Behind the Scenes at Global-Roam

Have seen this posted about before, but never taken the time to look – it was an Anthill article “The best three-minute video about leadership you will ever see” that prompted me to hit play.

A bit weird and wacky, but relevant to us – even in an industry that could be thought of as boring:

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Not sure about “the best” tagline – but this video is very instructional, and entertaining at the same time.

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(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). read more »

This post is the 2nd draft, and is still a work-in-progress.  Check back later for updates!

As part of the Autopsy 2 process, I have been working one-on-one with the firm Shirlaws.

One facet of their engagement has been to work with me on improving my leadership.

Their approach (which I accept) is that the disappointments that have come our way have been ultimately my responsibility (whether it’s been because of the “wrong people on the bus”, or the wrong culture, or insufficient direction, or whatever).

The corollary of this is that it’s also my responsibility to fix whatever’s broken.  This I am in the process of doing (following on from the Autopsy 2 process).

Part of what they are helping me to understand is that the CEO should have 3 core enduring roles, which should continue to be my focus well into the future.

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Here’s an interesting video (runs for an hour) promoting a new book “Glimmer:  How Design Can Transform Your Life, and Maybe Even the World” by Warren Berger (and Bruce Mau).

Seems like an interesting book, so have thrown it in our shopping cart, and will review it sometime in 2010.

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In 2010, as a result of our Autopsy 2 process, we have identified that we need to make two key appointments in 2010:

GM of Design, Development & Delivery.

GM of Marketing & Sales

We need to do this for a number of reasons – not least of which is to ensure that the company can become sustainable over the longer term, and to allow me to spend more time focused on other aspects of continuing to grow the business.

These appointments will be key positions for us, moving forwards. Hence this book was very timely….

1)  Binary Review

… not to mention a great read!

The Book	What we thought
“Great People Decisions” by Claudio Fernandez Araoz	Very thought-provoking

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In the book “The Myth of 9-to-5” the authors note that it is a mark of growing maturity when an individual can reconcile the truth in two apparently paradoxial points of view.

Given this is aligned with my own personal philosophy, and the fact that I’m likely to need to refer to this point again-and-again, I thought it would be easier to extract this point to a separate post (here). read more »

I know that someone recommended I read this one – I apologise for forgetting who it was!  Was it you, Justin?

I read this book as it claimed to answer some questions I had been pondering along the lines of “what’s this AGILE thing all about?” .

Shane’s review helped, but I still had loads more questions – as a result of which we loaded up our Amazon cart with quite a few books on the topic, of which this is the first I have reviewed.

1)  Binary Review

This book is written as a fictional tale of two separate software development projects within the same large company – one using “Lean and Agile” Software Development, and one using a more traditional (e.g. waterfall) approach.

The Book	What we thought
“A Tale of Two Systems”by Michael K Levine	. Useful (and very timely for us)!

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As a novel, this book certainly does NOT qualify as “Un-Put-Down-Able”.

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Following Stephen’s review of the presentation made by Phillip Di Bella, I was pleasantly surprised to see that he had also bought us a copy of Phil’s new book “Roasted Passion”.

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Binary Review

The book was a quick read (over and done with in 4 hours flying time to and from Melbourne this week).

The Book	What we thought
“Roasted Passion” by Robert Norton	. . Not a classic, but gets a gong as it has a few good points, and is a quick read

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Cheating a bit with the post date on this article, as I read this book quite a while ago now, so want to put it in context. Actually, the book’s very good, so there are a couple of us who have had a look.

Binary Review

Only time for the binary review at this stage:

The Book	What we thought
“Ready Fire Aim” by Michael Masterton	Read it quick!

This is an excellent book, in how it summarises the challenges that most business owners face (at least in the author’s personal experience) at various stages in their journey.  A core part of the value is that it points out where the entrepreneurial owner should be focusing their attention, each step of the way.

Certainly aligned with our experience (though the numbers are a little different).

Main details

This book contains loads of great content, which has been all logically arranged around what the book calls the “4 stages of Business Development”.

I’ve listed these below, but would strongly suggest you read the whole book in order that you can understand the framework, and benefit from the detail tactics suggested for use in all 4 stages.

Stage 1 = Infancy

During this stage, you (as an owner) take your business from an idea to actively running and generating a reasonable cash flow.

Main Problem = you don’t really know what you are doing
Main Challenge = making the first profitable sale
Main Opportunity = obtaining a critical mass of customers

During this idea, the core focus of the founder must be:
1)  Getting things done (whatever it takes)
2)  Sales.

At the end of this stage, you might have saturated the market with your initial product idea.

You may (or may not) be profitable, and your revenues might be something like $1 million.

Stage 2 = Childhood

During this stage, your business should go through a rapid growth spurt, as you conceptualise and implement other product ideas, using the cash flow generated by the initial product as leverage.

Main Problem = you may be break even, or making a loss
Main Challenge = creating additional valuable products quickly, to generate profits
Main Opportunity = increasing cash flow and becoming profitable

During this idea, the core focus of the founder must be in generating (and testing) new product ideas.

At the end of this stage, your team will have grown to the stage where you have new staff working with you who are 2 steps removed from the initial ideas from which the company was founded (in other words, they have no memory of why things are done the way they are).

In the book, it is predicted your revenues will have rapidly grown to something like $10 million (and perhaps 10% profit margin).

Stage 3 = Adolescence

During this stage, you find that you (shudder as you) need to implement systems and processes in order that you can cope with the added complexities your business has presented itself with.

The book notes that this is difficult for most entrepreneurs, who probably started their own business as they were sick of “rules and regulations” in the first place.

Main Problem = your systems are strained, and customers are noticing
Main Challenge = turning the chaos into order
Main Opportunity = learning how to establish useful protocols and manage processes and procedures

During this idea, the core focus of the founder must be on getting the business to run with just 3 or 4 simple management reports.

At the end of this period, the author notes that revenues might be approaching $50 million (again, with a 10% profit margin).

Stage 4 = Maturity

During this stage, it may be that the systems that were put in place during the preceding are strangling the creativity of the business (e,g, you see an opportunity, and your Risk Manager says no)

Main Problem = sales slow down and may even stall
Main Challenge = becoming entrepreneurial again
Main Opportunity = getting the business to run itself

During this idea, the core focus of the founder must be working our where he/she fits.

More details

Might come later, when I have the time (but probably not).

You’re welcome to check back, though!