Alexander Ford

Return on Investment

What’s the difference between someone who says they want to make money and makes it, versus someone who says they want to make money but doesn’t make it? You may remember I posed this question to a group of high school students in an episode of Daily Genius. I’m repeating it here because it illustrates […]

Needs and Belief

I want to help you be in command of your business. In order to do that, you need to be more disciplined in your commitment to long-term plans. You’re probably never going to win any form of life lottery, but you’re guaranteed to be successful if you focus on incrementally achieving your highest priorities each […]

Lily Pads on Ponds

Areas in your business that you do not have under command tend to break down in a way that isn’t obvious. If you wait until you can see the problem obviously, you’re probably going to be too late to prevent a significant challenge or emergency. It’s way less work to keep things in command than […]

Agent 007

We’re Incremental Progress machines. That’s because we are aware of our resources and we’ve put them in order. We understand our priorities. We manage our resources wisely. We put things in order before we take action, so we know we’re working on the highest priority actions possible. It’s impossible to not be productive if you […]

Kaizen

If all you do is incrementally improve your prioritization and your focus on your priorities each day, you can’t help but achieve exponential growth in your life and in your business. There’s a word for it: Kaizen.

Itemize Function

Instead of trying to fit people into these abstract boxes you call “job descriptions,” you should itemize the functional processes and accountabilities that actually exist in your business. If you give people clear expectations in the form of process assignments and key performance indicators, they can measure themselves if they’ve done a good job or […]

Middle Management

Middle management is one of the most challenging roles to play in any organization. It’s easy to be a business owner. You just need to be accountable. It’s also easy to be an employee. You just need to be responsible. It’s hard to be both. That’s what makes middle management special. They have a gift […]

Organizing Roles

Clearly understanding and managing according to accountability and responsibility is critical for the success of your organization. Your organizational chart should represent the roles that are functionally necessary and individuals may be assigned many roles. Those roles represent nothing more than a process inventory that an individual employee is accountable and/or responsible for.

Becoming Jordan Peterson

Don’t be a business owner trying to take accountability and ownership of other people’s stuff … their problems; causes; tirades. Put your own room in order first. Don’t go out into the world and assume ownership of other people’s stuff. When you martyr yourself on these causes you clearly can’t make a difference on, you […]