Discipline makes Daring possible.

Musings on people, process and responsible autonomy for small-business employers.

Month: October 2018

Autonomy Rules
October 31, 2018

Autonomy Rules

Take away permanent contracts, well-signposted career paths, and guaranteed salaries – what do you get?

Independence. Autonomy. Autonomy with the sole responsibility to survive, and if possible, thrive, by my measures, on my terms.

Everyone’s a freelancer now.

If you’re an organisation with opportunities to grow, you’re going to have to find new ways to recruit them to your cause.

Command and control won’t cut it any more (not even in the army)

Purpose, agency, mastery and self-fulfilment will.

This is a great opportunity to re-think the structure of your business.

The good news is you can make it better for everyone.

The Millennial Mis-match
October 30, 2018

The Millennial Mis-match

I hear a lot from fellow small business owners about millennials and their younger successors, mostly not good.

“arrogant and entitled.”

“the attention span of a goldfish”

“think they can choose when and where they work.”,

“think they should have a say in everything.”

“won’t be told.”

“can’t stick at anything.”,

“don’t distinguish between life at work and life outside work.”

“aren’t responsible.”

“always letting me down”

I think it’s unlikely that young people today are that different from me at their age.

It’s more likely that there is a simple mismatch of what ‘work’ means.

Like me, millennials crave agency, meaning, mastery and self-fulfilment. They also crave connection. They want to collaborate and co-create, not work for.

They want responsibility.

So why not call their bluff?

Give them responsibility, and the autonomy to deliver on it.

Support them, create feedback mechanisms that tell you and them how they’re doing.

Reward them for the results they deliver, not for being ‘at work’.

It worked for me, and you never know, you might just please everyone.

Traps for the unwary
October 29, 2018

Traps for the unwary

Today I had to pay £14.95 to get out of a car park (on top my parking).

Because the user interface had been (deliberately?) designed to let me forget to take my token back.

The payment console had very visibly prompted me to insert my parking token with an eye-catching animated graphic, but there was no eye-catching graphic to prompt me to take it back again. I didn’t realise my mistake until I reached the exit barrier.

Up to that point I’d had a good morning, spending my money in a local museum coffee shop, a couple of clothes stores and a bookshop.

“There is a sign on the machine.”, aaid the man on the other end of the intercom.

“But I was looking at the screen.”, I replied. “And I’ve never parked here before.”

“That’s just how it is I’m afraid. I’ll send a transaction to the machine for you to pay the fine. It will issue you with a replacement token”

Yes, it was that easy for them to let me have another token to exit the car park.

Oh well. I won’t do it again.

Because I’m never shopping in Maidstone again.

What traps are you laying for unwary customers?

Intentional or not, they’ll lose you business.

image: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons