Innovation Without Breaking Your Business

WEBVTT
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For the past two or three years, everyone's been talking about innovation, but really they're just talking about AI.
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So are they innovating or are the robots doing it for them?
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Correct.
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I wanted to go back to basics for this, to talk about how you can innovate your business without breaking it, because I know you've done both.
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Yeah.
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But right now I'm in a matrix moment of trying to figure out what's innovating and not.
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We're gonna figure it out.
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Stay tuned.
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She's the CEO.
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He's the marketing and operations guy.
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If it's broken, you need the business fix.
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It's more spring now.
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I feel better about it.
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There's no more snow.
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It's been.
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It's been a couple weeks, right?
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We're above freezing.
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Right, right.
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I mean, there's always those days where you're like, is it gonna frost?
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Is it not gonna frost?
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Is it gonna.
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Yeah, I don't know.
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I stopped wearing a coat in April.
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So like the first week of April, I was like, screw it.
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That was not a that was not a smart choice.
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You're just gonna you just braved, just braved through it.
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And now I feel like I mean, like Caleb, the fourteen year old was in March and I was like, that is not smart.
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Did he maintain that?
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He did.
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He did.
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Wow.
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I though, you know, when I was fourteen, I probably would have done the same thing.
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Yeah.
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Um, I mean, now he looked angry when he was leaving the house a couple times where I'm like, do you want your coat?
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No. I'm like, okay, have a good time.
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No, because when I mean, when I was his age, I mean, I, I couldn't get cold ever.
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Mhm.
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Um, yeah, I would just be warm no matter where I went.
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And I was also the metabolism, the, the growing, the, the, the body's doing changes there where you're growing both vertically and horizontally.
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Yep.
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That there's a lot of energy being burned for that.
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I would say so.
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Well, and I mean, at the same time, his dad shovels the driveway and shorts and flip flops.
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That's true.
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And a sleeveless shirt.
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I'm like, this is.
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And everyone messages me and says, he's going to have a heart attack.
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And I'm like, well, he's insured and it's his choice.
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So I don't I don't want to tell you it's, it's like you're talking to him about he's like an antique car.
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He's insured.
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We're good, we're good.
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I got the good insurance on it.
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We're fine.
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No problem.
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He does what he does.
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No problem.
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Just drive it.
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Enjoy it.
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Oh, wow.
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Um, it's interesting because everyone talks about innovation.
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Yeah.
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And in so many businesses I know you've seen it.
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I know you've done it.
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I've seen it, I've done it.
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It is it's not innovating.
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It's just changing stuff for the sake of change.
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Yeah.
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Um, the board piece that you've mentioned, um, you see in many cases what could be, what would be like, you're like, oh my gosh, in ten years.
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Um, and then I'm trying to look like it's funny in working people, working with people like you, you're like, we're going to go here in ten years.
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And then I'm like, how in the hell am I supposed to make this happen?
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I'm trying to live through ten minutes.
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Yeah.
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Correct.
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Correct.
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Um, so what we're going to talk about in a lot of this is how to move from.
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And I love, like, I love when I wrote this down.
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Random acts of innovation.
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Yeah.
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To assist and the guilt in your voice was palpable.
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I've done it.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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I've done that.
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This is not an AA meeting for innovators, but.
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Yeah.
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How do you go from random acts of innovation to an actual, a systematic approach that's going to provide.
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Imagine this a return on investment for that innovation.
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And then my big piece to that is like, how do we isolate success from market noise from those types of things?
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Uh, In the time that I've known you.
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You're always thinking of something.
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Yeah.
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It's just it's innate to you.
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It's inherent.
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Whatever I word you want to use there.
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Um, you're a natural innovator.
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There's people like me who are on the far end of that spectrum, that less visionary or possibly more grounded.
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Maybe the, the way to put it, like I firmly like bolted in concrete shoes to the ground in the day to day operations.
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So what are some practical ways to look for like opportunities that, that you feel like you can innovate without feeling like, hey, I had a dream.
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I want to do this.
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So you're not just making things up, right?
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So you're not just, I pooped an idea, okay.
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And we're gonna totally change your company because of it.
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How do you avoid that?
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Well, a couple things.
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First, I love that you're like, you're a natural innovator.
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I have never thought of myself that way, but I think I can see why you would say that.
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I think that if you're a business owner and you don't think you're good at innovation, or you don't think you have the ability to think bigger.
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First get coaching around it, because that's what I did to help me move in that way, because I lived very heavily in operations for a long time and then moved into that visionary space.
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And I've had to stretch that muscle.
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So give yourself permission and give yourself a little grace around, you know, innovation.
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I think innovation in a lot of ways, especially in the last few years, it's been over complicated.
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We talk about innovation and disruption.
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So like people hear innovation and they think they have to invent something brand new.
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It has to be earth shattering.
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It has to move the needle.
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It has to find mass alignment, it has to disrupt the industry, whatever.
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Um, and they're going to build the airplane in the air.
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Exactly.
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No, everything is not a million dollar idea.
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So like, don't be hard on yourself, you know, million, million dollar ideas don't just, they don't just magically happen, all right?
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They don't appear while we're meditating.
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Okay.
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But that's what happened to my Instagram influencers.
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I know, and that's why they're an Instagram influencer and they're not sitting here talking to you.
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All right.
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You know, it doesn't magically appear during meditation.
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It's just that's not how innovation happens.
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So give yourself permission to be practical.
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I think that we have to be practical when we're talking about innovation.
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So I have three F's for practical innovation.
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Yes, there are F's.
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Stop it.
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Not that one.
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Friction.
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Fix it forward.
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All right.
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So friction find what's frustrating.
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All right.
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So you're going to start with friction.
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Innovation doesn't start with imagination.
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It really starts with that irritation.
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So here's where you're going to ask yourself you know where is the work slow, confusing.
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Where is it duplicated?
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Where is it really frustrating?
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Because every friction point is a signal that something can be improved.
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So ask yourself or your team asking like, what are the things that they're constantly complaining about?
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What is dragging them down?
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What in the industry is leading or lagging?
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I mean, I am all for stealing people's ideas.
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I do it all the time.
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So think about too, what are other industries doing that might track for you?
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What's the thing that's keeping you up at night?
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I think sometimes you see me as doing a lot of things in innovation.
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Some of it's just to like delay my paranoia.
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I live in a very, like, risk centric space in insurance, in HR.
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I know we are always trying to figure out how do we solve it and do these things.
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Yeah, no, and, but what's funny is in just seeing that, that the, those that slow, confusing, duplicated, frustrating thing, that's something I see you working with all the time.
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All the time.
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Yeah, yeah.
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So we've got the, we've got the frustrating part finding the friction.
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All right.
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The next one is fixing and that is solving something small.
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So you found the thing and now you're going to fix something small.
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Innovation doesn't always have to be big.
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I think we put way too much pressure on ourselves.
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Most of the time.
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Innovation is really small.
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It's here, let's move this a quarter to the left or a quarter to the right.
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Let's change the phone call cadence.
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Let's change the way that we we do this implementation from emailing a questionnaire to, you know what?
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We're going to do an in-person meeting first.
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Then we're going to follow up with a questionnaire.
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I mean, it just has to be better.
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It doesn't have to be like groundbreaking and earth shattering.
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And I will say too, if you start small, it's way easier to keep that innovation momentum going.
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Most innovation is really just about eliminating unnecessary effort.
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So that's the second one.
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Fix, solve something small.
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I dig that one.
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Yeah.
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There's I mean, because it's one of those things too.
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Whereas I look through my business, I'm like, oh, there's that piece and there's that piece and there's that piece.
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We don't need the big new thing.
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Yeah.
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We need to fix the things that we already have.
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Yes.
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It's fixing.
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And then the third one is forward and that's moving it forward.
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So better not perfect.
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Faster, not flawless.
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Okay.
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One step at a time.
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Because I think a lot of times as entrepreneurs, we're like, it's got to be perfect before I do it.
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And it's like, no, that's not how it works.
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Innovation is momentum.
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It's not magical.
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It's really just one step at a time.
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If you want to innovate.
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Stop trying to invent and start trying to improve, right?
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For the love of God, if it's running, great, don't break it.
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I think often we're like innovation.
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We're gonna break it.
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It's like, no, we don't want to break it.
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We want to make sure that it's running smoothly.
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So don't just break something for the sake of breaking it for innovation's sake.
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There is a difference between being consistent and box checking innovation like nobody needed New Coke.
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You just say it now that was innovation for the sake of innovation sake.
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One hundred percent was that is a that is an amazing example of that.
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Don't be new Coke.
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Wow.
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Yeah.
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I love that example.
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Love that example.
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New and improved.
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It was not innovate.
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No, it was terrible.
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And people hate it.
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There's like a very small fraction of people and they're wrong.
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So when you're looking at stuff like that, how do you know what is?
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Especially as entrepreneurs, like it's easy to get distracted.
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Yeah.
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And we're like, oh, shiny objects.
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Always look at the new thing.
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And I mean, I still see so many people adopting AI on that basis.
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Um, oh, we're going to adopt AI.
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Well, are you or are you just, I mean, you like, are you adopting it to use it or are you adopting it to take care of it?
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Yes.
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Um, so how do you look between what's the distraction and what's something that's actually a true innovation for your business?
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When you're, when you're looking at like that visionary piece of it?
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Well, I just lost all my notes, which makes me scared.
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We're gonna innovate now.
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Do you want mine?
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No. I'm good.
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Um, I would say this is really where, you know, you have to be disciplined and not just creative.
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Oh, so this is I mean, I've had a lot of ideas that were really exciting in the moment.
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And I had planned, I had all these dreams and visions around it.
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And it's just, it's not, it's not the thing.
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Again, I lost it.
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So here's what I'm going to say.
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Um, as I find my notes again, I don't know why my computer is having a seizure.
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I'm trying not to touch it.
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Um, here's some questions that I'm going to ask myself.
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There's actually three of them.
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So the first one is, you know, are we solving the problem that we actually have?
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Sure.
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So is it or is it just something that sounds interesting?
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Yeah.
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Are we solving or are we just like, oh, what's over here?
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Yeah.
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Because innovation should reduce that friction again, not just create excitement.
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So most entrepreneurs and founders are really good at shiny objects.
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Um, they have to have self-awareness around this.
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I know I have self-awareness around the fact that I have shiny object syndrome.
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So it's really important that we ask the question, is this solving a problem we actually have the second and I think this is more important than the first is, does it align with where we're going?
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Because if it pulls us in a completely new direction, it might be a different business.
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It's not necessarily innovation.
00:13:42.426 --> 00:13:58.093
So if I go to my team at AUI and I'm like, look, we do employee benefits, we do health insurance, we do anything that has to do with your body, we're going to start selling inspirational bracelets.
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I think they would look at me and go, how does that align with employee benefits and taking care of the people that run companies?
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I don't know.
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Bracelets are cool.
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Make them feel good.
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Like that is not an idea that aligns knowing some of your team.
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I can imagine the look that they would give you.
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Oh, seriously?
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And the responses that they would say, they're like, no, no, no no no. That's not going to happen.
00:14:20.126 --> 00:14:23.560
So you would be hauled out in a white coat.
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Exactly.
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With very long sleeves.
00:14:25.259 --> 00:14:26.493
Exactly, exactly.
00:14:26.493 --> 00:14:28.326
So you've got to test your visions.
00:14:28.326 --> 00:14:29.692
You usually do it more than once.
00:14:29.692 --> 00:14:34.326
You share it with other people, and don't fall in love with it too hard until you've had some feedback.
00:14:34.326 --> 00:14:36.692
So that's like, so second, does it align with where we're going?
00:14:36.692 --> 00:14:43.060
The third question, and this is where the team comes in is at what, what does it cost the team to pursue it?
00:14:43.060 --> 00:14:45.926
At what cost are you going to innovate?
00:14:45.926 --> 00:14:46.660
Okay.
00:14:46.660 --> 00:14:48.293
Time, focus and energy.
00:14:48.293 --> 00:14:49.560
Those are real resources.
00:14:49.560 --> 00:14:57.293
And if I'm adding something new to our organization, I need to be just as clear about what we're taking off of our plate as what we are putting on our plate.
00:14:57.293 --> 00:15:01.126
So we're adding AI adoption and innovation.
00:15:01.126 --> 00:15:04.360
How is it going to make what we do more efficient?
00:15:04.360 --> 00:15:08.293
How are we going to use it in a way that truly impacts our jobs?
00:15:08.293 --> 00:15:15.460
If I'm like, we're going to add AI because it's going to make all of our emails sound really flowy and we'll be able to to write marketing content.
00:15:15.460 --> 00:15:18.493
Well, there's only one person in our organization who writes marketing content.
00:15:18.493 --> 00:15:20.326
Not everybody else needs to do the same thing.
00:15:20.326 --> 00:15:25.126
So you have to make sure that you're giving things to them for the right way.
00:15:25.126 --> 00:15:26.360
So for me, the difference is simple.
00:15:26.360 --> 00:15:36.692
When we're talking about, you know, innovation and when it feels like disruption versus progress, true innovation makes the work better, clearer, faster, it improves a distraction, just makes the list longer.
00:15:36.692 --> 00:15:42.692
So that's really what you've got to ask when you're thinking that third question about that great idea is, what is it going to do to my team?
00:15:42.692 --> 00:15:44.360
What is it going to disrupt?
00:15:44.360 --> 00:15:52.326
When you mentioned it, it threw me back to something when you said the solving a problem we actually have or something that sounds interesting.
00:15:52.326 --> 00:15:53.460
It made me realize something.
00:15:53.460 --> 00:15:56.493
You know why we typically hear the word innovation?
00:15:56.493 --> 00:15:58.393
Why shareholders?
00:15:58.393 --> 00:16:00.793
Haha, yes that is.
00:16:00.793 --> 00:16:03.326
Or board members, shareholders, board members.
00:16:03.326 --> 00:16:05.493
It makes those people happy.
00:16:05.493 --> 00:16:08.593
The word innovation makes those people happy.
00:16:08.593 --> 00:16:11.293
It's going to make your employees angry.
00:16:11.293 --> 00:16:13.326
Yeah, yeah.
00:16:13.326 --> 00:16:25.259
I mean, I sit on a board where innovation is one of the end statements that we have, and it's probably the most complicated one that we have to, to lead around, because to have innovation also means that you have failure.
00:16:25.259 --> 00:16:33.259
And when you have a lot of high performers, especially when we're talking about government, because this is a government organization, there's a ton of fear around, well, what happens if we fail?
00:16:33.259 --> 00:16:34.993
Then we have to be we have to answer to voters.
00:16:34.993 --> 00:16:35.860
We have to answer to.
00:16:35.860 --> 00:16:42.926
This is why it takes so long for, for, for things to innovate in certain fields makes sense from a leadership standpoint.
00:16:42.926 --> 00:16:52.926
How do you encourage that team of doers, um, to bring innovative ideas to the table with, and I'm going to stretch this question a little bit.
00:16:52.926 --> 00:16:53.426
Yeah.
00:16:53.426 --> 00:16:57.759
So they don't feel like first off, we want people to bring ideas.
00:16:57.759 --> 00:17:04.259
We also don't want them to feel like, hey, if I give Chrissy an idea, I'm suddenly going to have more work.
00:17:04.259 --> 00:17:11.925
And B, how do we also make it so that way they're encouraged to do it without that fear of failure in there.
00:17:11.925 --> 00:17:12.425
Yeah.
00:17:12.425 --> 00:17:18.725
Um, so like the combination of that, because there's doers, once again, they want to do the things.
00:17:18.725 --> 00:17:19.326
Yeah.
00:17:19.326 --> 00:17:22.960
But sometimes they feel like they're already doing too many things.
00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:23.359
Yeah.
00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:24.192
How do they feel?
00:17:24.192 --> 00:17:29.326
Like, how do you make sure that they don't feel like in bringing you the thing?
00:17:29.326 --> 00:17:32.460
I've just signed myself up for another part time job for free.
00:17:32.460 --> 00:17:34.460
I have an idea how I can make this better.
00:17:34.460 --> 00:17:39.826
So yeah, I will say this doers don't resist innovation.
00:17:39.826 --> 00:17:41.826
They resist feeling overwhelmed.
00:17:41.826 --> 00:17:43.326
Ooh, I like that.
00:17:43.326 --> 00:17:47.326
So if every new idea gets met with great, now go build that too.
00:17:47.326 --> 00:17:50.192
They're going to stop bringing you ideas pretty quickly.
00:17:50.192 --> 00:17:56.925
So as the leader, your job is to help the team filter through all of the ideas and find the right ideas to pursue.
00:17:56.925 --> 00:18:01.660
And when they come to you with an idea, it's a, it's a beginning of a dialogue.
00:18:01.660 --> 00:18:09.259
And so what I try to do with our team is to connect the innovation directly to the work that they're already doing.
00:18:09.259 --> 00:18:14.059
So if something is frustrating, repetitive, or inefficient, that's where ideas should come from.
00:18:14.059 --> 00:18:16.125
Again, we're going back to those three F's.
00:18:16.125 --> 00:18:19.460
That way, innovation feels like it's relief and not extra responsibility.
00:18:19.460 --> 00:18:22.692
So it's really about connecting everything to them.
00:18:22.692 --> 00:19:03.889
And then the second piece I would say too is how leaders respond.
00:19:03.889 --> 00:19:06.522
It's it's how you respond as the leader to them.
00:19:06.522 --> 00:19:13.990
So if someone is bringing you an idea and you automatically dismiss it, you pick it apart or you ignore it, you have just trained them to stay quiet.
00:19:13.990 --> 00:19:14.289
Yeah.
00:19:14.289 --> 00:19:21.755
If you want people to, to bring you the things you have to be accepting of the things, even if it's not something that will work, you still say thank you.
00:19:21.755 --> 00:19:22.655
Oh, one hundred percent.
00:19:22.655 --> 00:19:27.289
So even if the idea isn't right, the response has to reinforce that speaking up is valued.
00:19:27.289 --> 00:19:31.755
So that's why we always continue to say thank you no matter what you think.
00:19:31.755 --> 00:19:32.822
Always say thank you.
00:19:32.822 --> 00:19:38.556
I had this conversation with someone last week and they're like, I really want my people to send me ideas, but I think they're dumb.
00:19:38.556 --> 00:19:39.690
And I'm like, I don't care.
00:19:39.690 --> 00:19:43.722
You have to say thank you because eventually you're going to get a good one.
00:19:43.722 --> 00:19:44.056
Yes.
00:19:44.056 --> 00:19:44.322
Yeah.
00:19:44.322 --> 00:19:45.222
Encourage the ideas.
00:19:45.222 --> 00:19:45.755
Yes it is.
00:19:45.755 --> 00:19:47.923
And then that third piece is follow through.
00:19:47.923 --> 00:19:53.056
So if we do decide to move forward with an idea, we have to be clear about priorities.
00:19:53.056 --> 00:19:58.289
And that is you know, what gets paused because we cannot do all the things plus ten new things.
00:19:58.289 --> 00:19:59.022
All right.
00:19:59.022 --> 00:20:00.423
What gets paused?
00:20:00.423 --> 00:20:01.990
What is the prioritization?
00:20:01.990 --> 00:20:02.822
So what shifts?
00:20:02.822 --> 00:20:06.289
Because if nothing changes, we're just stacking work on top of people.
00:20:06.289 --> 00:20:18.556
And prioritization of innovation and strategic projects is probably, I would say, one of the most important parts of the job of top leadership in an organization, especially when you're the business owner, your job is to prioritize.
00:20:18.556 --> 00:20:22.623
If you want to be a workaholic, fine, but do not make your team do the same things that you do.
00:20:22.623 --> 00:20:27.855
And I would say to, you know, the healthiest teams, they don't always have more ideas.
00:20:27.855 --> 00:20:31.056
They have better pathways to turning the right ideas into action.
00:20:31.056 --> 00:20:36.623
It's really not about how many ideas we have, it's how well we implement the one good idea.
00:20:36.623 --> 00:20:38.190
So the goal isn't to get more ideas.
00:20:38.190 --> 00:20:45.690
It's really to create the environment where people believe in their ideas, and that they believe those ideas will actually make the work better.
00:20:45.690 --> 00:20:51.355
Yeah, I have an interesting perspective on the way you've presented innovation like this.
00:20:51.355 --> 00:20:52.423
Yes.
00:20:52.423 --> 00:20:54.556
The Porsche nine hundred eleven.
00:20:54.556 --> 00:20:55.490
Yes.
00:20:55.490 --> 00:21:02.056
If you look at it from year to year over the generations, it is an evolution.
00:21:02.056 --> 00:21:03.556
It has gradually changed.
00:21:03.556 --> 00:21:09.556
Now, granted, if you look at a twenty twenty six compared with a nineteen seventy two, they look very different.
00:21:09.556 --> 00:21:10.789
The overall shape is the same.
00:21:10.789 --> 00:21:13.690
But if you look at it, it is a step function.
00:21:13.690 --> 00:21:19.990
When you look at something like the Corvette, the current version, there's nothing in common with the last version.
00:21:19.990 --> 00:21:20.822
Yeah.
00:21:20.822 --> 00:21:25.556
Innovation done correctly in a small business is like a Porsche nine hundred eleven.
00:21:25.556 --> 00:21:25.889
Yes.
00:21:25.889 --> 00:21:29.755
It's this constant evolution of making things better.
00:21:29.755 --> 00:21:31.855
And you can have something that's.
00:21:31.855 --> 00:21:32.789
Holy cow.
00:21:32.789 --> 00:21:33.455
Amazing.
00:21:33.455 --> 00:21:34.255
Mhm.
00:21:34.255 --> 00:21:36.455
If you do that consistently.
00:21:36.455 --> 00:21:36.990
Yeah.
00:21:36.990 --> 00:21:41.455
You don't need to go back to the drawing board every single time and be like, look at how innovative this is.
00:21:41.455 --> 00:21:42.056
Yes.
00:21:42.056 --> 00:21:50.589
Well, I think the other part too, especially in small business, we have to understand that that innovation and transformation, they're kind of programming partners.
00:21:50.589 --> 00:21:56.822
But innovation has the ability to be extremely disruptive, especially to your revenue.
00:21:56.822 --> 00:22:02.855
And as a small business owner, you can't always afford to go from three million in revenue to five hundred thousand in revenue.
00:22:02.855 --> 00:22:05.623
And like, be able to feed yourself and your whole team.
00:22:05.623 --> 00:22:09.655
You have to you have to take those incremental shifts.
00:22:09.655 --> 00:22:22.655
So if you decide that you're going to move in a different niche within what you're doing, you're going to niche up, you're going to niche down, and you're maybe doing something that is different from the majority of your competition.
00:22:22.655 --> 00:22:25.556
Sometimes it's really important that you go slow.
00:22:25.556 --> 00:22:29.755
You know, we talk about, you know, we, we go slow so we can then go fast to speed up.
00:22:29.755 --> 00:22:31.490
It's like, you've got to start.
00:22:31.490 --> 00:22:34.655
So very similar to I couldn't agree with you more.
00:22:34.655 --> 00:22:35.190
Yeah.
00:22:35.190 --> 00:22:37.822
It's that it's start walking.
00:22:37.822 --> 00:22:38.755
Walk faster.
00:22:38.755 --> 00:22:39.855
Walk a little faster.
00:22:39.855 --> 00:22:40.690
Walk a little faster.
00:22:40.690 --> 00:22:42.589
Then you can start to run then.
00:22:42.589 --> 00:22:42.889
Yeah.
00:22:42.889 --> 00:22:44.455
No great, great way to look at it.
00:22:44.455 --> 00:22:46.089
And we've done that in our business specifically.
00:22:46.089 --> 00:22:53.522
I mean, we niched in a different way and benefits than Not than ninety eight percent of our competition.
00:22:53.522 --> 00:22:58.190
And so I think if they would have realized that we were doing that, I think it could have it could have looked very differently.
00:22:58.190 --> 00:23:05.056
But now we've been able to set ourselves apart, in part because we took time and did those two millimeter shifts over a ten year period.
00:23:05.056 --> 00:23:05.655
Mhm.
00:23:05.655 --> 00:23:07.490
No, it makes one hundred percent sense.
00:23:07.490 --> 00:23:08.190
Love it.
00:23:08.190 --> 00:23:13.690
So, Josh, you often see businesses innovate but fail to see any real improvement.
00:23:14.690 --> 00:23:17.355
So let's talk about operationalizing innovation.
00:23:17.355 --> 00:23:21.623
So why does operationalizing the innovation matter so much.
00:23:21.623 --> 00:23:24.423
And how do you know if it's actually worked.
00:23:24.423 --> 00:23:31.423
This is this is my favorite piece to this because it is not like innovation in so many cases is treated like a vibe.
00:23:31.423 --> 00:23:32.089
Oh, it is.
00:23:32.089 --> 00:23:33.490
We're so innovative here.
00:23:33.490 --> 00:23:35.623
Um, can you feel the innovation.
00:23:35.623 --> 00:23:36.822
No I cannot.
00:23:36.822 --> 00:23:38.522
That's what they said at WeWork.
00:23:38.522 --> 00:23:40.022
Uh uh huh.
00:23:40.022 --> 00:23:46.556
Um, so too many, too many businesses treat it as a vibe rather than a piece of the machine.
00:23:46.556 --> 00:23:48.955
So the way that I look at it as is like.
00:23:48.955 --> 00:23:52.056
First off, the result without a roadmap.
00:23:52.056 --> 00:23:53.855
Um, where the hell are we going?
00:23:53.855 --> 00:23:55.389
And why the hell are we going there?
00:23:55.389 --> 00:24:01.889
Um, I get on the motorcycle occasionally ride out to just randomness, but I realized I didn't accomplish much there.
00:24:01.889 --> 00:24:05.955
If I actually want to go someplace, I need to figure out where I'm going to go and how I'm going to get there.
00:24:05.955 --> 00:24:11.690
So what happens is, is I see I've seen this too, is people want to innovate.
00:24:11.690 --> 00:24:17.556
And then when they start the process of it, they end up fifteen, twenty degrees off from where they wanted to go to.
00:24:17.556 --> 00:24:18.123
Mhm.
00:24:18.123 --> 00:24:28.522
Part of that is, is they look at symptom versus cause, and this is what I always like to say is like increased revenue is just a symptom.
00:24:28.522 --> 00:24:32.923
It's not the cause because every innovation, we're like, we're going to increase revenue.
00:24:32.923 --> 00:24:34.455
It doesn't work that way.
00:24:34.455 --> 00:24:35.655
How?
00:24:35.655 --> 00:24:37.755
Not every innovation increases revenue.
00:24:37.755 --> 00:24:38.190
Newsflash.
00:24:38.190 --> 00:24:39.722
In case you're right.
00:24:39.722 --> 00:24:40.855
Right, right.
00:24:40.855 --> 00:24:44.455
I'm just gonna pull up my magic wand and ding! Yeah.
00:24:44.455 --> 00:24:49.855
I mean, so to me, it's kind of like saying, I like, I enjoy working out.
00:24:49.855 --> 00:24:50.955
I want to put on more.
00:24:50.955 --> 00:24:52.789
I want muscles.
00:24:52.789 --> 00:24:53.289
Mhm.
00:24:53.289 --> 00:24:54.722
Um, I get it.
00:24:54.722 --> 00:24:56.155
Which muscles wear?
00:24:56.155 --> 00:24:57.289
What am I doing?
00:24:57.289 --> 00:25:02.789
Like, like I do not need bigger glutes or bigger quads.
00:25:02.789 --> 00:25:06.522
Um, so I'm probably not going to do a whole heck of a lot of squats.
00:25:06.522 --> 00:25:12.056
Um, it's figuring out what I do and don't need to make sure I'm innovating in the right way.
00:25:12.056 --> 00:25:19.556
This is where this is going to come back to the if you do not have a baseline, you've got zero things to compare it to.
00:25:19.556 --> 00:25:19.889
Yeah.
00:25:19.889 --> 00:25:25.690
And this is like, this is what drives me absolutely insane is people like, we're going to change how we do this.
00:25:25.690 --> 00:25:29.389
And they don't have an SOP for it to begin with.
00:25:29.389 --> 00:25:36.389
Um, well, if you didn't have a standard procedure for it, like it's not innovation, just documenting, right?
00:25:36.389 --> 00:25:42.955
You're not even documenting, you're, you're, you're saying you're changing something that wasn't real to begin with.
00:25:42.955 --> 00:25:43.755
Okay.
00:25:43.755 --> 00:25:46.423
Um, Like it.
00:25:46.423 --> 00:25:50.190
If it's a brand new concept, you you.
00:25:50.190 --> 00:25:58.589
First off, you have to have a process to start with that you can deviate from without a documented process from the jump.
00:25:58.589 --> 00:26:00.123
You aren't innovating.
00:26:00.123 --> 00:26:08.423
You're just doing a one off task that probably can't be repeated, replicated, or taught to anyone else.
00:26:08.423 --> 00:26:12.955
Like when the person that's doing it gets hit by a bus and the next person comes in, well, they did.
00:26:12.955 --> 00:26:14.190
They just do the thing.
00:26:14.190 --> 00:26:15.123
Just do the thing.
00:26:15.123 --> 00:26:15.990
The thing's good.
00:26:15.990 --> 00:26:18.056
Do the do the thing the same way they did the thing.
00:26:18.056 --> 00:26:19.589
And we're, we're, we're great.
00:26:19.589 --> 00:26:20.923
We're awesome.
00:26:20.923 --> 00:26:23.855
The other piece is, is accounting for the change.
00:26:23.855 --> 00:26:33.155
So if the innovation is a change to a current process, you have to document exactly what was removed, added or modified.
00:26:33.155 --> 00:26:40.855
If you don't account for that delta, you have no way of knowing what specific lever caused the improvement.
00:26:40.855 --> 00:26:53.589
Um, and to me, innovation isn't done until it's a documented step in the workflow, and the accounting for the change is just one of those things where this is building that foundation.
00:26:53.589 --> 00:26:57.755
Because next up, we have to make sure we isolate the results.
00:26:57.755 --> 00:27:00.955
Have you ever heard double blind taste tests and all these other things?
00:27:00.955 --> 00:27:01.556
Yes.
00:27:01.556 --> 00:27:02.589
Right.
00:27:02.589 --> 00:27:06.423
They are isolating for variables there.
00:27:06.423 --> 00:27:10.490
Um, if you change five things at once at all, point to the same marker.
00:27:10.490 --> 00:27:12.190
What one worked.
00:27:12.190 --> 00:27:12.923
What one?
00:27:12.923 --> 00:27:20.190
I mean you could have one that gave you a twenty percent gain and another one that gave you a fifteen percent loss and you're like, hey, we did five percent better.
00:27:21.355 --> 00:27:24.289
You only change all the things when you're in abject failure.
00:27:24.289 --> 00:27:24.690
Yes.
00:27:24.690 --> 00:27:25.423
That's it.
00:27:25.423 --> 00:27:29.990
That's like, that is that is when you're that's crisis.
00:27:29.990 --> 00:27:30.490
Right?
00:27:30.490 --> 00:27:31.056
Right.
00:27:31.056 --> 00:27:35.389
In crisis, we don't care as long as it worked, but most times we're not in crisis.
00:27:35.389 --> 00:27:35.923
It's so funny.
00:27:35.923 --> 00:27:38.789
I'm going to give another mechanical thing here, like with the motorcycle.
00:27:38.789 --> 00:27:47.822
So if you put on new tires, You changed the springs in the suspension, you adjusted compression, you adjusted rebound.
00:27:47.822 --> 00:27:49.389
And hey, you know what?
00:27:49.389 --> 00:27:53.190
I put new handlebars on, and now my motorcycle handles.
00:27:53.190 --> 00:27:53.889
Weird.
00:27:55.022 --> 00:27:55.389
What?
00:27:55.389 --> 00:27:56.089
Did it.
00:27:57.490 --> 00:27:57.855
Which?
00:27:57.855 --> 00:27:58.623
Which one?
00:27:58.623 --> 00:28:01.289
You haven't the foggiest idea you have.
00:28:01.289 --> 00:28:05.589
So change one thing at a time as a step function.
00:28:05.589 --> 00:28:15.755
So that way, you know what, what triggered what to actually happen in that you have to have some expectations of what is going to happen.
00:28:15.755 --> 00:28:28.589
You know that I mean, if I'm walking into a shitstorm, I want to know which way the wind is blowing, what are the expected results, what are the possible results, and what are the specific variables that you're tracking up front?
00:28:28.589 --> 00:28:30.955
And what are some of the other ones that you're going to be looking at?
00:28:30.955 --> 00:28:39.889
Also because realize that you want to look at result x, result y and result z, but you don't.
00:28:39.889 --> 00:28:45.022
You want to make sure that it doesn't take variable T and cripple it.
00:28:45.022 --> 00:28:46.089
Yeah.
00:28:46.089 --> 00:28:48.022
Those are the things that you have to look at.
00:28:48.022 --> 00:28:53.789
The example that I love to give that is the Rory Sutherland always talks about this, the doorman fallacy.
00:28:53.789 --> 00:29:00.022
Um, hotels get consultants to come in and they'll be like, oh, you're spending sixty thousand dollars a year on a doorman.
00:29:00.022 --> 00:29:04.056
And they're like, replace them with an automatic door for forty thousand dollars.
00:29:04.056 --> 00:29:05.623
And then they're like, great.
00:29:05.623 --> 00:29:06.556
And things go by.
00:29:06.556 --> 00:29:08.190
And for about a year, they're fine.
00:29:08.190 --> 00:29:11.855
A year and a half later, they're like, why are there homeless people in our lobby?
00:29:11.855 --> 00:29:14.056
Um, why have our top customers left?
00:29:14.056 --> 00:29:16.490
Because they're not being greeted at the door anymore.
00:29:16.490 --> 00:29:18.789
There's, there's those types of things.
00:29:18.789 --> 00:29:24.089
You have to look at those secondary variables, like how is this innovation going to affect things down the line?
00:29:24.089 --> 00:29:24.822
Mhm.
00:29:26.423 --> 00:29:30.789
Ah, next up, the project versus the environment.
00:29:30.789 --> 00:29:31.022
Yeah.
00:29:31.022 --> 00:29:40.089
This is why separating these things because let's say you've got I mean, you had a just a gangbuster idea, an amazing idea.
00:29:40.089 --> 00:29:42.089
And you had that in two thousand and eight.
00:29:43.322 --> 00:29:48.923
Was the idea of failure or was the fact to disrupt the real estate market?
00:29:48.923 --> 00:29:49.522
Not right now.
00:29:49.522 --> 00:29:50.322
You're not.
00:29:52.190 --> 00:29:54.255
It's like, we're gonna be innovative with the Affordable Care Act.
00:29:54.255 --> 00:29:55.623
Not until we figure out what's in it.
00:29:55.623 --> 00:29:56.056
So.
00:29:56.056 --> 00:29:56.355
Yeah.
00:29:56.355 --> 00:29:56.889
Right.
00:29:56.889 --> 00:30:00.522
So yeah, to me, there's, there's the efficiency versus the revenue gap.
00:30:00.522 --> 00:30:00.889
Yeah.
00:30:00.889 --> 00:30:03.255
Revenue is a lagging indicator.
00:30:03.255 --> 00:30:05.222
And people will innovate this week and next week.
00:30:05.222 --> 00:30:07.022
Like how's revenue?
00:30:07.022 --> 00:30:08.490
Uh, it didn't change.
00:30:08.490 --> 00:30:09.855
What is this a failure?
00:30:09.855 --> 00:30:12.322
No, it's a lagging indicator.
00:30:12.322 --> 00:30:17.190
Um, and there's so many other things that can be tied to it inflation, interest rates, seasonal shifts.
00:30:17.190 --> 00:30:20.923
Um, if you're a pool company and you try something new in the winter.
00:30:20.923 --> 00:30:21.923
Yeah.
00:30:21.923 --> 00:30:23.490
Yes.
00:30:23.490 --> 00:30:34.123
Well, and I will say that to perspective around innovation in a legacy or existing business versus a startup.
00:30:34.123 --> 00:30:34.822
Okay.
00:30:36.289 --> 00:30:43.556
And let's not compare ourselves to the large startups that still haven't turned a profit, but yet have these multibillion dollar valuations.
00:30:43.556 --> 00:30:44.190
Okay.
00:30:44.190 --> 00:30:45.522
Are you calling out AI companies?
00:30:45.522 --> 00:30:47.623
I'm not calling out AI companies.
00:30:47.623 --> 00:30:49.089
I am not.
00:30:49.089 --> 00:30:50.190
I'm not.
00:30:50.190 --> 00:30:58.722
But I'm just saying there are certain companies that have not been revenue positive ever that are multi-million or billion dollar valuations.
00:30:58.722 --> 00:31:02.255
And we are comparing ourselves to them.
00:31:02.255 --> 00:31:06.855
No one listening to this, maybe I would venture to say none of you are Nvidia.
00:31:06.855 --> 00:31:08.690
None of you are OpenAI.
00:31:08.690 --> 00:31:10.089
No one is anthropic.
00:31:10.089 --> 00:31:13.822
Like, just stop comparing yourselves and thinking you have to innovate that way.
00:31:13.822 --> 00:31:18.123
You do not know that's how you wind up homeless and bankrupt.
00:31:18.123 --> 00:31:21.855
Because it's funny, I had a conversation with someone about this the other day.
00:31:21.855 --> 00:31:27.123
Um, all people really see on social media are the business wins.
00:31:27.123 --> 00:31:27.822
Yes.
00:31:27.822 --> 00:31:31.190
Um, my running joke about it was, is and it's weird.
00:31:31.190 --> 00:31:35.289
Like if you look at my Instagram, it's talking about podcasting and stuff like that.
00:31:35.289 --> 00:31:42.089
When I woke up at two o'clock in the morning, sweating and crying the other day, I didn't take a selfie and was like, entrepreneurship life.
00:31:42.089 --> 00:31:45.089
Know when I'm having a panic attack?
00:31:45.089 --> 00:31:52.655
I mean, and that's the other part is, I mean, I know, I mean, Josh, most of my competitors, there are very small competitors.
00:31:52.655 --> 00:31:53.589
We're in a weird space.
00:31:53.589 --> 00:31:55.755
There are small competitors like one person.
00:31:55.755 --> 00:32:01.389
And then I compete against billion dollar organizations that are owned by like the Canadian pension fund.
00:32:01.389 --> 00:32:07.389
I can't compete against those people in a lot of different ways when it comes to how they innovate versus how I innovate.
00:32:07.389 --> 00:32:10.556
You have to be willing to have that perspective and give yourself some grace.
00:32:10.556 --> 00:32:13.755
So I love that we're talking about how to operationalize some of these things.
00:32:13.755 --> 00:32:18.255
But just like for those of you who are like having that panic attack right now around, what can I do?
00:32:18.255 --> 00:32:19.522
I don't know if I can do it.
00:32:19.522 --> 00:32:22.955
You absolutely can stop trying to be what you're not.
00:32:23.955 --> 00:32:30.522
Okay, I know I'm not Jensen Wong or Sam Altman or anybody else in the in the insurance space.
00:32:30.522 --> 00:32:32.722
I am not an f P or assured partner.
00:32:32.722 --> 00:32:33.190
I can't be.
00:32:33.190 --> 00:32:35.155
Those people know we have to be a UI.
00:32:35.155 --> 00:32:35.923
We have to be clarity.
00:32:35.923 --> 00:32:37.822
HR I am not a DP.
00:32:38.822 --> 00:32:39.955
I would never want to be.
00:32:39.955 --> 00:32:40.755
But no, I don't think.
00:32:40.755 --> 00:32:41.755
I don't think you'd fit there.
00:32:41.755 --> 00:32:46.722
No, but it's just you've got to give yourself some grace around this, uh, one hundred percent.
00:32:46.722 --> 00:32:51.322
And that's, I mean, to me to that's why I, I like the Porsche example.
00:32:51.322 --> 00:32:51.855
Yes.
00:32:51.855 --> 00:32:55.355
Of it's it's a step function incremental every single time.
00:32:55.355 --> 00:32:56.589
Compete against yourself.
00:32:56.589 --> 00:32:57.623
Yes.
00:32:57.623 --> 00:33:07.123
Um, the other thing when, when we talk about like the environment that people are looking at, they're looking at these, like you said, these macro environments.
00:33:07.123 --> 00:33:07.789
Yes.
00:33:07.789 --> 00:33:10.690
Most of us, as you said, are not competing in that.
00:33:10.690 --> 00:33:18.155
So realize if your market shrinks by ten percent and you've maintained one hundred percent of your revenue, pat yourself on the back.
00:33:18.155 --> 00:33:18.955
Exactly.
00:33:18.955 --> 00:33:20.389
That's, that's a hell of a win.
00:33:20.389 --> 00:33:26.222
If you've been able to pull it all together with your own banking and working on your own relationships, and maybe you've had to take a few investors on.
00:33:26.222 --> 00:33:29.389
I mean, we're not I can't raise money like Ellen.
00:33:29.389 --> 00:33:30.490
I don't want to.
00:33:30.490 --> 00:33:31.322
That's okay.
00:33:31.322 --> 00:33:31.690
Yeah.
00:33:31.690 --> 00:33:33.155
I think you're okay with it.
00:33:33.155 --> 00:33:38.822
I didn't see you walk in here with the kitchen sink or bathroom sink or whatever it was.
00:33:38.822 --> 00:33:50.822
I realized, though, in so many cases, if you balance things and you come out a little bit ahead when the market crashed, you still like a failure to grow is not a failure of innovation.
00:33:50.822 --> 00:33:58.490
And the problem is, is you do not know that unless you've isolated those levers and those variables.
00:33:58.490 --> 00:34:02.556
This is where like the scientific testing comes in.
00:34:02.556 --> 00:34:08.556
Like you cannot have ten variables and it's tough to control for that, but you need to minimize the variables.
00:34:08.556 --> 00:34:14.056
So you know what the levers that you're pulling are the correct ones and what the response is to that.
00:34:14.056 --> 00:34:20.289
Um, metrics like customer acquisition, cost, time per unit, things of that nature.
00:34:20.289 --> 00:34:26.155
Those are the ones that's how you're going to measure that innovation and it keeps you alive in a down year.
00:34:26.155 --> 00:34:26.590
Correct.
00:34:26.590 --> 00:34:27.789
The other stuff is going to work.
00:34:27.789 --> 00:34:36.255
I mean, if your time per unit closes or it shrinks a little bit so you're faster and you have the same quality.
00:34:36.255 --> 00:34:36.990
Guess what?
00:34:36.990 --> 00:34:38.090
That's a win.
00:34:38.090 --> 00:34:41.289
It may not show in in certain numbers.
00:34:41.289 --> 00:34:44.289
There's other things that could play into that.
00:34:44.289 --> 00:34:51.822
Like I said, two thousand and eight, you may have you could have efficiency yourself to hell and not made any more money.
00:34:51.822 --> 00:34:54.455
No, because there was some outside things with that.
00:34:54.455 --> 00:35:08.255
Um, the last thing, uh, kind of that I want to talk about with that is the foundation versus the balcony is we, like you made the example before a few episodes ago about that you're adding a fancy balcony to a, to a crappy foundation house.
00:35:08.255 --> 00:35:11.155
And I, I love that we don't decorate our dysfunction.
00:35:11.155 --> 00:35:12.389
Right, right, right.
00:35:12.389 --> 00:35:23.455
I mean, like with this innovation, are you, are you doing something that's foundationally good or are you doing something that's once again, it's this flashy external features.
00:35:23.455 --> 00:35:27.855
And I mean, it's all it's the new marketing slogans, the prettier websites, the.
00:35:27.855 --> 00:35:38.955
I love it when people like viral social trends like, no, um, if your back end machine, like the fulfillment, the billing SOPs are broken, none of that stuff matters.
00:35:38.955 --> 00:35:43.455
Um, make sure that you are strengthening, strengthening, strengthening the base.
00:35:43.455 --> 00:35:46.555
Um, true innovation.
00:35:46.555 --> 00:35:48.055
I love this piece.
00:35:48.055 --> 00:35:52.589
True innovation improves the unsexy parts of the business.
00:35:52.589 --> 00:35:53.189
Yes.
00:35:53.189 --> 00:35:58.489
Everyone hears innovation like, ooh ha, no. Oh no. It's the boring part.
00:35:58.489 --> 00:36:00.489
Most innovation people don't even see.
00:36:00.489 --> 00:36:02.289
No, no. Yes.
00:36:02.289 --> 00:36:09.255
If you can reduce the reduce the error rate, if you can shorten the communication loop, if you can make sales and sales better.
00:36:09.255 --> 00:36:11.489
Um, if you can automate something.
00:36:11.489 --> 00:36:18.022
Oh my gosh, yes, those are the like, it's kind of like finding the nerdy girl hot.
00:36:18.022 --> 00:36:20.822
Um, um, concur.
00:36:22.655 --> 00:36:26.389
Everything, like every innovation adds weight to a business.
00:36:26.389 --> 00:36:27.222
Yeah.
00:36:27.222 --> 00:36:29.889
You've got to make sure foundationally you're ready for that.
00:36:29.889 --> 00:36:42.622
Um, the other, the only other thing that I want to say that if you do have a new feature or something like that, that you've, that you've innovated, test it, new Coke.
00:36:42.622 --> 00:36:43.022
Correct.
00:36:43.022 --> 00:36:44.522
If they'd have tested it, they'd have known.
00:36:44.522 --> 00:36:46.722
Some people are like, look at the new feature.
00:36:46.722 --> 00:36:48.255
They roll it out.
00:36:48.255 --> 00:36:50.655
That's why websites have beta testers.
00:36:50.655 --> 00:36:57.722
That's why there's, there's so many things where I see it, whereas people are like, hey, we've got this wonderful new flashy thing.
00:36:57.722 --> 00:37:00.489
And then you put it out into the world and it's broken.
00:37:00.489 --> 00:37:01.822
Why didn't anybody like it?
00:37:01.822 --> 00:37:02.955
Because you didn't ask them.
00:37:02.955 --> 00:37:03.322
Right?
00:37:03.322 --> 00:37:06.289
Or the user interface is horrible.
00:37:06.289 --> 00:37:06.955
Yeah.
00:37:06.955 --> 00:37:11.922
Um, take Meta's business user interface, for instance.
00:37:11.922 --> 00:37:13.489
I don't want to talk about it.
00:37:14.889 --> 00:37:17.089
Causes so many headaches in my office.
00:37:17.089 --> 00:37:19.855
Yes yes yes yes.
00:37:19.855 --> 00:37:28.489
Um, that being said, the to me, the how much time should.
00:37:28.489 --> 00:37:32.489
And I know this is going to vary, but you're going to have a framework, I'm assuming, for this.
00:37:32.489 --> 00:37:35.522
How much time should you give to shiny objects?
00:37:35.522 --> 00:37:41.422
Oh, it needs a budget and it needs a budget and time and, and money.
00:37:41.422 --> 00:37:47.255
But really in time and attention, because you've got to make sure that you've got guardrails around things.
00:37:47.255 --> 00:37:49.522
I mean, you talked about it in testing.
00:37:49.522 --> 00:37:55.922
So I would say healthy organization sets aside small defined percentage of time or resources for testing.
00:37:55.922 --> 00:37:58.955
Not everything's a priority and not everything deserves to be pursued.
00:37:58.955 --> 00:38:01.355
And I would say if you're like Christie, I need a number.
00:38:01.355 --> 00:38:03.622
I would say it's less than ten percent.
00:38:03.622 --> 00:38:04.189
Oh yeah.
00:38:04.189 --> 00:38:07.655
Unless you're in crisis, if you're in crisis, that's a little bit different.
00:38:07.655 --> 00:38:10.489
Um, but that's a different conversation, a different podcast.
00:38:10.489 --> 00:38:11.722
Um, and I don't need it.
00:38:11.722 --> 00:38:14.589
I like, I don't feel as strongly about a number on it as I do.
00:38:14.589 --> 00:38:19.422
Just like from a time perspective, it should be set something aside.
00:38:19.422 --> 00:38:19.822
Yeah.
00:38:19.822 --> 00:38:25.589
Um, put, put, give this a, hey, we're going to do this this long and then make a decision.
00:38:25.589 --> 00:38:27.989
Well, and I would say there's three questions.
00:38:27.989 --> 00:38:30.955
If you can't answer these three questions, you're not innovating.
00:38:30.955 --> 00:38:32.855
You're experimenting at your team's expense.
00:38:32.855 --> 00:38:35.655
These three questions are what problem are we solving?
00:38:35.655 --> 00:38:37.989
What will we stop doing if this works?
00:38:37.989 --> 00:38:40.689
And how are we going to measure whether it actually helped?
00:38:40.689 --> 00:38:44.389
Oh, I like you have to have those three questions in that budget.
00:38:44.389 --> 00:38:51.189
I want to add in a timeline to it though, because in so many cases, there's so many people like I just a little more time.
00:38:51.189 --> 00:38:54.122
No, no, no. We say the same thing about people and culture.
00:38:54.122 --> 00:38:54.589
Just keep them.
00:38:54.589 --> 00:38:55.122
You're not Jesus.
00:38:55.122 --> 00:38:56.255
You can't save everyone.
00:38:56.255 --> 00:38:57.289
There has to be a time of death.
00:38:57.289 --> 00:38:57.989
Just just a little.
00:38:57.989 --> 00:38:59.389
Just a little more time, I think.
00:38:59.389 --> 00:39:01.289
I think this is gonna work with some more time.
00:39:01.289 --> 00:39:02.189
Are you changing anything?
00:39:02.189 --> 00:39:03.455
No. It just needs more time.
00:39:03.455 --> 00:39:04.722
No, it doesn't, it doesn't.
00:39:04.722 --> 00:39:05.522
It needs to die.
00:39:05.522 --> 00:39:05.989
Right.
00:39:05.989 --> 00:39:12.655
But pick a time when you're going to talk about like, hey, is this I mean, do we do we do CPR?
00:39:12.655 --> 00:39:15.989
Is this on hospice or are we just taking it out back and shooting it?
00:39:15.989 --> 00:39:21.589
Yeah, you, you have to pick a day, a day and a time when you're going to be like, this is what's this is a decision.
00:39:21.589 --> 00:39:21.922
Yes.
00:39:21.922 --> 00:39:24.122
And if your team is not capable of doing that.
00:39:24.122 --> 00:39:29.422
It is your job as the CEO or the business owner or the leader to pick that time for them.
00:39:30.922 --> 00:39:34.989
Sometimes you have to tell them when it's time to take Old Yeller out.
00:39:34.989 --> 00:39:36.189
You gotta do it.
00:39:37.789 --> 00:39:44.122
Sometimes the chief surgeon has to step in the room and be like, time of death.
00:39:44.122 --> 00:39:45.355
When are we calling this?
00:39:45.355 --> 00:39:49.689
Or be willing to even ask the question, how much longer are we going to pursue this?
00:39:49.689 --> 00:39:50.989
I mean, if you don't want to give.
00:39:50.989 --> 00:39:53.389
If you want to make sure that your people have autonomy.
00:39:53.389 --> 00:39:57.822
A simple question is how much more time are we going to dedicate to this issue?
00:39:57.822 --> 00:40:01.289
And if they're like, we don't know, you're going to say two days.
00:40:01.289 --> 00:40:05.189
The way you said that when you said, how much more time are we going to pursue this?
00:40:06.189 --> 00:40:08.355
Do you think that's happened in our organization?
00:40:08.355 --> 00:40:13.022
The way you said that it made me feel like yesterday was too much.
00:40:13.022 --> 00:40:13.689
Haha.
00:40:15.622 --> 00:40:20.289
Sometimes you have to say it that way, that that wasn't a question, was it?
00:40:20.289 --> 00:40:24.722
Uh, no, it wasn't That definitely was.
00:40:24.722 --> 00:40:27.622
How much more time are we going to spend to produce pursuing this?
00:40:27.622 --> 00:40:28.955
Nope, not a question.
00:40:28.955 --> 00:40:29.955
We're done.
00:40:29.955 --> 00:40:30.755
Okay, good.
00:40:30.755 --> 00:40:32.955
What are we going to pursue next?
00:40:32.955 --> 00:40:37.155
Just close the computer and walk out of the room.
00:40:37.155 --> 00:40:40.789
Just coolly and calmly.
00:40:40.789 --> 00:40:41.455
Right?
00:40:41.455 --> 00:40:43.289
Once again, call it doc.
00:40:46.122 --> 00:40:47.822
Key takeaways for today.
00:40:47.822 --> 00:40:48.755
Yeah.
00:40:48.755 --> 00:40:51.589
Um, isolate the variables.
00:40:51.589 --> 00:40:56.089
Um, if you're trying something new, don't change anything else for thirty days.
00:40:56.089 --> 00:40:58.822
I mean, if you need to pull on multiple levers if you're in crisis mode.
00:40:58.822 --> 00:40:59.122
Sure.
00:40:59.122 --> 00:41:07.455
But beyond that, if you're trying something new, try that thing new in isolation to make sure what it is doing.
00:41:07.455 --> 00:41:07.855
Yeah.
00:41:07.855 --> 00:41:10.922
And innovation doesn't always have to be groundbreaking.
00:41:10.922 --> 00:41:14.755
You can easily start by just asking, what's the friction in the business?
00:41:14.755 --> 00:41:15.922
Oh yes.
00:41:15.922 --> 00:41:16.955
Definitely.
00:41:16.955 --> 00:41:20.189
Um, define what success looks like up front.
00:41:20.189 --> 00:41:26.655
Now it can pivot a little bit, but you got to figure out what you're trying to do before you do it.
00:41:26.655 --> 00:41:28.155
Yeah.
00:41:28.155 --> 00:41:30.489
Where do you want to go before you get there?
00:41:30.489 --> 00:41:31.289
Yeah.
00:41:31.289 --> 00:41:35.489
And I would say you should not be the only innovator in your business.
00:41:35.489 --> 00:41:37.955
Everyone should have capacity for improvement.
00:41:37.955 --> 00:41:39.822
Ooh, I like that.
00:41:39.822 --> 00:41:40.355
Yeah.
00:41:40.355 --> 00:41:42.555
It doesn't just rest on the business owner's shoulders.
00:41:42.555 --> 00:41:43.822
It shouldn't never.
00:41:43.822 --> 00:41:44.389
It definitely should.
00:41:44.389 --> 00:41:49.022
Especially because you're not supposed to be doing all the things if you are.
00:41:49.022 --> 00:41:50.555
That's another episode.
00:41:51.755 --> 00:41:59.455
And to me, the why and the SOP, when you add innovation to the manual, include why.
00:41:59.455 --> 00:42:03.055
So the team understands the ROI for them.
00:42:03.055 --> 00:42:03.789
Exactly.
00:42:03.789 --> 00:42:04.789
It can't just be.
00:42:04.789 --> 00:42:05.455
I'm trying to.
00:42:05.455 --> 00:42:06.589
Scrooge McDuck.
00:42:06.589 --> 00:42:07.055
Yeah.
00:42:07.055 --> 00:42:10.989
Um, I'm going to go into my bank, vault out back and dive into my coins.
00:42:10.989 --> 00:42:11.755
You want success?
00:42:11.755 --> 00:42:12.422
Tell them why.
00:42:12.422 --> 00:42:13.855
Correct, correct.
00:42:13.855 --> 00:42:15.022
Uh. Quick shot.
00:42:15.022 --> 00:42:23.155
Uh, is AI the ultimate innovation are the ultimate operational distraction.
00:42:23.155 --> 00:42:32.355
So it's innovation when you marry it to a change management framework, and you give your people guardrails permission to play, and you have to have dialogue around its purpose.
00:42:32.355 --> 00:42:36.155
It is an absolute distraction if you don't do those things.
00:42:36.155 --> 00:42:37.389
Wholeheartedly agree.
00:42:37.389 --> 00:42:45.555
If if you have to have a specific purpose outlined, if you do not have a specific purpose outlined, they have a friend.
00:42:45.555 --> 00:42:46.389
Yeah.
00:42:46.389 --> 00:42:47.889
Your workers now have a friend.
00:42:47.889 --> 00:42:49.289
Yeah.
00:42:49.289 --> 00:42:50.055
Who?
00:42:50.055 --> 00:42:54.955
Who is the best person in a ten person company to be the chief innovation officer?
00:42:54.955 --> 00:42:56.622
Yes.
00:42:56.622 --> 00:42:57.489
Everyone.
00:42:57.489 --> 00:42:57.955
Yes.
00:42:57.955 --> 00:43:01.855
And I mean, even to me, even in larger organizations.
00:43:01.855 --> 00:43:02.889
Completely agree.
00:43:02.889 --> 00:43:03.655
Um, yeah.
00:43:03.655 --> 00:43:05.655
Everyone should have the power to innovate.
00:43:05.655 --> 00:43:10.655
Now, not everyone should be the one pulling all the levers, but at least to start that process.
00:43:10.655 --> 00:43:11.022
Yes.
00:43:11.022 --> 00:43:11.222
Yeah.
00:43:11.222 --> 00:43:18.855
If you really want a CIO, they're doing project management and project selection, but you got to be bigger than ten people.
00:43:18.855 --> 00:43:21.889
Yes, I would argue even one hundred people.
00:43:21.889 --> 00:43:22.655
Correct.
00:43:22.655 --> 00:43:24.655
I wholeheartedly agree with that.
00:43:24.655 --> 00:43:31.822
So what's a piece of old tech that's actually more innovative than the new version?
00:43:31.822 --> 00:43:33.189
Human relationships.
00:43:33.189 --> 00:43:34.955
I wholeheartedly agree.
00:43:34.955 --> 00:43:39.889
And I think it's because we haven't done them as well.
00:43:39.889 --> 00:43:42.489
No. Um, how's it going Bob.
00:43:42.489 --> 00:43:45.289
Um and that's been for decades.
00:43:45.289 --> 00:43:45.789
Yeah.
00:43:45.789 --> 00:43:47.589
That's kind of meaningless.
00:43:47.589 --> 00:43:50.422
Um, it's, I, once again, I know I talked about this before.
00:43:50.422 --> 00:43:51.889
It's why I love my question.
00:43:51.889 --> 00:43:54.522
What's something you're excited about this week?
00:43:54.522 --> 00:43:56.222
Now you're actually learning people.
00:43:56.222 --> 00:43:56.822
Yeah.
00:43:59.122 --> 00:44:00.355
We've innovated.
00:44:00.355 --> 00:44:01.022
Yeah.
00:44:03.722 --> 00:44:04.522
We have.
00:44:07.289 --> 00:44:11.589
That being said, thank you for coming along and innovating with both of us.
00:44:11.589 --> 00:44:13.655
Uh, business podcast dot com.
00:44:13.655 --> 00:44:15.322
Make sure to go there.
00:44:15.322 --> 00:44:16.222
Check it out.
00:44:16.222 --> 00:44:17.922
Please leave us comments.
00:44:17.922 --> 00:44:20.722
Leave suggestions on your favorite podcasting platform.
00:44:20.722 --> 00:44:21.822
Tell us how to innovate.
00:44:21.822 --> 00:44:22.255
Yes.
00:44:22.255 --> 00:44:23.489
Tell us how to innovate.
00:44:23.489 --> 00:44:24.822
Tell us where we're wrong.
00:44:24.822 --> 00:44:25.655
We'd love to.
00:44:25.655 --> 00:44:27.589
I'm actually excited to hear about that.
00:44:27.589 --> 00:44:29.022
Anybody likes New Coke?
00:44:29.022 --> 00:44:29.622
Yeah.
00:44:29.622 --> 00:44:30.355
It's funny.
00:44:31.922 --> 00:44:33.622
We're gonna find the one person.
00:44:33.622 --> 00:44:37.822
I'm gonna get Chrissy new Coke here for for a couple of podcast episodes.
00:44:37.822 --> 00:44:39.255
The next episode.
00:44:39.255 --> 00:44:41.822
The difference between trust and blind faith.
00:44:41.822 --> 00:44:47.922
Because that is something that is difficult to try and establish in many cases.
00:44:47.922 --> 00:44:48.589
Do us a favor.
00:44:48.589 --> 00:44:49.255
Take care of yourself.
00:44:49.255 --> 00:44:51.455
If you can take care of someone else too.
00:44:51.455 --> 00:44:54.589
We will see you very, very soon.