Whenever someone asks what skills I bring to the table I do not return with something that is broad and craft-based. I don't say that I have sales or marketing skeelz. Nor do I try to inflate any position held to somehow convey leadership, management or operations expertise. I think that all of that stuff is important and I harbor deep respect for the titans of these various disciplines, but I view expertise in a particular field as the product of task-dependent learning.
Colin Camerer's seminal 2005 paper on how neuroscience can inform economics included an A/B comparison of brain activity images taken when a subject was playing tetris (Gameboy, natch). In the paper, one image shows a large portion of the brain lit up when first playing the game while the other image shows little activity after weeks of playing the game. The (admittedly) simplistic heuristic here is that when you spend enough time in a space that you start understanding and mastering all the nuances and not-so-obvious *why* behind many of the quirky behaviors. It's the 30,000 ft perspective of what we know about how humans learn and it drives a lot of what we do - whether we do it consciously, subconsciously or unconsciously.
While I don't make any claims towards field-specific expertise (marketing, sales or operations), I do attempt to convey that I know something about executing. It's a *small* something, but still a something. I think that it's the fundamental difference from anything that works versus anything that doesn't work. I personally believe that precision execution is the source of any forward progress. It applies to any industry, any business discipline and at all stages of the venture, government and military process.
Truth be told, I totally lucked into this. Learning to execute with precision is a fundamental core Principle (with a capital P) taught at the Foundry and I happen to have been around when it got started. Ergo, I got imprinted (for better or for worse) with the nuances of precision execution. Nevertheless, it's power and efficacy supercedes the needs for resources, permanent space and mentors. It is the refining fire that transforms cookie-dough diaper babies (like me) into capable and effective individuals who know something about the difference between motion and progress.
We don't need software, fancy flowcharts, books or consulting services to help augment the Precision Execution Principle - it's so hardwired into the architectural and cultural design of the program that the participants hardly notice it... except for the discomfort you feel when you subtly (or not) realize that you aren't as good of a manager as you thought. I personally remember what it felt like to realize that I wasn't as disciplined as I pretended to be. Getting present to the reality that I had much difficulty accomplishing a meaningful chunk of the things I committed to doing sucks and it's not fun. But focusing on just completing the things that I said I would do turned out to be the very thing that started churning out businesses or helping me realize (quickly) when to kill one.
Just the other day, I reviewed one of the early documents that Dr. Robert Wuebker wrote in the early days of the Foundry. The document (coupled with the Foundry experience) will likely serve as the most influential touch points in my professional career. Here's an excerpt:
Foundry management practices teach you precision execution—the capability (forged through practice and reflection) of individuals, teams and companies to predictably achieve the outcomes they want. Curiously, if your company can begin to deliver predictably, we have found that this capability also happens to enable breakthrough outcomes for teams. Thus discipline, incremental learning, and breakthrough innovation are a part of one continuous “management strategy” that full participation at the Foundry teaches you.
So if I believe that much in the power of the Foundry process and its core principles then why do we have nearly 50% wash out in the first six weeks? I'm not sure but I have a few conjectures:
- It's not fun giving up the perspective of being "right", "having it all figured out" and being an "expert."
- People choose to engage with the Foundry like do with most of their life: at half speed.
- They simply do not understand that becoming resourceful is more powerful than having resources handed to them.
- It's really REALLY uncomfortable to thrash about in front of your peers.
- Fill in the ________________.
I personally struggled (and still struggle, if I'm not cognizant) with all of the above bullet points. Every participant faces it. Some push through to the other side. Some don't. But the irrefutable observable that Foundry demonstrates is that anyone starting any business, regardless of socioeconomic status, background or expertise who participates fully and musters the necessary discipline to do what they say they will do (even if they have no idea where to start) WILL discover a durable business hardwired with operational rigor and integrity OR they will quickly kill one that will not work. It's irrefutable because we've been measuring outcomes since day one.
For the 30%-50% who stick around I am lucky to be considered part of the small (and slowly growing) community of individuals who are imprinted with the natural inclination to contribute to others and the capability to coalesce the disparate and ambiguous into increasingly predictable (and scalable) results. It's a growing crew of quiet professionals... and I'll take them over anyone else any day of the week.
If any of this sounds interesting to you or you are an entrepreneur that has no idea where to begin and are looking for a community to help see you through. Drop me a line and we'll talk about how to get you plugged in.
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