Tessa Roscoe: Blog #6: Organizing an Organization

This week's themed reading, "Organizational Blueprints for Success in High-Tech Start-Ups" by James N. Baron and Michael T. Hannan, held lots of interesting suggestions for how to organize a company. Their matrix of organization typology, depicted in Figure 2, was insightful and helped me reflect on the structure I want to create within my venture, and how that must align with my team's incentives for contribution. Given last week's reflection on team building, this reading gave me pause to reconsider not only my own motivations for success but also my team members'.

After some reflection, I quickly came to see that I have been inherently operating under Baron and Hannan's "Commitment" typology for my social venture. As our start-up operates as a non-profit, attracting talented team members with money is rarely an option. While definitely our unique tech-based exchange offers some autonomy and freedom in innovative work, the majority of development has already been completed, and the remaining key actions are short-term projects. However, every member of the Birdbrain team has been drawn to the company through a personal connection to the mission, to get girls into STEM classes. It is clear that our team is connected through an attachment of love, and we would struggle to collaborate with someone who did not share that vision. This same motivation bleeds over into the selection category, as we would need to hire one or two full-time staff members to operate the Int'l Classroom Exchange. These new team members would be primarily responsible for integrating the new program into the existing curriculum and business model, and thus a fit with our cultural values would be imperative. As the exchange doesn't require extensive technical development to implement, hard or soft skills are not overly valuable. Lastly, as the CEO is currently reigning in business development in favor of laser-sharp mission focus, long-term potential, while valuable, takes a back-seat to present day personal integration.

The last category of Coordination and Control is where I see a significant difference in operational styles between myself and Birdbrain's CEO. As a former teacher and daughter of an anthropologist, my instinct is to rely on peer and cultural influences to control employee behavior and performance. I firmly believe humans are motivated by a need to be accepted and approved by their peers, and establishing a strong workplace culture is the best defense against slipping standards. However, the current CEO seems to rely more on professional control. Understandably so, as the few staff members he has taken on are at the tops of their respective fields and have the credentials to prove they are capable of autonomous professionalism. However, if I myself was continuing to develop this venture, I would recommend switching to my method, as the top echelon ecosystem he has created would combine naturally with peer acceptance to foster even further self-initiated professional development in his staff. However, I do not think the CEO yet recognizes the depths of his own great potential for spurring the development of his staff.

To this end, CEO's must always be conscious of their own role in the organizational heirarchy This idea dawned on me while reading Stephan Uhrenbacher's blog, "Basics for Organizing a Startup" (http://stephan-uhrenbacher.com/basics-for-startup-organization/735/) where he draws parallels between the lessons given for organizing a startup to the advice he recently gave his 6 year old daughter on cleaning up her room. While his lessons are not only insightful but practical, he fails to recognize perhaps the most significant lesson of his parable- that the Boss sets the culture. Workplace culture is the most persuasive tool to eliciting desirable employee performance, and workplace culture can only be controlled by the culture's authorities. The Boss sets the standards and expectations that generate the workplace culture, and their demonstration of adhereance to this culture is the best tool for directing employee performance. By teaching his daughter the underlying lessons for how to organize her room, Mr. Uhrenbacher demonstrated the standards that he expects from his daughter, and thus has a higher chance of seeing the standards reproduced in her later work. The same lesson holds true in business. CEOs need to remember that much like parents, they set the rules that any one under their roof must abide by.

Jackie Shimshoni: Building on the Commitment Model

I was interested to learn more about the basic five types of models outlined in the Berkeley article, and I immediately found myself being drawn to the "Commitment" model. Especially working in the arts, I feel many of the organizations in the field desire to use this type of model. After all, jobs in the arts cannot afford to pay much, and yet they expect a deep level of commitment and passion from employees. It could be argued that in many cases they have a Commitment idealism that is being run in a more bureau- or auto-cratic fashion.

In order to gain more clarity on the Commitment model, and to dive a bit deeper on how this can be done successfully, I found a couple of additional resources speaking more to it. They all had some good and bad aspects, but the resource I found most valuable was actually the Wikipedia page on High Commitment Management. Yes, I realize this is a Wikipedia article, but it was a great roundup of information, and from it I was able to conclude that there are three big things managers should make sure they are doing to create a climate for the Commitment model to thrive:

Encourage Collaboration and Teamwork- People are social creatures and working in a team creates a bond and sense of obligation to teammates.  This of course assumes that there is a general sense of kindred belonging among teammates (implying both the idea of "fit" mentioned in the article, and also a need for ongoing teambuilding and communication exercises)

Ask for Communication and Team Input- The article mentioned an anecdote where managers interviewed workers to get their opinion of a light, which correlated with higher sense of purpose within the organization.  People like to feel that their opinion matters, and when it matters to their workplace it is another way to create the sense of ownership and fit necessary to long-term retention.

Allowing for Independence and Creativity- I think that the success of this has to do with something being told to employees on a deeper level--they are trusted. The commitment model in many ways is about relationship-building, and no relationship can succeed if there is not a basis of trust. This implies that a manager should take care in learning about potential employees to gain the confidence that they can, in fact, trust them.

Do you have any more ideas for what managers should do to maintain this model in their startup?

Tessa: Team building blog seis

I was particularly pumped for this week’s topic. Team building excites me (nerd alert, I know)! As an athlete I’ve been on teams my whole life. I played basketball/ran cross country elementary through high school, and continued cross-country through undergrad. I’m sensitive to what make can make or break a teams morale and what qualities make someone a team player. I appreciate the power of teamwork. (We’re in the midst of March Madness right now… There truly is nothing more beautiful than a well-executed pass between teammates who can read each other, or a fluid 2-3 zone defense, but I digress).

Hearing CJ Diamond’s presentation surprisingly made me feel better about the real world. It was great to see that there are companies out there that have clear visions and are not willing to settle on talent. As someone who is looking for a job, I want to work for someone and someplace that has that mentality. I was very impressed with him and hope I can work for someone like him someday.

In terms of the readings for this week… a few things I made note of:

1.     Strength is built through empowerment

a.     I learned this concept through being captain of my cross-country team in undergrad. People want to feel invested in and cared about.

b.     My grandpa taught me that, “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

2.     Building vision

a.     Core ideology

                                               i.     I think knowing your core values as a person is so important. I participated in a leadership conference (LeaderShape) in undergrad and we did an exercise where we wrote our core principles down on a piece of paper, taped it to our shirt, then walked around the room in silence reading everyone else’s. As cheesy as it sounds it was pretty cool. My core values as a person inform my goals for Race Place, which you can argue as both good and bad (see last weeks post about being “paradoxically dispassionate”). My piece of paper read: humility, competence, honesty, empathy, and work ethic

b.     Envisioned future

                                               i.     Race Place definitely has some BHAGs… I haven’t articulated them all that clearly yet. But talking about race and self-identity and getting more comfortable with those things is no easy feat.

Concluding question: If you had to identify your core principles as an individual what would they be?

Tessa: A reflective spring break blog cinco

I want to take some time to reflect on my stakeholder presentation. I set two goals for myself in regard to this presentation:

1    1. Better convey why I care about Race Place/paint a better picture of my motivations (because I totally failed to do this in my pitch)

2    2.  Explain who Race Place will benefit

On the whole I feel good about how it went. I think I did a much better job of conveying my passion for the topic than I did in my elevator pitch. Although, attempting to condense 12 years of public school experience and observations into a 10-minute presentation might not have been the way to go. I struggled with how to convey my passion for race relations for a few reasons.

One, race is not an easy thing to talk about. It’s difficult to talk about with yourself let alone a classroom of smart and diverse individuals.

Two, I feel like I need a certain level of competency in order to have any right to stand in front of an audience and talk about race. But what is that level? What defines competency in this instance?

Three, does it matter how I arrived at my feelings/thoughts about race or just that I have feelings/thoughts?

Which leads me to the next thought I had while kickin’ it at my grandpa’s house over spring break… I am struggling with being “paradoxically dispassionate” about Race Place.  I’m all for flexibility. I’m no expert in this arena. I want to talk to a lot of people about their thoughts on this venture, how they would approach it, what they would want outcomes to be, etc. Whoever leads/facilitates Race Place (maybe me) will be a student as much as the participants will be. However, I am so wrapped up and focused on this topic that I have clear goals and outcomes in my head but am incapable of articulating them. I keep getting caught up in why I care so much and feeling that I need to justify it when at the end of the day this isn’t about me…

This was very self-involved post. Thanks for sticking with it.

Concluding question: Have you thought about being “paradoxically dispassionate”? Are you struggling with it?

Bonnie Gloris: Business Model Success

Week 10’s readings about “Creating a Business System and Organization that Delivers” was really helpful in thinking about iCraft Path, the enterprise I’m helping to develop through this Social Innovation Incubator, as well as through a Systems Synthesis project. The Systems team I’m a part of has devoted a lot of time to writing case studies about the potential platforms we could use to deliver iCraft Path, such as through workshops, a website, a brick-and-mortar store, a small-business consultant, etc. – and that distinction remains important – but we haven’t given much thought as to our organizational blueprint, or how business model trends could affect sustainability.

After reading Organizational Blueprints for Success in High-Tech Start-Ups, I definitely see iCraft Path as following the “Commitment” blueprint (while the article is not directly applicable to our organization, it still seems relevant on a broad level). Since the organization will rely on enduring customer relations with the crafters it will provide resources to, it makes sense that enduring employment relationships will also be a priority. It’s important to understand that there is a tradeoff between risk and reward – businesses utilizing the Commitment model tend to survive and prosper, though they can also be fragile and difficult to scale.

Likewise, 20 Business Model Innovations for Sustainability was helpful to me in articulating some of the emerging trends in our team’s research of best practices for the platforms we are considering. For example, the ‘Freemium’ financing innovation – offering free basic service while charging for advanced features – seems like a promising possibility for iCraft Path. 

I was amused to read point four of “Findings and Implications” in the 20 Business Model Innovations article (“4. Business model innovation doesn’t happen in a vacuum”), as I recently read an almost identical sentence (“Innovation doesn’t happen in isolation.”) in the “Entrepreneur” article: Warby Parker Co-Founder On the Next Generation of Social Entrepreneurship. The article is about the need for social enterprises to get more involved in the public sector, because “government and public policy are not moving at the pace of technology or even meeting expectations of constituents.” Do you see the social enterprise you’re developing as satisfying a need where government is falling short? Do you think any of the concepts in the 20 Business Model Innovations article could be utilized to improve the function of government?

Creating a Dream Team

This weeks' reading revolved around qualities of a leader and how to build a dream team. Getting the right people on the bus is definitely important but how do you go about finding the right people. I found an interesting article https://www.groovehq.com/blog/building-a-team which discusses how to build a team in start-ups. The author uses his personal experience to share the lessons he has learned along the way. I have taken insights from this article to relate it to my current venture to identify my dream team.Before I get into the details of the various departments (HP, marketing, finance etc), I would need to identify my main roles in my venture.

Logistics: The most important aspect of my service would be to define logistics. Transportation, accommodation, food and safety are of prime importance if our service involves taking a bunch of students into rural areas.  It would be imperative to understand the working of the Indian economy to constructively come up with a schedule for the students who wish to make a difference to the community.

This process may involve inclusion of a local figure within the rural area who would be responsible for the logistics within the rural area. He would further need a cook and a caretaker, taking care of the local needs of the students.

Attracting Target Audience: Our idea is to approach the top schools in the city to attract students who would be interested in the program. Therefore need a bunch of people who could advertise and market the product to potential schools. Once we get applications, we need a screening procedure that selects only top talent.

Collaborating with industries: We need the capital from big firms to make this venture successful and also attract students. Therefore there would be a need to approach and sell the idea to potential industries.

Mentor: As the students define a plan and the impact they wish to have in the society, a mentor needs to guide the student to achieve his/her goal. Also, some metrics would have to defined to assess the performance of each individual.

Having defined the primary roles, it would now be easier to hire/employ team members for each of these roles. Further this activity has also helped me identify the various tasks that would be involved in starting the venture.

Jackie Shimshoni: Filling Team Roles

This week's readings revolved around teams, and it's interesting to think about ways to maximize on the team dynamic.  In particular, I found it interesting that the entrepreneur is separate from the other roles.  What if someone comes up with an idea but is really more of a marketer?  At that point, can the roles change--allowing someone else to become a boss, while the founder assumes a role more suited to their skill set?  Especially if the responsibility of each shareholder is equal, is it better to sacrifice one's role as "entrepreneur" in order to ensure that the business is maximizing on its potential?  One of the articles seemed to indicate this, but it seems such a sticky situation when ideas are at play--but again, I think we are all familiar with people who are more "idea" people than "action" people.

I think being honest with the role one plays best in a team is really important to making sure people are assuming the right role for them from the beginning.  Any type of personality can be a part of a successful team, but there need to be complementary personalities to ensure that the work that needs to be done is getting done.  This doesn't necessarily mean that people need to get along; just that the team has enough complementary skills to make sure the essential functions are getting done.

In particular, I am a really big fan of StrengthsFinder, and I think any member of a team (or potential team member) should take the quiz and that teams should objectively look at these elements to ensure that they have a well-balanced team.  What I love about StrengthsFinder is it doesn't tell you your "weakest" areas--rather, by looking at what you have, you can figure out what you need.

For example, my top 5 skills are: Woo, Futuristic, Strategic, Communication, and Activator.  That is, I love meeting and talking with new people, thinking about and sharing visions of the future, coming up with creative alternatives, conversation, and making things happen.  These traits are all idealistic and future-oriented, and speak to who I am as a person in addition to within a team.  Therefore it makes a lot of sense to me that in my own life, I gravitate toward people that are meticulous, grounded in the present and good at day-to-day--these are all elements that complement my personality well and allow me to function more successfully.

Many times over we have talked about the importance of knowing oneself and I think this is no more important than when building a team.  When building a team I think that admitting your own shortcomings is the best way to construct a group that can accomplish something really meaningful.  And I think in situations that Bonnie described, where we find ourselves in teams we do not select, it is even more important to understand what the team is lacking and that can allow for the next step--building partnerships and garnering mentors that can balance out those qualities.

Product Naming - A key aspect of branding

“Regardless of its mission, an organization is also a brand” - This has been the key takeaway when it comes to any business. A social venture is no exception. As a topic, branding is probably one of the most discussed and yet possibly the least understood. It is not a catchy logo, style, fonts or design. It is a clear communication of what a product/organization does and why it is better than the rest - hopefully in a catchy logo, style or font.

Joe Ippolito, writing for GOOD magazine, lists out the very many reasons why even a social venture, should think about good design and branding.

http://magazine.good.is/articles/diary-of-a-social-venture-start-up-design-and-branding

But a key aspect of branding – Product Naming, is also something most people don’t take seriously and take for granted often with disastrous results like this – http://www.inc.com/ss/geoffrey-james/top-9-brand-blunders-all-time

Source: http://landor.com/#!/talk/events/landor-brandfeed-eight-principles-of-naming/

Not many would know that naming, like design, is more science than art. Landor Associates, a global leader in brand consultancy lists 8 principles in the process of naming success -

1. Making it memorable

Names can be simple or complex, but it should be such that it is easy to recall. Ideally a memorable would be something that can evoke an emotion or feeling.

2. Filling it with meaning

The name must evoke a story. As the name becomes a brand, it will have richer associations – emotions, feeling etc. So the name should be such that it can be easily pick up such associations.

3. Saying it aloud

The best names are ones which are easy to pronounce. Names that are easy to be said aloud are usually catchy.

4. Not to wait until falling in love with the name

Even the best name may not be easy to identify. It is not necessary for a name to be good enough to like it in first go. Giving it a chance to think

5. Don’t fear your fear

Great names become great because they are not normal. So we should be ready to look beyond our comfort zones to accept a name.

6. Making the name stand out in a crowd

Being different is an absolutely necessity in today’s cluttered world. The name can be new but yet, the name should clearly signify what it stands for.

7. Too much is never enough

Going through hundreds of new words and names only broaden our perspectives on what is possible. In most cases the first hundred names tend to be just re hashes of names already set by the competition.

8. Expect your story to evolve.

The most important point to know is that the story of your name will evolve and that the name should be ready to take on such eventualities. Being prepared need not make the name generic. It can be fresh, bold and yet take on the evolution of the stories.

Source: http://landor.com/#!/talk/events/landor-brandfeed-eight-principles-of-naming/

So, in essence, even naming has a process. But the process need not be all consuming. Creativity is the key when it comes to naming a product. And while a great name will definitely boost a product’s prospects even that cannot save a bad product in the long run. A fresh name, good design and a product that provides good value are all synonymous as one cannot work without the other.

Playing to your strengths

The article on forming a winning team asked important questions that help co founders and team members get to know each other better and understand their strength and weaknesses. It gave me opportunity to do some introspection which is very important for the success of a start-up.

§  What motivates you to launch a social venture?

The prospect of bridging a social need which exists in society excites me. I wish to be an agent of change and to improve standard of living for those around me.

§  If you had 100 points, how would you divide your ambitions among: (a) positive social impact; (b) recognition and/or respect; (c) fortune; (d) day to day fun

Positive social impact and recognition are extremely important to me. I would award each of the two 40 points. Fortune will be 15 points and fun will be 5 because I think that if I am making an impact and getting recognized for it than fun will be inherent in that combination rather than being mutually exclusive.

§  What is more important to you in the first 2-3 years: reaching more beneficiaries with your product/service, or increasing profits (for nonprofits, to be put back into the company)?

It is important to generate volumes as through reaching more people will give more market insight which will help you improve your model and product. However, I would also prioritize reinvesting profits back in the business as this will help accelerate the growth of the company after 2-3 years of operations.

§  On a scale of 1 to 10, how much of a risk taker are you, with 10 being extreme risk taker, and 1 being completely risk averse?

I would rate myself 7 on risk taking. I am generally an optimistic person and tend to think that things will end well.

§  How many hours do you expect to work each week? For how many years do you plan to do this? What do we do if one person starts working significantly less than the other(s)?

I expect to work nearly 40-45 hours a week. I plan to sustain this work ethic over time. Initially I will be willing to work longer hours and have flexibility in my routine based on the demands of my clients/ partners.

§  On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you prefer to work on your own versus with a team?

8. I enjoy working with people.

§  Are you the person that needs to plan everything out before taking action? Are you the person that wants to dive in and try anything and see what happens?

I dive in and try and see what happens. I firmly believe that the best way to learn is to get your hands dirty and experiential knowledge is more important for me than planning a lot before acting.

§  What are your strengths and weaknesses?

I work well with teams. I am enthusiastic and motivate others around me so working with others comes naturally to me. I tend to get intimidated by people older to me and tend to avoid conflict with them which often times results in me acting as a yielder.