To Scale Or Not Scale?

I was at an event earlier this week with a room full of tech start-up and growth company COOs.

One word that was used often in conversation was "scaling". 

"As the business scales", "When you're scaling up", "scaling the business", "scaling the team", "bringing scale to the team"... these were all typical soundbites.

I've heard people use the term so much over the past few years.  In a start-up it's easier to talk about "growth" and "scale" than trickier subjects such as "revenue" and "profit".

So, to clear things up, just what is "scaling".

Well, in my opinion, it's something more than just "size".

It's about efficiency of resource utilisation.

Here's a simple example.  You have £100,000 in revenue.  You have 5 people.  You have 2 web servers.

What happens when you double the revenue?  Do you double the team and double the number of servers?  If you do, you are not scaling.  You are just growing. 

Scaling would mean that you doubled the revenue, but the team size and web servers did not need to double.  Maybe the team went to 6 people and the web servers stayed the same.  Now you're starting to scale.

Scaling come from the term "economies of scale". 

The more transactions that take place, the cost per transaction comes down.

So - are you scaling or growing?  Ideally both!

Tune Out To Tune In

Where do you get your ideas?

I get my best ones in all sorts of strange places. In the shower, walking for the bus, on my bike. Rarely do ideas come to me at my desk.

Archimedes had his "Eureka" moment in the bath. You might do too.

CEOs seem to have ideas at the weekend. That's no co-incidence.

Creativity is an elusive thing. Try too hard and you'll not get anywhere. Ideas seem to have a life of their own and they are definitely not 9-5 office workers.

Here's something I learnt about ideas which really has helped me find more of these little creatures.

If I think about a problem hard and consciously, if I try to start solving it, even if I don't solve it, it plants a seed in my brain. My conscious mind works on the problem. Unless I've solved this problem before, rarely will a new idea form from conscious thought.

It's the unconscious mind which unlocks ideas. How scientifically true this is I cannot say. From experience though, I can say for sure that your unconscious mind continues to work on a problem long after your conscious mind has switched off.

You can be daydreaming in the shower and then pow! It comes to you. Taking that idea back into the conscious world you can do something with it and get cracking.

If you are short of ideas, discuss the issue at hand with someone and then leave it for a day or two. The unconscious mind will work it over and you might come up with new ways of looking at the situation.

Getting started is often the most important thing you can do. Just start the thinking consciously. Then pause. Reflect (not consciously). Wait. Discuss again. Reflect.

To really tune into a problem you sometimes need to tune out.

What's For Tea?

In our household there's sometimes a discussion that starts late morning or early afternoon with the question, "what shall we have for tea?" 

(Tea by the way meaning evening meal).

I usually say, "I don't know, it depends what's in the fridge".

My wife on the other hand likes to know what it is she is going to look forward to.

She'll think of a dish that she'd like and then asks what's missing to make it. If we need one or two ingredients, she'll buy them.

I on the other hand prefer to freestyle and make do with what we've got. Where she sees an empty cupboard, I see three or four alternative dishes. As I am the one cooking in these situations, I prefer to go with the flow.  It's not that I don't plan. I do plan. I plan by putting in place a lot of ingredients in our weekly shop. The cupboard is always stocked with lots of flavour and base items.

I however am less likely to imagine a meal in advance. I will perhaps look in a recipe book for ideas if we're having guests. My wife will think of lots of alternatives.

What about you? Who are you most like?

Both personality types serve a purpose. To be able to envision a future and make it happen is a great trait for entrepreneurs. Let nothing get in the way, get what you want.

Equally, the ability to adapt, optimise and deliver based on limited resources (making sure there are the right ingredients in place) is a great trait needed by teams who are working to build businesses.

Both tendencies have their advantages. Put both together and you get a formidable team.

By the way, it's no coincidence that my wife comes from a sales background and that I come from an operations background.

Just don't ask me what we are having for tea. Trust me, it'll taste great.

How Do You Do?

From time to time, all of us face at work THE REVIEW. 

In this article I'll share a tip on how to navigate the review process with confidence. My tip is based around one word, "How". 

The review process, normally designed by an enthusiast in HR is imposed on you as a member of the organisation. 

If done well, a review meeting can be a very helpful discussion between team member and manager. It does however require preparation on both sides to be worth doing at all. 

A review is a reflective process followed by a trusting exchange of opinion and fact. At least that's what it should be. So often however it's a one way affair where either the manager or team member have not taken time to reflect, gather information and organise their thoughts. When neither have done so it becomes a farce and worse than useless. 

The sense of trepidation many people feel going into a review either as a manager or as a person being reviewed is sometimes caused by anxiety about the outcome. I'd suggest that it's also caused by a lack of preparation. 

Remember the 7 Ps?

If not, here's a reminder; the 7 Ps is a British Army adage for "Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance".

To prepare properly for a review you need 3 things;

1. Something to review against
2. Facts
3. Understanding

Something to review against would normally be previously agreed goals, targets or objectives. If you don't have these for any reason, a job description is a good back up. 

Facts are useful. Sounds obvious, but you'll need solid examples, numbers, customer feedback, sales figures, project delivery dates etc. 

The understanding piece comes back to the word "how".  "How" is the word that can help you prepare better for a review. 

"How did I/you achieve X?"

By asking this one question you can identify the positive behaviours that need to be encouraged or highlighted. 

It can be used to describe context in a way that facts alone cannot. 

It's a useful little word, whichever side of the table you are on. 

Just ask

Picture courtesy of Andrew Kidd

This morning I was asked "why" questions, one after the other. A barrage of questions about why things are the way they are. This wasn't in a team meeting or a management discussion. It was over the breakfast table with an insistent four year old.

That's the thing about four year olds, they just ask you straight up. They're not worried about what you think of them, they just want to know. It's a natural curiosity.

Some of the greatest minds in human history kept asking questions long after the age of four. Some of the best never stopped.

I recently resumed learning to play guitar after a 25 year gap. This time around I have a massive advantage because I can find the answer to almost any question straight away. How do I play a specific song? Look it up on YouTube and there are plenty of people ready with a show and tell.

There's a revolution in online learning happening right now thanks to the internet. That's the difference that the last 25 years have given us. Universities such as Stanford are putting entire courses online. Wikipedia is available almost anywhere, anytime to anyone. Put it this way, if you have a question, it's never been easier to find an answer.

The ability to ask the right questions is an underrated skill. If I were interviewing someone for a job, I am much more interested in the questions they ask than the answers they give. The ability and willingness to ask useful and insightful questions is the mark of someone that applies themselves to a problem and who will overcome obstacles.

It's never been more important than now to keep asking questions. As an adult it's a habit and skill we need to nurture. The good news is that it's never been easier to get answers.

This gives me great optimism for humanity and the world that today's 4 year olds will inherit.

It also is a humbling reminder that today like every day I need to  keep asking questions.