Discipline makes Daring possible. – Page 32 – Musings from The Disappearing Boss on People, Process and Responsible Autonomy for small-business employers.

March 22, 2023

Human capital

According to the minister at yesterday’s funeral, if you were to turn an average human body into usable products, you’d end up with goods worth about £10.

The minister’s point was that trying to put a monetary value on a human life is silly, impossible, even blasphemous.

But we do it all the time – when we set a wage or salary level, when we decide how much support to give someone in need, when we decide that non-earners are not worth saving in a pandemic.

The irony is that it’s the infinite potential of living human beings that gives money capital its value.

For tens of thousands of years, we lived perfectly well without looking at the world through dollar signs. We could again.

Discipline makes Daring possible.

March 21, 2023

In looking for an injection of money capital that would break their employee-owned business model, John Lewis Partnership is in danger of squandering a far more precious form of capital – the goodwill invested by partners and customers over decades.

Goodwill that other department stores and supermarkets just don’t have.

Goodwill that could help them out right now, if they had the courage to ask.

Once you decide to be like every other player in the market, there’s no reason to for anyone to invest in you rather than anyone else for the long term. And every incentive to join in a short-lived asset-strip.

Hold firm John Lewis and Partners.

Discipline makes Daring possible.

March 20, 2023

Thinking together

“Think for yourself, but not by yourself.”

My ear caught the phrase on Radio 4 this morning and I was intrigued. It’s from Julian Baggini’s new book “How to think like a philosopher” (on my shopping list already, of course).

I don’t know about you, but I am all too often guilty of thinking by myself. Working things through on my own, running off down blind alleys, diving into rabbit holes, only to end up at a conclusion I could have looked up.

I’d have got there much quicker if I’d talked to other people.

It’s not that other people necessarily know more than I do, it’s that they might, and even if they don’t, going through my thinking out loud, to a group of people with shared values and different perspectives is bound to clarify my workings.

Luckily, when you run your business with a team, you have that like-hearted thinking club ready-made. Encourage everyone in it to think for themselves, then do your important business thinking together. You’ll like the results.

Discipline makes Daring possible.

March 16, 2023

Republic

Nowadays we seem to use the Athenian word ‘democracy’ to describe something more like a Roman republic.

In the Roman system, a few ‘responsible’ (and very wealthy) men decided what was good for everyone.

The mass of men (plebs) were eventually represented, but they never got to vote or join in, even though they and their families did all the work. There was a view that plebs didn’t even need to know the laws by which they were governed.

As usual, women, children and slaves didn’t count at all.

Sound familiar?

You probably left one of these to create your own fair, agile and democratic utopia.

Take care you don’t unconsciously reproduce the republic as you scale.

You can avoid it.

Ask me how.

March 15, 2023

Lottery

For an Athenian man who didn’t want to be an idiot, the answer was to put yourself forward for public office. Appointment was by sortition – a lottery.

The Athenians built lottery machines like this kleroterion to ensure selection was random, because a) they believed all men were equally capable of making decisions with others, and b) they valued the diversity of perspective that diversity of occupation, status, and income would bring.

They also knew that the best way to preserve the Athenian Promise of Value, was to ensure maximum active participation in maintaining it.

Of course they left some people out – women and slaves didn’t count as citizens. But the mechanism was fair and very explicit and could easily have accommodated this kind of social change, given time.

We small businesses (and modern states) can learn from the Athenians, without making their mistakes. If everyone in our business believes in the same Promise of Value and knows how to Share it, Keep it and Improve it like a ‘Boss’, from their own and others’ perspectives, we can trust each and every one of them to do the right thing for the people we serve.

That doesn’t just lighten the load for us. It improves the experience for our clients and our teams. And most importantly of all, it keeps our businesses truly alive, thriving and able to adapt to whatever new perspectives come next.

Discipline makes Daring possible.

Ask me how.

March 14, 2023

Idiot

Idiot: ‘from the Greek noun ἰδιώτης, idiōtēs a private person, one who holds no public office.’ (Chambers 20th Century Dictionary)

In other words, someone who doesn’t need to think of anyone but himself.

Sounds remarkably like our modern ‘homo economicus’.

No wonder we’re all in such a mess.

March 13, 2023

Game theory

One of the recurring ‘complaints’ voiced by presenters of shows like The Great British Bake-off, The Great Pottery Throw-down, The Great British Sewing Bee etc., is that the contestants insist on helping each other – right down to the final.

Our natural instinct it seems, is to play an infinite game with our peers.

Of course it is, because that’s the only way to make the real gains – new skills, alternative perspectives, increased self-confidence and a bunch of lifelong friends.

We only really win if everyone wins.

March 10, 2023

Worth the effort

What makes all the effort of writing down and sharing your Customer Experience Score worth it?

Simply that you get more of what you really want:

Agency – your business has become your ‘me-shaped’ dent in the universe.
Mastery – you’ve learned and mastered the skill of designing a business to deliver a unique promise. You’ve taught others how to use it.
Autonomy – you’ve given your business the autonomy it needs to continue without you, so your dent can last much longer than you.
Purpose – you’ve designed your entire business around what you are here to do for the people you serve.
Community – you’ve created a community of ‘people like us’ – your team, your clients and everyone involved with your business – bonded together by shared values.
- Status – You’re no longer the only Boss, but everyone knows you are the foundation of your business.

And so does everyone around you.

Discipline makes Daring possible.

Ask me how.

March 9, 2023

Giant leap

Once your team are running the business alongside you, it’s time for them to own it alongside you too.

Discipline makes Daring and Longevity possible.

Ask me how.

March 8, 2023

Big step

Repeat your Baby Step and Next Step until your entire Customer Experience Score has been written down and can be played as well as or better than you by everyone and anyone in your team.

This will take time, but the payoff is huge.

Your team will be happier and more engaged with the business. Supported by a clear framework for the least that should happen, they can dare to delight more. It will feel more like their business.

Your clients will notice the difference.

You’ll be able to disappear when you need to and grow the business further.

Discipline makes Daring possible.

Ask me how.