywhere.

Hence it was with interest that I read the article.

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Nick’s 10 Lessons – and their relevance to us

The article list 10 lessons that Nick has gleaned from his successes, and failures, in the growth of his business.

Each of the following has some relevance to our business, so I have included some comments about their relevance to us (in blue, as is becoming habit).

1)  Feel your community’s pain, and share its joy

“Half-Price Mondays and Takeout Tuesdays are symbols of Nick’s ongoing commitment to the communities in which it operates”

This is something for us to consider, although our approach will need to be somewhat different, as we don’t serve a “local” community, but rather a specific market segment.

Already we are keen supporters of organisations such as the Energy Users Association of Australia, who (in my view) provide large energy users a necessary voice in the National Electricity Market.

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2)  Hire only A+ players

For the cynical (like me) put aside the mathematical impossibility that every single company can hire the “top 10%”.  The message is more that each company should take the time to hire people that are specifically suited to the demands of the particular company’s culture.

If time is taken for this to be so, then the employee fits, like a hand-in-glove.

“… people who work at Nick’s seem to find the culture irresistible. ‘When I come here, I really don’t feel like I’m coming to work’ says server Aubrey Judson, 25. ‘My boyfriend doesn’t understand it. I just like to be here.’ ”

This is the type of culture I would like to develop within our company.  It’s pretty good already, but I believe we should always strive to be improving.

“She works only on weekends, she adds, as she has a full-time job at an online advertising agency during the week.

Her job as a server was very likely the more difficult of the two to land”

Some of the work I have been doing as part of the autopsy 2 process has included upgrading our entire recruitment process.  Obviously this includes a more rigorous selection process (starting with the GM 3D WCW position we’re recruiting for now) but starts with initiatives such as this blog to get our message out about who we are, and where we are headed (in order that we can attract a larger pool of suitable candidates).

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3)  Learn, grow, compensate

“Getting hired at Nick’s is a ticket – not just to a job, but to the company’s training program, which is elaborate, rigorous, and ongoing”

Frequent readers of this blog will have already noted my strong belief in the value of life-long-learning (and the absolute necessity that everyone involved with the company is never “done” with learning).

We have already instituted a process (for all employees) of self-directed:
1)  Shorter-term “Learning Plans” that have a focus on delivering upgrades in knowledge and capability in a short timeframe to address immediate issues.
2)  Longer-term “Guru Plans” that are based on the 10,000 hour requirement for “dedicated practice” to ensure that we are ready, as a company, to tackle the larger issues that are coming our way (with respect to energy, software, management, etc…).  Check back in a few years to see how effective we have been with these!

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4)  Systems are for building trust

“Pretty much everything that happens in the business has been thought through, defined, and taught, right down to the best possible method for greeting a customer”

We have a long way to go in this respect.  Implementation of our Agile software development methodology (that’s specifically suited to our needs – being those of our clients) is part of this process, but there is much much more that needs to be done if we are to achieve our stated Vision.

Amongst other things, over the next couple of years we will be working to translate our current marketing and sales processes into a system that (heavily supported by a CRM++ system we need to implement) will deliver us the growth we are striving for.

“Take the process of opening and closing the kitchen.  In a typical restaurant, a supervisor is responsible for both, has a long checklist of things to be done, and tells everyone what to do.  At Nick’s, by contrast, the whole kitchen crew is responsible.”

This is aligned with my belief in the value of self-managed teams.

Where possible in our company (i.e. where employees have transitioned into the “hot” state, and have the necessary competencies) we will be adopting a similar approach.

When in this state, the responsibilities of managers will become much more of a coach (see below) and a mentor, rather than a top-down autocrat.

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5)  Coach in the moment, not after the fact

“But Sarillo doesn’t believe in performance reviews.  Rather, managers and employees are trained to coach in the moment, providing feedback immediately”

I have never been a big fan of a periodic performance review – for a number of reasons, some valid (such as the above) and some just excuses (it’s difficult, I’m too busy winning sales, etc…).

As part of the autopsy 2 process, I have become focused more on the “coaching in the moment”.  I’m better than I was (that would not be hard, to be truthful) but have a long way to go.

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6)  A consultant can be more helpful than you think

I have certainly found that the assistance of the consultants/coaches brought in as part of the autopsy 2 process has been of great value.

Obviously the plan is that we will become self-sufficient, so that (as we progressively recruit for key positions) we will reduce our need for external assistance.  However these coaches have provided a very welcome bridging facility, and are likely to be required (in some form) for some time to come.

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7)  Turn negatives into positives by making talk safe

“Sarillo uses a system called safe space, which allows employees and managers to have difficult conversations by following certain well-defined rules”

Notwithstanding that we’re a company with a high percentage of geeks (who are mostly introverts), in general terms I believe that we generally have an open environment – in which people feel secure enough to share their points of views (even if different).

However, this could always be improved, and in a number of ways – not just in the implementation of communications protocols such as that used in the pizza joint.

At our end, we have been progressively improving our communications by the completion of various personality profiles (with the main purpose of this to highlight how everyone is different) and through the active reading of several good marketing-focused books that focus on the various ways in which people communicate differently.

No, not everyone is required to sell – at the moment, that’s just me – but skills applicable in terms of speaking with, and understanding clients, is also relevant internally as well!

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8)  “Why” is more important than “what” or “how”

“Sarillo likes to say he doesn’t tell people what to do.  Instead, he prefers to explain the situation and let them choose.

Of course, giving people choice requires trusting them to do the right thing.”

I have learnt from Shirlaws that coaching is one of the top 3 enduring roles of the CEO.

In terms of coaching, I am learning to coach with emphasis on WHY, not WHAT or HOW (what Shirlaws calls “context”).  This fits with my encouragement of self-managed teams.

However, as noted in the quote above, there are two key ingredients needed in a workable coaching arrangement like this:
1)  People need to understand WHY
2)  People need to be TRUSTED (and, as a prerequisite, be TRUSTWORTHY).

As Stephen MR Covey notes, there are 4 key facets of trust – Integrity, Intent, Capability and Results.

No-one who works in our company now has questionable integrity or intent (a situation I am absolutely focused on maintaining as we grow the size of the bus).

However, it is a simple fact of life that:
1)  We (as a team, and as individuals) don’t have the capabilities needed to deliver everything needed for our Vision to be achieved.
2)  We (as a team, and as individuals) have all disappointed, at times, in terms of results.

Hence, as we continue on our journey, there will be times in which a more prescriptive approach is needed (such as when I curtailed the UPIP project) simply because Trust is not possible with respect to that particular project, at that point in time.

“I think it’s a matter of personal drive and ambition… You need the drive to ask questions and do the research”

As our team develops its drive (and competency) to do this effectively, so the envelope of trust will be expanded.

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9)  “Trust” without “track” is an invitation to trouble

“… it became a big mistake, however, because he wasn’t paying attention”

I have been guilty of this in the past.

As we progress into the future, we need to implement sufficient reporting systems such that we can all keep on top of where we are currently at with respect to key performance indicators.

As Michael Masterton reminds us in “Ready, Fire Aim” our challenge in the Adolescent stage (yes, we still straddle a few) is to identify and then focus on the 3 or 4 key, regular management reports.

For instance, just on Friday we heard from Steve Hayes of Cogent about the importance of visual tools such as a proper burn-down chart and story-boards/walls as simple tools for communicating (to everyone) the status of a project.

We had given it a go previously, but had not seen the purpose (i.e. understood the “WHY”) and so had not been earnest in the application.

As we progress into the future, we will have to find the groove that works for us and embed into our culture.  We surely better be able to do something like this, as we are a company whose business is based on making complex things understandable through simple interfaces!

“The cost-control issues were symptomatic of something deeper.  The general managers weren’t supporting the systems, and so the company’s culture was beginning to change.

And yet Sarillo had to admit that the problems were ultimately his responsibility”

As for me, I have had to accept that the failures that triggered Autopsy 1 and led into the Autopsy 2 process were ultimately because of some things I had done wrong in the past (insufficient tracking being one, along with plenty of others…).

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10)  Beware of growing before you – and the company – are ready

We have done this twice in the past:

1)  In the early days, the focus of our company was on the development and enhancement of a market forecasting software package.  It was a package that was very useful in consulting at ROAM Consulting, but so computationally intensive it was impossible to sell (which was our goal).

(a)  Hence, we tried a different tack – we scaled up the team to focus on converting the software to run as a bureau service on the promise of R&D funding from AusIndustry.

(b)  Due to an overblown budget, the government canned any future grants pending, which left us (and many others) up the creek…

(c)  Hence we exited that business and began (around 2003) to focus on what our Mission has evolved to become.

2)  More recently, we scaled up again in 2008 following a move to bigger premises to give us the capability to provide sufficient attention to our core products.  As noted above, we delivered poorly (due mainly to mismatched capability, but also a whole range of other things).

3)  It is for this reason that we are now seeking to upgrade our team first, with two key appointments, before we set off towards our Vision.

“I’ve decided there are two ways to get the right person to run one of our restaurants – One, you can get a new manager… who hasn’t already developed bad habits somewhere else.  Or, two, you can get a manager with experience in the industry who’s completely fed up with the corporate way of doing things and thinking, I need a change.”

For us, the longer term plan is to train up people internally to meet our growing needs as our company grows.

Initially, however, we need to find a GM Software and GM Marketing & Sales externally, who would satisfy the second criteria above.

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Tags: culture, growing pains, human resources, leadership, management of software company, recruitment, the way we do things

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 31st, 2010 at 12:10 am and is filed under Article Review, Management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.