Issue #3: Operations, Coordination and Communication
“Organizational effectiveness is more about coordination than structure”
That statement above, from McKinsey’s 7S framework, summarizes my advice to the leaders of three companies I did some consulting for in the last few weeks. Coordinating effective teams requires good communication, which in turn improves execution. In today’s highly competitive marketplace, where technology standardizes our capabilities, execution sets you apart.
“A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week” George Patton
This week, we’ll look at books to improve communication, operations as a secret weapon and cool collaboration technology.
Article: Make Operations Your Secret Weapon - Here’s How. This article, sharing how Etsy COO Linda Kozlowski combines expertise from various disciplines in her role, is from a solid series that First Round (a VC fund) shares with the startup community.
Books: Storytelling in business is known as strategic narratives. In ’Lead With A Story’, Paul Smith provides some actual strategic narratives that you can borrow to address varying communication situations. Pair this with Robert Cialdini’s ’Pre-Suasion’.
Technology: I’ve been using a combination of Evernote, Googledocs and Dropbox for collaborative creative projects and it’s not been ideal. Thankfully, I might have finally found a solution in Milanote; it allows me to take notes, link pictures, save files, share and collaborate on work in various stages of completion. Try it out.
Final note: I’ve just started a Smart Water Quality Meter project (emphasis on ‘project’) with a loose collaborative of friends. I wrote a few posts to explain the Why, the What and Who and why Venture Capital won’t work for this. Do share your thoughts and feedback.
Have a great week!